am I an athiest-really?

[En_Route]

Yeah, I may be judging prematurely, but it looks like this poster is a troll, just stopping by quick enough to post a question we can't answer and not logging in again to answer our posts. ???

Eh, it's been less than 48 hours. I think we have to remember that not everyone's as addicted to HAF as they OUGHT to be. Like us. 

A more obvious troll would be hard to find.




Right. That's reality hiting me smack in the face.

Okay, I'll wait and see.

[Recusant]

A more obvious troll would be hard to find.

We've had people who've come through here that were rather obviously just looking to get a reaction; much more so than beatty. On the basis of 3 relatively innocuous posts, no matter what people's spidey senses may be telling them, it's better to reserve judgement, in my opinion. I'd also like to point out that beatty is still a member of this site, and so is under the protection of the rules.

[McQ]

And, it's "Drivel", not "Dribble".

[ThinkAnarchy]

And, it's "Drivel", not "Dribble".

Nazi.   And yes it is, unfortunately spell check doesn't include definition checks. I went back and fixed it in my post though.

[DeterminedJuliet]

And, it's "Drivel", not "Dribble".

I think someone's language can "dribble" from them. I kinda like the imagery.

[Sandra Craft]

And, it's "Drivel", not "Dribble".

I think someone's language can "dribble" from them. I kinda like the imagery.

I was about to say -- I had a really interesting word picture going on, esp. when I threw the seance in as well.

But to get backish on topic . . . I wrote about the possibility of atheists making death-bed conversions to theism/deism, putting the deists in there because I didn't want to be insensitive and leave any believer types out, but after thinking about there doesn't seem to be any benefit in a death-bed conversion to deism. 

If I'm understanding it right, a deist believes some supernatural entity created the natural world but takes no personal interest in it, does not get involved in anyone's life and offers no perks like personal immortality.  So a death-bed conversion to deism would make no sense unless you wanted one last, admittedly obscure, chance to wind up theists.

[The Magic Pudding]

What's this thread doing in the " Life As An Atheist" area anyway.
Death for the desperate or deluded seems to belong in religion. 

[xSilverPhinx]

And, it's "Drivel", not "Dribble".

I think someone's language can "dribble" from them. I kinda like the imagery.

Heh

The imagery I got while reading that was of someone's lower lip dribbling a ball due to nervous spasmodic movements induced by this thread. My mind's weird like that 

[applesauce]

Aw, I hope you all didn't scare beatty off :( He said he was new to online forums in general, and literally seemed to have a hard time typing. I remember when I was new to the web, I started weird threads and lots of polls mostly out of noobish enthusiasm. And if someone's at a point in their life where they're questioning their beliefs, it can freak them out. Maybe Beatty just really needed someone to talk to. I for one don't log into HAF that often because I keep forgetting my username and password :p And then when I do log back in, I wonder where all the threads I had been reading went. If the threads are extra long and filled with private jokes, new posters might not even bother reading through all of it. (By the way, I still need to post those links I promised)!

[En_Route]

A more obvious troll would be hard to find.

We've had people who've come through here that were rather obviously just looking to get a reaction; much more so than beatty. On the basis of 3 relatively innocuous posts, no matter what people's spidey senses may be telling them, it's better to reserve judgement, in my opinion. I'd also like to point out that beatty is still a member of this site, and so is under the protection of the rules.

These are the rules which restrict the first 10 posts to the Getting to Know You section?
Just look at the poll, it's an obvious exercise in urine extraction, with its restatement of the first two options with exclamation marks and the fifth option a smartarse non-sequitur plus  the question itself is both ludicrous (how is anyone supposed to be able to form any kind of judgement in the absence of any background information) and is clearly designed to take a rise out of atheists by  replaying the the old deathbed conversion shtick.

[Recusant]

These are the rules which restrict the first 10 posts to the Getting to Know You section?

No, I was referring to the generalized rule exemplified by the words "remember the importance of civility." 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the UK, I certainly understand the idiom referred to. While the evidence you cite seems to support your view, I was offering you and the rest of the members a reminder that beatty has not been banned, and should be given the same civil treatment afforded to any other member here, which includes the benefit of the doubt.

[The Magic Pudding]

These are the rules which restrict the first 10 posts to the Getting to Know You section?
Just look at the poll, it's an obvious exercise in urine extraction, with its restatement of the first two options with exclamation marks and the fifth option a smartarse non-sequitur plus  the question itself is both ludicrous (how is anyone supposed to be able to form any kind of judgement in the absence of any background information) and is clearly designed to take a rise out of atheists by  replaying the the old deathbed conversion shtick.

If it's designed to piss us off it hasn't been very successful.
People have calmly gone over why it may theoretically happen, mentioned they've never encountered it.

Christians fear and they think we must when our end is upon us, the answer is a bemused "no" what am I to fear and whose god is going to be of help anyway?  There's many available but I don't trust them. 

Earlier on I didn't mean to derail, the engine had run out of steam a few of the passengers and I were just talking amongst our selves, making our own arrangements.  Is there a chance this train will fire up again? 

[En_Route]

These are the rules which restrict the first 10 posts to the Getting to Know You section?

No, I was referring to the generalized rule exemplified by the words "remember the importance of civility." 

Having spent a fair amount of time in the UK, I certainly understand the idiom referred to. While the evidence you cite seems to support your view, I was offering you and the rest of the members a reminder that beatty has not been banned, and should be given the same civil treatment afforded to any other member here, which includes the benefit of the doubt.

The  point was making in my usual  tortuously ironic fashion was that as I understood it, the first ten posts have to be restricted to the GTKY area as a kind of probation in order to sift out the more blatant exponents of trollery. Perhaps if this rule was consistently enforced there would be no need to have enjoined civility in this instance. I suggest it is not so much as the benefit of the doubt but the benefit of utter credulity that is needed here.

[applesauce]

Just look at the poll, it's an obvious exercise in urine extraction, with its restatement of the first two options with exclamation marks and the fifth option a smartarse non-sequitur plus  the question itself is both ludicrous (how is anyone supposed to be able to form any kind of judgement in the absence of any background information) and is clearly designed to take a rise out of atheists by replaying the the old deathbed conversion shtick.

I don't think it's obviously or clearly anything. I would've thought the posters here would be more inclined to wait for harder evidence, instead of jumping the gun. Even in nyc, there are some families that never had computers in the household and some people have never even touched a computer. Then there are families where they've always had computers, but no one is allowed to be on the internet, or they simply never had an internet connection and just use word processing.

When I was new to message boards, my writing style was all exclamation points - I was afraid people wouldn't see my post or respond, and I was just over eager. I also started random polls that weren't necessary just *because* there was a poll function and I wanted to use the hell out of it, cuz I thought it was cool it even existed. I've also joined websites that I couldn't find later on, because I couldn't remember the name and couldn't figure out how to use the bookmarks, and couldn't remember the phrase I googled which led me to the website in the first place.

Now that I've actually had years of experience with message boards and I've actually worked in my school's IT department and took basic computer programming classes - it still took me a while to adjust to HAF. The tiny reply font in the blue boxes, and the replies within the replies are sometimes indistinguishable to my eyes.

As for the poll, Beatty could've been joking and serious at the same time. It's no different than if you were talking to someone in person offline, and they were all "OMG hi!! Should I get cheese fries?? I want them...but I don't knowww!" It doesn't mean we should pre-emptively take the piss out of someone that just needs someone to talk to, when we don't know what their situation it -___- Even on yahoo answers, I see a lot of people post questions like "Help!! Idk what to do??? How do I know if [insert problem here]!!" Usually, people are just scared and are eager for replies.

[Amicale]

Just look at the poll, it's an obvious exercise in urine extraction, with its restatement of the first two options with exclamation marks and the fifth option a smartarse non-sequitur plus  the question itself is both ludicrous (how is anyone supposed to be able to form any kind of judgement in the absence of any background information) and is clearly designed to take a rise out of atheists by replaying the the old deathbed conversion shtick.

I don't think it's obviously or clearly anything. I would've thought the posters here would be more inclined to wait for harder evidence, instead of jumping the gun. Even in nyc, there are some families that never had computers in the household and some people have never even touched a computer. Then there are families where they've always had computers, but no one is allowed to be on the internet, or they simply never had an internet connection and just use word processing.

When I was new to message boards, my writing style was all exclamation points - I was afraid people wouldn't see my post or respond, and I was just over eager. I also started random polls that weren't necessary just *because* there was a poll function and I wanted to use the hell out of it, cuz I thought it was cool it even existed. I've also joined websites that I couldn't find later on, because I couldn't remember the name and couldn't figure out how to use the bookmarks, and couldn't remember the phrase I googled which led me to the website in the first place.

Now that I've actually had years of experience with message boards and I've actually worked in my school's IT department and took basic computer programming classes - it still took me a while to adjust to HAF. The tiny reply font in the blue boxes, and the replies within the replies are sometimes indistinguishable to my eyes.

As for the poll, Beatty could've been joking and serious at the same time. It's no different than if you were talking to someone in person offline, and they were all "OMG hi!! Should I get cheese fries?? I want them...but I don't knowww!" It doesn't mean we should pre-emptively take the piss out of someone that just needs someone to talk to, when we don't know what their situation it -___- Even on yahoo answers, I see a lot of people post questions like "Help!! Idk what to do??? How do I know if [insert problem here]!!" Usually, people are just scared and are eager for replies.

You seem like a very compassionate, understanding kind of person, and I agree that it's best to not jump down a new member's throat, or to make quick assumptions. What can I say... sometimes we skeptics are too damned skeptical for our own good, really. And sometimes that makes us less welcoming than we ought to be. I'm not speaking for anyone else here, just me.

Thanks for the reminder.

Beatty, if you're still around, I'd appreciate clarification of your poll, but I'd be happy to just chat about the issue, too. I'm truly sorry you lost your dad.