There is a pattern among posters here to use whatever subject is raised to take offence and then work out personal frustrations and unresolved issues. Issues are resolved through patient, skilful and genuine concern for the well being of others. The other alternative is to go into battle.
As this is a website and we can’t actually kill our opponents, a more diplomatic approach is likely to ultimately be more satisfying for all concerned.
NewChapter I agree with what you say. The thing is, that the way to win is to play your cards close to your chest. Attacking believers views, increases their faith. They feed off opposition because that is what they expect. You confirm their bias every time you attack. Go in slowly, make small points that can be accept. Build a brick at a time. Softly, softly catchee monkey.
james_woods It all takes time - like turning an ocean liner around.
james_woods It all takes time - like turning an ocean liner around.
the anonymity of the internet is both a blessing a curse for the information age, especially when it comes to debate.
when a screen is put over the person, all that you are left with are ideas in a pure form; written word that constitutes a set of ideas, reasons and thoughts.
anyone can sit and analyze and form a response at their leisure.
JonathanH Nice to see a well thought out and well written post. All so very true.
How long do I have to stand in the corner for?
Gladiator's have feelings too.
Yes james_woods I have noticed that we share the same view of believers. Encouraging them to examine a different point of view is one thing. Having a burning desire to destroy their faith is another matter. It could be mistaken for jealousy or even hate. People change when they are ready and as long as they are not causing serious harm, allowing them to change at a pace they can cope with is perhaps a better approach.
NewChapter "He was a real to me as Santa Claus was when I was a child."
When I was a boy we had very little in the way of material things. My brothers were always bored with nothing to play with. I was never bored. Fortunately I had a vivid imagination. I could conjure up anything I wanted in my imagination. I had imaginary conversations with people. I heard voices and made friends with people who existed only in my mind. I could make up jokes, tell them to myself and laugh out loud when I got the punch line.
I even had an imaginary horse that I could gallop down the road to the local store on. The lady store owner always asked how the horse was and gave me free nuts to feed it. I also had a panda that was so real he had a small chair of his own to sit on. Occasionally a place was set at the table for the panda.
One day I announced that the panda had gone. My father asked where? I told him that I didn’t need him any more. Soon after the horse went too. Now I have to live in the real world. I envy people who are still capable of such illusion.
Atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. It say’s nothing about the studied conclusion that a person may or may not have come to.
There is so much that all of us don’t know, that I find it amazing that someone who has no idea how a computer hard drive is made or what ingredients are needed to make tiramisu, can declare that they alone know the secrets of the origins of the universe.
my undisputed hero of the bible is known by several names, depending on who you talk to...devil, satan, lucifer, etc.. read it, and you'll find that he was the only one who really stood up for you.. he asserted that you could make decisions for yourself...and told you the very real truth that, just because the piece of meat in your chest stops thumping, you positively do not 'die'.. he was your hero.
he stood up to a daddy-maniac and said, 'just because you made us doesnt mean you have the right to tell us what to do.
i thought we were free?'.
I would like to say that I have long believed Satan to be a more moral character than the Vengeful, control freak Jehovah, as depicted in the Bible.
But I as I am not a believer, I can’t say.
i'm just curious as i'm on the outside looking in when it comes to relationships, yet i recall undercover explaining to me a year or so ago on another thread how his wife was clingy one morning before he went to work.
it made me wonder as someone who's single, what do you feel when you need to be somewhere and your significant other is clingy at the moment?
or when your out and about and he/she is clingy, is it flattering, irritating?
A man either likes or dislikes a clingy women depending on the agenda he has.
What most women can’t stand is a needy man.
These and other gems of wisdom brought to you by the Gladiator - at no cost.
