Pulling the plug

[Rev. Rye]

where have I (or, for that matter, any other known ULC minister) claimed that ordination has made anyone seem "special"?

You personally may have not claimed it, but the 'ordination ritual' (even if only administrative; 99% of people don't know that), title, and powers (e.g. to perform marriages) imply it loud and clear, and Joe Blow, Jane Doe and auntie Meredith eat it up, and you exploit that apparent 'authority'.

I.o.w. it is fraud and elitism, cloaked in 'religion'. No different from any other shaman, witchdoctor, priest, minister, rabbi, or mullah.

Also, what on earth moved you to include that 'title' on an atheist forum? Unless you are trolling, in which case you have succeeded, of course.
It won't give you any perceived authority here! Quite the contrary...

Because I like the irony (verbal irony, I think it is) of an atheist using the title "Reverend," and at least one other forumer, one reverendjeremiah, also uses the title in his username, even though he used the title after me, and I don't know if he is there. All things considered, it seems that it's an irony that most members of the forum can appreciate. And, for that matter, the only people I bothered to tell about it are my parents (and the topic comes up only once in a blue moon), a speech class (and if not for the fact that I needed something that I could use as "credentials" to help my credibility for a pro-choice argument in front of an argument of imaginary Catholic priests, I probably wouldn't have used it), and the people of my last few forums, and I've talked more about it in this thread than I have elsewhere. And given that you've managed to derail a potentially thoughtful thread about euthanasia into haranguing me for a username that nobody in the past few years has really found objectionable and calling me a troll because of it, I must say, in the words of Bo Diddley, "Before You Accuse me, take a look at yourself." I may have developed a reputation on the forums, but it's certainly not because of the fact that I'm ordained, but because I keep myself well-informed about what I'm debating and have some wits about me. Because of the fact that this debate is getting personal, I would kindly suggest that we consider the matter closed, for both our sakes, before a mod steps in and closes this thread and possibly takes further action on us.

And besides, If I want people to think I'm great, I have much better things to brag about than being able to marry people, like my record as two-time all-state College Bowl champion, or being an up-and-coming writer of short stories and plays.