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71

General Religious Discussion / Re: Why am I expected to believe in god (under penalty of eternal punishment)

« Last post by jetson on Today at 07:28:05 AM »

I don't believe anyone is expected to believe in God.  If there is a god, there is absolutely no way that anyone or any writings we know about today were associated with this god.  It is beyond obvious that every last bit of "scripture" (just stories, nothing more), is pure, unadulterated mythology.  With modern critical analysis, academics basically agree that there are more holes in this set of writings than there are words in the writings themselves!

Anyway, rest assured that if there is a god, and it knows about us, that's pretty much the end of the story.  Oh, and read The God Delusion if you haven't yet.  It is a satisfying feeling to know that whatever individuals want to believe, does not have to impact you unless you choose to believe it.  Want to think Sylvia Browne is special, go right ahead.  Want to give the Pope some form of undeserved reverence, feel free.  But we are all human beings, and none of us has to follow what others make up, or pretend to know without accountability.  Religion is more tradition these days than anything worthy of so much attention.

Atheists, in my opinion, are the only humans brave enough to stand directly in front of the onslaught of ignorance and fear that is modern religion.  We hold the absolute best position - that being that we see no compelling reasons at all to think that any god depicted so far is actually real, much less wants something from us.  Laughable, really.

Did I miss anything important?

72

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by Mrjason on Today at 07:22:34 AM »

ok.

You think that America is suffering natural consequences for abusing the environment?
Yes?

I'm not sure about that. I think that global warming is something that occurs anyway.

here is an interesting article about that http://www.drroyspencer.com/global-warming-natural-or-manmade/

the rest of the website has a lot to say on the subject too

73

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by junebug72 on Today at 07:16:16 AM »

I want to make something very clear.  I do not believe America is cursed.  My intentions was to attract evangelicals to answer the question.  It is something they believe I DISAGREE with.  I thought that together we might do some good.  It definitely hasn't turned out the way I planned and those things happen.  My own fault for not being more like yal.  I am a work in progress.

I do believe the country suffers consequences for it's actions.  I don't think it's tornados except to say it is possible we are making them more intense with global warming.  I sincerely hope this clarifies my intentions and my view on the curse question.

74

Chatter / Re: Herring on death

« Last post by jetson on Today at 07:16:09 AM »

Nice.  Thanks for sharing.

75

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by junebug72 on Today at 07:04:55 AM »

JB, of course you think your god would punish in a similar way as you... thats why its called SPAG. duh.

Sure enough Gawd, sure enough. I don't call it SPAG though that's what you atheist call it, understandably so.

76

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by junebug72 on Today at 07:02:30 AM »

If I'm a retard then you are less than retarded you are braindead.  Smoke too much crack or something?  Did your mom drop you on your head?
 

And you're the one who thinks we hate you?

After all the insults I give back some.  I am not hating anybody, I'm taking up for myself.  You want a battle of wits, let's go!!!  I will match you insult for insult.

What insults I asked a question?

What have insults got to do with wits? Surely resorting to insults is a display of a lack of wits.

Ok back on subject.[1]

You think that America has somehow brought natural disasters upon itsself as a result of some karmic intervention? Is this correct?

1.	NB the original subject title is "Is America cursed"

You called me arrogant on a point that I don't even have.  Idiot!!!

NO<NO<NO you are not correct that's why I keep saying ID-I-OT!!!  You can't see past the nose on your face.

Okay look I'm sorry for being mean.  I'm trying to understand that you are misunderstanding.  That's all this is.  You totally misunderstand me.  Again so sorry for being mean.

77

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by The Gawd on Today at 06:59:10 AM »

JB, of course you think your god would punish in a similar way as you... thats why its called SPAG. duh.

78

Chatter / Herring on death

« Last post by Mrjason on Today at 06:54:27 AM »

light hearted article on a heavy subject

I’ve been travelling the country showing people my Cock since February, but now there are only a few more dates to go (I am getting it out in the open air in Regent’s Park on Sunday – I hope I don’t get arrested). But there’s no time to relax once my penis-based work is done because I have to write a brand new hour of jokes by August for the Edinburgh Fringe.
 
Having covered religion, politics, love and meat missiles, this time I am exploring that undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns (apart from Jesus, Lazarus and that bloke with the canoe) – Death.
 
It’s not that I actively seek out taboo subjects (well maybe a little bit). I am just fascinated by those issues that people are reluctant to discuss openly or think we shouldn’t joke about. Death is one of the few universal experiences for every human being (and ant, tree, okapi, amoeba and childhood dream) and yet it’s one (like the penis) that is shrouded in euphemism, mystery and terrified awe. Why shouldn’t we discuss and laugh about this inevitability while our hearts still beat and our jaws are still attached?
 
I want to come at kicking the bucket from the perspective of someone who is not (to my knowledge) dying (I am pretty certain that I am immortal and seem to be proving that one breath at a time). If I do peg it before August, I have asked that my body be frozen and then placed on stage for people to gawp at, which I suspect will sell more tickets and have more to say about snuffing it than I could manage alive.
 
It’s very hard to contemplate your own death. First of all, imagine there’s no Heaven (it’s easy if you try) and that when you die, you’re dead (as seems most likely and indeed reassuring to me – do you really want to live for eternity?).
 
But try to visualise non-existence. What’s it like? It’s cold, dark and silent. There’s nothing. Nothing at all. You can’t see or smell or taste anything. Also, you’re not there. Can you contemplate the total absence of yourself? Go on, try… no… you’re still there, aren’t you?
 
This should be easy: it’s something you experienced for the first 13 billion years of the universe and yet the prospect of returning to that state of nothingness is unimaginable and fills us with fear.
 
An individual death is rarely funny, or worth orchestrating a campaign to get a novelty song with an unpleasant association to No. 1 in the charts, but the subject is still ripe for humour. Possibly a bit over-ripe. Actually, it’s gone off a bit, hasn’t it?
 
Laughing at what we fear takes away at least some of its power. Of course it sucks when people we love cease to be and it’s obviously not that exciting a prospect that one day Death will finger us (especially given the icy nature of his perilous digits), but let’s not be solemn about it. We will stop laughing when we die, let’s not stop laughing while we’re alive.
 
The show is called We’re All Going To Die! That can be a panic-inducing and terrifying scream, a blank statement of fact or a calming reassurance. Death is going to happen to all of us, let’s accept it, try to stave it off for as long as possible and enjoy this precious and brief flash of light before the blessed relief of failing to exist and no longer having to worry about whose turn it is to buy the milk.

[1]

1.	http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/24/richard-herring-its-time-to-consider-death-but-why-so-grim-reaper-3805853/

79

General Religious Discussion / Re: Is America Cursed?

« Last post by junebug72 on Today at 06:54:08 AM »

I would call that consequences, not a curse.

This is how I see it as well.  Inasmuch as someone's own actions cause their downfall, I think that the word 'curse' only applies in a colloquial sense.  A claim of retaliation coming from a supernatural source actually muddies the picture, as many of the victims of major disasters (e.g. small children) simply could not have behaved so badly as to invite such a tragic fate upon themselves.  If this were a genuine form of divine justice at play here, I'd expect to see the karma targeting more people in and behind the halls of power and fewer schoolkids.

Unfortunately, due to instability in planetary climate and continued population growth, I fear that we're likely to see a corresponding increase in the number and severity of disasters worldwide.

I was hoping you'd chime in there Astreja.  I share your fears! 

When my son was a child when he got punished I would always make sure he understood why.  I would think God would punish in a similar way or it's cruelty not punishment.  I try to stay away from thinking that God is cruel and that punishments are reserved for after death and are fair.  I believe we are judged as individuals not large groups. 

Funny: I'm sitting here in the quiet alone.  It is very windy here this morn and it blew my front door open slowly, creaking.  After that curse from Hal it kind of sent shivers up my spine.  boooooooooo

I want to apologize to the rest of you for the DRAMA.  I am so sorry you had to witness that.   I usually try turning the other cheek but fuck that.  There comes a time when you have to take up for yourself.  I don't hate anybody and I will forgive them as soon as they stop.  They don't even have to apologize, just stop.

80

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by Quesi on Today at 06:42:57 AM »

Is this the right time to call POE?

I don't know.  I suspect it is more complex than that.

I have not paid particular attention to most of HB's participation in this forum, but this is the second time I have seen him completely misunderstand the content of text that is right in front of him, and then cite the text to support an argument that is in no way related to the arguments made in the text that he cites. 

The website that he links to speaks extensively about the evolution of the virus, and presents current (and even some controversial) theories about the origins of the epidemic.  But none of those theories represents gay men as the cause of the epidemic, as HB's poll suggests.   The website itself is for an international AIDS advocacy group, and the site is full of quizzes on sexuality and AIDS and safer sex and condom use. 

The previous time that HB cited an article to back up an argument, it was a scholarly journal piece examining socially culturally appropriate methods of treating mental illness among different social groups.  Atheists with mental illness were cited as a group whose needs were not being addressed in the majority of studies.  HB decided that the author was arguing that atheism is a mental illness, completely misunderstanding the article. 

At first I thought he was just plain out lying.  But I'm coming to think that HB has some sort of learning disability which causes him to zoom in and hyper focus on minutia within text, embellish that minutia with previously held biases that do not exist within the text, and then promote his biases while citing the non-relevant, out of context minutia.  At the same time, he seems to completely fail to see the obvious main points within the text that he is citing. 

I find myself getting really angry at HB.  But it is really not his fault that he has poor reading comprehension.