(June 13, 2013 at 1:10 pm)Baalzebutt Wrote: I wanted to take a moment to say "Thank You" to all of the theist member here at AF.org. Specifically, Thanks to those who have stuck around and shouldered the heat they get day in and day out.
I genuinely respect you all for standing up for what you believe in. While I completely disagree with the vast majority of what you believe, I have to give you props for sticking it out amongst the wolves. We can be a harsh bunch and it would be so much easier for you to just give up what is likely an unwinnable battle but you don't. You hang on and continue to defend your views.
Thank you for helping to make this forum such and enjoyable and informative place to hang out.
Agreed. I think everyone knows that I blast and cuss out superstitious claims and god claims here all the time. But damn it, I really do hate it when people become politically correct about it or don't want us to bruise their ego. I may not value any god claim, but I certainly value someone who takes the punches without taking it personally.
I cannot stress enough to theists here and anywhere I debate, YES I AM A DICK ABOUT IT, but for reason. Most importantly because I do hold the position that there is no god and no evidence for one, any one. Just like I'd be a dick to a friend if they claimed the earth was flat. Just like my mother when I did something or said something stupid as a kid and she said "KNOCK IT OFF". I may hate what you claim, but that does not mean I hate you.
But just as important merely as an example that getting bitched out is really not the worst thing in the world. I think if the worst any human had to worry about is a "fuck you" rather than political and religious violence because of being offended, we'd have more peace.
"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions" Thomas Jefferson
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god, for if there be one, surely he would pay more homage to reason than to that of blindfolded fear" Thomas Jefferson.
I often had said that if I could have debated him about his own deism and said to him "Bullshit Tom, not even your watered down version exists", his response wouldn't be "SHUT UP" "YOU HATE ME" , he'd respond with, "Ok Brian, why do you call it bullshit?"
But take heart theists, all the atheists here, the library types and the verbal brawlers like me, we all have to some degree, family and friends and co workers who hold religious beliefs.
We do not live on an island and most atheists I know are not deluded into thinking theism can be forced out of existence. I think it can be reduced as to the harm it does and I do think it needs more of a leash on politics globally.
The other thing all atheists here display is that we are as just as diverse as any other label and do not always agree just because we may hold the same position. So if someone comes to the conclusion that I am a dick, fine, that is far better to judge me as an individual, than what most humans do in judging labels as a whole.
So yea, thanks to all the brave theists who did not run away or hide behind taboos or political correctness. I wish more theists would do what the theists here do. Not the arguments, but the lack of fear.
