Theology

[SM]

All the people who thought it'd end well...

[ChrisPachi]

[Sabby]

Forgive me if I have zero tolerance for shit like this. You don't hold a Bible and then tell a bi/gay man that "God has nothing against you".

[coolbreeze]

You're taking this thread way to personal..

[KirklandSignature]

You're taking this thread way to too personal..

Sorry I couldn't resist



The bible is a poor choice for a moral compass. Nuff said.

[BANE]

I'm bisexual

Wow, Mr. Greedy. Tut tut.

[DoomRulz]

You're taking this thread way to too personal..

Sorry I couldn't resist



The bible is a poor choice for a moral compass. Nuff said.

While I sympathise to some degree, religion has at least taught people how behave nicely even if it's for the wrong reasons.

[Sabby]

Or it tries to take credit for peoples own morality. You don't spend a few thousand years evolving as a social species without getting a sense of empathy burned into you.

[KirklandSignature]

You're taking this thread way to too personal..

Sorry I couldn't resist



The bible is a poor choice for a moral compass. Nuff said.

While I sympathise to some degree, religion has at least taught people how behave nicely even if it's for the wrong reasons.

It's also taught people to kill and prosecute others who don't share beliefs and to exercise hatred for those who dont conform to their idealogies. However at the same time, I think it's built into the atheist ethos to disparage and ridicule those unfortunate enough to succumb to a mythical belief system but at least we dont kill others. Penn Jillete for example gets a rock hard boner when he gets an opportunity to take down a religionist.

[BANE]

Penn Jillette is an odd choice for an atheist example, as he himself made a living off of deception.

[Sabby]

Dawkins said it well. Ridicule that which is ridiculous.

I don't tear into Theists because it gives me a boner, I tear into them because they are presenting me ridiculous things and saying they are true. They don't even need to enforce it on me, like saying I will go to Hell, to make me take issue with it.

Here's an example. A homeless man wearing foil around his head is talking to you at a bus stop and he tells you that the bus driver on this run is a genetically engineered shapeshifter made with reptilian and ape DNA, and he's part of a slow take over from an Earth that vibrates at a different frequency to ours.

Do you grant this mans opinion respect? No, of course not. You don't need to verbally disagree, but in your head, you've dismissed his claims and don't find him credible.

Now, how is this different from someone telling you the story of The Fall, and that it's the reason you have to tell a man in a dress through an obscuring screen of all the times you wanted to touch yourself, but you have to do a chant first.

The reason we don't treat them the same is that one has wormed it's way into society and become a part of it's background noise. No one questions it, because it's been made a taboo.

I believe that the Theist deserves to be challenged more then the homeless man who believes in Reptilians. The homeless man is funny and harmless, the Theist is part of a destructive system of ignorance that is both powerful and nearly invisible, and the only time it ever seems to change its ways is when it's dragged kicking and screaming into the present day. It's essential we grab this ancient social construct by it's hair and haul it into it's proper place, an outdated relic of human development, societies growing pains.

But no, it's 'rude' to do that now. "Faith is personal" is one of the worst lies we've accepted, and it needs to change.

That is why I challenge Theists as hard as I do.

Penn Jillette is an odd choice for an atheist example, as he himself made a living off of deception.

Honest deception though. A card trick is a deception. It's all about the intent.

[KirklandSignature]

Dawkins said it well. Ridicule that which is ridiculous.

I don't tear into Theists because it gives me a boner, I tear into them because they are presenting me ridiculous things and saying they are true. They don't even need to enforce it on me, like saying I will go to Hell, to make me take issue with it.

Here's an example. A homeless man wearing foil around his head is talking to you at a bus stop and he tells you that the bus driver on this run is a genetically engineered shapeshifter made with reptilian and ape DNA, and he's part of a slow take over from an Earth that vibrates at a different frequency to ours.

Do you grant this mans opinion respect? No, of course not. You don't need to verbally disagree, but in your head, you've dismissed his claims and don't find him credible.

Now, how is this different from someone telling you the story of The Fall, and that it's the reason you have to tell a man in a dress through an obscuring screen of all the times you wanted to touch yourself, but you have to do a chant first.

The reason we don't treat them the same is that one has wormed it's way into society and become a part of it's background noise. No one questions it, because it's been made a taboo.

I believe that the Theist deserves to be challenged more then the homeless man who believes in Reptilians. The homeless man is funny and harmless, the Theist is part of a destructive system of ignorance that is both powerful and nearly invisible.

That is why I challenge Theists as hard as I do.

Penn Jillette is an odd choice for an atheist example, as he himself made a living off of deception.

Honest deception though. A card trick is a deception. It's all about the intent.

Well put Sabby.


I consider the sometimes abrasive PJ to be a sort of an atheist proselytizer. Since violence against religionists is illogical, the best way to lessen the impact of the illogical and irrational populace is to inform them of how foolish their belief system is. Something PJ does really well and that is why I consider him to be a major figure in the atheist movement.

[Sabby]

I disagree with him sometimes, usually on other issues, like economics, but he does do a great job of conveying confusing topics to the layman. That's really where we've needed to grow. There is no shortage of Atheist voices out there, but so many of them are scientists, for example, and they tend to complicate the issues they convey.

People like PJ, Matt Dillahunty, Thundefoot and NonStampCollector are people I could introduce my Nana to and she would understand them xD

Still, we need people like Dawkin's. We can talk amongst ourselves all we want and reach out to those who are interested, but the Pens of the world can't smash the system. Sometimes, ya need a dickhead to go for the throat of the problem and show everyone it can bleed.

[SM]

http://i1225.photobucket.com/albums/ee395/ChrisPachi/Rinzler_zps24195689.jpg

[maledoro]

Penn Jillette is an odd choice for an atheist example, as he himself made a living off of deception.

Read.

It's pretty obvious that Jillette's work is presented as entertainment and not reality, so, no, it's not deception.