Growing Hostility Toward Christianity... from Evangelicals

[Terry]

I wonder why none of you take the time or trouble to do a little research on what Christians do in the world to make the world a better place -- instead of trying to find a verse in the Bible that you can use to say Jesu said to eat him. Pathetic. Anyone want to go feed the poor with me in L.A. or go to Mexico to build an orphanage? Where is the Richard Dawkins Home for Unwed Mothers? (Yeah, that's what I thought). Does someone have the address of the Skeptic Hospital of orange Country? ( I thought not). Maybe this thanksgiving, I'll go work the Skeptic Food Bank and homeless shelter (oh wait, nevermind).

What about the Gates foundation, a huge philanthropic organization funded by Bill Gates? Gates is at most agnostic, if not downright atheist.

 

[Coffee]

Oh my gosh, you actually did it. You actually followed the script I posted in Post #31.

(Now, you're supposed to accuse me of really having no answer at all, which to your mind proves the Bible has contradictions and you are totally justified in still denying God while maintaining that all Christians are exactly the same -- that's usually the script, but feel free to vary from it and actually go to a bookstore and pick a few of those books to read).​

That's outrageously amusing.

I truly did not think it could happen. Wowsers.

Have a grrrrrreat Day, SkepticGirl....

R.A.

This post shows that you were fairly certain skeptigirl would call you on your avoidance and instead of confronting the issue your response is a childish post complete with smilies. That's not something to be proud of.

 

[bokonon]

He also made provisions in the law for slaves, knowing that men simply were going to do such a thing, and that within such a society, he would protect those slaves as much as possible by injecting provisions for them into the law.

One more comment here.

"Men simply were going to do such a thing" was true for murder as well as for slavery.

Yet, murder is condemned explicitly in the Bible.

In 21st-century America, we've eliminated the practice of slavery. Murder is still with us.

If "people are going to do what people are going to do" is a valid reason to let slavery slide, it would have to be an even more valid reason to be silent on the morality of murder. Murder has persisted; slavery has not.

The fact is, good people discussing what is right and wrong, fair and unfair, with other good people, results in a better guide to morality than the Bible.

 

[R.Abanes]

What about the Gates foundation, a huge philanthropic organization funded by Bill Gates? Gates is at most agnostic, if not downright atheist.

Excellent. Let's start a list. That's about a 1:1,000,000 ratio. Good start.

No, the problem is that you don't really have answers.

Another follower of the script. How predictable. You're right bok, you got me. Doh!! Let me go get a slave, go watch trees clap their hands, listen for mountains to start talking, and castrate myself -- all just like the Bible says. Oh, no, wait. I , I just can't. So, I'll stop being a Christian. You guys have saved me. Thank you so much.

R.A.

 

[Hokulele]

Yup. Never said otherwise. Pretty basic concept. if you want to do anything -- serve in ministry, focus on career, go to school, etc. -- getting married certainly splits your attention. I can give a hearty AMEN to that one.

Well, sure. But the point is that your interpretation here is evidence that the bible is not meant to be some sort of rule book, but a general guide. It is when fundamentalists treat it as a rule book (similar to your defense of one man/one woman marriage), especially when there is no other decent reason for such a rule, do I see the problem with people using the bible as a starting point for morality.


ETA: Meh, I just read the rest of the thread. Never mind.

 

[Terry]

Excellent. Let's start a list. That's about a 1:1,000,000 ratio. Good start.

Oh come on. Is it your claim that Gates is the only non-christian person who is at all charitable?

 

[bokonon]

Excellent. Let's start a list. That's about a 1:1,000,000 ratio. Good start.



Another follower of the script. How predictable. You're right bok, you got me. Doh!! Let me go get a slave, go watch trees clap their hands, listen for mountains to start talking, and castrate myself -- all just like the Bible says. Oh, no, wait. I , I just can't. So, I'll stop being a Christian. You guys have saved me. Thank you so much.

R.A.

You know, I haven't read any of your books, but seeing this kind of playground prose in its unedited form makes me think your editor must be entitled to more than half of whatever royalties they generate.

 

[R.Abanes]

bok, I'm sure you are well aware of the fact that one does not speak the same when lecturing, as he does when hanging out at a bar for a beer with friends, or enjoying a good game of bowling. Blogs and message boards are not academic, nor are they scholarly, nor are they official, or formal in any capacity. I am fairly fun guy, or so I am told, reasonable, and fun-loving, with a sarcastic edge, and an eye for appreciating good slapstick. So, in light banter, when something strikes me as amusing, I respond accordingly. If you'd like me to play skeptic lecturer at Cal Tech, then i can do that too, but how boring for a message board. An Randi is the one who made all those cute animated gifs -- I ain't gonna let em go to waste. I find them hysterical and stimulating.

RA

 

[Terry]

Randi is the one who made all those cute animated gifs

Yeah, sure he is. In fact 95% of his time is devoted to creating smilies for internet bulletin boards. It is a wonder he has any time to do anything skeptical, really.

 

[R.Abanes]

Terry: your response is a childish post complete with smilies.

RA: Did I say that? I said Excellent. Let's make a list, then gave a fairly accurate ratio. Christians are known worldwide for their ceaseless humanitarian efforts, even though they serve their tyrannical, hateful, vicious, nasty, mean, ogre of a violent ugly man-deity. Hmmm, seems a bit oxymoronic, no?

 

[R.Abanes]

Terry: Yeah, sure he is. In fact 95% of his time is devoted to creating smilies for internet bulletin boards. It is a wonder he has any time to do anything skeptical, really.

RA: Do any of you guys have any sense of humor at all when dealing with a Christian. Or is it simply a matter of, "Here's another @!@^%56, God-@%!^@%^ , SOB-Christian we can rip apart in an attempt to tar-and-feather him because we all hate God, the Bible, Christianity, and all Christians? I'm just curious. Geez, lighten up. I was just sayin' the cute little guys are there, WHOEVER LITERALLY MADE THEM, OKAY -- and they're fun to play with. Yikes, people. Okay, okay, Randi, didn't sit at his PC and hand-make them all, feel better?

 

[Terry]

Terry: Yeah, sure he is. In fact 95% of his time is devoted to creating smilies for internet bulletin boards. It is a wonder he has any time to do anything skeptical, really.

RA: Do any of you guys have any sense of humor at all when dealing with a Christian. Or is it simply a matter of, "Here's another @!@^%56, God-@%!^@%^ , SOB-Christian we can rip apart in an attempt to tar-and-feather him because we all hate God, the Bible, Christianity, and all Christians? I'm just curious. Geez, lighten up.

So its okay for you to be sarcasticly humorous, but you're not prepared to take it in return. Gotcha.

Also, it would make things easier for most of us if you would investigate how the "Quote" button works. Just sayin'

 

[bokonon]

bok, I'm sure you are well aware of the fact that one does not speak the same when lecturing, as he does when hanging out at a bar for a beer with friends, or enjoying a good game of bowling. Blogs and message boards are not academic, nor are they scholarly, nor are they official, or formal in any capacity.

They are somewhat persistent. If you want to adopt the "I'm not a buffoon, but I play one on the internet" persona here, noted, and I'll not waste any more of my time attempting to have a serious conversation with you.

 

[bokonon]

Also, it would make things easier for most of us if you would investigate how the "Quote" button works. Just sayin'

Actually, I kind of liked his way of handling quotes. Saved me the trouble of doing that double cut-and-paste thing when I thought his reply needed the context of my original to make sense.

 

[Ichneumonwasp]

Terry: Yeah, sure he is. In fact 95% of his time is devoted to creating smilies for internet bulletin boards. It is a wonder he has any time to do anything skeptical, really.

RA: Do any of you guys have any sense of humor at all when dealing with a Christian. Or is it simply a matter of, "Here's another @!@^%56, God-@%!^@%^ , SOB-Christian we can rip apart in an attempt to tar-and-feather him because we all hate God, the Bible, Christianity, and all Christians? I'm just curious. Geez, lighten up. I was just sayin' the cute little guys are there, WHOEVER LITERALLY MADE THEM, OKAY -- and they're fun to play with. Yikes, people. Okay, okay, Randi, didn't sit at his PC and hand-make them all, feel better?

I'm not going to get involved in this conversation, but just so you know, there have been several Christians and non-Christian "idealists" who have skirted through and played the game of "I'm just joking around" when it suited them (often as a way to be very nasty and assume passive-aggressive roles), but when others tried to respond in kind, they often cried foul. It's a history thing, really, so please don't take offense.

 

[R.Abanes]

Well, maybe none of us will ever be able to talk to each other at all in any meaningful way and just keep the status quo.

If you go back and look at the beginning of this thread, I think you'll see that out of the gate, I was attacked rather rudely and had done notihng to deserve the heat.

And even at the outset, I used those cute little gifs, while at the same time seeking to give fairly rational replies -- keeping it as light as possible.

But eventually some of the comments became absurd. I mean really, just read them. So, meh, whatever.

R.A.

(no immature gifs included)

 

[Ichneumonwasp]

Well, maybe none of us will ever be able to talk to each other at all in any meaningful way and just keep the status quo.

If you go back and look at the beginning of this thread, I think you'll see that out of the gate, I was attacked rather rudely and had done notihng to deserve the heat.

And even at the outset, I used those cute little gifs, while at the same time seeking to give fairly rational replies -- keeping it as light as possible.

But eventually some of the comments became absurd. I mean really, just read them. So, meh, whatever.

R.A.

(no immature gifs included)

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not defending anyone's actions, just trying to point out the history and why you are getting the current response. Humor is a very dangerous game on discussion boards, especially if a serious subject is at hand.

It's just hard to tell who is being irreverant and who is trying to be mean and cover him or herself. Humor in serious discussions often sounds very condescending.

But, to each his own.

ETA:

Sorry, forgot to add the most important part -- good luck.

 

[Coffee]

Humor is a very dangerous game on discussion boards, especially if a serious subject is at hand.

It's just hard to tell who is being irreverant and who is trying to be mean and cover him or herself. Humor in serious discussions often sounds very condescending.

I found that out when I first joined this forum. I was throughly thrashed for attempting humor during a serious discussion. I've tried to tread carefully since then.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Excellent. Let's start a list. That's about a 1:1,000,000 ratio. Good start.

Ah, don't be silly, lots of atheists give money to charity, including me.

Amongst the most spectacular such donors are Andrew Carnegie (militant atheist), Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates (perhaps more of an agnostic), who have made some of the largest charitable donations in history.

But if you want a list of every last one ... you may whistle for it.

Where is the Richard Dawkins Home for Unwed Mothers? (Yeah, that's what I thought). Does someone have the address of the Skeptic Hospital of orange Country? ( I thought not). Maybe this thanksgiving, I'll go work the Skeptic Food Bank and homeless shelter (oh wait, nevermind). Just out of curiosity, can I have a list of the Atheist-Skeptic organizations who sent teams to New Orleans to help Hurricane Katrina victims? (email the list to me).

Surely you jest. If something is worth doing, why on earth would any rational person want to set up an organization to do it which only accepts help and donations from atheists? It would be as silly as having a charity that only sought help from red-haired people. There is no such charity, but this is not because red-haired people have no charitable instincts, it's because they have more sense then to set up such a stupidly self-limiting institution.

There are of course many secular charities. Atheists tend to donate to or work for those.

 

[Ausmerican]

Surely you jest. If something is worth doing, why on earth would any rational person want to set up an organization to do it which only accepts help and donations from atheists? It would be as silly as having a charity that only sought help from red-haired people. There is no such charity, but this is not because red-haired people have no charitable instincts, it's because they have more sense then to set up such a stupidly self-limiting institution.

Surely you are not disparaging the fine work of The Red-Headed League, chronicled by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle Dr A?

On a more serious note though the Red Cross/Red Crescent spring to mind as examples of secular charity organisations.