Christian answering questions too!

[TheRocketSurgeon]

That meme seems fake.

[Foxaèr]

I like being an asshole. It means I have an opening through which a dick can enter.

[PETE_ROSE]

Which I'm doing too, since I'm not even sure, if this person is legit.

He feels legit to me. Seems like a nice guy. I think we gave him too much guff when he inadvertently stepped over a few invisible lines, prior to understanding why we reacted to some things the way we did. I say we give him a chance. We can't exactly complain that theists treat us all the same, and then turn around and do it to them. A more plausible explanation for why they all sound so similar is that they're being fed poor information about the nature of atheists/atheism, and they don't realize how a particular form of proselytizing sits with us because most of us already know the "good news" he's here to tell us about. He appears to be learning and adjusting, as we'd have to do if we wished to participate in the culture of a Christian forum without being jerks.

Pete, you can go a long way toward demonstrating some good will by explaining to "God's Child" in the thread I'll link you to, below, why telling us we weren't truly Christians is an asshole move. His responses to you will be most educational, I think, in explaining to you directly why we react as we do (even unfairly, sometimes) to people who come here to proselytize. I refer specifically to this post, from a series of exchanges you're of course free to read:

http://atheistforums.org/thread-42677-po...pid1265752

Just got the family and wife take care of for the evening.  Enjoyed wonderful fish fry with friends while our children played together.  Catfish my buddy caught jug fishing on the river this week.  Pool noodles can be such an effective way to catch catfish.  Sure beats the old rod n reel. 

I took a glimpse of this thread earlier, 40 something pages.  I hope I can stay awake long enough to read through it and formulate some form of intelligent response.  

I must say Rocket, the thought of explaining anything to some self righteous pastoral lampoon (thanks forum, knew I could use it) does not appeal to me in the least. Thanks buddy.

[TheRocketSurgeon]

Just got the family and wife take care of for the evening.  Enjoyed wonderful fish fry with friends while our children played together.  Catfish my buddy caught jug fishing on the river this week.  Pool noodles can be such an effective way to catch catfish.  Sure beats the old rod n reel. 

I took a glimpse of this thread earlier, 40 something pages.  I hope I can stay awake long enough to read through it and formulate some form of intelligent response.  

I must say Rocket, the thought of explaining anything to some self righteous pastoral lampoon (thanks forum, knew I could use it) does not appeal to me in the least. Thanks buddy.

Oh, no, I wouldn't ask you to read the full 40 pages. That's why I linked you to the specific statement in question, by the guy.

But I can certainly understand why you'd be reluctant to engage "some self righteous pastoral lampoon" (good one!)... you'll get a first-hand look at what we have to deal with on a daily basis, and start to understand the root of most of our mistrust and disrespect when we suspect another one is upon us.

I assure you, I do not enjoy "debating" (I use that term loosely) with someone whose mind is so made up that they refuse to even acknowledge the basic precepts of logic, or to correct their ideas when it is soundly demonstrated that they're incorrect about some provable thing (e.g. the claim we frequently hear, that evolutionists think that cats give birth to dogs or similar rubbish). I am particularly fond of debating (actually debating) scriptural passages, without the intent to "disprove" anything but only to understand what the authors were trying to say... and yet, with this particular guy, I can reference a passage with an analysis that would get me an A grade from the most devout professor at the Yale Divinity School, only to have him tell me that I don't understand the Bible and it's because I'm an atheist.

I don't mean to ask something of you that is odious, but I feel it would do you a great deal of good to engage this guy before you engage us. Empathy is one of the most important emotions for humans to nurture; there's a REASON Jesus stood up to the Pharisees and other "proper" people of society, while associating with those the former would rather spit upon than treat as fellow human beings worthy of respect.

[Jackalope]

Jesus stood up to the Pharisees

Did not.

[PETE_ROSE]

Plus the absence of spell check in the forum coupled with the propensity around here for the grammar police to call someone out, I hope to improve on my writing skills.

If you access this forum via a web browser, you'll note that it does have spell check... words that it does not recognize appear with a red, wavy underline until corrected. It's not 100%, and doesn't help with the difference between, say "hear" and "here", but it's quite useful. I don't use the phone app, so I don't know if that works the same way.

But thanks for making the effort! I worked as a copy editor for the school newspaper and yearbook, part time, my last year of college... so I appreciate not having to flinch! hehe

Thank you for the tip on opening the forum with a web browser!  I can now see the squiggly lines similar to Microsoft Word.

[robvalue]

I want to say I'm very impressed with Pete so far, and I'm certainly going to give him a chance. We don't get many theists who have any kind of respect or real interest in us. But Pete feels different, so I hope he sticks around!

It's not often I hand out a rep point to theists, but I've done so already in this case. It's not because I have a problem repping theists, it's just the type we seem to attract here rarely warrant it.

I'd rather be the victim of several "haha gotcha" poes than never give a real person a chance.

[GUBU]

Incoming reply:

"The serpent didn't look like a snake until after god cursed it."

Generally, the "serpent" is taken by most Christians as a slur against Satan, in describing him by his nature instead of his physical appearance, not as a literal snake. Of course, the snake is a common theme in pre-Judaic religions of the region, so it's hardly surprising to us to find it in the Genesis tale, since so much else in Genesis appears to have been borrowed from the Sumerian myths.

What I don't get about christian conceptions of satan is that they are all essentially extra-biblical. The idea of satan as yhwh's antagonist is not the picture developed in the bible, where satan is god's ultra-loyal henchman who gets all the dirty jobs. Essentially, the idea of the devil being satan is an idea developed in medieval times.

[GUBU]

I have a good friend who believes he has taken an honest look at Christianity, tells me he believes it to be true even though he does not agree with God's motives or reasoning, and says that he is making a conscious decision to not have anything to do with it.  He is a great guy and from my perspective would not have to change his lifestyle or give anything up like many people think they would.  He just says he doesn't agree with it and chooses to go his own way.  I can respect that.  I feel for him because I am afraid he may regret that decision in eternity for the obvious reasons.  That is what I struggle with more than anything, is knowing people I really care about, (according to what I think may happen to them), will not be spending eternity with me.   

First of all, is your friend religious, because you describe him in religious terms, i.e. he doesn't agree with god's motives assumes he believes god exists. Second of all how do you explain the paucity of non biblical evidence for jesus. Every non biblical mention of him is either a probable forgery or too late to be reliable in itself.

[GUBU]

So we have two new poes already.

So, we have Wryetui the silly bastard and we have PETEROSE/TERSEPOE, When is LOBSTERLOVER/VERBOSETROLL turning up?

I think you're just going to have to invent him Evie. By the way I don't think Pete's a poe or a sock. He's too nice, and is willing to engage with what we say.