(November 21, 2012 at 12:18 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote: This forum doesn't exist to give you a good impression of atheists. You're welcome here, but if you don't like the climate, there are plenty of more tightly-moderated forums out there where you can have these discussions. Maybe the religion and philosophy section of JREF would suit you better. Not trying to get rid of you (in fact, I hope you stay), but if you don't like it here, there are alternatives.

You don't need "tight moderation" you need an online community of people who revere discussions with people of opposing views. It's not a simple case of "i'm right and you're wrong" but rather "I don't want to listen lalala" which I don't so much care for. You seem to forget something - if I were to suddenly switch to atheism it wouldn't change my views, my values, my beliefs. So don't for a second think that belief God changes whether or not a person has the same capacity to be passionate for their community, for politics, for justice and what is right or passionate for many other things.

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(November 21, 2012 at 11:16 pm)apophenia Wrote: Seventeen posts and you've already identified who your friends are. You've got madder skillz than me, amigo.

I already identified every active member as my friends! Why discriminate? My friendship is valuable, I don't want to deprive any of you good people of it.

(November 22, 2012 at 8:17 am)Daniel Wrote:

(November 21, 2012 at 11:16 pm)apophenia Wrote: Seventeen posts and you've already identified who your friends are. You've got madder skillz than me, amigo.

I already identified every active member as my friends! Why discriminate? My friendship is valuable, I don't want to deprive any of you good people of it.

You are a discriminative idiot Daniel we are not your "friends"

Silly bloody religitard.

(November 22, 2012 at 8:17 am)Daniel Wrote: So don't for a second think that belief God changes whether or not a person has the same capacity to be passionate for their community, for politics, for justice and what is right or passionate for many other things.

I thought that was generally the criticism leveled at atheists by theists (No morals without god etc)?

(November 21, 2012 at 5:10 am)Daniel Wrote: Some of the atheists seem to have no clue as to how inhospitable their online personas are.

Oh Daniel, when are you going to stop fucking whining.

Quote: Pretty weak actually if they want to represent atheism as a respectable world-view.

I'll echo what others have said, atheism isn't a world view, and I myself couldn't give two shits about representing anyone else here. It's not a bloody club with a membership. How about you get over the fact that some people are nicer than others, and that (shock-horror) some atheists take offence when you keep misrepresenting what atheism even is.

Hell it might make people (including me) be a little nicer to you.


As for the newbie, welcome aboard, I'll admit it's a little weird how you seem to have already come to so many conclusions about this place, but I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself here nonetheless.

(November 22, 2012 at 8:17 am)Daniel Wrote: My friendship is valuable, I don't want to deprive any of you good people of it.

Someone thinks very high of himself, I bet its the vaunted Christian Humility™

(November 22, 2012 at 10:45 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: I thought that was generally the criticism leveled at atheists by theists (No morals without god etc)?

And I thought atheists generally level the same criticism towards theists?

(November 23, 2012 at 8:29 am)Daniel Wrote:

(November 22, 2012 at 10:45 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: I thought that was generally the criticism leveled at atheists by theists (No morals without god etc)?

And I thought atheists generally level the same criticism towards theists?

Well I've never presumed that someone who is religious per se is 'immoral' because they ascribe to one of the many religions (I can't speak for all atheists).

I read the bible (or whatever holy text) and can see plain as day that several passages are immoral (and downright sadistic in some cases), but I don't immediately link that to the people who believe it.

If I had a nickle for every time I've been called immoral (or evil, or a devil worshipper, or whatever) because I'm atheist though, we'll, I'd be around $1 better off. "The fool hath said..." And all that (not an ascription of morality per se, but an automatic denigration of the position based solely on the position and not the person).

(November 23, 2012 at 8:29 am)Daniel Wrote:

(November 22, 2012 at 10:45 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: I thought that was generally the criticism leveled at atheists by theists (No morals without god etc)?

And I thought atheists generally level the same criticism towards theists?

Well when you get theists declaring openly and unashamedly - even gleefully - that if there was no god (or "God") to which to be held accountable, they would run about raping, killing, stealing, generally doing anything that makes them feel good, that "criticism" can seem justified. I'm not even talking about this reasonable revelation either; just ask Kent "single-cell animal" Hovind's spawn and the company he elects to keep:

(November 22, 2012 at 10:45 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote:

(November 22, 2012 at 8:17 am)Daniel Wrote: So don't for a second think that belief God changes whether or not a person has the same capacity to be passionate for their community, for politics, for justice and what is right or passionate for many other things.

I thought that was generally the criticism leveled at atheists by theists (No morals without god etc)?

Not ALL theists feel this way. Some of us have atheist friends. My very best friend of 21 years isn't an atheist but he doesn't like "religious people" generally speaking and he doesn't hold the same beliefs that i do but he and I have always had the utmost respect for one another.

Btw, I think the argument regarding morals is that atheists CAN be moral but without God there is no grounding of the morals. This doesn't mean (seemingly) too much to most of those that aren't Christians. The responses I have seen tend to be in the "so what" category so I expect much of the same if it were to arise in a thread. I have love for my fellow man regardless of my religious affiliation but its difficult to express that unless you are face to face with another heartbeat. It's not easy to convey these things on a 3 inch monitor.
I would like to think I wouldn't be judged on how I feel about morality and the morality of others simply on my status as a Christian. Is it assumed that I'm going to think all atheists are amoral because I'm Christian?

You wouldn't happen to be the same musicman from tWeb who told me to go fuck myself for being an ingrateful atheist (simply for pointing out that his complaint about my ranting and whining was ill-founded on account of the fact that I was doing it in the section of the forum reserved for such ranting and whining; in my experience, Christians don't take well to having the obvious pointed out to them).