# Don't Ask ----- Don't Answer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997 "2007-05-06T17:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/21 "2007-05-06T22:32:14Z")
[QUOTE= Der Trihs] Yeah, the difference between arguing on a message board and mass murder is just an “implementation issue”. Typical religious “Atheists are the Devil !” reasoning. [/QUOTE] Stop trying to make this about atheists. It’s about YOU. I know plenty of atheists who are capable of reasoned debate. I know plenty of atheists who are meticulous about maintaining a belief system free from implications of divine intervention. I know plenty of atheists who work actively in the political arena to maintain and increase the secular stance of our laws and our governmental system. That you are none of these things has nothing to do with your beliefs, it has to do with you as a person. In no way do I think that intolerance, closed-mindedness, ignorant arrogance, incoherent/_reductio ad absurdum_/broad-brushed debating tactics, or shrill self-identification as victim are traits endemic to atheism as a belief system or atheists as a group of people. They are, however, accurate descriptors of YOU as you have protrayed yourself on this board. It’s about YOU, not your belief system or others who may share it. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/22 "2007-05-06T22:43:59Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Scrappy Hero Pup] The difference between you and the Crusaders is that you don’t have a sword and access to enough friends with swords. Other than implementation issues, you’re pretty much congruent. [/QUOTE] This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read. It has all the overwrought sillyness of the worst Der Trihs comments. Good job, dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/23 "2007-05-06T23:01:54Z")
[QUOTE= miss elizabeth] This is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read. [/QUOTE] OK, this, I could handle, especially given the source. [QUOTE= miss elizabeth] It has all the overwrought sillyness of the worst Der Trihs comments. [/QUOTE] But that- that’s just hitting below the belt, even by Pit standards. For shame. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/24 "2007-05-06T23:10:58Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] What if we skip the suggestions and go straight to the definitive? It saves time, if nothing else. [/QUOTE] Cite? Talk about bigotry. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/25 "2007-05-07T04:41:23Z")
I’m shocked, shocked to find that some people on the SDMB are “rude, pompous and ignorant” towards religious people. Don’t take them seriously; they don’t know any better. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/26 "2007-05-07T07:35:00Z")
I thought that was a great line. It made me laugh and hungry for eggs all at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/27 "2007-05-07T12:12:01Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Yeah, the difference between arguing on a message board and mass murder is just an “implementation issue”. Typical religious “Atheists are the Devil !” reasoning. [/QUOTE] He didn’t say anything about athiests being evil, he called you a dick. See the difference? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/28 "2007-05-07T13:31:53Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Damn. Stole my thunder. 😛 [/QUOTE] Don’t you mean “our” thunder? **Der Trihs** , let me try to help you out here. When it comes to viewing religion as irrational, silly, and often dangerous, I’m right there with you. But the difference is I know plenty of religious people who, despite believing in something I find irrational, are otherwise rational, intelligent, and kind. I am free to disagree with their philosophy, but in doing so I am not compelled to attack them as people. You, on the other hand, don’t seem to have this capacity. You don’t seem to be able to discuss religion without saying anything more than “You’re a fucking idiot.” People generally don’t take kindly to that. Dude, and I say this as a friend: Get out. Go to CS and discuss your favorite band. Go to GQ and ask how they put the cream filling in Twinkies. Go to IMHO and seek opinions on whether your new pants make you ass look fat. Anything. But until you learn to discuss religion without hurling mindless invective, stay out of threads like these. Please. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/29 "2007-05-07T13:49:18Z")
Has anyone, anywhere, ever had a useful discussion about religion with **Der Trihs**? No? Why are we still trying? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/30 "2007-05-07T14:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Cite? Talk about bigotry. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s right, I’m bigoted against the irrational. Every weekend, me and a bunch of friends get drunk and burn a wooden sigma on the lawn of a Jehovah’s Witness. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/31 "2007-05-07T14:21:23Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/32 "2007-05-07T14:39:43Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I hate Christians because they don’t provide links to whateverthefuck threads they’re pitting. Damn Jesus freaks! [/QUOTE] Nice spin on the obligatory “fuck!” ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/33 "2007-05-07T15:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=Wolfian] Okay, assume you’re 100% correct (do I really have to tell you to do that?). Assume that all religion is bunk and religious people are fools/brainwashed/whatever. Assuming that the brainwashed fools fully believe in this religion shouldn’t the choice be difficult? Say I asked you to stick your hand in an open flame. You’d probably refuse as you would get physically burned. The brainwashed fools have a similar problem. Going against one’s religion would result in a spiritual burn. That sounds like nonsense _to you_ but is deadly serious _to them_. [/QUOTE] But there is ‘spiritual’ burn. It’s different in every case, and some people might not have it at all, but there are always going to be effects from deep seated beliefs. It’s psychological, and isn’t necessarily big and flashy. Any time your beliefs and your rational mind conflict there can be problems. I was raised Catholic. I am now an atheist. It took a long time for this change to occur. Even now, sitting here secure in my conclusion about religion’s claims, I still have voices in my brain from when I was little, threatening me with hell, telling me to pray when I hear an ambulance, insisting that Sunday is somehow special, etc. These things were beaten into me when I was growing up, and I might never get rid of them no matter what I do. I know others who have similar problems. I ever know people who were Catholic, got out of it, and got back into and now are worried that they’re going to hell no matter what cuz of what it says in the bible. There’s at least one psychologist I’ve heard of who specializes in helping people who were traumatized by religion as a child, especially in cases dealing with fear of hell. Oh, and I’m with Der Trihs on this. There is just as much rationality about believing in the Christian god as there is with believing in Zeus or Ra or Vishnu or the Tao or kami or whatever. Fortunately for religions, rationality rarely enters into it, as humans are perfectly capable of functioning without it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/34 "2007-05-07T15:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Damn. Stole my thunder. 😛 [/QUOTE] Yeah, but being Thor about it is jutht thilly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/35 "2007-05-07T17:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] I ever know people who were Catholic, got out of it, and got back into and now are worried that they’re going to hell no matter what cuz of what it says in the bible. [/QUOTE] Which is what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/36 "2007-05-07T17:47:18Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Which is what, exactly? [/QUOTE] [Mark 3:29](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%203:29;&version=31;) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/37 "2007-05-07T18:01:27Z")
[QUOTE=hotflungwok] [Quote=Liberal] Which is what, exactly? [/quote] [Mark 3:29](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%203:29;&version=31;) [/QUOTE] If they have decided to return to the RCC, anyway, they might want to talk to a priest to alleviate their doubts. The RCC generally treats “blaspheming against the spirit” as despair, not badmouthing the Ghost. The church has never approved of apostasy, of course, but it has welcomed back apostates (with a lot of tut-tutting and “shame on you” expressions, of course) as early as the first century and nowadays is more likely to point to [Luke 15:11-32](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015:11-32;&version=31;) rather than Mark 3:29, when welcoming back a person who had left. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/38 "2007-05-07T19:32:21Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] If they have decided to return to the RCC, anyway, they might want to talk to a priest to alleviate their doubts. The RCC generally treats “blaspheming against the spirit” as despair, not badmouthing the Ghost. The church has never approved of apostasy, of course, but it has welcomed back apostates (with a lot of tut-tutting and “shame on you” expressions, of course) as early as the first century and nowadays is more likely to point to [Luke 15:11-32](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2015:11-32;&version=31;) rather than Mark 3:29, when welcoming back a person who had left. [/QUOTE] Shrug, contradictions like that are one of the reasons I got out and don’t see myself going back anytime soon. Not every Catholic priest I knew would favor your passage over mine. I knew a few who positively enjoyed condemning. When it comes down to it, interpretation is up to the individual. When my brother caught religion again he used to use the passage I quoted like a hammer, repeating it over and over expecting that I would just suddenly understand and stop being an athiest. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/39 "2007-05-07T20:00:27Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Yes, because arguing with people on a message board is just as irrational as conquering people and chopping them up with swords. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s quite a bit _more_ irrational than having at people with swords. At least when you conquer someone and chop them to bits, you get something out of it: all the stuff that used to belong to the chopped up people. On the other hand, you’ve spent two years here trying to be as big a dick as you can to anyone who remotely disagrees with you on any conceivable subject. What, precisely, has that effort gained you? Have you managed to convince anyone that you’re right about God? Or America? Or the morality of the armed forces? Have you actually accomplished anything for those causes, other than to bring them discredit through your association with them? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997/40 "2007-05-07T20:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] He didn’t say anything about athiests being evil, he called you a dick. See the difference? [/QUOTE] He accused me of wanting to kill thousands or millions of people, but that I didn’t have the power. THAT is accusing me of being evil. [QUOTE=tdn] **Der Trihs** , let me try to help you out here. When it comes to viewing religion as irrational, silly, and often dangerous, I’m right there with you. But the difference is I know plenty of religious people who, despite believing in something I find irrational, are otherwise rational, intelligent, and kind. I am free to disagree with their philosophy, but in doing so I am not compelled to attack them as people. You, on the other hand, don’t seem to have this capacity. You don’t seem to be able to discuss religion without saying anything more than “You’re a fucking idiot.” People generally don’t take kindly to that. [/quote] First, that’s the core problem of religon; it **is** stupid, and crazy. And as I point out above, THEY call me evil. I see no reason to be polite to people who more often than not think I’m a monster on the order of Hitler, just because I’m an atheist. **Especially** in the Pit. I have no desire to play punching bag under the standard “Atheists be nice, theists lie, threaten and insult” rules". [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-ask-dont-answer/402997.md?page=3)