• 💖 [Donate To Keep MyPTSD Online] 💖 Every contribution, no matter how small, fuels our mission and helps us continue to provide peer-to-peer services. Your generosity keeps us independent and available freely to the world. MyPTSD closes if we can't reach our annual goal.

Atheist unite!!

It's one of those books though - decide on the moral or comforting statement you need and it'll be in there somewhere.
Truth.
The most bizarre argument I ever witnessed was between two Christians using the same book, that carried the same word, of the same god, to argue each opposing position.

The ultimate in bias confirmation, direct from the big man upstairs.
 
RIP Hitch. 13 April 1949 - 15 December 2011.

I don't agree with his position on all things, but I feel his eloquence and voice is sorely missed today, ten years on.

Possibly my favourite Hitchens clip...

Hope you all are well and do something nice for yourself today.
 
Some door knocking Christians showed up.
I thought about doing the usual "no thanks, not interested" and closing the door, but decided to engage with them.

I asked the preachiest one if he'd actually read the whole bible.

No.

So I suggested, given he is so passionate about this book, to the point of going door-to-door to tell people about it, to read the whole thing. Because I know there are a lot of nice things to read in it, but there are also a lot of awful things in there too.

Like what?

Well, for a start, women not having the right to speak in a position of authority.

You're thinking of the quran. It doesn't say that in the bible.

No, it's definitely in the bible. In fact, I can find the exact passage right now. [I look up the passage on my phone and read it out loud].
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.

But what comes after that? You're not reading the full context.

I don't know what comes after that, but as you're holding the whole book, you could look it up? It's 1 Timothy 2:12.


And then I watched as he tentatively started to turn the pages, decided he better not, flipped back to Genesis, and continued on preaching.

Eventually they left, but not before telling me that:
*I'm not open minded enough to see the truth
*That I'm going to hell if I don't repent my sins
*That it doesn't matter that the bible tells people how they can beat their slaves and still not be punished if the slave doesn't die within a day or two because we're all slaves, and I'm even a slave to the government and the pandemic right now
*And that even if I was open minded (I assured them that I am) I'm not chosen by god anyway (but they'll pray for me)

How lovely.
 
It's absolutely crazy that someone who hasn't read the entire Bible would try to present themselves as an authority on the Bible.

And that was even from the New Testament. Much easier reading than a lot of the Old Testament, if you ask me.
 
Considering myself a recovering catholic, I find there is no such thing as unconditional love in religion.
Case in point…they get one elected president then have a big discussion to deny him sacrament because of his views.
 
It's absolutely crazy that someone who hasn't read the entire Bible would try to present themselves as an authority on the Bible.
Agreed. Also crazy that someone would even want to present themselves as an authority on the bible. But I guess that's easier to do when you haven't read the whole thing, or when you have all the convenient answers to explain away all the bad stuff.
And that was even from the New Testament. Much easier reading than a lot of the Old Testament, if you ask me.
Ah, I hadn't even realised.

They also preached to me specifically from the New Testament in the context of "these are the only things we need to do now". (Acts 15: 20 for reference)
Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
So I asked the guy if he was a vegetarian.

No.

? But it says right there you cannot consume blood.

That means drinking blood.

Right. So you don't eat meat from strangled animals then?

How would I find that out?

Well by going to your local producer and finding out how they kill the animals.

It doesn't count if you don't see it.

---
Well damn, he got me I guess.
If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to see it, don't even bother asking if it makes a sound or not - apparently it doesn't even fall at all.

Even in seemingly unambiguous verses, there's always some convenient invisible subtext perfectly suited to the particular context in which they want to read it.
I find there is no such thing as unconditional love in religion.
I agree.
Case in point…they get one elected president then have a big discussion to deny him sacrament because of his views.
Sorry, I don't quite understand this TedWNY. Which elected president are you referring to?
 
@bellbird - fortunately it didn't get through the Senate. Given 5 Liberal MPs crossed the floor in the House of Reps vote, it looks like they'll try and bury it rather than push it through again.
Ah! My mistake, I missed that part.

I will keep my fingers crossed the bill gets buried then. Blows my mind what it would protect, and the legal power it would provide groups to discriminate against others.
 
Blah, I've been researching some stuff on Posttraumatic Growth and one of the five facets of PTG identified by researchers is "Spiritual Development."

Obviously I did not acquire that particular facet of PTG. Maybe the opposite.

It's fine that I missed out on that one - I will always be most grateful for my atheism - but what I really don't like is to be seen as somehow lesser or worse off in my growth because I did not get any kind of long-term spirituality out of it.
 
Back
Top