# The Happy Heretic wants to debate a Christian **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003 "2003-06-11T00:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/141 "2003-07-02T05:39:09Z")
[Yeah.](http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/madalyn.htm#OHAIR) Not that it’s a hard-and-fast thing; I’m not saying O’Hair was a closet theist or anything. Just my impression (and personal experience) that people secure in their own beliefs tend to not be as hostile to others’. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/142 "2003-07-02T05:40:02Z")
tracer- I don’t think Madalyn was. From what I recall of her son William’s account- her family weren’t actively religious but not really hostile to it either, just generally dysfunctional. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/143 "2003-07-02T05:52:45Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean, swans cheat. Swans! They even steal each other’s eggs to raise as their own. Nasty birds, swans. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/144 "2003-07-02T08:04:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*Not trying to put you down **Mangetout** , but if Judith paraphrases, really, _really_ badly, it could be you. > \*\* It could be, but it isn’t; Bill is one of the ‘washouts’ that she mentioned to me in an earlier email - this is Bill and Bob: > [@](#): > > I’m in the unusual position of having accepted two debating partners and having them both wash out rather quickly. One Christian told me that the concepts of a “soul” and “heaven” were not necessarily part of Christianity! Sheesh! The other seemed very bright and honest and eager, but I haven’t heard a word in over a week. She did mention in one of her more recent emails that the pressure was off as we had until August, so maybe I’ll warrant a mention next month, not that it worries me either way. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/145 "2003-07-02T09:48:54Z")
Of course it could be the case that Judith is merely honouring my expressed preference regarding publication of ‘all or none’ of our dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/146 "2003-07-04T01:33:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Apos \* > \*\*They even steal each other’s eggs to raise as their own. Nasty birds, swans. \*\* Hmmm … that sounds a little odd. From an evolutionary standpoint, the swans that steal other swans’ eggs and raise the chicks as their own are wasting an awful lot of effort feeding and caring for genes that aren’t their own. Perhaps they only steal the eggs of other swans that are closely related to them (e.g. first cousins), so that at least some small fraction of their own genome will be in the chicks? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/147 "2003-07-04T08:07:09Z")
Can we get a citation on that **Apos**? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/148 "2003-08-05T16:10:40Z")
Pardon the beating of a dead horse here, but Judith Hayes (the Happy Heretic) has posted the long-awaited **Part 2** of her rendition of her debate with Patrick the Christian: [http://www.thehappyheretic.com/current.htm](http://www.thehappyheretic.com/current.htm) (The above URL should be good through the end of this month.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003/149 "2003-08-06T13:00:57Z")
Still no mention of me at all… interesting, isn’t it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-happy-heretic-wants-to-debate-a-christian/181003.md?page=7)