For 1inChrist and friends....

[Roadtoad]

After reading your posts and scrolling through your "discussions," I thought a response was called for.

I'll start this with a story. I usually do.

Last Friday and Saturday, I made a run up North to pick up some heavy equipment for a client, along with a group of other drivers. We loaded up in Shasta County, and then began driving home. In my case, I had a unit called a "Speedswing" loaded on my lowboy.

One of the guys who "helped" get me ready to roll is someone who brags to the rest of us how he's in Church on Sunday, and how he's a follower of divine revelation as found in Scripture. One of the little "gifts" he left me was that he ran a chain across a light receptacle, which, when we tightened it up, broke apart. Once it did this, the chain made contact with the bare wires, and shorted out my electrical system on my truck. I had turn signals, I had brake lights, but nothing else.

I managed to get things fixed on the way home, with help from another driver, (who, by the way, is an agnostic). But, ultimately, this was but one incident in what would be a very ugly weekend.

On Saturday, we began the run South to Bakersfield where the equipment was needed. During run down, our Hero decided he was going to get into a pissing contest with another driver. He'd pass the other guy, then slow down. The other driver would pass up our Hero, only to have Hero speed up and block him from getting over into the far right lane. (Just a note, here: Trucks are supposed to be in the Right Lane. We can get over one to the left, the so-called "Hammer Lane," but only for short periods of time, and only under certain conditions. If you're in the Hammer Lane too long, you get a ticket for a lane violation, and fine is not cheap: generally, around $280.)

Then, over the CB, he begins running off at the mouth at the other driver, accusing him of playing games. Keep in mind, ol' Hero tends to run too fast, so all of this is taking place at 65 miles an hour, with vehicles fully loaded to their legal gross weight of 80,000 lbs.

We arrive in Bakersfield. Hero can't be bothered to help other drivers, and for the better part of the final leg of the trip, I couldn't get him to shut the f*** up so I could stop and ask directions to where we needed to be. He's still picking fights with other drivers, and calling still others names you'll normally hear on an Elementary School playground. Then, if that weren't enough, a supervising driver asks me to ask him to do something, and I get an earful about how I'm not his boss, and I can't tell him what to do. (Maybe not, but the supervisor certainly could, and did.)

Of course, if you call him on any of this, he begins to preach. You know, how we need Jesus, and how we're all sinners, and we need to forgive, and yes, he's made mistakes, but we owe him forgiveness.

(If you need brain surgery, do you want a surgeon who's sincere, or one who's competent?)

Yeah, I'm a little irked. And, no, this isn't one of my better written efforts, but I'm a little tired of reading the baiting of atheists on this forum by people who claim to "love" Jesus. And while, nominally, I'm still "Christian," I find these people who choose to pass on religion are more friends to me than just about any of the "Believers" who post here, (with some notable exceptions).

Tell you what, Gang: I haven't read your testimonies of how you came to believe, but I can tell you that if I had to decide if you were believers based on what I read, you folks would come up real short, real quick. Calling people "flesh fiends" and other names, the declarations that unless they believe in a manner that's JUST LIKE YOURS, they're destined for Hell, (which I could stomach if you weren't just groovin' on people rotting in misery), and belittling the very people you claim you're trying to witness to, doesn't make you believable.

In fact, if I had to guess, your behavior declares that you have not been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. If anything, you're more vain and arrogant than any atheist present on this site. What you're saying is that there is no God.

And, of course, since I'm a mere Truck Driver, who am I to argue with you?

 

[csense]

...and your behavior here, represents a solution to their behavior...

 

[The GM]

Nice OP, RT. I would only make one small observation. I don't believe that the religious have the lock down on arrogance over observation, or contempt over contemplation. I recently took user Fun2BFree on for the sorts of behaviors you described, and he was a self proclaimed atheist.
Perhaps this kind of behavior is more a 'people problem' rather than a religious problem.
That, and I seriously doubt 1inC is religious to begin w/, rather I think he's a no talent butt monkey troll. Perhaps a topic for another thread, though.

 

[jmercer]

Hey, GM - no doubt arrogance is a people problem, but RoadToad's got a good point and wrote a good post. The guy he's talking about is citing Christ as his ideal, but not making any apparent effort to live up to Christ's teachings.

This makes him hypocritical, arrogant and self-centered - unlike the atheist you mentioned, who's simply arrogant and self-centered.

Maybe a small distinction, but those who publicly proclaim that they adhere to a higher standard should be measured by that standard. In my humble opinion, that is.

 

[The GM]

Hey, GM - no doubt arrogance is a people problem, but RoadToad's got a good point and wrote a good post. The guy he's talking about is citing Christ as his ideal, but not making any apparent effort to live up to Christ's teachings.

This makes him hypocritical, arrogant and self-centered - unlike the atheist you mentioned, who's simply arrogant and self-centered.

Maybe a small distinction, but those who publicly proclaim that they adhere to a higher standard should be measured by that standard. In my humble opinion, that is.

That was *exactly* my point w/ Fun2B. He kept talking about how he was a critical thinker and a regular paragon of logic, when his words said otherwise. So yeah, he was a hypocrite in the same manner as the guy RT describes. Thus my thought that perhaps this is a people problem rather than a religious problem.

And you're right, nice OP by RT.

 

[Dr Adequate]

1inChrist and Kirk Frazer are/may be Christians. But is Interesting Ian, hammegk, Peter Morris or whassname? Mark Thingummy, the World's Greatest Magician (and Fastest Cat Toy)?

These are really people who've made a religion out of their own stupidity and arrogance. The original doctrine is "I AM NEVER WRONG" --- the susequent ideas are then, obviously, the first to enter the patient's head subsequent to his discovery of his own omniscience --- each of which he must defend in order to defend the Central Doctrine Of Perpetual Rightness. If the patient exposed to Christian ideas, and one of those lodges in the skull, then they will adopt Christianity to the extent of believing that Jesus also always thinks they're right, and adding non-Christians to the list of people to despise for their intellectual inferiority.

This is different from a genuine religious impulse. It's bordering on the nuts. Kirk Frazer, to take the most recent of our megalomaniacs, believes that he has superpowers greater than Jesus --- and spends his time, not exercising these powers, but shrieking hysterical gibberish abuse at strangers in a public place. If this public place was a street corner and not a web forum, we'd know exactly what to think of him.

 

[c4ts]

These are really people who've made a religion out of their own stupidity and arrogance. The original doctrine is "I AM NEVER WRONG" --- the susequent ideas are then, obviously, the first to enter the patient's head subsequent to his discovery of his own omniscience --- each of which he must defend in order to defend the Central Doctrine Of Perpetual Rightness. If the patient exposed to Christian ideas, and one of those lodges in the skull, then they will adopt Christianity to the extent of believing that Jesus also always thinks they're right, and adding non-Christians to the list of people to despise for their intellectual inferiority.

This is the very definiton of close-mindedness.

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I believe my first sig line is relevant to Dr. A's observations. Perhaps also my second sig line.

~~ Paul

 

[iain]

There was a nice little joke I heard on the Garrison Keiller Radio Show, something like this.

A woman's driving along when she comes across a guy doing 40mph. She can't easily overtake so she flashes her lights, beeps the guy, drives right up close behind him for a while. When she has the chance, she pulls alongside him and lets forth a stream of abuse about his driving abilities before overtaking a driving off.

A few miles later, she's stopped by the police, taken to the local police station and finds herself cooling off in a cell for a few hours.

A while later a very apologetic policeman lets her out.
"I'm very sorry, ma'am", he says "I saw the way you behaved to that other driver. Then I saw the fish symbol on the back of your car, and I saw the "What Would Jesus Do" sticker and I just assumed you must have stolen it.

 

[MLynn]

Roadtoad, I wonder what this guy's response would be if you said to him, "are you sure you're saved?" and then proceed to explain to him why he's not "Christ-like." I wish I had been there, I would have said a word or two to him.

 

[Roadtoad]

Roadtoad, I wonder what this guy's response would be if you said to him, "are you sure you're saved?" and then proceed to explain to him why he's not "Christ-like." I wish I had been there, I would have said a word or two to him.

I ought to add that he's a liar.

Truth: We have a late model Freightliner with a blown engine. The man in question blew up the engine. The reason the engine is blown is because of water in the oil, which, naturally, fried the pistons and cylinders.

He claims that for weeks, he'd been checking the oil in his truck, the Freightliner, and checking the water level in it, making sure that everything was up to snuff. He's claiming he's written everything up, and that he's made efforts to get this truck back up and running.

And the truth is, he's done none of that.

In all honesty, that was nice Freightshaker. It's got some paint fade, but the truth is, it's got a nice big block, a well designed sleeper, and it's solid as far as its mechanicals go. None of this should have happened to that truck; you check oil and water EVERY DAY before you even think of starting the truck, checking for any sign that you might have overdriven it, and caused even the slightest warpage to the heads. (If fact, as you drive, you're supposed to be watching the temperature gauge, making sure you don't overheat. One of the reasons I prefer Kenworths is they also provide temp gauges for your engine oil, and your exhaust. If you see something out of synch, you can adjust accordingly.)

Problem is, I know for a fact that the only time he bothers to check the oil and water is when someone reminds him, and since most of us are busy with our own equipment, we really don't have time to go around babysitting this guy.

As a result, he ran a little too hard one night, came in and simply shut it down without cooling the beast down. The heads warped, (and it doesn't take much to cause it), and the next morning, he ran it without checking the oil and water. He continued to run, and the next thing you know, he's coming home on a hook.

(Interesting to note that the guy who used to own that rig sold it to my boss, and came to work for us. He's also a devout Christian, and someone I'd drive with any day. He's rough around the edges, which means he cusses a bit, drinks an occasional beer, and sometimes has a bit of a temper. But, when it's all said and done, he's a great guy. He's also probably not going to be welcome in any Heaven that 1in and Kirk F would have us believe exists.)

I know this business can be a pain in the @$$. But, you learn what it requires as you run, and if you aren't willing to put up with it, turn in your CDL and get the hell out.

Check out the sig at the end. It's true.