Thoughts from a Christian

[trmof]

The point of the video is that trmof has had personal experiences that he interprets to be his holy father.

Ah. Just one more shithead, then.

You are a clearly a fantastic conversationalist. I'm sorry I won't be hearing from you.

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My apologies. I did peruse the rules, but I must have glossed over that one. It's an understandable rule, however, considering the nature of the topic. I'll consider reposting this as text if time allows.

Also, it's not really that kind of challenge. It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual, which, if carried out, would hopefully make discussions on the topic more productive, at least in theory.

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The video would have served as an intro, so I'll try to summarize it later.

What makes you think I don't do that? I examine my stances all the time, and often change them in light of new arguments and evidence. That is why I'm not a Christian anymore, the religion just does not hold up to scrutiny.

Then I suppose the video wasn't directed at you then.

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My apologies. I did peruse the rules, but I must have glossed over that one. It's an understandable rule, however, considering the nature of the topic. I'll consider reposting this as text if time allows.

Also, it's not really that kind of challenge. It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual, which, if carried out, would hopefully make discussions on the topic more productive, at least in theory.

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The video would have served as an intro, so I'll try to summarize it later.

What makes you think I don't do that? I examine my stances all the time, and often change them in light of new arguments and evidence. That is why I'm not a Christian anymore, the religion just does not hold up to scrutiny.

I've made no claim about anything you have or haven't done. Why, if you have done the thing, would you be commenting on a topic specifically speaking to people who haven't done that thing?

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It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual

What makes you think we haven't?

Boru

Because I've met an exceedingly large number of atheists who specifically say they haven't done this thing and that they specifically refuse to do so. If you haven't watched the video yet, why are you commenting on what you imagine is in it, and if you HAVE watched it, why are you not commenting on the actual contents of the video?

[Chad32]

It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual

That's the reason I'm an atheist in the first place. I grew up christian, and after bumping into some people that didn't share my exact views I took a good look at things and realized I'm not really a christian. I don't find much of the stuff in the bible acceptable, including the idea of an innocent person being tortured to death because of my wrongdoings. As long as the punishment is proportional to the crime, why should I want someone suffering in my place?

I think this is where people got the idea of eternal damnation. Because most righteous people aren't going to want someone else to take the fall for them. They'll be adult enough to take responsibility for their own misdeeds. So someone had to come up with the idea that you're just utterly destroyed, or that your punishment will be eternal, in order to convert good, selfless people, who would balk at the idea of an innocent being brutally murdered for their crimes.

[trmof]

What makes you think we haven't?

Because you are an atheist who HATES gawd and wants to sin, so obviously you haven't tried to find gawd at all, or he would have helped you believe in Him as soon as you started believing in him.


... or something along that

This is a very immature and rude tactic, to put words in somebody's mouth without speaking to them directly. Everyone who has matured past high-school is aware of this and recognizes it for the passive-aggressive, meaningless fluff that it is. You're more than welcome to behave like a child and frame your opinions like a child, but you will also more than likely be talked down to like one. You would do well to correct this habit if you want to maintain stronger social connections beyond your sphere of immediate friends.

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It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual

That's the reason I'm an atheist in the first place. I grew up christian, and after bumping into some people that didn't share my exact views I took a good look at things and realized I'm not really a christian. I don't find much of the stuff in the bible acceptable, including the idea of an innocent person being tortured to death because of my wrongdoings. As long as the punishment is proportional to the crime, why should I want someone suffering in my place?

I think this is where people got the idea of eternal damnation. Because most righteous people aren't going to want someone else to take the fall for them. They'll be adult enough to take responsibility for their own misdeeds. So someone had to come up with the idea that you're just utterly destroyed, or that your punishment will be eternal, in order to convert good, selfless people, who would balk at the idea of an innocent being brutally murdered for their crimes.

I would ask that you comment on the particular points raised in the video, but I am unable to post it at this time. You are free to do a Youtube search for it, though, by searching for "the atheist 1-month challenge."

[Chas]

It is seriously ignorant and presumptuous of you to assume that atheists have not tried what this challenge espouses, and even more.

You would get a better reception had you asked if anyone had ever tried this, what their experiences were, what more they might have done, without whining that they won't even watch it.

Do you think you're the first to show up with this? Really?

[rexbeccarox]

{Mod hat on}

Whilst we are generally lenient with insulting language / rudeness in other forums, this kind of behaviour is explicitly disallowed in the Introductions forum. Please welcome new members to the community in a nice manner, or refrain from welcoming them at all.

Also, OP, it goes for you as well. If you have something you want to discuss, please choose the correct forum. Keep everything non-congenial out of this area. Thank you.

[Esquilax]

Because you are an atheist who HATES gawd and wants to sin, so obviously you haven't tried to find gawd at all, or he would have helped you believe in Him as soon as you started believing in him.


... or something along that

This is a very immature and rude tactic, to put words in somebody's mouth without speaking to them directly. Everyone who has matured past high-school is aware of this and recognizes it for the passive-aggressive, meaningless fluff that it is. You're more than welcome to behave like a child and frame your opinions like a child, but you will also more than likely be talked down to like one. You would do well to correct this habit if you want to maintain stronger social connections beyond your sphere of immediate friends.

Dude, Aoi was pretty clearly speaking in jest, hence the tongue-in-cheek emote. We joke a lot here. We're jokesters.

As for what you were trying to do here, I appreciate how well you took the mod ruling on your video. You could always set up a new thread explaining things. Just be warned: be prepared to have your challenge thoroughly dissected before it's even tried.

But then, there's nothing wrong with some in depth investigation, right?

[Chad32]

I would ask that you comment on the particular points raised in the video, but I am unable to post it at this time. You are free to do a Youtube search for it, though, by searching for "the atheist 1-month challenge."

I'm afraid searching 1 month atheist challenge just got the $100,000 atheist challenge response videos. It's too bad you can't post videos and links before a certain time spent here, but those are the breaks. You'll just have to put it in text or wait a bit.

[Neo-Scholastic]

It's more of a call to examine your beliefs from a slightly different angle than usual

What makes you think we haven't?

Boru

Because if you had you wouldn't still be an atheist. Duh!

[Chas]

What makes you think we haven't?

Boru

Because if you had you wouldn't still be an atheist. Duh!

You're hilarious.

[trmof]

It is seriously ignorant and presumptuous of you to assume that atheists have not tried what this challenge espouses, and even more.

You would get a better reception had you asked if anyone had ever tried this, what their experiences were, what more they might have done, without whining that they won't even watch it.

Do you think you're the first to show up with this? Really?

There is a very vocal of minority of atheists which I encounter regularly who will flatly refuse to take part in this sort of introspection. I am attempting to expand their intellectual horizons. Whether or not those people are strongly represented here, I see no better way to attract their attention to the issue than to post it on a popular atheist forum. Those are the people at which the video (if you are able to view it) is directed. If this is not an accurate description of you, then feel free to ignore it.

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This is a very immature and rude tactic, to put words in somebody's mouth without speaking to them directly. Everyone who has matured past high-school is aware of this and recognizes it for the passive-aggressive, meaningless fluff that it is. You're more than welcome to behave like a child and frame your opinions like a child, but you will also more than likely be talked down to like one. You would do well to correct this habit if you want to maintain stronger social connections beyond your sphere of immediate friends.

Dude, Aoi was pretty clearly speaking in jest, hence the tongue-in-cheek emote. We joke a lot here. We're jokesters.

As for what you were trying to do here, I appreciate how well you took the mod ruling on your video. You could always set up a new thread explaining things. Just be warned: be prepared to have your challenge thoroughly dissected before it's even tried.

But then, there's nothing wrong with some in depth investigation, right?

Fair enough, I'll receive it as a joke. I find very often that I am not granted this same benefit of the doubt in internet conversations, but this is hardly Aoi's fault, and you are correct in reminding me that this is no reason for ME to assume the worst of other people, particularly if I don't enjoy it happening to me. Point taken.

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And I sincerely thank you all for the warm welcome. I think we should move any remaining debates to other posts at this point and I'll return to the subject of the video at a later date. I will simply say that I am a Christian Libertarian, and that I have had numerous experiences with God which have left me with no reasonable choice but to believe in him. I also feels the Bible and many of it's ideas have been criminally misrepresented to the public by most people who claim to preach it and represent it, that agnosticism is a more philosophically helpful and sound way to look at the world than atheism, and that a more thorough understanding of these topics would go a long way towards silencing non-helpful voices on both sides of the debate and fostering a more productive interchange of ideas.