Orangutango
Disciple of Sagan
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2006
- Messages
- 485
Kathy...
We haven't been formally introduced, although I have been reading your posts for the past, three weeks. During that time, I have debated with myself whether or not I would adress you and your beliefs personally; my thinking being that you already had enough individuals here taking you to task over the contents of your posts without my joining in the fray. The more and more I read of your sanctimonious and self-righteous preaching, however, the more and more my restraint slipped until I reached the point of feeling compelled to speak my mind.
Just so you know in advance what my stance is on the topic of faith and religion, I am an agnostic with a strong disposition towards atheism. I must also confess that I harbor a deep disdain bordering on contempt for the religions of this world and their adherents who, unable to practice and pursue their own spiritual needs in the privacy of their own hearts, homes and places of worship, find themselves mandated by their god to spread his propaganda to the heathens, sinners and non-believers of this world. You are one such individual, and you have chosen this forum as your pulpit.
It never ceases to amaze me how you feign ignorance as to the reason why you are treated with such stern words and harsh reprimands, knowing full well that the audience you are adressing, for the most part, does not believe in the validity of your chosen faith... or in any other of the myriad mystical, mythical and, above all, man-made belief systems concocted thousands of years ago by frightened and ignorant men desperate to make sense of a world that they were, at the time, ill-equiped to understand.
Allow me to reiterate the above statement as bluntly as possible for you... to prevent any misinterpretation on your part: you are dealing with a bunch of skeptics, agnostics and athiests. We deal in the real... the tangible... that which can be proven or disproven through facts and evidence through the use of logic and reason.
And what do you bring to the table? Quotes and passages and parables from a book that was outdated almost the moment it was written. A text that is so riddled with contradictions, vague prophesies and unbelievable, historical accounts that it has created thousands of seperate Christian-based faiths and sub-faiths... each one divided by sometimes minor... sometimes major... differing interpretations of a what one would think would be the immutable word of god. What makes you think that we should give more credence to your particular brand of spiritual blatherings than to the rest of religious sects of the world... each one also claiming to speak with absolute authority for their own personal version of the divine creator...?
The reaction you have received here on this message board to date would be no different than if you were to attempt peddling your theological ramblings in a Jewish, Muslim or any other non-Christian forum. Just try to imagine the reception a "devout" agnostic like myself would receive were I to log onto an exclusive, born-again Christian message board, knowing perfectly well just what kind of mindset the members there would be sharing, and "preach" my own, personal philosophy and belief that there is no god. I would expect, and deserve, the kind of reaction you have brought upon yourself here.
I want you to know that I purposefully held off posting this for the past, 2 days... I actually felt guilty for feeling the need to join in on the verbal drubbing you have been receiving. But the last straw, however, was hearing you offering to "pray" for Roadtoad. Do you have any idea how condescending and sanctimonious you came across to someone who has already seen enough sorrow and suffering in regards to his friend's child dying to cause him to re-evaluate his faith? Your intentions may have been good, Kathy, but there is saying that I am sure you have heard before dealing with a certain road to hell and what it is paved with....
Jen
We haven't been formally introduced, although I have been reading your posts for the past, three weeks. During that time, I have debated with myself whether or not I would adress you and your beliefs personally; my thinking being that you already had enough individuals here taking you to task over the contents of your posts without my joining in the fray. The more and more I read of your sanctimonious and self-righteous preaching, however, the more and more my restraint slipped until I reached the point of feeling compelled to speak my mind.
Just so you know in advance what my stance is on the topic of faith and religion, I am an agnostic with a strong disposition towards atheism. I must also confess that I harbor a deep disdain bordering on contempt for the religions of this world and their adherents who, unable to practice and pursue their own spiritual needs in the privacy of their own hearts, homes and places of worship, find themselves mandated by their god to spread his propaganda to the heathens, sinners and non-believers of this world. You are one such individual, and you have chosen this forum as your pulpit.
It never ceases to amaze me how you feign ignorance as to the reason why you are treated with such stern words and harsh reprimands, knowing full well that the audience you are adressing, for the most part, does not believe in the validity of your chosen faith... or in any other of the myriad mystical, mythical and, above all, man-made belief systems concocted thousands of years ago by frightened and ignorant men desperate to make sense of a world that they were, at the time, ill-equiped to understand.
Allow me to reiterate the above statement as bluntly as possible for you... to prevent any misinterpretation on your part: you are dealing with a bunch of skeptics, agnostics and athiests. We deal in the real... the tangible... that which can be proven or disproven through facts and evidence through the use of logic and reason.
And what do you bring to the table? Quotes and passages and parables from a book that was outdated almost the moment it was written. A text that is so riddled with contradictions, vague prophesies and unbelievable, historical accounts that it has created thousands of seperate Christian-based faiths and sub-faiths... each one divided by sometimes minor... sometimes major... differing interpretations of a what one would think would be the immutable word of god. What makes you think that we should give more credence to your particular brand of spiritual blatherings than to the rest of religious sects of the world... each one also claiming to speak with absolute authority for their own personal version of the divine creator...?
The reaction you have received here on this message board to date would be no different than if you were to attempt peddling your theological ramblings in a Jewish, Muslim or any other non-Christian forum. Just try to imagine the reception a "devout" agnostic like myself would receive were I to log onto an exclusive, born-again Christian message board, knowing perfectly well just what kind of mindset the members there would be sharing, and "preach" my own, personal philosophy and belief that there is no god. I would expect, and deserve, the kind of reaction you have brought upon yourself here.
I want you to know that I purposefully held off posting this for the past, 2 days... I actually felt guilty for feeling the need to join in on the verbal drubbing you have been receiving. But the last straw, however, was hearing you offering to "pray" for Roadtoad. Do you have any idea how condescending and sanctimonious you came across to someone who has already seen enough sorrow and suffering in regards to his friend's child dying to cause him to re-evaluate his faith? Your intentions may have been good, Kathy, but there is saying that I am sure you have heard before dealing with a certain road to hell and what it is paved with....
Jen
