A message to the Religious

[ignoramus]

Being religious reminds me of a T-shirt a hot chick was wearing.
It said:

Bank of Elisabeth
Substantial Penalty for early withdrawal!

[Cyberman]

Should have said "withdraw early and you lose interest".

[KUSA]

Melons you say. Melons it is. I will now refer to all the christards and mustards as melons.

[Spooky]

...Wake up for Christ's sake!...

I agree 100% with your statement OP.  I just thought this was an interesting turn of phrase considering the intent of the writing.

Keep being awesome 

[Thumpalumpacus]

My mom and my sister are both religious. They're certainly not idiots.

OP is wrong on at least two counts, and most likely many hundreds of millions more.

Sucks to be him.

[Salacious B. Crumb]

You know, I totally get how some people are indoctrinated from birth with bullshit. I totally get that it's not straight forward for some people to figure out. Not everyone has access to the information. But what really grates on my tits is how certain people are so sure about their fucked up convictions that they look down on the people who don't buy into the bull. These same people command respect for their beliefs. These same people expect to be taken seriously. These same people come onto a forum like this, when they literally have access to all the information in the world at their fingertips, and choose to argue this bullshit with people who don't buy it when they could otherwise be enlightening themselves.

Now I know some people come here to 'hear about opposing viewpoints' and all this other hippie free loving shit too. But I don't buy how you can supposedly come onto a forum like this with an "open mind", read and be given access to all this information that literally puts your religion flat on its fucking arse, and still call yourself religious. There's some ulterior shit going on there.

Nailed it.

Meh, I'm happy to do so. I know what you're saying, some people have traumatic shit happen, some people feel justified in clinging onto bullshit.

Either way, it makes no difference to me. They're still lying to themselves. I'm not a cunt for pointing it out (not saying that's what you were insinuating, just talking generally).


You know, I've had a few things happen recently on this very forum that make me wonder if my approach is a bit too aggressive, or if I'm rude, or if I'm going overboard.

What do I say to that??

"Couldn't give a shit"

I don't exist to be pleasant to everyone else. I don't think respect should be automatically given. I value my own honesty over other people's sensitivities, frankly. If I see something that's bullshit, I'm gonna call it bullshit. I don't buy that just because some people are respectful, they are deserving of respect. I don't buy that anyone is immune to criticism. I don't buy that some people are justified in believing in bollocks, or that they have understandable reasons for doing so and that by molly coddling them we're doing them a favour.

I'm gonna continue to say it as it is. Some people might not like it, but to them I'd say grow up. Deal with it. Sometimes the bare truth is what's important. I try to give that. Fuck being respectful for the sake of being respectful. Religion has long since forsaken any notion of deserving respect IMO.

Likewise, if someone thinks something I'm saying is bullshit, then say so. Don't give me this "I respect your opinion" fluff. Whoopidoo. If everyone respected each other's opinions what would be the point in having one?

Nailed it again. There are times I respect people's opinions on 'hot button' issues. I honestly can respect people's opinions on politics for the most part, if they can back up their positions well. I can respect people's opinions on the pro-gun/anti-gun dilemma if they know what they're talking about. I can't respect people's opinions on thinking homosexuality is immoral, or people that are pro-life, but anyways.. from what I've seen, on certain issues, primarily including religious or moral discussions on here, the "I respect your opinion" means, "You're wasting your time typing, I have my mind made up, and I'm not going to think for one second about anything you just said." Which is basically a passive-aggressive way of saying, "I don't give a shit."

[robvalue]

I think different approaches work with different people. Just maybe someone somewhere will read the rant and it will be the kickstart they need to stop, think and question.

[ignoramus]

You know, I totally get how some people are indoctrinated from birth with bullshit. I totally get that it's not straight forward for some people to figure out. Not everyone has access to the information. But what really grates on my tits is how certain people are so sure about their fucked up convictions that they look down on the people who don't buy into the bull. These same people command respect for their beliefs. These same people expect to be taken seriously. These same people come onto a forum like this, when they literally have access to all the information in the world at their fingertips, and choose to argue this bullshit with people who don't buy it when they could otherwise be enlightening themselves.

Now I know some people come here to 'hear about opposing viewpoints' and all this other hippie free loving shit too. But I don't buy how you can supposedly come onto a forum like this with an "open mind", read and be given access to all this information that literally puts your religion flat on its fucking arse, and still call yourself religious. There's some ulterior shit going on there.

Nailed it.

Meh, I'm happy to do so. I know what you're saying, some people have traumatic shit happen, some people feel justified in clinging onto bullshit.

Either way, it makes no difference to me. They're still lying to themselves. I'm not a cunt for pointing it out (not saying that's what you were insinuating, just talking generally).


You know, I've had a few things happen recently on this very forum that make me wonder if my approach is a bit too aggressive, or if I'm rude, or if I'm going overboard.

What do I say to that??

"Couldn't give a shit"

I don't exist to be pleasant to everyone else. I don't think respect should be automatically given. I value my own honesty over other people's sensitivities, frankly. If I see something that's bullshit, I'm gonna call it bullshit. I don't buy that just because some people are respectful, they are deserving of respect. I don't buy that anyone is immune to criticism. I don't buy that some people are justified in believing in bollocks, or that they have understandable reasons for doing so and that by molly coddling them we're doing them a favour.

I'm gonna continue to say it as it is. Some people might not like it, but to them I'd say grow up. Deal with it. Sometimes the bare truth is what's important. I try to give that. Fuck being respectful for the sake of being respectful. Religion has long since forsaken any notion of deserving respect IMO.

Likewise, if someone thinks something I'm saying is bullshit, then say so. Don't give me this "I respect your opinion" fluff. Whoopidoo. If everyone respected each other's opinions what would be the point in having one?

Nailed it again. There are times I respect people's opinions on 'hot button' issues. I honestly can respect people's opinions on politics for the most part, if they can back up their positions well. I can respect people's opinions on the pro-gun/anti-gun dilemma if they know what they're talking about. I can't respect people's opinions on thinking homosexuality is immoral, or people that are pro-life, but anyways.. from what I've seen, on certain issues, primarily including religious or moral discussions on here, the "I respect your opinion" means, "You're wasting your time typing, I have my mind made up, and I'm not going to think for one second about anything you just said." Which is basically a passive-aggressive way of saying, "I don't give a shit."

I respect (and agree) with your opinion!

[Whateverist]

I am a mind rape survivor.

I can not believe how uninformed I was.  I trusted everything I heard as complete truth.  Until my pastor preached a sermon on homosexuality and how the bible clearly stated it was wrong.  I could not accept god would create someone only to condemn them.  Then out of the blue a couple of years later his daughter come out as a lesbian, fine.  Now he has a complete mind shift and says the bible is ok with homosexuality.  WTF.

The one I feel the most stupid over however is being told that the fossil record proves there is a god.  Holy shit, if I would have only done one ounce of research, I would have discovered the fraudulent statement.  I blindly accepted it and repeated it numerous times.

Stupid Polar Bear...Stupid Polar Bear....Stupid Polar Bear

Don't beat yourself up, big guy.  Remember, they got into your head when you were a little dependent guy.  You were violated when you were defenseless.  Not your fault.  But you can't go back and fix that now.  Just go forward and remember the immortal words of Tom Robbins in Still Life With Woodpecker, "it's never too late to have a happy childhood".

[robvalue]

For sure Polar, it's not your fault. You were a victim. Anyone would have gone through the same in your position. The important thing is you stopped to question everything, and found your way out. That is an amazing thing and you should be proud!

Most of us look back on ourselves with embarressment at some things we've done. It's a sign that you care about improving yourself. It's people who don't feel such embarressment who are the ones I worry about.