My atheistic spirit is as strong as yours

Originally posted by tomtom232
Gandhi didn't follow christian teachings. He was Hindu and no teachings he followed would cause wars such as the Bible has. 🙄

More ignorance. Keep it up... at this rate I might bust a gut from laughing so much. 😵

I didn't say Gandhi followed Christ's teachings. Of course he was Hindu. Wow, could you possibly mangle what I said some more, please?

I said:

"The teachings of Christ contain all you need to know about living in this world.

Some of us are better at IT than others (Gandhi, Mother Teresa). It doesn't mean the rest of us should stop trying."

The IT I was referring to is "living in this world" from the previous sentence. If I was referring to "the teachings of Christ", I would have said THEM, not IT. My *inference* was that follow Gandhi, follow Christ, it doesn't matter, you get to the same place vis a vis "living in this world".

How much ignorance does it take to mangle my words into ignorance?

Thanks for the misrepresentation and the false witness. I imagine I'll soon add you to the same list as Dasa. Those who cannot be intelligently reasoned with under any circumstances. Let go of your atheist hate. It only makes you look bad.

Originally posted by Suzianne
How much ignorance does it take to mangle my words into ignorance?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Originally posted by sumydid
More provocations from mikelom who for some reason feels like it's he and the Atheists who are under attack.

A provocateur playing the victim card.

I would like to point out that atheists, with or without a capital letter, don't have any binding tenets,
leaders, formal structure, or common beliefs.

If and when we do get together it is typically in the guise of something else, such as a free-thought
convention, or science convention, or secular humanist convention, where many and sometimes conflicting
views and opinions are expressed.

I say this as you seem (and I appreciate it's easy to do) to be classing atheists as a coherent group who or
whole.

We aren't. Although there are specific societies and groups which associate with atheism, we are not a uniform
group in the same way as a church or religious organisation might be.


Just pointing this out because while it might be tempting to treat all atheists the same, we aren't.
We are not of one mind or group with one exception.
We all don't believe in god/s.



That said, it is indeed true that in some places in the world (and yes the USA is one of them, some parts worse than
others) where saying, 'I don't believe in god' will get you persecuted, by Christians among others.

It doesn't happen to me because I happily live in one of the most secular and secular tolerant nations on the planet.

But it certainly does happen elsewhere, so it is entirely possible that mikelom, or any of the other atheists on this site,
do indeed get 'persecuted' to some degree or other by Christians (or theists generally) or hide the fact that they are an
atheist for fear of being persecuted/discriminated against.

As someone who is under no threat of discrimination, I speak out because I can do so without risk, in the hope that it
might help those who can't.


Christians in the USA have often claimed being persecuted, and discriminated against, by secularists, because of efforts to
stop the said Christians imposing their religion on everyone else, in and outside the country.
And in complete conflict with the founding principles of your country, and constitution.

You can't have freedom for religion without having freedom from it.

A Provocateur playing the victim card indeed.

Originally posted by mikelom
[b]The stories in the Bible represent a mere fraction.

You said it! Congrats. You're realising....

-m.[/b]

Realizing what.

That you quote others out of context and harrass people for fun?

It was nice of you to validate josephw's quote -- as if your validation was wanted.
There is one thing I realize. If I ever say something after which you give validation? It's time for me to check myself thoroughly.

Originally posted by googlefudge
I would like to point out that atheists, with or without a capital letter, don't have any binding tenets,
leaders, formal structure, or common beliefs.

If and when we do get together it is typically in the guise of something else, such as a free-thought
convention, or science convention, or secular humanist convention, where many and sometimes con ...[text shortened]... on without having freedom from it.

A Provocateur playing the victim card indeed.

Excluse me google fudge. But it was mikelom that stated the atheists are under attack and he's here to stand up for them.

So you've directed your longwinded post at the wrong person.

Have a blessed day.

Originally posted by sumydid
Excluse me google fudge. But it was mikelom that stated the atheists are under attack and he's here to stand up for them.

So you've directed your longwinded post at the wrong person.

Have a blessed day.

Nope, it was intended as a general reminder that atheism and atheists are not a homogeneous group.

And to say that in some places people who do, or would identify with the label atheist
do indeed get discriminated against and persecuted.

So it was definitely an appropriate reply to your post, even if its meaning in some places was more general.

And I don't see mikelom say anywhere in this thread that atheists are under attack.
Or that he speaks for us (collectively) if he has done that some place else then I haven't seen it.
Otherwise I would have said at that point that there isn't anyone who can speak 'for' all atheists
because we have no leaders or elected spokespeople.
Although there are many atheist speakers, who many others will identify with, I often link several I agree with.
But they don't speak for me, or I them, but on the specific issues they are/were dealing with in that instance we agree.


Also, it's not important, but my moniker on this site is googlefudge, one word, not google fudge.
It's not like it was a compressed fist name and surname, GF works if you don't want to type it all out.

And that wasn't close to long-winded.... I do long-winded so I know what I am talking about when I
say that wasn't even close ;-)

Originally posted by Suzianne
I didn't say Gandhi followed Christ's teachings. Of course he was Hindu. Wow, could you possibly mangle what I said some more, please?

I said:

"The teachings of Christ contain all you need to know about living in this world.

Some of us are better at IT than others (Gandhi, Mother Teresa). It doesn't mean the rest of us should stop trying."

The under any circumstances. Let go of your atheist hate. It only makes you look bad.

I'm not the one getting angry; in fact, I now turn my other cheek to you... go ahead, slap me again.

Edit: It doesn't matter if you in fact intended the "it" to merely refer to, "living in this world" because it really means, "following Christ's teachings for living in this world."

Originally posted by googlefudge
Nope, it was intended as a general reminder that atheism and atheists are not a homogeneous group.

And to say that in some places people who do, or would identify with the label atheist
do indeed get discriminated against and persecuted.

So it was definitely an appropriate reply to your post, even if its meaning in some places was more general.
...[text shortened]... long-winded so I know what I am talking about when I
say that wasn't even close ;-)

GF,

I don't know how to link to a post but the post I referenced from mikelom is on page 4 or 5 of the "I'm ready when you are" thread. He said that going back 6 months, he sees that Atheists are being treated like losers and he is making a stand.

Obviously the people he presumes to be making a stand for are... Atheists.

Originally posted by sumydid
GF,

I don't know how to link to a post but the post I referenced from mikelom is on page 4 or 5 of the "I'm ready when you are" thread. He said that going back 6 months, he sees that Atheists are being treated like losers and he is making a stand.

Obviously the people he presumes to be making a stand for are... Atheists.

I am not sure you can link to an individual post of this forum (Which is annoying as I have been on several in the past
where each post in a thread got automatically numbered and given their own link which was exceedingly useful)
although you can link to the page in a thread.


http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=142647&page=&page=5

"Originally posted by Suzianne
There *are* those who are kind and nice and who *do* believe in God, you know.

Originally posted by mikelom
I have said nothing contrary to that. If I didn't believe that then I wouldn't be posting here!

There are those who are kind and nice that don't believe in God too.

Seems the current condition of this forum for the last six months, reading back, appears to be that atheists are a bunch of losers,
so I therefore make a stand."

I see nothing wrong with this, and he isn't claiming to speak 'for' atheists here, he is simply saying he is making a stand against
people who attack/denigrate people who are atheists, for the simple fact of them being atheists.

Originally posted by Suzianne
This is not true.

The teachings of Christ contain all you need to know about living in this world.

Some of us are better at it than others (Gandhi, Mother Teresa). It doesn't mean the rest of us should stop trying.

This statement that.......the Bible contains everything you need to know about living in this world is dishonest.

The Bible is one book - and if you follow this one book - you will be led into a sinful life by killing defenceless animals.

However the Vedas are thousands of books and lead you out of sinful life.

Sweeping statements like the one you made are dangerous and false.

Originally posted by amolv06
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

A woodchuck would chuck any wood she could chuck.

Originally posted by Dasa
This statement that.......the Bible contains everything you need to know about living in this world is dishonest.

The Bible is one book - and if you follow this one book - you will be led into a sinful life by killing defenceless animals.

However the Vedas are thousands of books and lead you out of sinful life.

Sweeping statements like the one you made are dangerous and false.

I didn't even mention the Bible in my post.

I have said in the past that the Bible is the humans' User's Guide or Instruction Manual.

By saying that following the precepts of the Bible, you will be led into a sinful life is exactly what I would expect to hear from the serpent. You lie about the Bible all the time. Your lies about the Bible are what is dangerous and false.

But I wasn't even talking about the Bible here.

BTW, the Vedas isn't leading me anywhere. I can't even get through a couple pages of the worst writing I've ever read without wanting to slit my wrists. I suspect that one could read the Vedas for 8 hours at a stretch and *still* not come to the point.

You make some of the most dishonest sweeping statements ever seen in this forum when you write about the Vedas. So, I don't expect I'll be taking your advice anytime soon.

Originally posted by Suzianne
I didn't even mention the Bible in my post.

I have said in the past that the Bible is the humans' User's Guide or Instruction Manual.

By saying that following the precepts of the Bible, you will be led into a sinful life is exactly what I would expect to hear from the serpent. You lie about the Bible all the time. Your lies about the Bible are what ...[text shortened]... you write about the Vedas. So, I don't expect I'll be taking your advice anytime soon.

This is your problem. Keep on with your ignorance.

You don't understand any other religion or science as much as you "understand" the Bible yet you persist in the Bible. Why? Because it is entertaining enough to keep your interest so that you don't slit your wrists?

Originally posted by tomtom232
This is your problem. Keep on with your ignorance.

You don't understand any other religion or science as much as you "understand" the Bible yet you persist in the Bible. Why?

If Suzianne discovers the truth, what sense would it make for her to search high and low for the rest of her life, for something to replace it?

I don't know about you, but I believe that if I find something to be wholly and completely satisfactory, it would be absurd for me to set it aside and look elsewhere.

Because it is entertaining enough to keep your interest so that you don't slit your wrists?
What kind of nonsense is this? Why would you accuse Suzianne of being suicidal? Why construct arguments in such a hostile, negative fashion? Surely you are smart enough to know that it doesn't lead to anything good? Maybe you're after something other than good?

Originally posted by sumydid
If Suzianne discovers the truth, what sense would it make for her to search high and low for the rest of her life, for something to replace it?

I don't know about you, but I believe that if I find something to be wholly and completely satisfactory, it would be absurd for me to set it aside and look elsewhere.

[b] Because it is entertaining enough to ke ...[text shortened]... now that it doesn't lead to anything good? Maybe you're after something other than good?[/b]

I didn't. She said reading the Vedas makes her want to slit her wrists.

How do you know you have found the truth? What if something you find later resonates better with you?

Even the great bible itself tells you to seek.