I don’t think hatred is the biggest problem for people like Der Trihs (& honestly, me). It’s generalization. Not everyone in the grip of delusion is really that evil. Once I was one of them, you know, & I had some pretty obnoxious attitudes.
I have to remember that, & not react with horror to those who are pretty much the same as I was when I was younger.
Why would you say that?
Nothing I do will win their trust. It’s not my rhetoric that makes them distrust me.
And wouldn’t want their children to marry us and regard us as immoral. How is regarding us as evil NOT hating us?
Their beliefs are stupid. Calling their beliefs stupid, and them fools for believing in such things IS giving them the respect they deserve.
For that matter, I don’t go into threads where people are talking about their dead friend or relative or pet and rant about how they aren’t in heaven but are just corpses.
Ah. So basically someone who goes around harassing people at funerals is morally superior to someone who argues with people in a medium meant for that purpose. And I’d be a better person if I went around to funerals screaming insults at people. :rolleyes:
YES!
That is exactly what I meant…well played sir.
For me, the best part of the Road to Damascus was when Bob was trying to sneak out of town wearing the fez, while Bing and Carmen Miranda were performing the “Hot Night In The Harem” number.
Boss, from my viewpoint, you and I are nowhere near DT and Phelps, let alone Satan. On the other side of the scale, nobody here is a saint either, but I know I haven’t condemned large numbers of the populace lately…it’s kind of a pet peeve of mine…because generalizations are generally wrong (including this one).
Which word choice?
Hey, I provided the cite of the hate (in the first person) for both people. Apples to apples. You provided a Wikipedia page that reads more as a biography of just one of the people…Apples and oranges…makes for a good fruit salad, but not a good comparison.
Missed the edit window…
ETA: The quotes from Phelps himself that are inside the Wikipedia page are valid though.
Why do so many of you think Der Trihs has any interest in converting people to atheism, or convincing them that their religious feelings are delusions. He says what he believes, and defends his viewpoints. So what if people are unable or unwilling to learn from that? He is under no obligation and seems to have no interest in somehow ‘luring’ them onto a more sensible path.
Personally, I think religious faith thrives because most people who are in fact contemptuous of it, are not willing to express that contempt in the interest of avoiding conflict.
I also think many people who profess belief do so because of pressures from their community, and even though they know down deep that it’s all bullshit, they’d rather go along and get along. If there was more vocal opposition to religion and faith in society, perhaps those people would find the courage to remove their own shackles, so to speak.
How is babby Jesus formed? How virgin girl get pragnent?
You provided one cite. I provided another that tells a lot more about the hate and horrible things that Phelps has said and done that some of us that are familiar with Phelps already know about. That you don’t have more dirt on DT is your problem, not mine.
Since you said “DT is now more comparable to Phred Phelps”, me providing information about one of the people was for comparing apples and apples. It’s your job to back up your claim and find anything that would prove DT to be regarded as hateful as Phelps.
Yeticus Rex, are you suggesting Der Trihs change his beliefs, or conceal them, or lie about them? Or are you claiming that his speech is behavior, and he need to change his behavior regardless of his beliefs?
It’s definitely your rhetoric that makes you untrustworthy.
I don’t care if my elected official believes in an afterlife, and I can think of an atheist or two that I know personally that I would trust with my life. Then again, I also like sugar in my porridge, so what do I know?
In what way?
And of course, the population in general distrusts atheists simply because they are atheists. After all, you can’t be moral without believing in God. :rolleyes:
What I don’t know is what your post means. YOU don’t trust Der Trihs because of his rhetoric, even though there are other atheists you would trust with your life?
I hope but don’t expect to be able to vote for an ‘out’ atheist for president in my lifetime – I mean one who is a major party candidate and has an actual chance to win. I hope that Barack Obama is actually smart enough to be an atheist, and is cynically pandering to the electorate by falsely professing religious faith. And I’m almost ashamed for wishing that he is more hypocrite than believer, but there you have it.
Being a hypocrite about that is better; not admirable, but better. At least the hypocrite is rational; that makes them less dangerous. More likely to recognize the actual consequences of their actions.
You realize that I can’t link a search, but I did give you the directions for generating that link:
One selection from those 497 threads. I find that that quote pure Phlepsian (not in belief, but in delivery), pretty much says it all.
They need to do way instain posters> who kill thier kittehs. becuse these kittehs can’t frigth back? It was on the news this mroing, a pastor in cans who had kill his three kittehs.
The latter. I respect his beliefs, but his hate contained in those beliefs will not serve him well in the long run, because those type of folks usually will need professional help, or will suffer damage emotionally and psychologically.
Again, this thread was about the DT’s hatred, not his actual beliefs.
Honestly, I see no actual hatred in that post you linked to. I see contempt, but not the foaming-at-the-mouth frothing spittle-flecked hatred he would need to even be considered Phelps-like. I think your sensitivity is turned up pretty high here.
One of the things that I think make the religious folk around here uncomfortable about DT is that he thinks that they’re so deluded, he knows them better than they know themselves.
DT: You’d vote to put all the gay people in concentration camps if you had the chance!
Christians: No, we wouldn’t!
DT: Yes, you would! You demonstrate that with your other votes every day! If you weren’t so religiously deluded, you’d see that!
Not in so many words, of course, but no matter who’s right, I can see that as a source of friction between the two groups.