Did the OP ever reply to this thread?

Not to this one, I think. But he made another intro thread (with a nicer tone) and replied to other threads he started. I don't know if he's gonna be active, but last time it took a while for him to reply, so maybe he's just an occasional poster.

(September 21, 2012 at 1:31 am)Blackrook Wrote: Well, I'm a distressed Catholic looking for answers to some very important questions, but so far the atheists who have responded to me have been rude and obnoxious.

And you are confirming my opinion, which I formed in another forum, that most atheists are assholes and really, they don't know how to debate or carry on a civilized conversation.

So really, if you guys don't get wise you are going to drive me off and I will leave with the impression that there's no point in talking to atheists.

And well, if the point of this forum is to gain converts to your cause, you guys are seriously blowing it if you don't act like normal people instead of jerks.

I believe the best way to answer your question(s) is through the order in which you asked them so I will begin by first stating that I can relate to your situation. When I began to become distressed over my religious views I began to notice a lot of cynicism in the conversations I first encountered. Both sides have so many differentiating opinions that at times it overwhelmed me.
Which brings me to my next point in saying that in every religious or philosophical group there will be a great number of people who are rude. I came to this conclusion as well. Then I began to notice a few people who actually could carry on decent conversations. Unfortunately, on both sides of any debate, you will first encounter many people who can not converse in a civilized manner. (Also keep in mind that a lot of atheists/agnostics have had difficulty conversing with religious oriented people and state the same complaints as you.)
Lastly, in my opinion, the following comment needs some serious addressing: "if the point of this forum is to gain converts to your cause, you guys are seriously blowing it if you don't act like normal people instead of jerks." In my experience, atheists strongly dislike (as do I) when people state that "atheism is a religion because it requires faith." Atheism is not a religion. in my opinion it is a lack of religion. I feel as if though by stating that atheists want to, 'convert people to their cause,' you associate them with religion. Atheists are not religious, that is why they are atheists. I for myself complained about similar things as you but learned the virtue of patience. You must be patient in your search for answers. Answers of this sort do not come easily and you should be weary to post something like this because it will anger people and cause some to react hastily and irrationally and you will have gone no further in you search for civilized conversation.

I used to be catholic and from what I've seen they are usually only good people at the church for about 1-2 hours. Most are worse than christian's because it's easier to get away with stuff. I lived in one of the most poverty stricken areas of Arizona and the church comes in with false promises to take wealth from the local population by the threat of hell.

Every easter they have festivals at my old church where allot of people who commited sins dress up in elaborate costumes and march around for 2 months non stop praying at peoples houses to clean their slate. They wear all black to suffer greatly as assurance they are removing their sins. Fun fact, allot of those people are thugs and gangsters.... Don't believe me, I couldn't care less when I tell the truth.

They actually blockaded the town once and had swat search houses while horse, bike, and on foot police patrolled roads and alleys.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2...-MCSO.html

Catholics -are- christians. The innovators of what we currently call christinity, really.

(October 2, 2012 at 3:56 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Catholics -are- christians. The innovators of what we currently call christinity, really.

From what I have seen, christian's are more docile. That's just my experience in life not a fact.

Again....catholics -are- christians.........(docile?)

I take docile in this context to mean less dogmatic, perhaps, or less fundamentalist, than the bog-standard xtian-in-the-street. I'm probably wrong though.

(October 2, 2012 at 3:59 pm)JohnDG Wrote:

(October 2, 2012 at 3:56 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Catholics -are- christians. The innovators of what we currently call christinity, really.

From what I have seen, christian's are more docile. That's just my experience in life not a fact.

Yes they are currently more docile and that is a fact because they have had people like Paine and Jefferson bitch slap them out of designes of religious pecking orders. But that does not negate the underlying superiority complex all religions have. It only means Christianity has been put on a secular leash for 200 pluss years.

"I dont do that" only refures to the reaction of the abused remembering their own abuse, but the mistake is that we are still talking about short term memory. Christians during the dark ages and even in the colonies were as tribal and bloodthirsty as Islam is today.

Even prior to the ratification of the Constitution, Jefferson managed to convince a very dogmatic Baptist leaning Va legistlature who feared northern Catholics, that their own designs on religious law were as bad as the Catholics they rightfully accused at the time.

He ended up writing the Virginia Religious Freedom act, in a very sectarian dogmatic state and it passed. It later became the prototype Madison based the First Amendment on.

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Quote:Rhythm Wrote:
Catholics -are- christians. The innovators of what we currently call christinity, really.

YES THEY ARE CHRISTIANS, but so are Baptists and Mormons. Just like Sunnis and Shiites are both Muslims.

Here is where the logic of every sky dady claimant of all sects of all religions fuck up in use of logic.

The theist mistake details as being original when there has always been even prior to their favorte flavor of mind junk food, junk food.

I hate this tactic when marketing of a popular superstition is all that is going on. But the claim of an invisible friend has been arround as long as people thought vocanos were gods and animals were gods.

Claiming that one invented god is as stupid as Coke or Pepsi invented the idea of liquids because they are soda. Junk food is junk food and all god claims of polytheist or monotheist are nothing but our own narccisistic anthropmorphic junk food.