Posts by DJS

8

When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything - G KChesterton

by slimboyfat in

i have been reading rodney stark's new book triumph of faith, where he makes his argument afresh that religion is alive and well.

in fact he says it's doing better than ever, and we are in the middle of a revival of faith.

above is a particular quote he likes to use when refusing secularisation.

DJS

As Cofty says, bullocks.

The quote you are so fond of SBF is similar to one used frequently by the fundie preacher Billy Graham. If you try to take a middle of the roach approach to god you will get run over from both directions. Other fundies have opined something similar - those who don't believe in anything will fall for everything.

Utter bullocks and x-tian spin and nonsense at its worst. The rationals follow the evidence, without prejudice or emotion. That isn't believing in 'anything'; that isn't even belief. The only thing required to believe is to feel.

Whistling through the graveyard is Mr. Stark. Religion is dying a much deserved, slow painful death. Without a doubt it will re-born like a Phoenix into something our planet and species can tolerate. A lot of humans will seek out religion for generations, because we are a pathetic species. Religion is the single most barrier in the way of the evolution of our species. The sooner it can be vanquished, and the 'need' for it removed, the better we will be as a species.

And really, he wants to place ANY relevance to the word spiritual? Really, SBF? That word means anything and everything. I would use the word to describe many of the travels and excellent adventures I've been on the past 2 decades. I would use it to define my friendships and the relationships with my kids. I use it frequently to describe my GF's ass.

None of those things have anything to do with religion or god. Hanging his hat on the relevance of that word is more whistling whilst walking by Mr. Stark. Through the graveyard.

133

Why Are You Here?

by Believer in

i'm wondering why believers remain members of this forum which is clearly hostile to believers.

as one member said, nonbelievers pounce on any semblance of belief like piranhas on prey.

as former jws we should have had our fill of judgmental know-it-alls, but here we are.

DJS

@Believer, from your opening salvo across our bow:

"Jesus condemned the Pharisees because 'they traverse land and sea to make one proselyte and then made him a subject of Gehenna more so than themselves.’ At first I wondered what that meant but watching the progression of many exJWs evolve or devolve from blind faith to no faith seems to be the answer. Of course there are many who evolved from blind faith to true faith but those believers are relatively quiet here. "

And you say you aren't here to preach. Bullshit. That is the only reason you are here.

You judge all of us heathens, beating us with the jesus stick and by inference condemning us to Gehenna. Then you directly state that those of us who left faith (and obviously by faith you mean jesus/jah - more preaching) have no faith. Then you state that others have left JWdom to find the 'true' faith, inferring that 'no faith' is bad and also deserving of Gehenna I suppose. No faith in your belief system is clearly a reason for destruction.

Then you judge us again by inferring those with 'true' faith are being bullied into silence by those with 'no' faith. And clearly in Believer's belief system 'true' faith is what Believer - and no one else on the planet - has. Excellent. A delusional, egocentric, narcissist here to preach to and condemn us heathen atheists.

As Mr. Timberlake says, Go ahead, be gone with you. And take your maranatha papers, or whatever they are called, with you. You are here to preach and your spread your infection.

133

Why Are You Here?

by Believer in

i'm wondering why believers remain members of this forum which is clearly hostile to believers.

as one member said, nonbelievers pounce on any semblance of belief like piranhas on prey.

as former jws we should have had our fill of judgmental know-it-alls, but here we are.

DJS

Believer wouldn't be here either if this site was dominated by Hindus, Muslims and Jews. She is only here because she thinks she has some x-tian based bible learnin' that she can wow us all with.

Not a chance in hell Believer would stick around if the site didn't favor her particular gods. She was looking for an opening to preach and amaze. How did that work out for you, Believer? The truth stings a bit, doesn't it.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

DJS

Postscript,

There is a huge difference between believing that the universe was created by an intelligent godlike creator and believing specifically in, for example, the bible version or a specific god.

The evidence does not point to a creator, but since there is so much we don't know it really isn't worth arguing the point. If that changes and there is sufficient evidence that a creator created the universe, atheists will become believers. Atheism isn't a religion; it isn't associated with emotions of any kind. It is based on evidence.

Having said that, when any of you theists start talking about the bible, jah, jesus, god is love, this scripture or that scripture - you are preaching. When you make, as Simon pointed out, definitive statements about your beliefs, you are imposing your beliefs on the rest of us.

Why would you think that acceptable? Why would you think we should respect that? Why would any of you come on this site, which is full of people who have been damaged by religion in general and one in specific, and think it acceptable to preach your version of jesus? So yes KateWild, I find it disgusting and abhorrent when that occurs, and it happens a lot.

Why would you think your beliefs are any more valid than those of the Hindus, Muslims, Animists, Satanists, Janes, Buddhists or those who still think Thor is the man?

They are not any more valid. Believe all you wish, but take it outside or keep it to yourself. It's sort of like smoking; you are free to contaminate yourself with them, but you are not free to contaminate the rest of us.

I have zero respect for people who smoke indoors or around others. I have the same lack of respect for those who try to impose their religious beliefs, and I do not understand why you feel compelled to speak of them.

Take Believer, for example, she wasn't content to merely suggest that belief in a creator should deserve respect; no, she had to bring up jesus, the bible, the jah god dude and some idiot reading papers about the pre-jesus jesus. That shows what her real motive was and is - to impose her specific brand of x-tianity on the rest of us and expect us to be in awe of her awesomeness.

45

Do JW beliefs deserve respect?

by azor in

what say you?

.

DJS

jwundubbed,

Went and actually did some actual research between those 2 posts, huh? Excellent. When it is laser accurate, based on facts and evidence, and does not go too far ridicule is extremely effective.

And deserved.

If it doesn't meet those criteria it is counter productive

45

Do JW beliefs deserve respect?

by azor in

what say you?

.

DJS

If I'm hearing you correctly ypu are saying that if I'm saying that someone's ridiculous, potentially harmful, beliefs are ridiculous and I link the person with those beliefs I'm calling that person ridiculous, at least as it applies to the ridiculous belief.

Yes. That is correct.That's EXACTLY what I'm saying.

I was stupid for believing the ridiculous tripe spewed by the DarkLords. There. I feel better. How about you DJ?

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

DJS

Ariana Grande stuns. But she's not batshit crazy like LiLo.

I kinda sorta need batshit crazy. And since it's my deity . . .

45

Do JW beliefs deserve respect?

by azor in

what say you?

.

DJS

DJ,

Good point. When you find an example of any of us mean ole atheists ridiculing something in error please point it out.

As Cofty says, we don't want to be wrong any longer than necessary.

45

Do JW beliefs deserve respect?

by azor in

what say you?

.

DJS

No.

As Sir stated, ridiculous beliefs deserve ridicule.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

DJS

Recap:

Believer has chastised us atheists because we hurt theists' feelings. Apparently theists want to believe whatever they want to believe and have us mean ole atheists respect it. Like most atheists I respect theists' right to believe whatever nonsense they wish. I have zero respect, none, for theists' rights to express those beliefs publicly, to practice those beliefs when they are harmful or to try to spread their infection to others. No respect. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

Got that?

Believer picks and chooses the parts of the bible that make her feel nice. She refuses to accept anything about her god that isn't rainbows and unicorns. Her head is firmly planted up her ass, I mean in the sand. Her religion is a religion of one. Believer. And that is her right. It isn't her right to attempt to spread that infection to anyone else and it especially isn't her right to try to spread that infection on the world wide web without rational, intelligent (hint hint) people pushing back. Hard.

Her religion isn't one of choice; it is of her own making. It is narcissistic, immature and egocentric. It is no different than the religious beliefs of Jim Jones, David Koresh, Heavens Gate or those who have deified Lindsay Lohan (that would be me). Her religion is lazy brained and selfish, and it deserves absolutely no respect. Her beliefs and her belief system - the manner in which she derived those beliefs - is ridiculous and deserves to be ridiculed.

That Dislike button thing-ey, for all of you on your monthly cycle, is four steps over and two steps down.