Atheists, what would make you change your mind?

[Big Mac]

Eh, typical cut and run. You can't hack it with your views so you want to cut and run. I'm not the admin here but I personally wouldn't give a flying fuck if you stayed or went. You're not trolling and your posts are simply that of bafflement as to why we are atheists.

[Asmodean Prime]

firstly, BigMac, i dont intend to cut and run, i did say though that i would see what reaction i get from my being here.  actually, i'm not here to convert anybody, i'm not capable of that.  i just thought i'd fight the corner for the faith community.

mommasquid, no, i't not afraid my doubts will grow if i stay

McQ, the 'flaming' doesn't bother me on a 'faith' level, but it does on a personal level.  i dont use bad language in real life myself, but i know that wherever i go it is prevalent, even at work, where i've got to be, but i don't like it.  i dont want to cause offence to anybody, anywhere, anytime, and i hope that people dont offend me, but know that i cant really do anything about it.  

laetus, again, as i said, i'm not here to convert, but i do believe i should be honest and speak my mind.  i don't know what the difference is, if any.  

i will speak my mind.  can you cope with that?  after all, you lot on here speak your minds.  

(when i say 'you lot' i dont mean any offence, by the way)

i think you are all great people.  Really.  and debate doesnt scare me.  i love it.  

by the way, since you are all clever and capable people, i hope you will excuse my puntuation, as i type quicky and am not too bothered about the correct punctuation as long as you can understand me.  

again, i'm not scared by debate, i just thought that you lot might not want me on here.  

i will stay and find out, anyway.

[Asmodean Prime]

to elaborate on my above point about using swear words.  i know its very common, but to me it just seems pointless, and i avoid it whenever possible.  the reasons are these.  firstly, as a believer, i believe that we will all give an account to God eventually for even each careless word we use, as the bible says.  although i admit that i do other things which are probably more serious, but maybe its just that controlling my tongue is easier to accomplish, and makes me feel like i've at least done something.  another reason that i learned many years ago is that people use swear words to appear 'big' or 'hard', or to fit in with the crowd.  

to me, this is a sign of weakness, not strength.

also, though on my computer, i don't use correct punctuation myself, i see that swearing doesnt make any sense, language wise, in real life.  take the following common, made up example.

i f***ing went to the f***ing shop for a newspaper

i can understand the f***ing shop part more than i can understand the f***ing went part.   it reminds me of star trek, where i read a while ago that the phrase 'boldly go' is incorrect in a grammatical sense, as it should be 'go boldly'

anyway, that's just my rant.  probably about 10 people will read this. maybe 70, i dont know, and they will not take any notice of what i've said anyway.  (do you ever get the feeling that you're wasting your time?) but there it is, just for the record

[Big Mac]

Well you're from England so wouldn't it be "I went to the Shaggin' store to get a shaggin' newspaper, mate. Pip pip!"

[Whitney]

onlyme:  Any theist who comes here is going to want to convert us, that's to be expected.  I had just suggested that you use a little more variety in your replies...which you are doing.  You are, of course, welcome to stay and seem to be trying very hard to be respectful of others.

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For everyone in general:

:arrow: Reminder of rule number 1:  It doesn't just apply to theists.

Respect that onlyme is being as respectful as possible.  We really don't want to add to the stereotype that atheists are all pissed off assholes...do we?

I don't want to have to do it, but will start enforcing the rule with penalties if necessary.  Not everyone is being disrespectful, those who are should know it and do their best to be civil.  I think free speech is very important, but gotta draw a line somewhere to keep this forum from being a complete free for all mess.  If you are unsure of what is considered disrespectful vs respectful, start a thread in the questions area and we'll all discuss where to draw the line.

[McQ]

onlyme:  Any theist who comes here is going to want to convert us, that's to be expected.  I had just suggested that you use a little more variety in your replies...which you are doing.  You are, of course, welcome to stay and seem to be trying very hard to be respectful of others.

----------------

For everyone in general:

:arrow: Reminder of rule number 1:  It doesn't just apply to theists.

Respect that onlyme is being as respectful as possible.  We really don't want to add to the stereotype that atheists are all pissed off assholes...do we?

I don't want to have to do it, but will start enforcing the rule with penalties if necessary.  Not everyone is being disrespectful, those who are should know it and do their best to be civil.  I think free speech is very important, but gotta draw a line somewhere to keep this forum from being a complete free for all mess.  If you are unsure of what is considered disrespectful vs respectful, start a thread in the questions area and we'll all discuss where to draw the line.

Rather than continue this thread in the wrong posting area, I've responded to this in the forum rules area.

[Asmodean Prime]

thanks, laetus, for your postings.  i myself am not offended by some peoples postings, these things happen in real life, so why shouldnt they happen in cyber-life?  the general view, i think, is that christians look down on other people, as being less enlightened.  i don't look down on people.  who am i to look down on anybody?  i am no better than anyone else.   i have always been for the 'underdog' - dont get me wrong, i dont include you lot as underdogs, its just that when i see PEOPLE suffering, i want to try and alleviate their sufferings.   for example, in cambodia, the attrocities carried out by the khmer roughe (red brigage) includes a tree, visible today, which still has the teeth of small children implanted in the bark, where 'swines' used to swing childrens heads at full force into the trees.   this is not right.  hitlers troops grabbed children out of their mother's arms and flung them alive into bonfires. the 'christians' of old carried out similar ATTROCITIES.  in my opinion, there is NO justification for taking a man's life.  when we take someones life, we take EVERYTHING he has.  WHO ARE WE, THAT WE THINK WE CAN DO THESE THINGS, WITH IMPUNITY?  we are not put on this planet to do these things!  my philosophy is try to teach people a better way, but if they wont listen, you cant do anything about it, don't harm them.  everybody is precious to someone - their kids, husbands, mothers, themselves, whatever.   who are we to destroy someones life and hope?

we christians get a bad name, in my experience, because we are considered as 'aloof, better than thou, etc.'  we are NO  better than anyone else, if anything, we have a harder time, because we TRY to be better.  we are still subject to the same temptations, sexual, monetary, socially, etc, as anyone else, its just that we TRY to be better in conduct.  is there any harm in that, really, i ask you?

[Big Mac]

Okay, I'll give you that onlyme. But in reality you are self-inflicting this torment on yourself.

[MommaSquid]

onlyme, I have a hard time reading your posts, not because of their content but because you don't use correct capitalization or punctuation, and you tend to run all of your sentences into one huge block of text.

If your message is important, then the presentation is important, too.  

If you don't think what you have to say is important enough to take the time to present that message clearly, then don't bother.  

That's my two cents (and I don't need change).

[Whitney]

we christians get a bad name, in my experience, because we are considered as 'aloof, better than thou, etc.'  we are NO  better than anyone else, if anything, we have a harder time, because we TRY to be better.  we are still subject to the same temptations, sexual, monetary, socially, etc, as anyone else, its just that we TRY to be better in conduct.  is there any harm in that, really, i ask you?

There's absolutely no harm in trying to be a better person.  Most atheists also try to better themselves.

The harm of Christianity comes from the many groups who think that their way is the best way because the bible said so, forgetting that not everyone agrees with their translation or maybe doesn't even believe in the bible at all, then try and force their biblical morals and beliefs on others through government.  

I don't really know how it is in your country, but here scientific advancements, which could heal a lot of people, are being delayed (possibly stopped) because some christian groups don't like the idea of stem cell research.  Homosexual citizens are being denied their civil right to marriage because religious groups fight against those rights.  Minority religions and the non-religious are set by the way side while evangelical christian groups try to push their version of creation into the school system.  And, abstinence only education, promoted mainly by christian parents, is adding to an increasing rate of unwed teenage mothers.

[Jassman]

To my knowledge, almost all of the stem-cell progress is being made in Europe.

[McQ]

To my knowledge, almost all of the stem-cell progress is being made in Europe.

My company is doing quite a bit of stem cell research right here in the good ole US of A, I'm proud to say. Our main facility is in......

Oh, no....I'm not telling. Some fundy will see this and burn the place down! LOL!

(it's somewhere in southern California)

[Court]

And, abstinence only education, promoted mainly by christian parents, is adding to an increasing rate of unwed teenage mothers.

And here in the lovely state of Texas, abstinence-based sex ed is a euphemism for non-existant sex ed (at least, in my experience)...I knew several people personally who didn't know the first thing about birth control or where they could get it if their parents were too strict. It's insane. I vaguely knew this girl who actually used the pull-out method as birth control, and was convinced it was just as good as the pill!

[Asmodean Prime]

onlyme, I have a hard time reading your posts, not because of their content but because you don't use correct capitalization or punctuation, and you tend to run all of your sentences into one huge block of text.

If your message is important, then the presentation is important, too.  

If you don't think what you have to say is important enough to take the time to present that message clearly, then don't bother.  

That's my two cents (and I don't need change).

ok, i will try to keep it neat in future.

The reason I type as I do is because, just before I got set up on the internet, I was reading a book about it - about chatrooms in particular-  admittedly it was a children's book.   Anyhow, it said that lack of correct punctuation is quite common in chatrooms, and often deliberate, and that it is considered bad manners to correct another user on this point.

So I have lapsed into the habit myself.   Also, I write this way when 'texting', and so do most people I know.

[Big Mac]

And, abstinence only education, promoted mainly by christian parents, is adding to an increasing rate of unwed teenage mothers.

And here in the lovely state of Texas, abstinence-based sex ed is a euphemism for non-existant sex ed (at least, in my experience)...I knew several people personally who didn't know the first thing about birth control or where they could get it if their parents were too strict. It's insane. I vaguely knew this girl who actually used the pull-out method as birth control, and was convinced it was just as good as the pill!

Are you kidding? Growing up in my small town, we had full-fledged sex ed. Hell we learned about labias and hymens and STD's and condoms (they had a room of 11 year old boys putting condoms on this phallic things) and how you can't tell who has AIDS or STD's by just looking at them. I find it ironic that you live in the Big D and didn't receive such education.