Guys, guys, the world was never flat. As far back as humanity had enough free time to observe and experiment on the world, people have known that the Earth is a sphere. Eratosthenes managed to calculate the circumference of the Earth to a pretty accurate value, considering the times, thousands of years ago. Give us humans a little more credit!
But it does make the lickle babby jeesus cwy.
Hate is a very defining attribute of a person just as much as a person who could be religious or non-religious. When I first saw DT’s posts, I used to see hateful posts from a non-religious poster, but now more recently (since the drum has been beaten to a hollow ring of metal), I now see non-religious posts from a hateful person. To me, DT is now more comparable to Phred Phelps, another hateful person, but with a different view towards religion. The hate has overtaken the viewpoint (valid or non-valid…doesn’t matter) of the person…they just become the screeching animals in the background of a huge jungle, selectively ignored after the hundredth repetitive screech.
Not good company. We could do better without either.
I can’t speak for all atheists over the last three millenia, but my best friend went from a Biblical literalist to a strong atheist over the course of a year or so through people being calm, collected, and respectful when discussing these things with him.
For those that are familiar with DT’s posts regarding religion but not familiar with the views of Fred Phelps, here is his Wikipedia page. You can decide for yourself if this is a fair comparison.
More comparable to Phred than what?
Sure, DT is more comparable to Phred than Martin Luther King is, but that doesn’t mean the gap between DT and Phred are all that close.
By the way, if you’re going to use his full name, it’s kinda silly to use Phred. It’s like writing Pterry Pratchett.
Maybe it isn’t necessarily the religion you need to show respect for, or even a person’s beliefs. It is the person themselves that deserve the respect (well, in regards to their beliefs anyway)
Uhmm, it´s rather the point that their belief doesn´t deserve respect, while the person might.
So I don´t get the
This comparison might have the tiniest smidgen of validity if Der Trihs spent his life going around to the funerals of dead Christians, holding up signs that insult the deceased, and yelling at the mourners that there is no heaven, and that the corpse in the box is just going to rot in the ground like he deserves.
He doesn’t, so your comparison is crap.
I think a belief can deserve respect. But I’m using “belief” with the strict Aristotlean meaning. A belief, classically, is a conviction based upon experience. It is hard for me not to respect that. A person and his/her life experiences are one and the same.
You are missing my point…the views fade into the background while the hate in the message moves to the foreground…that is where my comparison is. It not about the views anymore, but the hatred in the views presented.
BTW: Phelps didn’t write his own Wikipedia page and DT doesn’t have a Wikipedia page specific to him…but for a true comparison, just go directly to http://www.godhatesfags.com/ for Fred and then do a SDMB search for Keyword: “Religion”, User Name: “Der Trihs”, and choose “Any Date” to find the 497 threads he participated in…that’s the comparison I’m talking about.
Virtually any other Doper on this board.
Um, you’re kinda making my point. MLK had an excellent delivery in his view, where DT and Phred are more focused on their venomous deliveries, rather than their individual message itself.
So used to seeing Phred rather than Fred on this board.
But that’s merely Phelps without the courage of his convictions. DT is a coward, who settles for spewing his hatred on message boards.
Notwithstanding whether Fantome sees your point, I do. It’s a lot like the Republicans who have lost their way, as they say. Their hatred for the President has consumed their ideology such that now the ideology comes from the hate.
See my post above. Hate is hate. DT stands by his words regardless if he acted on them or just posted on them…He is comparable to Phelps, and his act is just about as tiresome.
Yeah, exactly…there’s been quite a bit of that going around lately. Forest from the trees and all that.
I had to expand on this:
MLK had such an excellent delivery of his views, that some people actually felt threatened by them, while fewer sought out his death, and one succeeded in killing him. Millions carried on his views and strengthened the civil rights for all Americans. His delivery of his views converted the masses.
Phelps feels that some vengeful God will do his bidding and tries to intimidate people into believing it. Some brained-washed family members and kids holding signs are his only followers. His hatred is not converting the masses. But many folks are waiting for him to take a dirtnap, and do their best to ignore him.
DT message is well-known by all here on the boards. His message is not converting anyone, but his delivery is turning off a great number of religious and non-religious alike. His hatred is not converting the masses. I don’t think anyone here wants him dead, but most here are trying very hard to ignore him.
If you want to change the worldview for the better, then hatred is not a great tactic. As others have said, it just creates further resistance.
I didn’t miss any point. One can decide for themselves based on DT’s posts here and the Wikipedia page I linked to if your comparison is valid or not. I don’t see why you think I missed your point.
Again, one can decide for himself if DT’s hate for people or religion compares to Phelps’. And then they can conclude how ridiculous your comparison is.
So what? Do you believe it’s inaccurate?
You have a beautiful worldview. This needs to be repeated, over and over again.
No, you missed my point. I’m more comparable to Phred than to MLK, as are you. Doesn’t mean we’re anything like him, just that on the scale of Saint to Satan there’s less distance between us.
But mainly I was just making fun of your word choice.
MrDibble – gee, so everyone in the military should just up and go AWOL, eh? (BTW, how did Der Trihs feel about the initial conflict in Afghanistan, against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, after September 11?)
(No, if you look at the *, that was related to my initial comments about Curtis)
I know people refer to her as “Queen Silvia”, but I was mentioning addressing a monarch. (Unless you DO address her as “Queen Silvia” – I’m not as familiar with the Swedish monarchy)
Czarcasm, so it’s the excluded middle, eh? Either a total zealot, or a complete doormat?