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I can make you believe in thirty minutes.

Started by Hector Valdez, April 29, 2012, 09:03:18 PM

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Sandra Craft

Quote from: Amicale on May 01, 2012, 12:20:14 AM
And I certainly never stepped onto their lawns and tried to engage them like that.

It can get exasperating when you can't even tend your azaleas in peace.

Quote

I don't personally believe most Christians are pompous assholes. Most mean well, and most seem to be decent folks who really think that their ideas will help you. Most sincerely believe what they say they believe. If anything, they can sometimes come off as appearing to be arrogant, due to how sure of themselves they seem. They may not even realize that's how they're being seen.

That's been my experience as well -- very few Xtians I've met are assholes or whack jobs (aside from the occasional street preacher and they're easily avoided), and the sincere ones have rarely been over-bearing. 
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Hector Valdez

Well, well. This turned out to be quite a thread. Beer all around. :D

Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on May 01, 2012, 12:42:03 AM
Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on April 30, 2012, 09:50:07 PM
WOW!! I used the same China argument on yahoo. once. The response was there are a lot more Chrisitans in China than you would think.  I said yeah they are called tourists.

What unsophistication on their part, as if the fact that there might be a few Christians in China would somehow make everything ok? Sweep the billion who have never heard of Jesus under the rug, they don't matter because there are a few million who have...
Yes that was pretty much my point. There are billions on this planet who either haven't heard, don't believe, or believe that Jesus was here and was just a dude.  That's it.  There was a dude once and his name was Jesus.  No miracles just dudeness. Seriously though China is mostly comprised of buddhists and confucianism. Most haven't even heard of Jesus.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out". Richard Dawkins

Sweetdeath

Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on May 01, 2012, 03:39:24 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on May 01, 2012, 12:42:03 AM
Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on April 30, 2012, 09:50:07 PM
WOW!! I used the same China argument on yahoo. once. The response was there are a lot more Chrisitans in China than you would think.  I said yeah they are called tourists.

What unsophistication on their part, as if the fact that there might be a few Christians in China would somehow make everything ok? Sweep the billion who have never heard of Jesus under the rug, they don't matter because there are a few million who have...
Yes that was pretty much my point. There are billions on this planet who either haven't heard, don't believe, or believe that Jesus was here and was just a dude.  That's it.  There was a dude once and his name was Jesus.  No miracles just dudeness. Seriously though China is mostly comprised of buddhists and confucianism. Most haven't even heard of Jesus.

Not to mention, chinese and most humans lived their lives just fine before christianity ever came to their countries.
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Amicale

Quote from: Sweetdeath on May 01, 2012, 10:17:53 PM
Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on May 01, 2012, 03:39:24 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on May 01, 2012, 12:42:03 AM
Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on April 30, 2012, 09:50:07 PM
WOW!! I used the same China argument on yahoo. once. The response was there are a lot more Chrisitans in China than you would think.  I said yeah they are called tourists.

What unsophistication on their part, as if the fact that there might be a few Christians in China would somehow make everything ok? Sweep the billion who have never heard of Jesus under the rug, they don't matter because there are a few million who have...
Yes that was pretty much my point. There are billions on this planet who either haven't heard, don't believe, or believe that Jesus was here and was just a dude.  That's it.  There was a dude once and his name was Jesus.  No miracles just dudeness. Seriously though China is mostly comprised of buddhists and confucianism. Most haven't even heard of Jesus.

Not to mention, chinese and most humans lived their lives just fine before christianity ever came to their countries.

Yep. The Han dynasty was roughly halfway through its 400-year rule when Jesus was said to be born, and just in terms of its infrastructure, education, literature, culture, their own religions/philosophy, economy, military, industries, technology, science, math etc etc... it seems that generally speaking, they were just fine as a society without any foreign religious influences like Christianity.

It seems that sometimes we forgot how developed huge chunks of the world were back then. It's tempting for some Christians to proudly proclaim that their religion has authority because it's 2,000 years old. They forget what was in place long before their religion existed.


"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others. By every crime and act of kindness we birth our future." - Cloud Atlas

"To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die." -Carl Sagan

Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism

Romans had a running irrigation system long before they heard of Christianity.  Then of course Christianity came along and so did plagues, dirty nasty water, and a complete lack of knowledge that lasted for thousands of years.  So yeah.  People don't seem to realize how far advance we would probably be if Christianity had never come along.  We were doing amazing things for thousands of years then just kind of screwed ourselves over for a few thousand.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out". Richard Dawkins

Sweetdeath

Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on May 01, 2012, 11:35:40 PM
Romans had a running irrigation system long before they heard of Christianity.  Then of course Christianity came along and so did plagues, dirty nasty water, and a complete lack of knowledge that lasted for thousands of years.  So yeah.  People don't seem to realize how far advance we would probably be if Christianity had never come along.  We were doing amazing things for thousands of years then just kind of screwed ourselves over for a few thousand.


Pretty much.  :\
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Angler28

Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on May 01, 2012, 11:35:40 PM
Romans had a running irrigation system long before they heard of Christianity.  Then of course Christianity came along and so did plagues, dirty nasty water, and a complete lack of knowledge that lasted for thousands of years.  So yeah.  People don't seem to realize how far advance we would probably be if Christianity had never come along.  We were doing amazing things for thousands of years then just kind of screwed ourselves over for a few thousand.

I'm fairly certain that we could have colonies on the moon and in orbiting space stations right now if not for the iron grip Christianity had on free thinking and discovery back then. (discovery as in experimentation and such, not geographical.)
"The worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work."

Sweetdeath

Quote from: Angler28 on May 02, 2012, 01:11:53 AM
Quote from: Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism on May 01, 2012, 11:35:40 PM
Romans had a running irrigation system long before they heard of Christianity.  Then of course Christianity came along and so did plagues, dirty nasty water, and a complete lack of knowledge that lasted for thousands of years.  So yeah.  People don't seem to realize how far advance we would probably be if Christianity had never come along.  We were doing amazing things for thousands of years then just kind of screwed ourselves over for a few thousand.

I'm fairly certain that we could have colonies on the moon and in orbiting space stations right now if not for the iron grip Christianity had on free thinking and discovery back then. (discovery as in experimentation and such, not geographical.)

At least some of our more brillant minds don't seem to be held down by religion.

I do concur we could of been further along by now if not for the dark ages of religion.

Look at the middle east; They are like 70+ years behind less religious places like Japan and Switerland (or is it sweden?)
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.

Angler28

I believe Sweden is where a whole bunch of tech advances have been coming from lately. I agree, we would be so much more advanced if it hadn't been for the dark ages IMHO.
"The worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work."

Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism

Being an Atheist really makes you want humanity to advance as fast as possible.  I mean to live 100 years compared to how long we've been around really makes you want to still be around for a much longer time to see how far we come.  It's sad how much damage Christianity has caused.  Even if they did find a way to drastically lengthen the human lifespan nobody would go for it because there is no money in it.
"All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." -Voltaire
"By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out". Richard Dawkins

Asmodean

Quote from: Angler28 on May 02, 2012, 04:19:36 AM
I believe Sweden is where a whole bunch of tech advances have been coming from lately. I agree, we would be so much more advanced if it hadn't been for the dark ages IMHO.
Depends on what techs you are talking about. Swedes are good at some things, but when it comes to tech in general... No. Not really.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Ali

Swedes are the smartest people on the planet.  Sorry, but true.   ;D

Asmodean

Again, that depends. If you are looking for very narrow profile specialists, Sweden is not the country I'd go to get them.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Ali

They are organizational geniuses.  That's all I need to know about them.