Growing Hostility Toward Christianity... from Evangelicals

[Safe-Keeper]

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

Oh, Christians I've got nothing against. They're incredibly naive about their Bible and get a bit annoying sometimes if they talk about their faith a lot, but most Christians I know are nice people. So your presumptuous idea that if I dislike the Bible, I have to dislike Christians, too, is erroneous. While it is true that I do hate the few Christians who adhere faithfully to the Bible (read: the fundamentalists), the Christians I know fortunately manage to remain so without blowing up abortion clinics, condemning homosexuality or pushing Creationism on schoolchildren.

instead of trying to find a verse in the Bible that you can use to say Jesu said to eat him. Pathetic.

OK, so the ritual of eating bread and drinking wine because it symbolizes the eating of divine flesh and blood did not originate with Jesus? Where is it from, then?

And again, though I realize you've put me on ignore for, in your eyes, being almost as obnoxious as you are - did you actually read the Bible passage I gave you? What part of 'in truth I tell you' don't you get?

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).

*Not this bigoted nonsense again. Listen closely now: just that certain Christians like to slap their religious beliefs onto the names of things they do doesn't mean everyone else do, too. Can you point me towards the Left-handed Animal Shelter? Or the Blond Disaster Relief Foundation? What about the African-American Organization for Victims of Sexual Abuse? No? But surely there is a Vegetarians' Rape Victim Support Group? No? Guess left-handed people, blonds, African-Americans and Vegetarians don't care for their fellow man, then.*

*Could someone copy this into one of their own posts (with Abanes' quote) so that he actually reads it? I have a feeling I didn't put enough silly smileys in my post for him to accept me into his Circle of People He Bothers Talking To.

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.

So because the passage you spouted about dancing trees is poetic language, everything you don't like has to be, too? Do your superiors in the skeptical foundation or whatever you work for know you're writing this irrational nonsense? How on Earth did you get hired in the first place?

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,

Then why are you so childish on this forum? Look around you - how many others fill their posts with childish smileys, sarcasm and insults instead of replying to posts?

As for me... OK, give me a list of things I haven't replied to and I'll get back to you.

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

Let alone a game of Forum Mafia.

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?

Of course it's an oxymoron (if it's true in the first place that Christians have a worldwide reputation for kindness - all the victims of Catholic anti-condom campaigns in Africa or Christian terrorist groups might want to have a word with you). But hey, that's what you get. Oxymorons exist, you know.

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.

If anyone can tell me why the Salvation Army has all these ridiculous rules for who can be members of them (gays are barred, as are people who have kids outside of marriage, to give two examples), then please do. As if the recipients of their charity could care less as to where the money came from or who was doing the helping.

Imagine the outcry if Gates' foundation refused members who believed in Gods. Yet when Christians do it, suddenly it's totally OK.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Just noticed this little gem from our beloved skeptic stubborn goat:

RA: Hmm. Well, you might have the wrong book. I can't seem to find Jesus ordering anyone to kill anyone, let alone kill them all. Are you sure you're not reading the Koran?

Interesting comparison. You can't accept even relatively insignificant instruction in the Bible and flame whoever points them out to you, but when it's the Yahweh of the Q'uran, all of a sudden everything bad has to be taken 100% literally. If you asked a Muslim about the meaning of rules telling you to kill, they'd say they were poetical, metaphorical, hyperbolic or obsolete for some reason. And before you bring up Islamic terrorism, let me ensure you that for every atrocity carried out by the beard patrol, I can list a similar human rights violation carried out by Jews and Christians.

It reminds me of this experiment I've brought up several times, in which a number of kids (Israeli, though strictly speaking it doesn't matter - you could do similar experiments with kids of any religion with lots of violence in it) were split into two groups, and both were read the Jewish myth about the massacre of Jericho. They were asked to tell the surveyers if they Strongly Approved, Partially Disapproved, or Totally Disapproved. The polarized results showed an overwhelming support, often for religious reasons (such as "God told them to conquer Jericho"). The other half of the kids, however, were given an altered version of the story, in which the setting had been changed to China but every other detail remained untouched. The kids given this version of the story... largely disapproved. Eerie.

 

[Coffee]

Just noticed this little gem from our beloved skeptic stubborn goat:

RA: Hmm. Well, you might have the wrong book. I can't seem to find Jesus ordering anyone to kill anyone, let alone kill them all. Are you sure you're not reading the Koran?
R.A.

Interesting comparison. You can't accept even relatively insignificant instruction in the Bible and flame whoever points them out to you, but when it's the Yahweh of the Q'uran, all of a sudden everything bad has to be taken 100% literally.If you asked a Muslim about the meaning of rules telling you to kill, they'd say they were poetical, metaphorical, hyperbolic or obsolete for some reason. And before you bring up Islamic terrorism, let me ensure you that for every atrocity carried out by the beard patrol, I can list a similar human rights violation carried out by Jews and Christians.

I missed that gem also. I doubt that we'll see any response from him concerning his glaring hypocrisy.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Describing yourself as a conservative Christian doesn't make you a bad person (I don't know where you got "less of a man" from) but it sets up a thought process that allows you to do bad things.

Really? I hear charity is a good thing.

From the god delusion:
"Physicist and Nobel prizewinner Stephen Weinberg describes religion as an insult to human dignity. 'Without it,' he says, 'you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion."

Good, I get a double whammy of trite speak from you, Dawkins and Weinberg. How droll.

Adding conservatism only makes it worse.

That ought to embarass you. The opinion of a Nobel Prize winner on this weighs no more than my opinion on the mathematic of string theory.

Tried a useless argument from authority, lately?

Why not instead consider the liberal ( in the oldt sense) Enlightenment framework at its most liberal conclusion, Marxism as practiced, and see how that only makes it worse.

See how pointless your little label is?

Better yet, let's not tilt at phantasms.

DR

 

[Darth Rotor]

I'm here to tell you that you have no business calling yourself a "skeptic"

Please try to get kittennh banned.

when you're do not apply it to all aspects of your life and believe in something that doesn't exist. I'm also here to tell you that you are wrong.

He's not wrong about the anger you spit at him, what with the chip on your shoulder you were waiting for someone to knock off.

You are wrong about the existance of your God. Your are wrong about homosexuality being a "sin." You are wrong about your contradiction-laden book that you slavishly adhere to.

We note the full, tunnel vision that rage induces here.

As for the rest, you're patronizing me again. Stop it.

You might consider stopping with the foaming at the mouth.

DR

 

[Darth Rotor]

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?

RA, I suggest you consider the term chew toy as an apt metaphor. Or chum for sharks.

As US noted, with a reception like this, it's a wonder any Christians ever drop by for a chat.

DR

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Hint: A few things have changed between the 21st century and the way the world worked/functioned in 4000 b.c. (in case you haven't noticed). I suggest you read some history. That should be sufficient to give you an understanding of life in the Ancient Near East. But I'm sure the Old testament wars are a wonderful reason to deny God. So, feel free to not read anything.

Oh, and btw, are you agreeing genocide is evil? That it's wrong to kill? I am curious, for you, what makes you say it's wrong/evil? What is your standard of right/wrong? What if your standard conflicts with someone else's standard? Who is right? Numbers? Social agreement? Power (might makes right?). Just curious to understand your thoughts and the way you negotiate ethics/morality -- and what makes what you say any more right than what anyone else says.

R.A.

Yeah right. Genocide based on religious ethnicity never happens anymore.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

And now the problem with all of your questions is: You're not really interested in the answers. ...R.A

Translation, since I haven't convinced you, you must not be listening to me.

No, RA, you have failed to convince anyone. We have read what you have had to say. Though it is a bit hard to follow since you use so many avoidance crutches rather than just having a straight forward discussion.