Buckeye
New Member
The Game's Afoot
Posts: 336
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Post by Buckeye on Apr 18, 2013 5:51:43 GMT -7
I recently saw a post that said "Everything is OK because God's in control". Really? Everything's OK? If there is a God and he/she is in control than he/she is sure screwed up.
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Post by keystroker on Apr 18, 2013 10:09:11 GMT -7
It's the shellfish thing. I can just feel it.
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Post by quetzel on Apr 18, 2013 10:37:22 GMT -7
Saw this a little while ago on a friend's facebook, Buck. It's a little long but I thought you'd like it
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Post by bamapilot on Apr 18, 2013 11:53:06 GMT -7
He participates in life to the fullest. As he should since we are here on this Earth for such a small speck in time. If one believes this is all there is, then the invisible speck of time on the infinite number line of time ... is meaningless. A few years, a few decades, a few centuries is still just a speck, and one will not be remembered or even come to mind after awhile. All meaningless. Each, drink and be merry while you can. May as well rape, pillage and steal as well. All should be meaningless to an atheist as there are no real 'lasting' consequences. Grab all the gusto one can, before turning into fertilizer for weeds. All meaningless for atheists. There is no lasting memory of you. Any good deeds will quickly be forgotten. No one will remember you worn that pink ribbon on the correct day, or showed your support for some cause on another day. Meaningless. Why bother?
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Buckeye
New Member
The Game's Afoot
Posts: 336
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Post by Buckeye on Apr 18, 2013 18:18:45 GMT -7
Saw this a little while ago on a friend's facebook, Buck. It's a little long but I thought you'd like it Thank, Q. That's really neat.
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Buckeye
New Member
The Game's Afoot
Posts: 336
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Post by Buckeye on Apr 18, 2013 18:24:40 GMT -7
He participates in life to the fullest. As he should since we are here on this Earth for such a small speck in time. If one believes this is all there is, then the invisible speck of time on the infinite number line of time ... is meaningless. A few years, a few decades, a few centuries is still just a speck, and one will not be remembered or even come to mind after awhile. All meaningless. Each, drink and be merry while you can. May as well rape, pillage and steal as well. All should be meaningless to an atheist as there are no real 'lasting' consequences. Grab all the gusto one can, before turning into fertilizer for weeds. All meaningless for atheists. There is no lasting memory of you. Any good deeds will quickly be forgotten. No one will remember you worn that pink ribbon on the correct day, or showed your support for some cause on another day. Meaningless. Why bother? I'm so floored I don't know that I can even come up with a response. Let me make sure I have this right... Do you mean there is no reason to do good deeds and help others unless there is a hereafter to get a pat on the back for for doing it? Am I getting that right? Are you saying that if there is no lasting memory of a person then what they have done in meaningless? Please tell me if I got that right. Are you saying that what people only do good things because of fear of punishment or damnation if they don't? Please explain your statments above.
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Post by keystroker on Apr 18, 2013 19:54:06 GMT -7
Your contortionist skills are amazing. How can you get your nose so far up your ass and yet still hold it high in the air? They should revive "That's Incredible" just to showcase your elastic prowess.
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Post by propagandist on Apr 19, 2013 8:54:19 GMT -7
He participates in life to the fullest. As he should since we are here on this Earth for such a small speck in time. If one believes this is all there is, then the invisible speck of time on the infinite number line of time ... is meaningless. A few years, a few decades, a few centuries is still just a speck, and one will not be remembered or even come to mind after awhile. All meaningless. Each, drink and be merry while you can. May as well rape, pillage and steal as well. All should be meaningless to an atheist as there are no real 'lasting' consequences. Grab all the gusto one can, before turning into fertilizer for weeds. All meaningless for atheists. There is no lasting memory of you. Any good deeds will quickly be forgotten. No one will remember you worn that pink ribbon on the correct day, or showed your support for some cause on another day. Meaningless. Why bother? Oh, really? Frankly, I am offended that just because I don't bow down and worship the same imaginary greybeard in the sky as you do, then you say that I am entirely without any moral compass? I quit going to confession years ago because I didn’t want the direction of my life to be determined by a corruption of the original teachings of Jesus, placed into a religious administration modeled on the Roman Empire, by those beyond question about the requirements they placed on me. Much can be learned in how to lead a moral life, however, from those who were the original proponents of such religions -- before they were censored and corrupted by those who had much to gain by doing so. I see what you are saying as one of those “us v. them” dichotomies, with everybody who doesn’t swing from the coattails of the same greybeard in the sky as you do as a “THEM” and therefore an enemy to be defended against and defeated. Once you take that step, it isn’t far to the gas chambers of Auschwitz or the medieval practice of hunting down, torturing, and burning witches, because they are the “THEMS.” Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.— Voltaire
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Post by bamapilot on Apr 19, 2013 13:44:26 GMT -7
I see what you are saying as one of those “us v. them” dichotomies, with everybody who doesn’t swing from the coattails of the same greybeard in the sky as you do as a “THEM” and therefore an enemy to be defended against and defeated. No way. I've never said that. Each has to go their own way for sure. I can talk to people about my personal beliefs, but cant change anyone. I feel no need to defeat anyone. Thats not my job or desire. People defeat themselves. No one ever needs any help in that regard.
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Post by propagandist on Apr 19, 2013 16:54:37 GMT -7
I see what you are saying as one of those “us v. them” dichotomies, with everybody who doesn’t swing from the coattails of the same greybeard in the sky as you do as a “THEM” and therefore an enemy to be defended against and defeated. No way. I've never said that. Each has to go their own way for sure. I can talk to people about my personal beliefs, but cant change anyone. I feel no need to defeat anyone. Thats not my job or desire. People defeat themselves. No one ever needs any help in that regard. Let’s follow the conversation of the thread. You may not have said the exact words, but I could tell what you were thinking. I’ve come up against your kind before. Your reply started with the quoteThen you proceeded to sermonize May as well rape, pillage and steal as well. That is the most narrow-minded, twisted and distorted thinking I have ever heard recently. No really moral person would even dare approach such an opinion ... unless their mind had been narrowed, twisted, and distorted by a religious dogma preaching that their kind of thinking is the only kind there is – all else is heresy to be repressed in the Name of God!
Just because someone doesn’t follow your particular moral code doesn’t mean that they are entirely without a moral code. It was within the framework of a supposedly “Christian” religious hierarchy that people have been extorted, suppressed, tortured, and killed for centuries.
Give me the teachings of Jesus, pure and simple. The rest of the dogmatic BS-ers you can throw on the fires after the witches and other so-called “apostates” have finished burning.
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Post by singledad on Apr 19, 2013 18:40:49 GMT -7
In the Bible, Christ has told us that it is up to us, not GOD. That WE are in control. He laid out the rules, but left it up to US to follow them or not.
His second, and last, Command, was to treat everyone, the way we want to be treated. I guess, when Christians hate others, it must be because they want to be hated by others!
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Post by keystroker on Apr 19, 2013 20:22:57 GMT -7
In pat's defense, I think it is difficult for relativists to understand absolutists and vice versa.
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Post by jiminix on Apr 20, 2013 15:12:10 GMT -7
In pat's defense, I think it is difficult for relativists to understand absolutists and vice versa. “Philosophy” means “love of wisdom”. The Abrahamic religions believe that the downfall of man was the result of his partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The basis of that world view is “do what you are told, and avoid wisdom.” There could be no starker contrast than this. It’s no surprise that uniquely among the world’s religions, the Abrahamic religions regard science as a great enemy. It's true, relativists and absolutists have a hard time understanding each other - they have to work at it. A difference, however, is that absolutists throughout history have often said, “I have the Truth, and they are opposed to Truth, so I must go to war and eliminate them.” Relativists, on the other hand, don’t say, never have said, and in fact can’t say, “My opinions and their opinions are relative, so I must go to war and eliminate them.” That’s the source of the problem. There is no conflict as long as the absolutists, or religious fundamentalists, believe that their religion commands them just to raise the level of their own moral purity. The problem arises when they decide their religion commands them to go out and conquer, either militarily or politically, and impose their beliefs on the rest of us.
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Post by keystroker on Apr 21, 2013 5:46:37 GMT -7
Relativists, on the other hand, don’t say, never have said, and in fact can’t say, “My opinions and their opinions are relative, so I must go to war and eliminate them.” How about the construct: "They are ignorant and set in their ways. The world without them would be a relatively more productive place to live in without them. I would be far more free than I am today."
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Post by jiminix on Apr 21, 2013 8:34:57 GMT -7
Relativists, on the other hand, don’t say, never have said, and in fact can’t say, “My opinions and their opinions are relative, so I must go to war and eliminate them.” How about the construct: "They are ignorant and set in their ways. The world without them would be a relatively more productive place to live in without them. I would be far more free than I am today." That doesn't quite ring true. There's no one in the American political fray who's saying that. Maybe Stalin said it, but I think today even in Russia, no politician could get away with with it. They definitely are set in their ways. But the “ignorant” label, I think, isn't appropriate – I don’t call someone ignorant simply because of believing in a religion. And as far as freedom is concerned, I do not become more free because people who disagree with me are eliminated. I become more free if someone oppressing me stops the oppression. Social progress has always been largely a matter of the spread of tolerance. The old order, set in its ways, clings to its intolerance and fights viciously against any reduction of it. There a lot of rhetoric nowadays from the Christian right wing claiming that Christians have become a persecuted minority. In reality, for centuries they have been accustomed to imposing their will and their beliefs on others. Now, when any real minority manages to get enough allies that they can finally get some relief from traditional oppression, the Christians scream that their religious freedom is being taken away. But all they are really losing is their prerogative to persecute others with impunity; they are being called to answer for their unjust traditions, and they don't like it. The truth is, the rest of the world doesn’t care if some group is set in their ways. As long as they don’t impose a cost on others, the others don’t care. But they will not be allowed to stand in the way of social progress - no one is entitled to that, regardless of what their religion tells them.
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