Hello from Idaho

[Minimalist]

Welcome again.. I'm afraid we've all had a little 'run in' with your son so I'm not sure this is his favourite place at the moment, but most of us are pretty decent folk really

From some of the posts on here, some don't seem very decent, like Minimalist and EvidenceVsFaith.. That is what got my son stirred up.

You seem decent.

Your son is a fucking moron.

It is not my job to make morons feel good about themselves.

[Sherry]

Welcome again.. I'm afraid we've all had a little 'run in' with your son so I'm not sure this is his favourite place at the moment, but most of us are pretty decent folk really

From some of the posts on here, some don't seem very decent, like Minimalist and EvidenceVsFaith.. That is what got my son stirred up.

You seem decent.

Your son is a fucking moron.

It is not my job to make morons feel good about themselves.

Why do you hate Christians so much? Did they piss in your Wheaties? Why so much hate in your heart? You are a WICKED person. GET A LIFE!!

[Paul the Human]

Welcome, Sherry. I'm new here myself. I think you'll find it mostly friendly here, but there is certainly a certain impatience with circular logic and straight up preaching. I can't speak for Minimalist, but some atheists feel frustrated by the hatred and anger that is directed our way so often in the real world. That frustration can sometimes inform our tone toward believers. It is not the default attitude, by any means.

[Darwinian]

I won't presume to talk for Min but I think what got Gilligan off on the wrong foot with some was the presumption that because Herod and Pilot were real characters and they are mentioned in the Bible it somehow lends verisimilitude to the whole Biblical story.

Many see this as a 'red rag to a bull' and can't resist challenging him. After all, this is an atheist forum with many, many ex Christians who've studied the Bible for most of their lives.

And then he made the mistake of stereotyping all atheists by telling us that we all hate religion and have no interest in the subject at all.

Things may have gone a tad downhill from there.

[Sherry]

Welcome, Sherry. I'm new here myself. I think you'll find it mostly friendly here, but there is certainly a certain impatience with circular logic and straight up preaching. I can't speak for Minimalist, but some atheists feel frustrated by the hatred and anger that is directed our way so often in the real world. That frustration can sometimes inform our tone toward believers. It is not the default attitude, by any means.

Welcome Paul the Human. Well, it is people like that that has made me turn to cats for companionship. At least they love uncondionally and don't stab people in the back.

---

I won't presume to talk for Min but I think what got Gilligan off on the wrong foot with some was the presumption that because Herod and Pilot were real characters and they are mentioned in the Bible it somehow lends verisimilitude to the whole Biblical story.

Many see this as a 'red rag to a bull' and can't resist challenging him. After all, this is an atheist forum with many, many ex Christians who've studied the Bible for most of their lives.

And then he made the mistake of stereotyping all atheists by telling us that we all hate religion and have no interest in the subject at all.

Things may have gone a tad downhill from there.

Hopefully things will calm down some. Gilligan and myself have been on Yahoo Answers (R&S) and have seen the venom some atheists can spew at Christians. I myself have difficulty understanding why an atheist would be interested in religion unless it is to mock it.

[Edwardo Piet]

I assure you I'm just having a bit of a bad day (and a few 'badish' (at least) days lately). I probably should have stayed away from the forums today.

I have nothing personal against your son, you, or anyone else for that matter. But my frustration has to go somewhere sadly since you can only keep feelings in for so long. I am annoyed with Religion's influence on the world in general so it tends to piss me off. But I never mean anything personal ever. Apologies to you, your son, or anyone else who may have took anything I've said as a personal offence - I have never meant any personal offences. : " I don't even believe in personal offence" - if that makes sense. I don't get personal with people really (it seems :S).

I myself am personally interested in Religion because I am interested in the fact that it is so popular and yet I believe it is so toxic so I would like to do as much as I can (do 'my bit') to minimizing it (however little) if at all possible.

EvF

[Paul the Human]

Hopefully things will calm down some. Gilligan and myself have been on Yahoo Answers (R&S) and have seen the venom some atheists can spew at Christians. I myself have difficulty understanding why an atheist would be interested in religion unless it is to mock it.

The venom is spewed in both directions. That's why I like places like this, where civil conversation is the rule.

And... we are extremely interested in religious subjects, because we seek truth. We are also very curious as to how and why others believe these things. We know that knowledge is power and that includes all knowledge. We know that you cannot form an intelligent opinion unless you know as much as possible about that which you want to form that opinion.

[Sherry]

I assure you I'm just having a bit of a bad day (and a few 'badish' (at least) days lately). I probably should have stayed away from the forums today.

I have nothing personal against your son, you, or anyone else for that matter. But my frustration has to go somewhere sadly since you can only keep feelings in for so long. I am annoyed with Religion's influence on the world in general so it tends to piss me off. But I never mean anything personal ever. Apologies to you, your son, or anyone else who may have took anything I've said as a personal offence - I have never meant any personal offences. : " I don't even believe in personal offence" - if that makes sense. I don't get personal with people really (it seems :S).

I myself am personally interested in Religion because I am interested in the fact that it is so popular and yet I believe it is so toxic so I would like to do as much as I can (do 'my bit') to minimizing it (however little) if at all possible.

EvF

Is it "toxic" because it makes sinners feel guilty?

[Darwinian]

Hopefully things will calm down some. Gilligan and myself have been on Yahoo Answers (R&S) and have seen the venom some atheists can spew at Christians. I myself have difficulty understanding why an atheist would be interested in religion unless it is to mock it.

I think that you will find that most atheists, at least the ones who bother to join forums like this, are very interested in religion. After all, it's a pretty dominant force in the world. For me, I'm interested because a) I like mythology, which is what I see religion as, and b) I constantly struggle to comprehend why anyone would 'literately' believe ancient stories written down millennia ago for which there is zero evidence.

And believe me, atheists don't have the monopoly on spewing venom..

[Sherry]

Hopefully things will calm down some. Gilligan and myself have been on Yahoo Answers (R&S) and have seen the venom some atheists can spew at Christians. I myself have difficulty understanding why an atheist would be interested in religion unless it is to mock it.

I think that you will find that most atheists, at least the ones who bother to join forums like this, are very interested in religion. After all, it's a pretty dominant force in the world. For me, I'm interested because a) I like mythology, which is what I see religion as, and b) I constantly struggle to comprehend why anyone would 'literately' believe ancient stories written down millennia ago for which there is zero evidence.

And believe me, atheists don't have the monopoly on spewing venom..

Do you see all religions such as Jewish, Hindu, Buddhism, Islam, New Age, etc as mythology as well, or just Christianity?