No, no – he’s the Anti-Cecil.
It’s just that people who are particularly outspoken about a particular subject are often taken to be representative of people who share that opinion, especially when they’re the only person with that opinion making their voice heard. I used to be a lot more like badchad because I was only exposed to religion through the pronouncements of folks like Falwell and Pat Robertson, and I didn’t know any practicing Christians in real life. So I assumed that was how all Christians thought and acted. Of course, I was also fourteen at the time, which had a lot to do with it as well.
As I mentioned previously, atheists can be particularly vulnerable to this because there’s not usually much reason to mention that you’re an atheist, unless you’re being an asshole about it. I don’t talk about God much at all IRL, and only occasionally here on the boards, essentially for the same reason I don’t talk much about Harry Potter: it’s not a subject that interests me, and I don’t feel the need to thread crap on people who are interested in it by running up and saying, “There is no such thing as God, and you’re all dumb for thinking he does!” In my experience, this is how most atheists act. They’re atheists at least in part because they don’t really care about God or religion. However, there are a few atheists like badchad who revel in doing just that. badchad posts on this board for no other reason but to tell people who disagree with him on religion how stupid they are. Now, there are a lot of people in this country who don’t have any first hand experience with atheists. If the only time they’re exposed to atheist thought is when some immature jerk wad like badchad pisses all over their cherished beliefs while howling with glee, they’re likely to form the impression that all atheists are like that. Then, if they know me, and for some reason I happen to disclose that I’m an atheist, they’re going to think I’m just like badchad, and react to me accordingly. Since I’d like to think I’m nothing at all like badchad, this prospect bothers me greatly. Which is why I really, really wish badchad would shut up and go away: because he makes atheists in general look bad.
Miller spoke to this exactly as I meant it. Most people see the most outspoken person of a group as representative of that group. It’s not always fair or accurate, but it’s true nonetheless, and so should be taken into account by such outspoken folk.
The cherry-picking that bothers me is the exclusionary sort practiced by rabid fundamentalists. The inclusionary sort that nameless spoke of earlier doesn’t bother me in the least.
And this is why I don’t understand your defense of someone who thinks ‘Jesus was a cunt’ is cute.
My youngest children (ages 4 & 6) attend Sunday services with my parents. They like the story about the good Samaritan and singing the songs. I don’t have a problem with it, and neither encourage it nor discourage it. Hell, they’ve got the rest of their lives to turn cynical like me.
No, but if you could help me convice the First Fundy that God doesn’t have a problem with us smoking a little cannabis, I’d appreciate it.
Has chad yet posted in a thread that wasn’t about religion or himself? Even one comment about Star Trek would do.
(Aside to RedFury) What would happen if you made a pact with yourself to speak only the truth around your nephew and your sister? Your sister might be pissed, but how would you feel? (I don’t really expect an answer here.)
He has mentioned the names of some philosophers and the titles of some books. Maybe he has quoted from those books or even made comments on their content. But the general content of his posts do not reflect a well-read mind or one who understands nuance and subtlety. I’ve seen no signs of skillful analysis. There is untrained and undisciplined potential.
See Post #138
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” - the Rev. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Besides, I don’t believe in consistency. Insist if you want to, but it’s a battle that you will lose.
That question wasn’t directed at me, but the comment is ironic. In your posts you have written single sentences that would have resulted in an automatic F on any freshman English papers where I went to school. (Five mistakes earned you a flag.)
Here are some of the abominations from this thread alone:
That is one sentence!
Anyone can make mistakes. I make them in my posts all the time and it bugs the hell out of me. But at least I had the good sense to quit teaching when I lost my ability to concentrate.
In my opinion, you are not a member of the profession. I could be mistaken, but I don’t think so. I’ve never known a fellow English teacher that was this rabid, this gullible, and this undisciplined – all in one package.
In order for you or badchad to appear to “score any points,” you have to mischaracterize what has actually transpired. Examples of this are denying that another person has provided a source and making up quotations altogether. Your strawmen are sad evidence that you don’t have any real arguments.
Personally the things you mention here make no difference to me at all. I’d wager that to many Christians they are not the crucial details even if they tend to believe them. For me the important bits are when Jesus talks about our relationship with each other. The sermon on the mount and things like that.
In the thread about Christian prosperity** BadChad ** quotes select verses to “prove” Jesus wanted all good Christians to give up any personal wealth. Several posters and I made the argument that passages indicate that personal wealth while obviously very tempting was not prohibited by Jesus as long as serving God and your fellow man was your first priority. Whenever I pointed out verses that supported my position he declared them unclear or avoided a direct response about them, while insisting his own verses had to be taken literally and proved his interpretation was the only viable one. Are you beginning to see the fundamentalist correlation. When he posted that he didn’t interpret and that “if you disagree with me you’re disagreeing with Jesus” I was dumbfounded. I mean really, does that sound like a Christian fundamentalist talking or what?
Even in this thread he comments on my argument and gets it wrong, completely misstating my point. When I refused to agree he decided that rather than an honest opinion backed up by my own interpretation of scripture it must instead be an indication of my covetousness. That was the personal comment that prompted this mess. To me he is the Bibleman of atheists and as such his arguments are suspect. He makes some sound arguments but who wants to wade through snide personal comments and unyielding disingenuous content to find them?
I spent some time this morning in a class at The First Amendment Center. (Tom, check out the website. Interesting source. My class is with Seigenthaler.) It wouldn’t do for me to want to censor badchad. However, this isn’t government property. On the other hand, it isn’t my property either.
For entry level jerks such as badchad, why not just allow them to stay and continue to post, but change their usernames to really wimpy ones? We could have naming contests. (Oooh. I’m beginning to feel vicious.)
That is exactly the point. Thank you!
You challenge a lot of Bible man’s beliefs. You just don’t challenge his ultimate belief in god, I would suggest, because you hold it too. You don’t challenge the atheists you mention, I would offer because they might then challenge you back, and I don’t think you’re comfortable with that. Hell, you make many of the atheist arguments as well as we do, but answering them would be a different matter.
That’s patently false. I have not held my atheism in the slightest secrecy. When I talk about free will I’m not shy about my beliefs about its impossibility. Time permitting I answer just about anything asked of me.
Can’t he refrain just out of simple politeness? Heck, I’m as much or more of an atheist than you, but I don’t ridicule religious beliefs because it’s rude.
Paranormal beliefs, though, I’ll mulch in a heartbeat.
It wouldn’t be foolish. A prostitute who has sex outside of marriage is not a hypocrite. Jim Baker, who has sex outside of marriage is. The same could be said for a guy who unabashedly drinks pointing out the hypocrisy of a Mormon preacher who tells his congregation to do abstain from alcohol, and then goes home to enjoy his brandy. There is nothing wrong with the non-hypocrite pointing out the hypocrisy in others even if they enjoy some of the same actions.
Bite me.
How is belief in god different than paranormal beliefs? And while we’re at it how can one atheist be more atheist than another atheist? Hmmm Bryan? Answer me that. 
That hits it pretty squarely. I’ve been called a fundamentalist atheist, and evangelical one, etc., and I haven’t heard any good reason for why that is a bad thing. It’s perhaps a bit intolerant of irrational ideas but I see no reason why irrationality should be tolerated, particularly on a message board that’s expressed goal is to fight ignorance.
Search my past discussions with Polycarp or see if you can talk Tomndebb into the discussion. You could also do it personally using all the best theistic arguments you can google.
I can be nice if I want to and often make the effort, but once my opponents start ignoring comments, evading questions, talking down to me, or playing dumb (which is most of the time) I let loose the dogs of war.
Where is the difference? Neither one has any scientific proof. Why do you separate them? Are you saying you decide what is a worth while religious belief and what is just Paranormal? Where do you draw the line?
Jim
I really do not have a problem with you, but Evangelicals of any sort can definitely annoy the heck out of people. I think this might be why so many people would like you to tone it down. Very few people on this board like Fundies of any sort, so if you are self-describing yourself as a Fundie and an evangelical atheist, you should expect the same reaction that a Fundie Christian would get.
Jim
[QUOTE=RedFury]
Fuck it. Not like I give a shit about “popularity” on the SDMB …
[qUOTE]
We know. Trust me, we know. You’re one of the few that have realized that posting to a message board doesn’t do much for or against you in real life.
Some of us have realized that we’d like to be respected for what we may say, and have had to pay (and will for a long time) for things said in the past. We can only trudge on and hope for the best.
Some, though, just come right out and piss on everything hoping to be remembered simply because they were acting in a way that would never be forgotten.
Do us a favor. Before you swallow, measure the volume. We’re suckers for details.
The problem is, you let the wolves out long before the new guests ever showed up at the door.
I have both the biblical knowledge and inclination to point out the irrationality of “liberal Christians” beliefs in particular. I can handle fundamentalists too, but I just don’t find it as much of a challenge. Though I must say, you liberals aren’t so much of one anymore either. Anyway, nobody else on this board can do and/or will do what I do with the follow through. Diogenes I imagine has the knowledge but not the will for it, and it seem there are a few others who would have the will, but just don’t have the familiarity with the bible that I do.
Perhaps then you would like to take on that conversation that Mayo Speaks would like to see. I seem to recall you being pleased with yourself about how you handled the Happy Heretic a few years back. I shouldn’t be too much for you then.
I don’t know if I have argued exactly that. But I will ask what are you arguing? Are you inferring that multiple contradictory and incompatible interpretations can all be correct, or that any one interpretation is as good as any other?
Oh man. Can anyone imagine these two going at it? It could possibly be one of the greatest smackdowns ever on the SDMB. I’m talking right up there with Cervaise’s telemarketer Pit.
There is almost nothing I agree with Dio on. He is fundamentally wrong in everything up to and including the color of a blue sky. But he’d argue the shit out of it without (for the most part) insulting me personally. I can respect that. His online persona isn’t dedicated to pissing people off with the same old shit.
I’m sure your parents were wonderful people, and this is in no way an insult to them. What was the reason for the missed chromosome that prevented you from becoming a human? Just curious.
And seriously. No insult to your parents. It’s something wrong with you. I kinda feel sorry for them.
Old Testament = Eye for an eye.
New Testament = Turn the other cheek.
Once you reconcile those, then you can judge anyone that doesn’t shit on the Bible. I’ve said it before, but you are either too stupid to comprehend it (or the troll that you are), being a Christian isn’t about doing exactly what Jesus would in any given situation.
It’s about t…fuck it. You have your opinion entrenched in stone. What’s the fucking point? Keep on keeping on, my friend. Whatever is making your life so miserable will not be fixed on this board. We can’t fix you. If you can only find satisfaction with being a troll here, more power to you. At least this is relatively harmless. Go ahead and vent.
And fuck off.
Aw, was that not Jesus enough for you? I worship Him, but I’m not really one he would want to hang out with on a weekend. Shit happens, I’m imperfect, whatever. Deal with it. That’s what grown-ups do. Maybe you’ll learn that in a few years when you leave the parent’s basement.