Haven’t read the thread, but wanted to post this that I saw on fb:
(Quoted and spoilered to save space):
Troppus - I don’t doubt that you experienced the ‘fearmongering’ side of Christianity…and there are a lot of denominations that go hard core on the whole hell thing. But please do realize there are a LOT that don’t. I was raised Presbyterian, and I’m a ‘practicing’ Lutheran right now (though calling me practicing is stretching it…I basically go to church occasionally with my wife, and on easter and Christmas with family). I’m somewhat agnostic at this point, and I have serious issues with quite a lot of the Bible. I absolutely don’t believe the Bible as literal truth, but more as a book of lessons (many of which I also don’t really agree with) that were appropriate for the audience at the time it was written. I don’t think any organized religion has anything really close to the truth, but something inside tells me there’s more than just matter, even though my brain tells me that more than likely when I die, I’ll just blink out. I’m OK with that, and I’m OK if there’s something spiritual as well, but anyway, I’m getting derailed…
Luckily, our pastor preaches much in this same manner (the somewhat metaphorical interpretation of the bible)…teaching a lot of the stories as parables and allegories/metaphors rather than to be interpreted literally. There’s no teaching of the creation story as truth, acknowledging evolution, often bringing science lessons into the church to describe how they coexist. Of course, there’s still faith, divinity of Christ, etc…
But I’ve never heard a sermon about hell. My daughter in Sunday school has never heard a lesson about hell. When I discuss religion with my daughter, it’s more the spiratual/love side, and never about the ‘God will punish you and damn you to eternal torture.’ Nor would I, since I think hell is a load of crap. But, there are plenty of churches who do not try and preach faith through fear, but rather faith as a guiding prinicple for experiencing love and kindness and as a means to teach compassion.
I know it’s certainly not the only way to teach compassion, but I’m OK with it in this manner. So, I think if you’ve only met Christians who have been scared to death by the torment of hell, then you’ve not had a very broad exposure. I know there are a lot (maybe even a majority) who do…but it sure as heck ain’t all of them.
I glanced through this thread, and if there’s a link here to the ATMB thread I missed it. Wordman asking if this thread is trolling. And here are Bijou Drains’ contributions (minus a small amount of filler):
So not just a twit… twit, jerk, arrogant and trollish.
That anecdote is glurgy bullshit, by the way, no matter who the student ended up being.
Oh absolutely. I just read the title of the pitted thread and thought I’d show that Christians can be arrogant asses in their own right - except be woefully ignorant in their indignation.
For example, Einstein was Jewish.
Obligatory Snopes link: Did Albert Einstein Humiliate an Atheist Professor? | Snopes.com
Ah. I see. Well … well, your aim was well served.
What a load of crap. It’s people like you that mindlessly pass unrealistic glurge like this to one and all that cause me not to use Facebook as much as I used to.
This is meant to say “there’s no teaching of the creation story as truth, he acknowledges evolution, often…”
In other words, no denying of science…the stuff on faith is for things that can’t be explained/examined, since they are intrinsic to ‘you’. They’re the non-observable.
Of course it is. The agnostic starts from the position that one hypothetical entity (God) is a different sort of thing than all other hypothetical entities. Agnosticism is not epistemologically neutral.
I’m an atheist. I don’t believe that God exists. Am I absolutely certain that this point of view is correct? No, I’m not. But then, I’m not absolutely sure about ANYTHING. I’m not ABSOLUTELY sure that I’m not a brain in a jar. I’m not ABSOLUTELY sure that the sun rose this morning. All I can do is state my beliefs based on my current best interpretation of the evidence at hand:
“No, I’m not a brain in a jar.”
“Yes, the sun rose this morning.”
“No, there is no God.”
Singling out my uncertainty over the non-existence of God for special consideration would be silly. The only reason to do it would be because the theists have created the impression that the question of God’s non-existence is something special and important; that it’s the one question where it’s really super-duper important to emphasize that you’re not ABSOLUTELY sure.
I’ve had a lot of practice. 
Good luck!
I appreciate your input, but you’ve got me wrong. I attended a low-key Methodist church primarily, followed by Catholic, Presbyterian, and Baptist (and a couple trips to a Pentecostal church) growing up, and none of them caused me any trauma beyond raised eyebrows. I was a pretty savvy kid, and while I kind of quietly hated some cruel parents and crueler preachers, I mostly felt sorry for those kids raised with fear and shame. I minded my manners and did what was expected to “pass” as a Christian; I loved my friends and didn’t blame them for subscribing to the myths and fears their parents had subjected them too since birth.
I’m disgusted by the fear-mongers, sure, but the entire mythology is a huge waste of time, IMO, even those denominations which are kinder and gentler than the fire and brimstone variety. Humans are social animals and empathy is wired-in; we can take care of one another with or without myths. But religion isn’t going out of style so long as it is such a convenient scapegoat parents and politicians use to control others, and since we all want to live forever: it’s got staying power. I don’t entertain the idea that I can change that, and I bow my head, return salutations and go along with the status quo just fine. We’ll see what happens the first time someone attempts to intimidate and terrify my daughter though. Shit might get real then.
I linked it back in Post #89, but I appreciate you making sure the connection between threads is there - and yeah, BD is jerkish enough…
What he said. In fact, things like Purgatory aren’t even mentioned in the Bible, for example.
My kids don’t even know what Hell is.
Y’didn’t read further down the thread, did ya. 
Sorry about that-didn’t see the followup post.
Do they know why a “loving God” lets kids get raped, die of cancer, and die in a hail of bullets but still “loves and watches over them”?
Generally when others share such incredulous stories, they are trying to show how theists show up the atheists as uppity-think-they-know-it-all-types who didn’t know so much after all.
Jewish only by tradition, and he started questioning the biblical stories at the age of twelve, IIRC. He recognized other things were important for the Jewish people, the ideal of social justice, the tradition of their forefathers, their accomplishments etc. But the one thing he didn’t profess in was a man of Jewish faith, thinking the Jewish God was simply a superstition.
It’s an annoying style of writing, too, for this type of material. Drives me nuts. Sounds like writing aimed at at young children, or evocative of that type of voice.