I believe that this illustrates an interesting aspect of this little tempest. I put something in a thread that implied that it was a fact, but it wasn’t a fact, so it didn’t add anything to the discussion. Ok. A transgression of board etiquette. And, it was, yes, snide. But I think I’m being called an asshole because of the content of my comment. It’s almost impossible to find a thread in which someone *doesn’t *add a comment that’s irrelevant off topic. But this particular comment elicited hateful talk. For me, and maybe for others, it illustrates the the fervid and irrational ardor that some believers evince, and which, for me, makes them look foolish and deserving of ridicule. It is, apparently, raining on their parade. Hey, don’t take it so seriously if someone snidely questions your beliefs. Can’t they exist in the same room as doubt?
CC, you realize that a *lot *of the people who were saying you were completely out of line are atheists, right? Like me.
The question was not, “*Is *there an afterlife?” The question was, “What is group X’s *belief about *the afterlife?” Similarly, if I were to ask someone, “What time are is your friend April performing in that play at the RenFaire,” you would also be an asshole to butt in with, “Women weren’t allowed to be actors during the Renaissance.” It’s completely fucking irrelevant to the discussion.
If you can’t understand the distinction, you’re too fucking stupid to post here.
anytime someoen counter’s stoid’s endless stream of bs, the world is more enlightened, if only to let others know by leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that the world hasn’t rolled over under her stream of conciousnes nonsense.
this is precisely the sort of “logic” that can not go unassailed.
“Everyone”? Really? So no one can ever change their minds on this matter, and “everyone” is born with their mind already decided this way or that?
Oh!
You were using hyperbole, not “facts” to support bullshit, just like Stoid.
I get it now!
Perhaps because our parade is being rained on all the time? And that many (not all, but more than enough…) believers are working hard to convince us all that our country is really a Christian theocracy designed by the Founding Fathers gone horribly wrong, but increasingly within their grasp to “correct”.
But, as the thread itself showed, lots of Jews believe precisely that - there is no afterlife. How is stating that offtopic or threadshitting when the actual question is “What do Jews believe about the afterlife”?
Of course, the onus is on those who make assertions to the positive to support them with some sort of evidence. “There is an afterlife,” requires evidence to prove it or even to support it. Since no one, not even the Great Master (Cecil), can prove a negative, it’s not incumbent upon him to try. “There is NOT an afterlife” can not be proven, of course, but so what. You cannot “definitively declare” that there is no Santa Claus, either. Or Flying Spahgetti Monsters. Or faithful dragons. So what? The burden of proof is on those who claim that those things DO exist. And when they get their undies in a bunch because someone faceciously suggests otherwise, they look pretty damned silly.
You really are fucking dense, you know that?
Look, I’m an atheist, and I am 99.999% sure there is no afterlife, but I had no trouble participating in the thread in a non-obnoxious way. Especially since it was a GQ thread. If there was a thread about ancient Egyptian religious beliefs would you have felt the need to remind us that Isis and Osiris were myths?
Look, when someone tells us to accept Jesus, and we say we don’t believe, or have the nerve of publishing a book about lack of belief, we get accused of being evangelical atheists. I practice a no first-use policy. If someone comes to my door evangelizing, I’ll tell them politely I’m not interested. If they continue, I give them both logical barrels. it has served me well.
Because he didn’t offer it as what Jews believe.
Do you also defend Dio when he doesn’t put “In my opinion” in front of his more inflammatory opinions? Or do you get mad at him like everyone else?
As for this topic, all it means to me is that people are the same, no matter what they believe. You knew the comment would insult people, and you did it anyway. Not unlike the religious people you decry who will tell you about Jesus when you don’t want them to.
I just want to thank every single one of you sanctimonious writers for the lovely lessons in manners you’re providing. If I want to become a better human being, I’ll just refer to your comments for guidance. Terrific. The first lesson will focus on name-calling. Nice job, above.
How on earth is this what I said?
If you can produce one person whose mind was changed as a result of CC coming along and posting “There is no afterlife” in that particular thread, I will eat the ludcrous object of your choice.
If by “fucking dense” you mean “precisely correct”, I’m with you. Hell it’s possible, you wootards redefine words at will constantly. I’ll give you this, though, unlike Her Stoidness, Queen of the Nonsensical, your idiocy is at least succinct.
Fine, then maybe you can explain to me how “There is no afterlife” is an answer to “What do Jews believe about the afterlife?”
It’s like someone asks a question about the plot of A Christmas Carol and someone else comes in to announce that ghosts don’t exists. Sure it’s true, but it’s so superficially related to the topic as to be useless in advancing the discussion.
But, but, ghosts don’t exist! You can’t prove they do! You’re just saying that because you want to believe in woo. Woooooooo!
Your interpretation is wrong.
People were pissed at you for threadshitting. It had nothing to do with the subject matter.
Oops
In the post you quoted when calling him dense, CC was replying directly to another poster talking about whether an afterlife was possible. Nothing to do with Jews or
Dickens. For that matter, “There is no afterlife” is a perfectly correct answer to the question “What do Jews believe about the afterlife?”, at least for many Jews (although I doubt that was his point in the original thread). I’ll refrain from insulting you again, your reading skills are so poor I doubt you’d understand.
“There may be an afterlife. If there is, it is outwith existence as we know it”
Seem fair enough to you?
Really?
Yes, really. How about reading the thread this fucking thread comes from? You know, the one that starts “If Jews don’t believe in the afterlife…”
Back to the OP of this thread, pointing out that all religion is bullshit and lies is always appropriate on a board dedicated to fighting ignorance. Religion is the most dangerous thing in the world today, and in depth discussion of the particulars of any given religion merely legitimises it. In the pit, fair enough, or Cafe Society where it can be treated like the fiction it is, but it’s a shame it’s allowed in GQ or GD.
I suspect this will not be a popular opinion…