Another day when there is no God

OFF TOPIC: Can anyone help me?

In another thread (which I started), I have suddenly lost any option other than to "report" a post. I can't edit, delete, reply, or even "reply to all?" Anyone know why this would happen?

Atheists with confirmation bias?
How could that be?

Never have had this happen to me.

If you have not yet published it...just start over.

Thanks for the reply, anyway, Frank. I'm not sure if I unwittingly hit some button, or what. Is there a way that some people use remind themselves that they do not wish to post in a particular thread, or something like that? Anyone know?

You might have to start another thread with that question.

Could be just a hamster with issues

One way, apparently, is to down thumb the thread. That makes the thread almost invisible in the various feeds.

Give it a try with any thread...and you will see. You can bring it back by clicking on it in the truncated form.

Yeah, thanks again, Frank, although I was already aware of that function. That isn't the cause of this. I just "reported" a post in that thread asking the powers that be if they know why this is happening. Since they are omniscient, I'm sure they have the answer.

perhaps, unbeknownst to you, you got logged out of your Layman account and you've appeared as a guest.....at the time you had the trouble..as in, you were not logged in? Is that a possibility?

There ya go, Rags! You're giving it some thought. I wish that were the reason, but it doesn't appear to be, because (1) right now I am being given the option to "log out," (rather than log in) and (2) I'm not having this problem in this thread, or any others that I'm aware of.

Thanks for your effort, all the same.

Good luck with it, Layman. I know how it feels. When the machines rebel...it makes you wanna pull your hair out...and kick the machine.

Just don't kick the cat as a substitute.

It doesn't matter what a group of militant atheists espouse. That is their free speech right. The average atheist does not make a fuss like that, although, like me, some will join the chatter on line.

I suppose it is somewhere in the nature of those who espouse anything, in particular, to find it difficult resist the impulse to "pile on" when they think they smell blood in the water, eh?

Some call this "mob psychology" or "bullying." With sharks, they call it a "feeding frenzy." I just call it human nature.

No beatdown is as good as a 50 on 1 beatdown. Ask any gangsta, ya know?

Yes, of course, Ed. But I wasn't really asking you about rights. I was asking your opinion of certain psychological "theories" (speculations, if you prefer).

I didn't find the same article which mentioned the ax murderers, although I did read it about two or three months back. People are not necessarily liars if they can't find something from a while back, they just lack proof.
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Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons receive neutral ratings on average, ranging from 48 for Mormons to 53 for Buddhists. The public views atheists and Muslims more coldly; atheists receive an average rating of 41, and Muslims an average rating of 40. Fully 41% of the public rates Muslims in the coldest part of the thermometer (33 or below), and 40% rate atheists in the coldest part.
http://www.pewforum.org/2014/07/16/how-americans-feel-about-religious-groups/

The questions went like this: “How would you react if a family member were to marry a … (fill in the blank.)” For example, how would you feel if your daughter brought home, say, a Republican — would you be happy, unhappy or doesn’t it matter?

The overwhelming response to this question was: doesn’t matter. Even liberals say they don’t tend to care if a daughter marries a Republican. The same was true for conservatives — they were mostly fine with their daughters marrying a Democrat.

The great news is we are incredibly tolerant of all sorts of others, according to this survey. By overwhelming majorities, people said they were fine accepting into their families people of other races (89 percent said this was OK) and from other countries (93 percent). Pew asked if we’d be OK with a gun owner (81 percent said yes), or someone who didn’t go to college (86 percent were fine with that).

Ninety-one percent were OK if a family member married a born-again Christian.


The one exception to this tide of tolerance: You have to believe in God.

Half of all respondents said they didn’t want an in-law who doesn’t believe in God. That means Americans now are far less accepting of atheists than of people with different skin color.

When I first heard about this, I figured the poll had used the term “atheist,” which had skewed the numbers. Right or wrong, that word conjures up more than a doubter or shrugger. It has an aggressive tinge to it — an implication that you’re hostile to religion.

But Pew didn’t use the word atheist. It asked: “How would you react if an immediate family member were to marry someone who doesn’t believe in God?” Answer: Not well.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/poll-finds-americansrsquo-growing-tolerance-stops-at-atheists/

Gervais and his colleagues presented participants with a story about a person who accidentally hits a parked car and then fails to leave behind valid insurance information for the other driver. Participants were asked to choose the probability that the person in question was a Christian, a Muslim, a rapist, or an atheist. They thought it equally probable the culprit was an atheist or a rapist, and unlikely the person was a Muslim or Christian.
n-atheists-we-distrust/

While 35 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who had an extramarital affair, 53 percent of Americans indicated that not believing in God -- the trait viewed most negatively of the 16 tested -- would make them unsupportive of a candidate.

In accordance with a widely cited study by the University of Minnesota, which found atheists to be the most disliked and distrusted minority group in the nation, only 5 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a secular candidate.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/19/presidential-poll-atheists_n_5353524.html

Religious tension is nothing new in America. Hatred between religions, distrust and downright anger are the everyday norm for anyone with a television set or access to the Internet.

Now according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, we know who is disliked the most. Atheists and Muslims appear to be in a statistical tie. While atheism itself is not a religion, it is often included in religious polls to help account for those who reject religion, instead of just non-affiliated believers.

Given the high level of xenophobia in the United States toward Muslims since 9/11, it is not surprising, but is still depressing to find them ranked so unfavorably. And atheists are shot down to the bottom and universally disliked by just about every religious group there is.


U.S. has warmest feelings for Jews, Catholics and Evangelicals.
Photo Credit:
Pew Research Center
Click to enlarge.
Among those polled, atheists received a rating of 33 or lower (on a scale between 0-100) from 40 percent of respondents and only 20 percent of respondents gave atheists a rating higher than 67.
http://www.alternet.org/belief/major-study-americas-overwhelming-mean-streak-toward-atheists-and-muslims

See, you see a handful of people bullying people here and a handful of their opponents insatiably replying and making claims of their own, and you apparently want to label atheists as bullies and such like. This is like calling all fish small and golden because you see some like that in a tiny aquarium.

When your "popularity rating" is below even that of muslims and adulters in this country, then you know you've got a public relations problem, eh? This is why atheists like Dawkins and Dennet eschew the term "atheist" and call themselves "brights," instead.

Others prefer such high-faluting labels as "free-thinkers," rationalists, humanists, and the like.

But, ya know, a rose by any other name...

I'm happy not to live in the US.

I agree...and I do not think you are a liar, Edgar...not in any way.

I think whoever wrote that "ax murderer" thingy was probably playing with a theme...just as you have played with it at times.

So...atheists are not held in particularly high regard. Neither are members of congress...who have numbers lower than atheists. But I'll tell you what. I'd be willing to bet that next general election...a huge percentage of incumbents running will be re-elected...and I doubt I would find any takers!

Layman made some good points. I've seen the atheistic representation here in A2K savage various theists...actually have lots of perverse fun doing so.

It happens.

I knew a Jewish woman once who told me she would have no trouble forgiving her son if he came home and told her he had murdered a Palestinian...without regard to whether the murder was warranted or not. She would simply find it in her heart to forgive him...taking all else into consideration.

I asked her what she would do if her son came home and announced he was going to marry and Irish Catholic.

She never answered...just looked at me with benign disgust.

For some people the notion of a "belief in god" is very strong. Not wanting a son or daughter to marry someone who does not "believe in god" may be a very, very big issue. But those same parents may feel everyone has a right to "believe" or "not believe" or (as you do) "believe in a different direction."

The inference you gave that poll is, in my opinion, inappropriate.

But I respect your right to feel as you do about it.

I wear the label atheist, without the flowery crap. I also cling to the label of being liberal. I have paid my dues and I will stand for what I choose.

Yeah, Ed, right on.

I have nothing against abortion, but I would never adopt the label of being "pro-choice." Fact is, I am pro-death, that's all.