“No, I’ve already heard that story. I think I’ll go to the movies.”
Not all Christians believe that people are sent to Hell for not believing in God, is my point. There are a number of different denominations and philosophies – not just the fundy assholes.
I’m not a Christian.
45,000 attempts to straddle the middle, avoid making enemies, trying to suck up to both sides and make snark without committing to anything. Shut up, Guin.
If you ask me Alphaboi, you did the kid a favor. At least somebody tried to talk some sense to him.
Jews don’t proselytize unless you want to count the Jews for Jesus or the Chabad(who only proselytize to other Jews) and very few Muslims proselytize, even in predominantly Muslim countries. In fact, in many Muslim countries it’s illegal to proselytize even when it’s Muslims proselytizing Christians(though obviously they’re less likely to be prosecuted than proselytizing Christians).
For that matter, even amongst Christians, proselytizing outside of Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, and some Protestant groups, is not forbidden, but hardly encouraged. For example, I’ve never heard of Eastern Orthodox Christians proselytizing.
In fact, in Iran, the complaints about proselytizing tend to come from Armenians pissed off at Evangelicals since the Evangelicals are usually not stupid enough to go after Muslims.
He maybe should have left out the part about Santa and the Tooth Fairy in front of a little kid who still believed in them. The kid was just parroting what he had been taught and didn’t deserve to have those two fantasies taken from him in such a manner. Otherwise, I have no problem with how he reacted to the provoker.
Like that kid is going to get any more fucked up by having the Santa myth torn down. He’s being raised as a religion-mule as it is. Maybe a little early reality will set him on the right path after all.
Thoughts? Personally, I think there’s much truth in the video.
The real batshit evangelicals explicitly tell their kids there’s no Santa from an early age. And even go off on people who try to tell them otherwise. They even take the materialism badly and think it draws the focus away from religion over Christmas.
I’ve got a couple high school classmates like that, and I pity their children. Let kids be kids, for fuck sake.
I’m not an atheist, either. Believe it or not, religious != Christian.
I’m not the one making everything out to be “black or white, with us or against us, everyone who isn’t me is eeeeeevvvvviiiillll*”. I’m not the one getting all butt hurt because someone has different beliefs. I don’t like fundies. Period. The OP asked a question. I answered it. You’re a fucking loon.
Ibn Warraq, Jews for Jesus aren’t actually Jews. It’s a Christian group dedicated to converting Jews.
I fail to see how this:
can be interpreted as meaning this:
And here it starts, just as Trinopus predicted. Then Guinastasia tries (futilely) to soften what she said, as Trinopus also predicted:
Asshole believers who sic their children on me deserve to deal with the fallout, if they didn’t prepare the kid for rejection.
I don’t disillusion my friends’ kids about Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy. Or Jesus. When they prime those kids with the expectation that everyone knows about it, or will instantly accept it, the instant they hear about it, and anyone who would deny it must be whatever equivalent to ‘is an asshole’ they use for their kids (instead of the ‘A’ word), that’s where I draw the line. You have every right to fill your kids’ heads with ‘visions of sugarplums’, ‘Tooth Fairies’, ‘Santa Claus’, Jesus, the son of YHWH, or whatever else you want. Not my issue (from the legal definition of descent), not my problem. When you’re (the generic ‘you’, here) crying because I didn’t tell your bastard the same thing you told him, about things that are obvious bullshit, it becomes your problem to pick up the wreckage of the beliefs you put in your bastard’s head. Not my problem, fuck-you very much.
It’s ok. I figured as much and wasn’t too sad.
Is the 2nd paragraph an example of the first? To show me up as an uppity know it all who didn’t know so much after all - in this case about Einstein’s religious belief?
I don’t really know or care too much either way. I grew up going to church but now I go much less frequently. I’ve been through Sunday School, sermons, youth groups, bible studies, etc. My take on it is - a universal truth should be much easier to grasp and attainable to all mankind than it is.
The basic laws of love thy neighbor and the golden rule are all fine but once you get past the generalities it gets way too complicated.
Also, the holy-land-centric-ness of the Bible is another huge turn-off.
I’m justifiably arrogant about many things, but atheism is just… rational. It would be like being arrogant over one’s knowledge of arithmetic.
Are ya sure about that, or does your reading comprehension match your resolve? Because I’m pretty clear about not disturbing the delusions of believers in real life, and go along with whatever fairy tale keeps them genial and non-violent.
nm
You could’ve fooled me. I don’t believe that for a second.
No, to have a belief, whether it be a belief in god or a belief that he doesn’t exist, requires effort. The theists are sorta right when they say that atheism is a belief system of its own because atheists have given the topic a solid think and came to a conclusion. Not having a belief, and not caring that you don’t, requires no effort whatsoever. It’s just, “Don’t know; don’t care; pass the ham, please.”
Yeah, and you will notice that I realized that and tried to weasel out of the trap I’d made near the end. 
But tossing them a chewed-up bone to shut them up does not require me to abandon my theological principles because, well, I don’t have any and don’t care that I don’t. For me it’s insignificant. They may read more into it, but I don’t really care.
And yes, I see the incongruity of me putting any effort whatsoever into describing my lack of a theology, but I’m used to it. After all, I am both an agnostic and a Lutheran, like Jman. I’m just not a very good Lutheran.
Really? Because you sounded like clerks are beneath your notice. I joke about despising everyone else, but I at least make an effort to [del]show[/del] feign some concern for their wellbeing, if only to discourage them from overcharging me, spitting in my food, or videotaping my campaign speeches. It’s just civilized. And smart.
And I assume you choose your battles and have learned to not correct people’s addition when it doesn’t affect the amount of change you get.
No. Wait. Nobody on this board could resist that. Okay, you wouldn’t correct some Star Wars fan’s use of “parsec” as a unit of time.
Nope, not that one either.
Okay, I’m at a loss coming up with an example of anything that a proper Doper would not get arrogant, or at least corrective, over, but there must be something.
And Troppus? You’re just being a dick to Guin. You are letting your dislike for her blind you to the good points she’s made. It makes you look childish and petty and reduces the effect of your own good arguments.
Well, I’ve mocked people for faulty arithmetic, I’m sure…
Typos, too, if they were funny.
So you think you’re better than them, you arrogant, elitist so-and-so?
Anything funny that I say is actually a typo, so I hope you’ll be kind.