An Apology to Any and All

Started by Darth Fife, November 07, 2014, 08:27:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

taxed

Quote from: Skeptic on November 08, 2014, 07:31:46 PM
I am an atheist. Over time I have developed a simple philosophy for dealing with religious people: If you respect the fact that I don't believe in your god, and don't try to impose your religious beliefs on me, then I'll respect the fact that you have religious beliefs. It's a simple live and let live philosophy that has worked well for me.

However, if you come knocking on my door and try to convert me, then don't be insulted when I tell you I don't believe in supernatural things and I'm not interested in your beliefs.

Some religious people understand this and we get along fine because they don't try to force their beliefs on me, and in turn I do my best to be respectful of the fact that they have deeply held religious beliefs. Unfortunately this doesn't work with everyone, because there are some religious people  who seem to get offended at the idea that you don't believe in something, and get all nasty about it, and I refuse to simply be quiet and let them impose their beliefs on me.

What world are you living in where people are constantly trying to convert you?
#PureBlood #TrumpWon

Solar

Quote from: taxed on November 09, 2014, 01:03:47 AM
What world are you living in where people are constantly trying to convert you?
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I was thinking the same thing. Looking back over the last 60 years, I can only recollect two occasions where someone insisted I listen to them make their case, but none of them tried to convert me.
The only ones that ever tried to convert me were Scientology members and staff forty years back, and even though I was young and somewhat impressionable, I knew those people were Nuckin Futs.

Looking back over the years, it was only Jehova Witness that pestered me, and they aren't even the "Evil Christians". :biggrin:
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Skeptic

Quote from: taxed on November 09, 2014, 01:03:47 AM
What world are you living in where people are constantly trying to convert you?

I have had Jehovah Witnesses knock on my door 5 times this year and try to waste my time with their pamphlets and with readings from their bible. The last time I finally got so fed up that I told the guy trying to hand me a pamphlet to wait while I go get a copy of the Satanic Bible to hand to him so we can exchange ideas and I can talk to him about the wonders Satan can do for him. I've never seen anyone run away so fast. Naturally I don't really have any satanic literature since I believe that's also science fiction, but I thought I'd be worth the the try to see if I could finally scare them into leaving me alone. It has worked so far. They haven't knocked on my door for the last 2 months.  :thumbup:
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.

taxed

Quote from: Skeptic on November 09, 2014, 10:11:49 AM
I have had Jehovah Witnesses knock on my door 5 times this year and try to waste my time with their pamphlets and with readings from their bible. The last time I finally got so fed up that I told the guy trying to hand me a pamphlet to wait while I go get a copy of the Satanic Bible to hand to him so we can exchange ideas and I can talk to him about the wonders Satan can do for him. I've never seen anyone run away so fast. Naturally I don't really have any satanic literature since I believe that's also science fiction, but I thought I'd be worth the the try to see if I could finally scare them into leaving me alone. It has worked so far. They haven't knocked on my door for the last 2 months.  :thumbup:

Most of us have Jehova Witnesses coming to our doors.  The biggest problem to me is I have pause my show and tell them to scram, which really isn't a blip on my radar.  Being the logical person that I am, those lost people coming to my door are in no way connected to my understanding, or lack of understanding, of the universe.

It never fails that someone who is devout in declaring themselves atheist have some other personal issue(s).  Nobody confident and content in their life gives two craps about some Christian handing you a flier to their annual BBQ gathering, or seeing God in a courthouse.
#PureBlood #TrumpWon

Solar

Quote from: taxed on November 09, 2014, 02:07:05 PM
Most of us have Jehova Witnesses coming to our doors.  The biggest problem to me is I have pause my show and tell them to scram, which really isn't a blip on my radar.  Being the logical person that I am, those lost people coming to my door are in no way connected to my understanding, or lack of understanding, of the universe.

It never fails that someone who is devout in declaring themselves atheist have some other personal issue(s).  Nobody confident and content in their life gives two craps about some Christian handing you a flier to their annual BBQ gathering, or seeing God in a courthouse.
That's been my experience as well, the more vocal atheists seem to be literally militant in their lack of beliefs/.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

taxed

Quote from: Solar on November 09, 2014, 03:28:11 PM
That's been my experience as well, the more vocal atheists seem to be literally militant in their lack of beliefs/.

It's weird.  They think they understand the universe and life to an extent where they can pacify their lack of self confidence by attempting to ridicule those who have faith or belief in their religion or deity.  Just odd.
#PureBlood #TrumpWon

Solar

Quote from: taxed on November 09, 2014, 03:36:19 PM
It's weird.  They think they understand the universe and life to an extent where they can pacify their lack of self confidence by attempting to ridicule those who have faith or belief in their religion or deity.  Just odd.
I find it odd, that someone can have faith in nothing at all. :biggrin:
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

TboneAgain

Quote from: Solar on November 09, 2014, 03:49:29 PM
I find it odd, that someone can have faith in nothing at all. :biggrin:

I'm not sure I've ever met a person with faith in nothing at all. It goes against the human grain, I think. A blanket rejection of recognized and/or organized religions is not the same as having no faith in anything.

Many of the most strident 'non-believers' actually have that sort of faith in unconventional things, like Gaia. Some approach that sort of fervor in the way they regard humanistic issues, particularly Leftist issues like LGBT rights and feminism.

Charlotte Allen, writing in the LA Times a couple years ago, said: "The problem is this: We conservatives think liberals are silly; they think we're evil." Others have made similar observations over the years, and I think there's a lot more than a grain of truth there. But the point is that evil cannot exist in the absence of righteousness, in the same way that darkness loses all meaning without the existence of light, and cold means nothing without the concept of heat. Taking it one step further, righteousness implies the existence of a superior truth, something that stands above the everyday give and take.

Bingo. You've got yourself a faith, a religion. The object of that faith might be solar energy or gay marriage or veganism or saving the whales, but whatever it is, it fills that void that I think exists in every human psyche -- that primal need to have purpose, a reason for existing. And in order to adopt these unconventional faiths, one must discard the conventional ones completely.

Shazam. You've got yourself an atheist.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. -- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; IT IS FORCE. -- George Washington

Skeptic

Yeah, I assure you atheists believe in a lot of things, we just don't believe in all the thousands of different gods out there, including yours.
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.

Solar

Quote from: Skeptic on November 09, 2014, 04:59:30 PM
Yeah, I assure you atheists believe in a lot of things, we just don't believe in all the thousands of different gods out there, including yours.
Psssst...There's only one.
Did you have a father, did your father have a father, and his father and so on? Well, that's life, and everything had a beginning and a father, if you will.
Whether or not the father is present in our lives or not, is irrelevant, the fact that we're here, validates his existence.

FWIW, I'm not religious in any sense of the word.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Skeptic

Quote from: Solar on November 09, 2014, 05:12:59 PM
Psssst...There's only one.

I have no doubt you honestly believe that, and that's perfectly fine. But there are other religions that would disagree with that, and their followers are as ardent believers about their beliefs as you are about yours.
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.

Solar

Quote from: Skeptic on November 09, 2014, 06:09:42 PM
I have no doubt you honestly believe that, and that's perfectly fine. But there are other religions that would disagree with that, and their followers are as ardent believers about their beliefs as you are about yours.
And they're wrong damnit! My God can kick their Gods ass any day of the week. :biggrin:

But seriously, it all had to begin somewhere. Life itself exists and is always looking for a place to exist, if not, we wouldn't be here.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

TboneAgain

Quote from: Solar on November 09, 2014, 08:10:45 PM
And they're wrong damnit! My God can kick their Gods ass any day of the week. :biggrin:

But seriously, it all had to begin somewhere. Life itself exists and is always looking for a place to exist, if not, we wouldn't be here.

The simple fact that we can ponder our own genesis, our own beginnings, and our own fate -- where do we go from here? -- is enough for me. No matter how you feed the beast, it's there -- you have a need to feel that you're right here right now for a reason. I am not a cosmic accident, and if you (not you, Solar, but the rhetorical kind) think you're a cosmic accident, then we're all through talking.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. -- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; IT IS FORCE. -- George Washington

Solar

Quote from: TboneAgain on November 09, 2014, 08:17:13 PM
The simple fact that we can ponder our own genesis, our own beginnings, and our own fate -- where do we go from here? -- is enough for me. No matter how you feed the beast, it's there -- you have a need to feel that you're right here right now for a reason. I am not a cosmic accident, and if you (not you, Solar, but the rhetorical kind) think you're a cosmic accident, then we're all through talking.
Exactly! What's the point?

One reason I have faith that there is more than just this blip in time, is I have actually and literally died 3 times, only to be revived, and afterwards recounting the journey.
No, I never saw a bright light, but I was told quite clearly, "It's not yet time", but I also remembering how I did not want to return to earth, even though I was having a wonderful life here on earth.

But I do look forward to my imminent demise. Just hope I die peacefully like my friend with an aneurysm, and not like the screaming passengers in his car at the time it went off the cliff. :rolleyes:

OK, that was bad, I''m going now.....
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Skeptic

I recognize that having read a few research articles in scientific journals and a couple of science books does not make me an expert on evolution, and there are far more qualified people than I on the subject, but I know enough to know that the only people who call it a "cosmic accident" are creationist preachers.

I'll leave it at that, as I have no wish to engage in a debate between faith and observable scientific reality, nor is this really the place for it.

Solar, I'm glad you made it through your near death experiences. Sad about the others though, but that's life....short and unpredictable. People should remember more to enjoy it every day, because unlike sports, when life is done we don't get replays and re-matches.
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.