I think if the religious nuts will quit making leading threads about some stupid slant, it would die to a whimper. The arguments are generally a product of a religious person trying to convince the atheists that he is correct .
Here I got a brand new slant that proves there is god. What do you think? Will you become a catholic now? Fuck no. Been there ,done that.
Such would tend to permit the “tough love” of torture, then, would it not?
It’s wonderful to see that Jesus has returned for his birthday.
Perhaps gunpowder instead of dynamite? I’m pretty sure that no Catholic priests have been burned at the stake in Britain since 1866.
Nope. Jesus preached about turning the other cheek and judge not lest you be judged.
Among other things - why are you giving the cafeteria version of Christianity? Did you not see the cite you requested?
Jesus preached a lot of things (presuming he actually existed) and only a small part were sunshine and roses, Sparky.
Most likely gunpowder, yes. Some big boomy blasty thing that goes kablammo when it gets torched. 
Expand on what you mean by “welcoming.” Am I supposed to pretend I agree with something I don’t agree with? Am I just supposed to sit quietly by, in a forum designed to debate ideas? And what do you mean by “tolerance?” No one’s stopping anyone from whatever it is they believe. Pointing out flaws and outright contradictions in that belief is not intolerant.
I don’t get upset, I just don’t say it or respond to it. People think that makes me rude, but I think it makes me consistent. I don’t say anything regarding other bodily functions, so I treat sneezes the same!
I never had a crisis of faith because I never believed. All the same, I still wonder how it is that in the 21st century in an industrialized nation with all we know of science, mathematics, physics, cosmology, geology and paleontology anyone could still actually believe a religion. I just don’t understand how it’s possible for a rational adult to believe in any sort of god.
I personally cannot see why religion should be afforded any kind of automatic respect. I agree with Douglas Adams, as it were.
Very well, then. The next time someone makes the claim that God exists, it will be in the non-vacuum of the SDMB where the positive statement that he does not has been made and no cite should be requested.
Then you should have no problem giving me that cite.
Except that’s not a positive claim, it’s the default position.
Other default positions that do not require proof are:
Unicorns do not exist.
Zeus does not exist.
Thor dos not exist.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster does not exist.
Vogons do not exist.
Santa Claus does not exist.
Regardless of where you are, the claim that something does exist is the positive claim and the one that has to be proven by evidence.
So is democracy the way some people take it. It’s that “my way by right or might” that is the true evil in the world. It can be religion, government systems, race, sexual preference, which end of the egg to crack or whatever. That fervor to crush people who are different just for being different.
The responsibility lays with each of us to say no to it. I admit some popular religions are from paragons of tolerance and virtue usually but some are. Aside from making you long for modern hats as cool as the guy on the oat meal box what have the Quakers ever done to you? How about the Amish? Have you ever been harassed by a Buddhist? Adventists in my experience are usually pretty cool with agnosticism.
It’s up to each of us Atheist and Theist alike to coexist. They have no right to harass you for your skepticism, but you owe them the same courtesy for their faith.
I do take umbrage with this position. I have seen him and spoken with him on occasion. I, for one, think he’s a very nice man and I refuse to listen to your pish-posh about his non-existence. Next, you’ll be telling me that The King is dead.
are the luckiest Christians…
in the worrlllld…
So what you’re saying is, Communism isn’t really a political system, because it doesn’t meet your definition of a political system.
Uh huh, and I’m sure you’ve got the kilt on and the porridge unsugared.
I’m rarely sure what DT is saying, but in this particular case, comparing communism to organized religion isn’t really a stretch. It’s not that communism is religious, or religion is communist, but that they both describe a power structure based on tenuous reason and which can be both ruthless in purging what each defines as heresy, and rewarding to those who advance through ruthlessness.
They were charbroiled for a lot less reasons than the things they did to altar boys in the 20th century. They quit too soon.
I feel obliged to point out that the Old Testament includes explicit endorsements of the rape of captive women. Here’s a cite:
That is explicitly the Lord God of Hosts sanctioning rape. Slightly more ambiguous is this:
Why, that’s exactly the sort of deity I want to take my moral guidance from. Only in reverse.
Post 94 mate, it’s a fast moving thread.