Atheism

Oh yeah, i'm sure he recognized you as an asshole the first time he met you.

Don't fret so. Some people might actually think you are cute.

Can't say since we have never met.

You're a legend in your own mind. Nothing you and your asshole buddies write is going to cause me to fret.

So you don't consider that you've met anyone here, huh? You have a very ideosyncratic definition of to meet. I suspect, rather, that like all pushy, loud-mouthed christians, that it's just a matter that you're a liar as well as a scoundrel.

Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons have long been door knockers, and yes, by my own experience. If they count as christians, I've no idea. Since I live alone and am an older woman - and before that, when I wasn't older but lived alone in a sometimes iffy neighborhood - I don't answer the door. (My neighbors have my phone number.) However, a bit after a knock or doorbell ring, I'll check, and there will be a christian flyer or pamphlet left by the visitor.. something like 90% of the time. The details on the flyer will show the name of the churches. The other 10% tend to be cards or flyers from landscapers wanting to fix my yard.

Is your yard broke? Are they christian landscapers?

It's really kind of sad how many christians will get really worked up about the the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, insisting that they're not christians. But then, i've been told by fundamentalists that Catholics aren't christians--which makes me wonder what they think of the Orthodox churches.

Actually both use the bible, but the Mormons also use the Book of Mormons. Some call them "cults."

Maybe I'm not so bad after all.

The last 3 sentences are pretty good. They should be in a movie script. All we need to do to mine it is write the scene in which they might amuse the audience. Assuming it's original. A chap who has been caught shagging the maid, say, arguing with his wife, her sister and her mother and sticking up for himself. Would such a scene be allowed what with all these Christians about?

Oh--I forgot to mention--he's a fundamentalist Darwinian.

I ask what we should be talking about specifically, and you simply reply that you are discussing "the topic." That's pretty vague.

Brilliant contribution.

You're here to argue and fight. Drop this pretense that you only "fight back" or defend yourself. You're constantly on the offensive. I'm not targeting you, I'm calling you out on this crap because it's getting really old.

So again, what should we be talking about in this thread right now? Specifically.

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That's all you lot ever talk about. Discussing the topic. The topic is the topic. Trashing the topic. Trolling it. Who is doing it. What assholes they are.

I've provided a couple of things to talk about but nobody wants to know from either side. Speaks volumes does that.

Well, it's a tad weed bestrewn...

Anyway, the flyers are from quite a variety of churches.

I'm not afraid personally in the daytime, I just don't want to be bothered. At night, it can be annoying and frightening.

This reminds me of an odd encounter I had on Facebook the other day. I still can't quite make sense of it. On new years eve, I posted up a new status:

"Happy new years and junk!"

and then I got this really odd reply from one of my old coworkers:

" Happy new years you atheist! Wish you the best!"

It's not offensive, but it sure is weird. Obviously the guy doesn't harbor any ill will against me, but the inclusion of any statement about religion seemed completely non-sequitur. I've been reflecting on this (perhaps too much), and I came up with the idea that maybe what my friend was trying to tell me was simply that he acknowledged that part of me. We have never had any sort of conversation about the topic, so it's not like it was a reference to some older inside joke. What I'm wondering is if he has at any previous point in his life really known any atheists, and perhaps the awkwardness of this exchange comes from not knowing how to politely breach the subject.

I think atheists and theists need some sort of forum to interact. If there is some sort of cultural divide, it seems dangerous to only let media personalities be engaging each other and setting the tone for all interactions.


Agreed. At least right now that's the case. The Australian PM is an open Atheist. I think that is significant in terms of world progress.


What would be your concern? Is it an atheist concern or a non-Christian concern?

Full disclosure, I too have concern about deeply religious and openly religious teachers at schools. I'm sure part of that concern is because I'm an atheist, but certainly not all of it. There is most likely many religious people who feel similarly.

In the end, I don't have kids so I can only imagine. Despite my concerns, I'm sure children benefit from being exposed to many types of people. It builds their ability to sympathize. That's something I still have plenty to learn on and it's not something we always learn passively.


Cheers to you for that snood. Many in their life will never dare explore their own prejudices, let alone challenge them. I suspect that simply knowing and interacting with atheists more and more (like interacting with anyone) will deemphasize the idea that atheism makes a person so different from yourself.

Relating to the homophobia example you provided, I still remember the first time I met a gay person. I was young, and although not hateful, I certainly was apprehensive. That was still a form of homophobia. These days, I look back I feel ridiculous thinking about the anxiety it created. I think about how I saw gay people as just fine but somehow so divided and different than me. I don't know when I got over that anxiety in my teens, but it was largely due to actually meeting homosexuals and building friendships.

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Apropos of nothing, our Finance minister is a lesbian and the leader of the greens is gay (and a legend). None of these facts is grist for the press mill, in fact for them to point it out would seem 'schoolyardish'.

I think Australia is a different kettle of fish to the US - I don't get the sense I'm particularly feared, distrusted or discriminated against because I'm an atheist (although an earlier post about the scout movement's explicit christianity came as shock to me). And I just realised that in my Facebook profile I didn't put atheist as religion, partly because it's not a religion, but mostly because I didn't want to offend the sensibilities of any professionals I might link with in my field (I do have numerous American contacts).

I'm sure I saw (but didn't read) an article that was titled something like 'What atheists can learn from the LBGT movement'. I have to admit to being a little startled by Snood's admission about his instinctive reaction to an atheist. But I guess I can understand the cultural differences. To me religion is a cultural artifact - separate from the theist/atheist question.

Our newest test cricketer is a muslim. Yay! Just don't try to get here on leaky fishing boat without a visa.

Hey asshole, i've been discussing things with Hingehead and Osso, and you've been nowhere in sight. I don't have to report to your pathetic punk ass on what i've been discussing. If you're too stupid and too lazy to follow the discussion, it's not my job to keep you up to date on the discussion here. If you want to know what's going on, pay attention and read, rather than running in to puke up your whiny, childish hatred. There is a pathetic irony in you saying to me that i'm just here to fight, when that's all you have been doing.

That's strange, i don't believe i've ever had one of the door-to-door christians show up at night. I'd certainly consider that creepy. I don't have much of a problem dealing with them, though. The last time it happened, i just didn't rise to the bait of her prepared spiel. Thwarted, she eventually just asked if we could talk. I said: "Sure, as long as it's not politics or religion that you want to discuss." That ended her effort.

One day, some of the Watchtower crew knocked on the door, so i just turned on the country boy charm, told her i'd been up all night driving (which happened to have been true), and that if she could just leave me some literature, i'd like to get back to bed. She apologized profusely, gave me a copy of "Awake!" and went on her way. I tossed the magazine in the trash, and went back to bed.

You haven't seen me, because I've just been reading. I got tired of reading through page after page of you arguing about things that are totally immaterial, so I spoke up. I'm plenty familiar with the thread.

Drop it.

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I had a good friend who one day came to the realization that i'm an atheist. He was so offended he could hardly articulate his outrage. He was a decent sort, so it was kind of a shame that he would have nothing to do with me after that, but it was no disaster for me. Just water under the bridge. At the time i was working in the national charity industry--those folks are largely psalm-singers, but nobody had a problem with me, because they wanted someone knowledgeable to keep their computers running. Religion takes a back seat to business, even in the charity scam business.

So, are you saying that your PM was known to be an atheist when she ran for her district? Do you think she could have been elected in any district in any state, or was there an advantage to her running in the district from which she was elected?

You drop it, asshole, you're the one who keeps bringing it up. You're the one who's keeping it on the boil. Whiny little puke.