I once tried to open the front door of my house with the button on my car keys.
I was a stupid x-tian at the time.
Since I became an atheist my IQ has really jumped up a few notches.
Alas, I can only imagine how smart I'd be if I was born an atheist. :-(

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It's nice to be the smartest person out of my genetic bloodline for hundreds and hundreds of years though. :-)

(August 17, 2017 at 2:57 am)Little lunch Wrote: I once tried to open the front door of my house with the button on my car keys.
I was a stupid x-tian at the time.
Since I became an atheist my IQ has really jumped up a few notches.
Alas, I can only imagine how smart I'd be if I was born an atheist. :-(

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It's nice to be the smartest person out of my genetic bloodline for hundreds and hundreds of years though. :-)

It doesn't make a person genuinely stupid, it just puts the worst of ideas in their heads and convinces them (for the worst of reasons) that they're good/correct. It discourages them from learning things or rejecting conflicting ideas, so it stunts their ability and capacity to think critically and acquire knowledge, creating a more ignorant mind. The brain works on 'use it or lose it', so just like with the kids who bitch about having to learn math when they're never going to have a practical application for it in real life, if you don't develop that part of your mind, you'll have a much harder time getting it in shape later on in life. That's why it's the worst sort of crime forcing that mindset on the young. You may as well literally be performing brain surgery on some of the hopeless cases, for the effect indoctrination has and how impossible it becomes to reverse.

(August 15, 2017 at 10:04 pm)Astonished Wrote:

(August 15, 2017 at 8:37 pm)Heisenberg Wrote: I find Christians adorable, like kids who didn't find out Santa isn't real, but tend to be harmless and don't usually ever lash out violently like muslims do. I'm actually really tired of beating the dead horse of Christianity which has been thoroughly trounced and turned mostly benign while Islam in most forms as practiced by muslims today is actually a religion stuck in the dark ages committing untold horrors every day in the name of that religion. But I digress.

Maybe they're not blowing themselves up on buses but they're influencing politics heavily and always have. That's fucking dangerous.

As dangerous as modern Islam? not a chance. As I see it, the only truly Christian countries are the ones who take it the most literally, and that's going on in Africa. Most Christian populated areas do maintain free speech, democracies, the rule of law and free market economies. Wow, what a travesty, it's just like the crusades huh? lol. Are we really going to compare the horrors of modern Islam with modern christian populated countries with watered down christian influence? Absurd. You can not sit there and tell me modern Christian countries are anywhere close to what Islamic populated areas are doing, it's a joke. Christianity is almost irrelevant and as I said, mostly benign and allegorical to them.

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(August 16, 2017 at 1:41 pm)drfuzzy Wrote:

(August 15, 2017 at 10:04 pm)Astonished Wrote: Maybe they're not blowing themselves up on buses but they're influencing politics heavily and always have. That's fucking dangerous.

When you have theists like Pence, Perry, DeVos, Price, Pompeo, and others in Trump's cabinet, it's a problem. When you have people like Ralph Drollinger leading weekly Bible study meetings with Trump's cabinet, it's a problem.  

Drollinger denies being a Dominionist (this is a large group of American fundies who work diligently to turn American into a theocracy - run by their leaders, of course), but holds very clear Dominionist views.  They are the reason his business "Capitol Ministries" preaches to DC lawmakers.  He has a history of insulting any religion other than Protestant Christianity, saying openly that "god will not hear their prayers".  He is virulently anti-homosexual.  He hates Muslims, Jews, and Catholics (a false religion). He has said openly that female lawmakers who have children at home are sinners. He openly denies climate change because "god is in control of the planet, not man".  He works to put RIGHTEOUS lawmakers, judges, leaders in power.  And every week he is leading a group of (unqualified) uber-fundamentalist cabinet members who were rich enough to buy their way on to Trump's cabinet.  Oh yes, they are dangerous.   This is a long, long way from "cute".  They're getting the power they crave, and do you know what group they hate even more than homosexuals?  Atheists.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/leade...hristians/

You have to look at scale, which religion is demonstrably doing more harm and I'd say Christianity is nearly irrelevant in terms of barbarism today, most of the bible is ignored where as the Quran isn't. I'm no fan of Christianity within politics by any stretch, but would I take a Super Christian Republican who lives in modernity over his/her Islamic equivalent overseas who STILL lives in the dark ages of barbarity and governs as such? Hell yeah, and so would you.

Are Christian Republicans going around beheading people? Honor killing women? Tossing gays off roofs? Mutilating baby girls? Suicide bombings daily worldwide? etc. No, that's muslims influenced by imams and political figures. You have no sense of perspective, it's regressive to equivocate the two religions today. There's no widespread condemnation of terrorism within Islamic countries either, the polling done in Muslim countries is not promising via the pew polls.

(August 21, 2017 at 5:57 pm)Heisenberg Wrote:

(August 15, 2017 at 10:04 pm)Astonished Wrote: Maybe they're not blowing themselves up on buses but they're influencing politics heavily and always have. That's fucking dangerous.

As dangerous as modern Islam? not a chance. As I see it, the only truly Christian countries are the ones who take it the most literally, and that's going on in Africa. Most Christian populated areas do maintain free speech, democracies, the rule of law and free market economies. Wow, what a travesty, it's just like the crusades huh? lol. Are we really going to compare the horrors of modern Islam with modern christian populated countries with watered down christian influence? Absurd. You can not sit there and tell me modern Christian countries are anywhere close to what Islamic populated areas are doing, it's a joke. Christianity is almost irrelevant and as I said, mostly benign and allegorical to them.

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(August 16, 2017 at 1:41 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: When you have theists like Pence, Perry, DeVos, Price, Pompeo, and others in Trump's cabinet, it's a problem. When you have people like Ralph Drollinger leading weekly Bible study meetings with Trump's cabinet, it's a problem.  

Drollinger denies being a Dominionist (this is a large group of American fundies who work diligently to turn American into a theocracy - run by their leaders, of course), but holds very clear Dominionist views.  They are the reason his business "Capitol Ministries" preaches to DC lawmakers.  He has a history of insulting any religion other than Protestant Christianity, saying openly that "god will not hear their prayers".  He is virulently anti-homosexual.  He hates Muslims, Jews, and Catholics (a false religion). He has said openly that female lawmakers who have children at home are sinners. He openly denies climate change because "god is in control of the planet, not man".  He works to put RIGHTEOUS lawmakers, judges, leaders in power.  And every week he is leading a group of (unqualified) uber-fundamentalist cabinet members who were rich enough to buy their way on to Trump's cabinet.  Oh yes, they are dangerous.   This is a long, long way from "cute".  They're getting the power they crave, and do you know what group they hate even more than homosexuals?  Atheists.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/leade...hristians/

You have to look at scale, which religion is demonstrably doing more harm and I'd say Christianity is nearly irrelevant in terms of barbarism today, most of the bible is ignored where as the Quran isn't. I'm no fan of Christianity within politics by any stretch, but would I take a Super Christian Republican who lives in modernity over his/her Islamic equivalent overseas who STILL lives in the dark ages of barbarity and governs as such? Hell yeah, and so would you.

Are Christian Republicans going around beheading people? Honor killing women? Tossing gays off roofs? Mutilating baby girls? Suicide bombings daily worldwide? etc. No, that's muslims influenced by imams and political figures. You have no sense of perspective, it's regressive to equivocate the two religions today. There's no widespread condemnation of terrorism within Islamic countries either, the polling done in Muslim countries is not promising via the pew polls.

I'm just pointing out why I wouldn't choose to replace one with the other because I can't justify there being enough of a difference. They're still both rotten to the core.

(August 21, 2017 at 8:32 pm)Astonished Wrote:

(August 21, 2017 at 5:57 pm)Heisenberg Wrote: As dangerous as modern Islam? not a chance. As I see it, the only truly Christian countries are the ones who take it the most literally, and that's going on in Africa. Most Christian populated areas do maintain free speech, democracies, the rule of law and free market economies. Wow, what a travesty, it's just like the crusades huh? lol. Are we really going to compare the horrors of modern Islam with modern christian populated countries with watered down christian influence? Absurd. You can not sit there and tell me modern Christian countries are anywhere close to what Islamic populated areas are doing, it's a joke. Christianity is almost irrelevant and as I said, mostly benign and allegorical to them.

---

You have to look at scale, which religion is demonstrably doing more harm and I'd say Christianity is nearly irrelevant in terms of barbarism today, most of the bible is ignored where as the Quran isn't. I'm no fan of Christianity within politics by any stretch, but would I take a Super Christian Republican who lives in modernity over his/her Islamic equivalent overseas who STILL lives in the dark ages of barbarity and governs as such? Hell yeah, and so would you.

Are Christian Republicans going around beheading people? Honor killing women? Tossing gays off roofs? Mutilating baby girls? Suicide bombings daily worldwide? etc. No, that's muslims influenced by imams and political figures. You have no sense of perspective, it's regressive to equivocate the two religions today. There's no widespread condemnation of terrorism within Islamic countries either, the polling done in Muslim countries is not promising via the pew polls.

I'm just pointing out why I wouldn't choose to replace one with the other because I can't justify there being enough of a difference. They're still both rotten to the core.

Not to the same degree today. Conflating the harm of the two in the context of right now, is absurd sir. Not trying to start a fight here, just want to put that out there.

Shot in the head or stabbed in the neck, fuck it, no point deciding between them.

(July 28, 2017 at 10:16 am)It_Was_me Wrote:

(July 28, 2017 at 8:40 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Oooh I know, I know!! Guys, let's start threads about groups of people we don't like doing/saying stupid things! So then everyone will know how stupid the people in these groups are, and how much smarter WE are! And, and, and... while we're at it, let's spell their title wrong too!!

 Sounds like you are getting your persecution complex fired up right now. This is an atheist forum. Not really sure why you are here in the first place if this really bothers you.

You know for Atheists..you guys sure do talk about GOD alot..

(August 22, 2017 at 12:43 am)IAOALGIV Wrote:

(July 28, 2017 at 10:16 am)It_Was_me Wrote:  Sounds like you are getting your persecution complex fired up right now. This is an atheist forum. Not really sure why you are here in the first place if this really bothers you.

You know for Atheists..you guys sure do talk about GOD alot..

Are you for real?

(August 22, 2017 at 12:53 am)Astonished Wrote:

(August 22, 2017 at 12:43 am)IAOALGIV Wrote: You know for Atheists..you guys sure do talk about GOD alot..

Are you for real?

Did I s-s-stutter?

I'll take that as a 'yes'.