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Good heavens (er...so to speak). I would certainly hope not.

Consider this, if someone truly believes in Jesus, Salvation, Heaven and Hell, the most evil thing they could do is to resist sharing the Gospel with you. Think about it. How much would they have to hate you in order to not warn you?

In previous conversations of this sort, I've had many people tell me (essentially) "Oh, yeah? Well, you're going to Hell to be tortured for all eternity! What do you think of that?"

Heck, that's already happened on this thread.

Sometimes, though (not nearly as often as the former) someone seems to genuinely care about the status of my soul, and makes a sincere attempt at conversion. It normally ends with them saying that they're going to pray for me, and with me thanking them for their good wishes.

And on that note, I'm going to have to call it. As fun as this is, I'd like to actually accomplish something today. I have Father's Day presents to buy, and paperwork to go through to purchase a silencer.

(In terms of federal background checks and forms to fill out, it's similar to buying a machine gun. Whee.)

I like you too :-)

Show me falsifiable, scientifically verifiable evidence of this "soul" and we can talk. Otherwise, you might as well argue how many angels can dance on the head of a pin...it's just as productive.

Man does make his own rules.

I don’t have to respect you nor do I have to care about your welfare.

Correct. You don't.

You are nothing to me. There is no god to say differently.

While I don't believe in God(s), I don't affirmatively deny their existence. There may well be a deity or deities...I simply don't see any reason to think so at this time.

As long as I don’t get caught I can treat you anyway that I please including cheating and stealing from you.

Again, this is rather obviously the case.

If I don’t get caught there is no price to pay.

Another truism.

You don’t matter a whit, only what I think is right matters.

Incorrect, since there are real world consequences to your actions.

Incorrect. As I've stated earlier, rights are a human invention. They change over time and from society to society. One example: in the United States, we have the right to practice whatever religion we choose, as long as that practice doesn't infringe on the rights of others.

This right has not existed in most societies throughout history.

This link may help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens

Humans (known taxonomically as Homo sapiens, Latin for "wise man" or "knowing man") are the only living species in the Homo genus of bipedal primates in Hominidae, the great ape family. Anatomically modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago, reaching full behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago.

Agree to disagree. It depends upon the circumstances.

Not forgotten at all. Robert A. Heinlein sums it up quite nicely in Starship Troopers:

"Ah yes, [life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness]... Life? What 'right' to life has a man who is drowning in the Pacific? The ocean will not hearken to his cries. What 'right' to life has a man who must die to save his children? If he chooses to save his own life, does he do so as a matter of 'right'? If two men are starving and cannibalism is the only alternative to death, which man's right is 'unalienable'? And is it 'right'? As to liberty, the heroes who signed the great document pledged themselves to buy liberty with their lives. Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost. The third 'right'?—the 'pursuit of happiness'? It is indeed unalienable but it is not a right; it is simply a universal condition which tyrants cannot take away nor patriots restore. Cast me into a dungeon, burn me at the stake, crown me king of kings, I can 'pursue happiness' as long as my brain lives—but neither gods nor saints, wise men nor subtle drugs, can ensure that I will catch it."

(Expanding on his statement that "a human being has no natural rights of any nature.")

Of course not...and I'm well armed.

You don’t ‘believe’ in the ‘supernatural’ yet you are on FR which is a CONSERVATIVE website that is Pro-God.

Any yet there are plenty of atheists (such as myself) posting on it. I'm certainly not going to hide my beliefs (or lack thereof) when it's relevant to the discussion at hand.

The Founders stated that our rights come not from man but from God.

I agree that they stated this. That doesn't make it true, of course, but it is the basis on which our government was founded.

Deny God, we then have no native natural rights.

Again, I agree. The concepts of rights is a human invention.

And then, thus, your life and your achievments then mean nothing.

"Meaning" is also a human invention, thus my life has whatever meaning I choose to invest in it.

So you might as well die and dcrease the surplus population, eh?

I don't want to, so I won't. My life is far too enjoyable to cut it short.

Given that I have no belief that "souls" exist, that's not much of a threat.

As I pointed out earlier, by voluntarily joining the military they entered into a contract in which they gave up some rights. Given that, your actions were just fine.

Had they been civilians, it would be different, of course.

Here's a bit of trivia about it (I just looked at the article about it on Wikipedia): the magic system used in Dungeons & Dragons (and some other elements of the game) is based on the Dying Earth! Since I played D&D a lot 30 years ago, and still play other roleplaying games, it may seem strangely familiar.

I don't think money is an issue for Mr. Pratchett, given that he's one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom over the last 30 years. That having been said, I agree with your overall point. Someone earlier on this thread said that one could simply jump off a high building, but that leaves a mess for people to clean up.

Why not simply find the most remote wilderness spot available, locate a suitably high cliff, and jump? Scavengers will take care of the mess.

I don't see the relevance of the supernatural in the discussion, but then, I don't believe in the supernatural...so there you go.

If this is the case why is he going to Dignitas?

As I've said, no one is initiating force against an unwilling party.

Why has Dignitas been under criminal investigation by the Swiss authorities?

I haven't the faintest idea. The first time I'd heard of them was in the context of this article.

Please understand that to a non-Christian the fact that it's Jesus Christ being tortured isn't particularly relevant.

I've got to say that this post just told me everything I need to know about you.

I'm not a Christian, and the movie is about watching a man be tortured to death. I understand that Christians find this inspirational because it's Jesus Christ (whom they believe to be God incarnate) taking the sins of mankind upon himself, but please understand that to someone who doesn't believe that it just appears grotesque.

Are you aware that Free Republic is a PRO-LIFE forum?

It's also pro-God, but I haven't had any problem posting about being an atheist. I would describe myself as conservative in most areas, but leaning Libertarian on some issues. Does that disqualify me from posting on this board?

1) I presume you used reason rather than force with your Airmen. I don't have the slightest problem with that.

2) Military personnel (in the United States, anyway) have entered a voluntary contract in which they waive some rights. A private citizen has options that an Airman doesn't.

If it was analogous to the subject in question (Mr. Pratchett choosing to die after years of consideration in the face of a horrible disease) I would respect their wishes.

I've read too many sf & fantasy novels to count, but somehow I've never gotten around to Jack Vance. Which novel would you recommend for a first reading of him?

Well, to be fair while Bradbury certainly wrote his share of science fiction, his larger body of work is more oriented towards fantasy; he himself said that his only work of science fiction was Fahrenheit 451, and that the Martian Chronicles wasn't SF, but rather was fantasy.

Hence the condescending sniff, I suppose.