Christians who attack athiests!

You equate religious beliefs with rational thought and they are usually 2 different things. The most religious people I know are those in the Science Department here at school. Its mainly about having something higher to believe in, which has helped me several times. you may prove everything in the Bible wrong and I will still believe it. Its not about whether its scientifically sound. As for truth in the parable, you are yet again trying to rationalize something that is in fact irrational.

My saying I was offended isn't a demand for respect of my feelings. It's an acknowledgement of my feelings.

I don't demand or expect people to do anything. See how that works?

I don't ask you to respect my right to marry either. I DO expect you to own up to the fact that anything less than equal rights is less than equal rights.

Believe what you wish to believe. It's nothing to me. Sure I find it ridiculous, but why should you care what I think?

What I say I don't care about is this:

I don't care whether you respect me or not.

hmm lets think, I care what you think because I'm a nice guy and don't go out of my way to offend people, unlike you.

I agree completely with your above statement.

and the rest?

Who said I went out of my way?

I always keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency.

lets see, you try and subvert almost every thread into an anti-Bush smear campaign. That seems like going out of your way to me.

Nahhhhhhh. Ask Kevn --I'm always in these silly religious threads as well.

lol as am I

Uhm, as much as I love #43, he made religion a political base with all of his pandering to the religiouns right with ideas like constitutional ammendments to ban gay marriage, no on stem cell research, and the belief that the earth will just fix itself since we insiginificant beings couldnt possibly destroy gods work.

Briana Dawson

That parady is an attack on dogma more than on religion. Christianity as a religion is an extremely good thing and has a lot to offer the world even to those who are not within the faith. The problem is that dogma makes people forget the good things about christianity and instead focus on defending the articles of faith. I may have left the christian religion but I still embrace many of its philosophical ideas.

and I loved the Hank thing since the first time I saw it way back when.

This is a forum filled with an age range of probably 14 (oh Darwin Appleby left didnt he? ) to 70+. It probably is not wise to raise your flag of personal beliefs if you don't expect someone to grab it an set it ablaze.

I don't come to the SecondLife forums to have my beliefs respected. lol.

Briana Dawson

Those religous nuts also claim that drinking alcohol is a sin. They forget that one of Jesus's miracles was turning water to wine. You have to go to the base teachings of a religion and cut through the majority of crap that is carried out in the name of religion.

I expect a basic respect for an individual where ever they are, its when people don't respect others that breeds intolerance.

So where are these base teachings located? They definetly are not in the possession of my 10th grade religion class teacher who was busted for sleeping with the girls volleyball team.

"Base teachings", I would have to say are hard to come by, since often when people believe they have found the preacher of "base teachings" it turns out they only found the rapist of their son.

Briana Dawson

I always found the Bible a good place to start.

WONDERFUL! There's been so much great stuff in the forums lately but this was just the best. What's great about it is that it employs a trick used by anthropologists, which is to recast something familiar as an analogy to help people see their own culture in a new light. This is just exceptional.

~Ulrika~

I'm offended, as a scholar, that you would claim that anthropogists are out to trick people and trade them broken rifles and Springsteen Tshirts for high quality peyote and native women.

What rest? You just restated that religious belief isn't about being rational or having supporting evidence. Some people simply can't divorce themselves from rationalism and the need for material evidence, and like it or not, to a rationalist, religious belief sounds exactly as silly as that parable. Beyond that, when a system of thought that accepts and even promotes irrationality is applied to our laws, our government, and our foreign policy, it's not a laughing matter. It's downright frightening. I doubt very much that you'd hear many atheists attacking Christianity if people truly held it as a personal belief that didn't effect others outside their faith. I have great respect for that kind of religious person and it's unfortunate that they get tarred along with those that try to impose their beliefs on others. The thing I wonder is when will the majority of Christians stand up and fight alongside atheists for the right of everyone to live according to their own beliefs and for a truly neutral public square?

In my opinion, those most responsible for the backlash against Christianity aren't atheists or gays or people fighting for equal rights and representation... it's those who claim this is a Christian nation. Reasonable people of all faiths should be fighting against that kind of mentality.

I agree, however what really ticks me off is when people like me who go to church every Sunday, don't preach our religion unless asked to do so whether expressedly or in defense of it, get labled like this because people are often to thick to realize that only a handful of people like Pat Robertson and the WBC are responsible for that image and so they blame the religion instead of the real problem THE INDIVIDUAL.

(Yes I know that was a runon sentence but I can't think of anyway to break it up without it losing its meaning)

You're making the fallacious assumption that the fringe radicals in your sect are responsible for your ridicule. In fact, it is your sect's moderates, in other words, you. Although, that's anecdotal so take it for what it's worth.

~Ulrika~

Okay, I don't see what you see. I don't think she went out of her way to offend you. But by saying that, you went out of your way to offend her. WWJD?

actually I didn't and read the rest of the posts before making assumptions, ok?

WWJD? Oh what was that part that never gets mentioned, turn the other cheek? Can you explain that part and how you are expessing that in your responses? Or do they cover that in the church you go to every Sunday. Out of 52 times a year over the course of the last say 3 years, it must have been touched on.

do you even know what my sect is?