The use of "I am an/a" OP/ED

[Brian37]

Most humans do this, and admittedly I am guilty of it too. 

We say "I am an atheist" or, "I am Jewish" or, "I am Buddhist", or "I am Christian" or "I am a Muslim" or, "I am a Hindu."

No, those are positions we hold, not a separate species, not a gene. None of us can help were we are born, nor can we help what skin tone or facial features we are born with. But we can and do scrap one position and move to another position. There are former Muslims who have become Christians, and former Christians who have become Muslims, and former Buddhists and former Jews too. 

One can be sold a social norm at birth, anywhere in the world, and grow up to realize the do not buy the claims their parents or society sold them at one time, and adapt another position, or simply scrap the idea of religion altogether. 

I do hold the position there are no god/s/Supernatural right now. I am currently an agnostic atheist. I cannot say that I will always hold this position, because I have not lived my entire future. But even with the future, I see it so fleetingly unlikely to have that gap filled with the super natural, it is not worth considering. I do not see myself currently ever falling back into any religion as long as I am in my lucid state. 

The first thing all 7 billion of us are are humans. Anything else we say as far as "I am" is not referring to a separate species or a gene, but a position we hold.

[Yonadav]

This is just your usual moral posturing. You're a wannabe guru who is constantly pretending to be enlightened by contrasting yourself with easy targets. Too much of your 'wisdom' revolves around contrasting yourself with Nazis (for example) so that you can jerk off about not being a Nazi. You pretend to be a peacenik while constantly spoiling for a fight with others for silly reasons. Delusional sanctimonious fuckery.

[Brian37]

This is just your usual moral posturing. You're a wannabe guru who is constantly pretending to be enlightened by contrasting yourself with easy targets.  Too much of your 'wisdom' revolves around contrasting yourself with Nazis (for example) so that you can jerk off about not being a Nazi. You pretend to be a peacenik while constantly spoiling for a fight with others for silly reasons. Delusional sanctimonious fuckery.

Knock it off. Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine prove all humans are related, and all life is related going back far enough. That is a statement of scientific fact. The other fact is no human lives forever. 

This is fucking bullshit trying to equate me to Nazis. What Hitler did was junk science, having nothing to do with Darwin. Let me be clear. I HATE NAZIS, I HATE DICTATORS. I HATE STALIN, I HATE PO POT, I HATE CASTRO, I HATE KIM JONG UN. GOT IT!

Saying that our species behaviors are not coming from a divine place, isn't saying we should become genocidal. Just like Darwin pointing out that life was not the mythological source theist claimed it was. 

If you have no problem rejecting Thor as a gap answer to explain why lightening happens, and you have no problem rejecting the gap answer Poseidon is the ocean god who causes hurricanes, then you should be able to understand what I am saying.

An when did I claim to be a guru? I didn't discover DNA, but I do accept evolution. What Hitler did was junk science, to justify oppression and hate and bigotry. Me simply pointing out a scientific reality isn't saying we should deny human rights or commit genocide. There is no such thing as a superior race as Hitler advocated for. Got anymore bullshit nonsense you want to spew?

[Yonadav]

Hilarious! I criticize Bwian for constantly contrasting himself with easy targets (such as Nazis) so that he can jerk off about how elevated above them he is, and he immediately starts contrasting himself with Nazis so that he can jerk off in moral outrage.

I have him on ignore and peeked at his post. I should probably stop doing that because it is too easy to play Pavlov's Brian. I'm a horrible person.

[Brian37]

Hilarious! I criticize Bwian for constantly contrasting himself with easy targets (such as Nazis) so that he can jerk off about how elevated above them he is, and he immediately starts contrasting himself with Nazis so that he can jerk off in moral outrage.

I have him on ignore and peeked at his post. I should probably stop doing that because it is too easy to play Pavlov's Brian. I'm a horrible person.

Glad you think this is a joke. I don't. 

Right now, we have a bully in the White House who uses the same tactics of political scapegoating and vilification any good despot uses.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Most humans do this, and admittedly I am guilty of it too. 

We say "I am an atheist" or, "I am Jewish" or, "I am Buddhist", or "I am Christian" or "I am a Muslim" or, "I am a Hindu."

No, those are positions we hold, not a separate species, not a gene. None of us can help were we are born, nor can we help what skin tone or facial features we are born with. But we can and do scrap one position and move to another position. There are former Muslims who have become Christians, and former Christians who have become Muslims, and former Buddhists and former Jews too. 

One can be sold a social norm at birth, anywhere in the world, and grow up to realize the do not buy the claims their parents or society sold them at one time, and adapt another position, or simply scrap the idea of religion altogether. 

I do hold the position there are no god/s/Supernatural right now. I am currently an agnostic atheist. I cannot say that I will always hold this position, because I have not lived my entire future. But even with the future, I see it so fleetingly unlikely to have that gap filled with the super natural, it is not worth considering. I do not see myself currently ever falling back into any religion as long as I am in my lucid state. 

The first thing all 7 billion of us are are humans. Anything else we say as far as "I am" is not referring to a separate species or a gene, but a position we hold.

You seem to be saying that 'I am...' is valid only if it is followed by '...a human being'.   This seems wrong, even when referring to a temporary state, such as you mentioned above.  'I am' doesn't always have to refer to a permanent condition. 

-I am sleepy.

-I am hungry.

-I am a socialist.

-I am 49 years old.

All of these apply to me at the moment.  The fact that they will not always apply to me doesn't make them wrong or inaccurate.

Boru

[Brian37]

Most humans do this, and admittedly I am guilty of it too. 

We say "I am an atheist" or, "I am Jewish" or, "I am Buddhist", or "I am Christian" or "I am a Muslim" or, "I am a Hindu."

No, those are positions we hold, not a separate species, not a gene. None of us can help were we are born, nor can we help what skin tone or facial features we are born with. But we can and do scrap one position and move to another position. There are former Muslims who have become Christians, and former Christians who have become Muslims, and former Buddhists and former Jews too. 

One can be sold a social norm at birth, anywhere in the world, and grow up to realize the do not buy the claims their parents or society sold them at one time, and adapt another position, or simply scrap the idea of religion altogether. 

I do hold the position there are no god/s/Supernatural right now. I am currently an agnostic atheist. I cannot say that I will always hold this position, because I have not lived my entire future. But even with the future, I see it so fleetingly unlikely to have that gap filled with the super natural, it is not worth considering. I do not see myself currently ever falling back into any religion as long as I am in my lucid state. 

The first thing all 7 billion of us are are humans. Anything else we say as far as "I am" is not referring to a separate species or a gene, but a position we hold.

You seem to be saying that 'I am...' is valid only if it is followed by '...a human being'.   This seems wrong, even when referring to a temporary state, such as you mentioned above.  'I am' doesn't always have to refer to a permanent condition. 

-I am sleepy.

-I am hungry.

-I am a socialist.

-I am 49 years old.

All of these apply to me at the moment.  The fact that they will not always apply to me doesn't make them wrong or inaccurate.

Boru

I get that, but with religion lets face it, it is beyond saying "I am sleepy", it is a way of trying to separate yourselves from others to convince yourself you are right. 

If you mean it like that it be more accurate to say, "Currently I am sleepy" or "Currently I am a Christian" or "Currently I am a Muslim". Nobody does that like describing sleep. It is a projection of falsely equating the position to being a literal part of your blood or genes. 

Sleep is eventually something everyone goes through and cant avoid. Religion however is not a requirement to live life. It is certainly something humans attribute their behaviors to, but it is still not a requirement. Grass and bacteria and cockroaches do not make up religions or gods to evolve.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I get that, but with religion lets face it, it is beyond saying "I am sleepy", it is a way of trying to separate yourselves from others to convince yourself you are right. 

Alternatively, it might be just one of many ways individual describes themselves.  I really don't think anyone uses the phrase 'I am a Christian' to convince themselves that they're right.  But I agree that labels separate things.  It's how we communicate.

 

If you mean it like that it be more accurate to say, "Currently I am sleepy" or "Currently I am a Christian" or "Currently I am a Muslim". Nobody does that like describing sleep.

But very few people say, 'I am currently...' anything. Yes, it might be more accurate, but that's no how people talk.  Why don't we say, 'Currently, I am a human being'?  Let's face it - there will be a time when we won't be human beings.

It is a projection of falsely equating the position to being a literal part of your blood or genes. 

lol, no it isn't.

Sleep is eventually something everyone goes through and cant avoid. Religion however is not a requirement to live life. It is certainly something humans attribute their behaviors to, but it is still not a requirement. Grass and bacteria and cockroaches do not make up religions or gods to evolve.

But why does something have to be a requirement for me to say I-am-thus-and-so?  It isn't a requirement for me to be a socialist or a luthier or married or any of the dozens of other things that make me what I am.

Boru

[Brian37]

I get that, but with religion lets face it, it is beyond saying "I am sleepy", it is a way of trying to separate yourselves from others to convince yourself you are right. 

Alternatively, it might be just one of many ways individual describes themselves.  I really don't think anyone uses the phrase 'I am a Christian' to convince themselves that they're right.  But I agree that labels separate things.  It's how we communicate.

 

If you mean it like that it be more accurate to say, "Currently I am sleepy" or "Currently I am a Christian" or "Currently I am a Muslim". Nobody does that like describing sleep.

But very few people say, 'I am currently...' anything. Yes, it might be more accurate, but that's no how people talk.  Why don't we say, 'Currently, I am a human being'?  Let's face it - there will be a time when we won't be human beings.

It is a projection of falsely equating the position to being a literal part of your blood or genes. 

lol, no it isn't.

Sleep is eventually something everyone goes through and cant avoid. Religion however is not a requirement to live life. It is certainly something humans attribute their behaviors to, but it is still not a requirement. Grass and bacteria and cockroaches do not make up religions or gods to evolve.

But why does something have to be a requirement for me to say I-am-thus-and-so?  It isn't a requirement for me to be a socialist or a luthier or married or any of the dozens of other things that make me what I am.

Boru

It isn't a matter of denying diversity. It is a matter of logic.

I accept that humans attribute "who they are" to what they claim. I simply doubt depending on the claim, where they think what "makes me, me" is really coming from. 

When someone says, "that makes me who I am", it only means that is what they are used to and comfortable with, but it doesn't make everything they claim true by default. I also say, "I am a poet", when in reality all I am really saying is " I like writing poetry". Grass and bacteria and cockroaches don't write poetry and still managed to evolve. That isn't saying we should end poetry. It is simply a matter of putting it in proper context.

I am not poetry, poetry is simply something I am into.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It isn't a matter of denying diversity.

 
No one accused you of denying diversity.

It is a matter of logic.

I don't see how.  You want people to say, 'Currently, I am a Muslim' but are fine with them saying, 'I am a human being.'

 

I accept that humans attribute "who they are" to what they claim. I simply doubt depending on the claim, where they think what "makes me, me" is really coming from. 

When someone says, "that makes me who I am", it only means that is what they are used to and comfortable with, but it doesn't make everything they claim true by default.

I'm not sure I understand you. If you are doubting the truth of someone's religion when they say, 'I am a Christian', I'm with you.  But 'I am a Christian' isn't about whether the Christian religion is true, it is a statement indicating the speak believes it to be true.  There's nothing wrong with that.

 

I also say, "I am a poet", when in reality all I am really saying is " I like writing poetry".

If you write poetry, you're a poet.  That's what 'poet' means.

Grass and bacteria and cockroaches don't write poetry and still managed to evolve. That isn't saying we should end poetry. It is simply a matter of putting it in proper context.

I am not poetry, poetry is simply something I am into.

I'm now thoroughly confused.  Thank you.

Boru