I Just Got Saved!

[Minimalist]

Tacky's a big fan of his Creator of the Universe supplying guitar players and old pals with cigarettes.

Why he can't supply me a hooker or two is beyond my poor powers of reason.

[frankiej]

People see what they want to see.

That is religion is a nutshell.

[tackattack]

@KN - Thanxs good to be around a bit and have enough down time to enjoy it.. I see you're still talking about having sex with things j/k

So let's just say that it's very possible, but highly unlikely statistically for arguments sake. What depth of statistical anomalies and at what frequency would be enough to prove that an incorporeal force was trying to get a message to you? Question is open to anyone.

[popeyespappy]

I say great for him, where is love for ones fellow man in your atheistic beliefs.

Right back at you GC.

It is often assumed that someone who doesn’t believe in God doesn’t believe in anything, or that a person who has no religion must have no values. These assumptions are simply untrue. People can reject religion and still maintain strong beliefs. Being godless does not mean being without values. Numerous studies reveal that atheists and secular people most certainly maintain strong values, beliefs, and opinions. But more significantly, when we actually compare the values and beliefs of atheists and secular people to those of religious people, the former are markedly less nationalistic, less prejudiced, less anti-Semitic, less racist, less dogmatic, less ethnocentric, less close-minded, and less authoritarian (Greeley and Hout 2006; Sider 2005; Altemeyer 2003, 2009; Jackson and Hunsberger 1999; Wulff 1991; Altemeyer and Hunsberger 1992, 1997; Beit-Hallahmi 2007; Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle 1997; Batson et al. 1993; Argyle 2000).

…

The above information reveals that atheists and secular people have very clear and pronounced values and beliefs concerning moral, political, and social issues. As Lynn Nelson (1988, 134) has concluded, religiously unaffiliated people ‘‘have as well-defined a sense of social justice as weekly churchgoers.’’ But I would go farther. I would argue that a strong case could be made that atheists and secular people actually posses a stronger or more ethical sense of social justice than their religious peers. After all, when it comes to such issues as the governmental use of torture or the death penalty, we see that atheists and secular people are far more merciful and humane. When it comes to protecting the environment, women’s rights, and gay rights, the non-religious again distinguish themselves as being
the most supportive. And as stated earlier, atheists and secular people are also the least likely to harbor ethnocentric, racist, or nationalistic attitudes. Strange then, that so many people assume that atheists and non-religious people lack strong values or ethical beliefs – a truly groundless and unsupportable assumption.

http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/...theism.pdf

[DeistPaladin]

There is no way that dude was ever sincere about his shared disdain for the bible. I don't see how anyone could go from thinking to not thinking without a serious brain injury. It's just unfathomable.

There are a few ways to be sucked into a cult even though you weren't indoctrinated from childhood. One way is from desperation. His life fell apart and the cult provided a needed sense of structure. Another way is from loneliness. Cults provide a sense of community and fellowship. Rational thinking isn't always how we make decisions.

[thesummerqueen]

I have a friend from high school who went from being a sharp, hilarious and insightful atheist to being an intelligent and utterly boring apologist. I don't know if it's because of the disease he suffers from at the moment, the woman he married a couple years back (who also went to our high school...ugh...) or if secretly he always held with religion. I haven't wanted to ask - the change was too painful to find out about when he friended me on Facebook.

I ought to qualify that with "he never said he was atheist" but looking back his comments during English and History class were on par with discussions here and he had a real disdain for organized religion at the time.

[Cinjin]

I ought to qualify that with "he never said he was atheist" but looking back his comments during English and History class were on par with discussions here and he had a real disdain for organized religion at the time.

Yeah, I felt really blind-sided by it when it first happened. It was like sand poured into my glass of water.

Why the fuck did you ruin my water?!

[Jaysyn]

So what exactly were the odds that a friend from a few years ago that you don't regularly see outside your usual bar, spoke at length for years about disbelieving God, happened to be walking by the bar at the moment you were smoking a cigarette and that you had noticed him and bothered to exchange a greeting and start a conversation?

The odds were exactly 1, apparently.

[thesummerqueen]

Why the fuck did you ruin my water?!

Here, sugar.



Unfortunately, we can only find another glass.

[lucent]

Presumably, you have friends who don't agree with you on every issue. Why is the man no longer your friend because he doesn't agree with your views on God? Why is he no longer a good man?

I have many friends who are atheist and I love them just the same. If anything, I love them even more now that I am a Christian. So, I would ask why you don't consider this person your friend any longer, when he obviously still cares about you.

yeah right people. You awtto know me better than that!


I was outside the bar smoking a cigarette when an old friend of mine happened by.
I exchanged warm hellos and I asked him how he'd been and what he'd been up to as it had been a few years since I saw him. (We used to hang out and drink and smoke down back in the day.)

He immediately responded with a hearty, "I just got saved!"

I of course, sank a bit, knowing what he meant - and asked with a what HE meant? (already knowing the answer)

He says, "you know - I accepted Jesus Christ and became a christian"

All I could think to ask him was, "WHY?"

He said, "because man, I'm a sinner and I want to be forgiven - and I want to go to heaven when I die."

Me: "But we had many discussions about the ridiculousness of the Bible - what happened? You always seemed to have your head on straight."

Him: "Now it's better man. I'm still me, I just want to serve the lord now." "In fact, I'm thinking that it's not coincidence that I ran into you tonight. We should go somewhere and talk."

Me: "Sorry man, the best thing I ever did in life was get rid of that stupid religion and that silly book of lies, and start thinking for myself. I'm not about to put the chains back on and start worshiping a sadistic god that loves himself more than he could love any of us."


At this point, I don't remember exactly where the conversation went, but it was short-lived and we parted ways with a friendly handshake.

I found it interesting, that already, he was chalking up the random meeting of an old friend to some predestined meeting set up by god. People see what they want to see. Damn shame. He was a good guy who got sucked in somehow.