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Post by Angel Kaida on Mar 10, 2009 14:32:51 GMT -5
OoOo a Christian...welcome! Thanks for being here, we'd love some (non Fundie) Christian perspective. Come ON, people! Why do you keep overlooking the fact that we have several sane Christians among our members? >.< I mean, not that you're not welcome, kiddo. Just sayin'. Oh, and sorry to yell at you, moz. I'm just bitchy today.
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Post by Jebediah on Mar 10, 2009 14:41:49 GMT -5
It seems like a lot of people used to be pretty religious and ended up converting. It wasn't like that at all for me. I just never really believed at all.
I was raised Catholic, so I had to go to religious ed classes from kindergarden to eighth grade. I can remember being in the first grade and asking my teacher how we know the bible isn't a made up story. She got really upset and kept telling me that we just know.
I'm a really curious person, and "we just know" doesn't cut it. So I kept asking her and she would give me really ridiculous responses like, "We know because Jesus loves us."
I guess I was agnostic as soon as I could think about it. Now I'm an apathetic atheist. Well, I guess that's a kind of conversion.
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Post by MozMode on Mar 10, 2009 14:42:17 GMT -5
OoOo a Christian...welcome! Thanks for being here, we'd love some (non Fundie) Christian perspective. Come ON, people! Why do you keep overlooking the fact that we have several sane Christians among our members? >.< I mean, not that you're not welcome, kiddo. Just sayin'. Oh, and sorry to yell at you, moz. I'm just bitchy today. Well the reason I was welcoming him is because out of almost 70 people that did that poll, only 3 polled as Non Fundie Christian. I know we have some Christians milling about but so far, this is the only one that has come forth on the forums to be accounted for. If more came forth, I would welcome them as well. So far, this is the first. And it's okay, you can yell.
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rhi
New Member
The day needs my saving expertise!
Posts: 24
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Post by rhi on Mar 10, 2009 16:30:10 GMT -5
I'm atheist, but as discussed already in this thread, most Christians would label me agnostic because I don't try to prove there's no God any more than I try to prove that there are no invisible pink unicorns. Also, I'm nice to Christians for the most part, because I'm nice to people in general for the most part.
Yesterday some neighbors of mine, a jovial guy named Gary and his wife Andrea, came over to introduce themselves while I was sweeping the driveway. Andrea reached in her wallet and pulled out two little cards with a Jesus-on-the-cross painting printed on one side and a Bible verse on the other. I accepted them with a smile and a sincere "thank-you."
Later I realized two things: that I had treated Andrea exactly like I treat my 3-year-old nephew when he makes some work of "art" and presents it to me proudly. It's something I couldn't possibly have any use for, but it means something important to him and so my gratitude is sincere when I accept it from him.
And the second thing, that Gary and Andrea probably assumed I am Christian, since I didn't say anything to the contrary and they never came out and asked. I can just imagine their response if they happen to knock on our door one day and talk to Jeff, who is a much more abrasive anti-religious personality, and he tells them we're both atheist. "But... but... she's a nice person! She took those prayer cards and smiled! She didn't try to convince us there's no God. She can't be atheist. She must be agnostic."
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Post by MozMode on Mar 10, 2009 16:46:08 GMT -5
I'm atheist, but as discussed already in this thread, most Christians would label me agnostic because I don't try to prove there's no God any more than I try to prove that there are no invisible pink unicorns. Also, I'm nice to Christians for the most part, because I'm nice to people in general for the most part. Yesterday some neighbors of mine, a jovial guy named Gary and his wife Andrea, came over to introduce themselves while I was sweeping the driveway. Andrea reached in her wallet and pulled out two little cards with a Jesus-on-the-cross painting printed on one side and a Bible verse on the other. I accepted them with a smile and a sincere "thank-you." Later I realized two things: that I had treated Andrea exactly like I treat my 3-year-old nephew when he makes some work of "art" and presents it to me proudly. It's something I couldn't possibly have any use for, but it means something important to him and so my gratitude is sincere when I accept it from him. And the second thing, that Gary and Andrea probably assumed I am Christian, since I didn't say anything to the contrary and they never came out and asked. I can just imagine their response if they happen to knock on our door one day and talk to Jeff, who is a much more abrasive anti-religious personality, and he tells them we're both atheist. "But... but... she's a nice person! She took those prayer cards and smiled! She didn't try to convince us there's no God. She can't be atheist. She must be agnostic." Yeah they just can't seem to understand that a person can be kind and sincere without a belief in God. They always picture Atheists to be these fire breathing monsters that are constantly trying to prove there is no God, until they meet one. Typically they meet you, don't really get into religion too much, just think you're just another nice Christian girl, then find out you're an Atheist, and are like "But...but..."
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starbrewer
Full Member
God can go to hell
Posts: 226
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Post by starbrewer on Mar 10, 2009 16:49:06 GMT -5
There could be a god, but I don't believe that there is. If there is a god, it's probably not the God of the BuyBull.
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Post by SimSim on Mar 10, 2009 16:50:16 GMT -5
I'm a weak atheist. I was raised in a secular family and can remember first hearing about Christianity at a religious preschool. It didn't make much sense to me then and still doesn't today. As a teen I was forced to go to a Unitarian Universalist church. The only thing I took away from that was religious tolerance. I stick to the line of thought that what works for me for works me and what works for you works for you.
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starbrewer
Full Member
God can go to hell
Posts: 226
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Post by starbrewer on Mar 10, 2009 16:53:01 GMT -5
Joe Pesci damn it! You didn't have Carlinist.
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Post by unnecessary on Mar 10, 2009 19:03:29 GMT -5
It's not that I don't identify with something, I just can't define the term properly enough to be able to say what that is.
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Post by wmdkitty on Mar 10, 2009 21:02:30 GMT -5
::shrugs::
I'm a semi-Satanic hippie with a devotion to Bast. Make what you will of that, folks.
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Post by Deimos on Mar 10, 2009 21:08:19 GMT -5
Wicca for me.
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Post by BenderBRodriguez on Mar 10, 2009 21:50:11 GMT -5
Catholic here, but not of the fundamentalist kind.
I have my religious beliefs, but I don't explain them to ANYONE. Not even my closest friends. I just don't see the need to show the world what I believe in. Matthew 5:5-8 sums up my position. I don't have a problem with non-militant atheists, because they're entitled to their views just as much as I am with mine. I do have a problem with people trying to shove their beliefs down my throat.
That's why I enjoy coming here. To laugh at people's hypocrisy and ignorance of the very entities they claim to worship. I'm by no means a perfect Christian (TM), but when the bullshit is very blatant, it's impossible not to call it out.
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Post by unnecessary on Mar 10, 2009 22:29:43 GMT -5
Although, I guess you could say I am a determinist who believes everything is contradictory.
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Post by MozMode on Mar 10, 2009 22:37:45 GMT -5
Catholic here, but not of the fundamentalist kind. I have my religious beliefs, but I don't explain them to ANYONE. Not even my closest friends. I just don't see the need to show the world what I believe in. Matthew 5:5-8 sums up my position. I don't have a problem with non-militant atheists, because they're entitled to their views just as much as I am with mine. I do have a problem with people trying to shove their beliefs down my throat. That's why I enjoy coming here. To laugh at people's hypocrisy and ignorance of the very entities they claim to worship. I'm by no means a perfect Christian (TM), but when the bullshit is very blatant, it's impossible not to call it out. I didn't know you were Catholic, Bender. Cool. I wish more Christians were like you.
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Post by amindfarfaraway on Mar 11, 2009 4:46:43 GMT -5
Predominantly agnostic. But I guess I'm what you might call a weak agnostic, in that, I believe that no god as yet has been proven to exist, but there might actually be one out there that we're not aware of, and the world's religions have just got it all wrong so far. But I also believe that, if there is a god, since it hasn't tried reaching down to us, then there's no real point in reaching up to it, or speculating about it, it's nature and attributes. Most of my beliefs follow a long line of philosophers, from Plato, the Stoics, Plotinus, to the empiricists, Immanuel Kant, the continental philosophies, to existentialism. Most who know me would say a nihilistic existentialism, due to my extreme pessimism, cynicism, and belief in fate. I think I just need to drink more. Who know. I also believe my Asperger's is due to the next step in evolution. At least that's what I tell myself. I hate religion, don't accept any particular view of god, or even if a god exists, but I have a love for mysticism. As such, I also like to study the Traditionalist school and the Perennial Philosophy. Now that I think about it, I guess that mostly makes me a Neoplatonist. Go me!
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