Is anyone else an atheist with BC besides me?
Comments
-
Doing OK Linda. Preparing for petscan tomorrow to make sure no thyroid boogers left in my body from last year. SO and I visited your lovely town 2 weeks ago (spur of the moment decision). Lovely even pre-summer.
0 -
Next time call me!!!!!! The tulips and fruit trees are all in bloom - beautiful......
0 -
For sure!!!!
0 -
Notself -- well, you can tell your classmate that he probably converted because he was experiencing end-of-life confusion with his brain shutting down -- no other explanation for such illogical behaviour.
0 -
notself, I don't know for sure what I'd do in your situation. I'd be inclined to just delete anything that came in from them, but it sure would be nice if there were something you could say to get through to her how insensitive she's being. Hugs and good luck!!!
0 -
Well she responded by saying she will continue to write to me about conversion. Talk about an ego, she has it in spades. I have marked her emails as junk. It is a shame when someone refuses to respect the opinions of others.
0 -
Sort of like certain evangelical "leaders"' calling other religions evil......
0 -
I get the impression that it makes her feel better to convert others. It is some sort of validation for her religion. She volunteers as a youth minister in a women's prison in her area. When I said that jail house conversions seldom last beyond a parole hearing, she came unglued. It upset her to think that her "women" might be insincere.
Some of her comments made me feel like a big fish. Convert an atheist and she gets all sorts of kudos from her peer group. Her refusal to stop indicated that she has serious issues of self esteem and probably a lack of faith in her god herself.
0 -
As with any blatant rude behavior .. we don't have to put up with it. Regardless of the circumstances.
An old high school classmate is from a lifetime ago (at least for me) and not even on my radar anymore.
I wouldn't put up with her serious lack of respect and rudeness. I think I would tell her flat out .. I'm reporting your email as span. Do not contact me again!
Explaining what we believe is fruitless with fanatics. They aren't interested in us .. just like you said Notself .. it's all about them and making themselves feel better.
I've posted before .. all my friends have a very strong faith. Mine is gone now ... but I am very respectful of what they believe and choose not to talk about what I believe.
I believe in a universe .. much like our Analemma believed. We don't know how it all started, but it did, and that's what I believe in.
Give that gal the old heave ho!
hugs,
Bren
0 -
She is definitely off my bus. I do feel very sorry for her.
She let herself be pushed into a marriage that was absolutely wrong for her. She stayed married to the jerk for almost 40 years and when he died she actually celebrated. Now that all of the attention from the funeral is over she is at a loss. Her children avoid her because she is very judgmental as well as being a fundamentalist and I don't think she has any true friends.
She doesn't like her church, but then, she has never liked any church she has belonged to. I think somehow she knows that her religious beliefs are fiction. I tried to give her support without discussing religion but she persists in her long winded rants. Very sad.
0 -
She sounds like a very unhappy person. Yet another reason to cut the strings. Some people never change, and having them in one's life is simply a burden.
0 -
GriffinSong,
You just gave a definition of equanimity. When a person cannot be helped, equanimity guides one's compassion to recognize this and prevents the expenditure of energy on what cannot be resolved. I wish her well, but from a distance.
0 -
Bump for Chumfry -- she couldn't find the thread.
0 -
Thanks, Elizabeth! I'm putting the thread in my favorites so I'll never lose it again!!
0 -
-
Interesting but not in the least bit surprising. Here is an article about a study of prayer that was sponsored by the Templeton Foundation and Several of the Largest Baptist organizations. They thought a scientifically rigorous study would prove the effectiveness of intercessory prayer. It proved quite the opposite.
I do believe that prayer may have a positive affect on the stress levels of the person praying. It can be a form of meditation.
0 -
Think about how rarely some folks "turn inward," contemplate, meditate, breathe for relaxation, visualize, or engage in a solitary endeavor; it's not surprising to me that one might find benefit. Of course, it's not just the solitude/solitary experience that can be so meaningful; sometimes that is when I actually feel more connected to others. Isn't there some Bible verse like "Be still and know that I am"? I feel when I am still that I know more of who I am and how others are in relation to me and I them.
0 -
That certainly is one of the main purposes of Buddhist meditation.
0 -
Changing the topic a bit:
This past Saturday, the Toronto Star had an extensive piece about Marci McDonald's new book, The Armageddon Factor, and how evangelicals are infiltrating our Canadian government -- not only Members of Parliament (and a Prime Minister who is one) but also bureaucrats. It's very frightening to me that those who take the Book of Revelation literally (believing that "the end times" are upon us) are trying to change the way we are governed and the way we live.
Compare this with recent statements by a certain "she who shall be nameless" in the U.S. who thinks that your founding fathers determined that the U.S. is a Christian nation (not true) and that "God's laws" should reign supreme (see today's Huffington Post). Theocracy, not democracy?
By the way, I really hesitated to bring this up here, but, just as we share our thoughts about our dx, I feel this thread is also a safe place to share our worries about other factors in our lives.
0 -
Linda .. I read the article in HuffPo.
Why even bother having a division between church and state. Maybe we need a Cesar/God-like character to reign over us. Forget the senate. Forget taxation without representation.
I read a disturbing post in another thread about our nation being a Christian nation .. you know .. the one nation under God thing. I find the whole notion frightening. Even the varoius Christian denominations can't get along with each.
One thing bothers me ... the idea that our country was FOUNDED on the premise of religious freedom. There were only 2 religions in western Europe at the time, oops three, but one was persecuted. That leaves the Catholics and the Protestants. Which one needed religious freedom? The only ones needing religious freedom were the Jews.
This push towards fundamentalism will lead to no good. History has proven that.
EDITED:
I posted this on another thread just now.
I don't believe that my freedom and rights in this country are given to me by God. They are my right as a citizen of the U.S., not a citizen of God. Those basic rights are protected by the U.S Constitution and the Bill of Rights, not the Bible.
Our society is governed by laws, thereby ensuring a moral society, not the other way around.
IMHO.
I have to stop reading that other thread .. it gets my blood pressure up.
BTW .. the evangelical end times were also predicted for the early 1980's.
And if Palin believes that God's laws should reign supreme .. we're all in trouble. The Old Testament will see to that. But maybe she's not talking about the Old Testament God. I guess she forgot about "render unto Cesar what is Cesars." Even Jesus knew about the separation of church and state.
0 -
Bren, I think the end times have been predicted several times over the past 2,000 years! Certainly as early as just shortly after the Book of Revelation was written, in fact....... And as for Caesar -- well, he was regarded as the god of all gods!
I find it most worrisome that people like "she who shall remain nameless" is listened to and no one with any media authority seems to correct her -- she just spouts off anything that will appeal to her acolytes. It does none of us any good to sit silently by and let this nonsense continue. One (and only one) thing she is right about, I guess -- they really are the lamestream media.....
Why can so many folks not see the similarities between what fundamentalist Christians are espousing and what they find so hateful about Islamic fundamentalism? There is so much hatefulness......I despair
0 -
Because the fundamentalists believe they are right and everyone else is wrong.
0 -
Yes, of course! But I'm talking about others who, while professing to be Christian, either do not see the similarities, or are afraid to point them out (and if so, THAT is really scary).
BTW, good luck tomorrow, (((((Elizabeth)))))! Hoping Dr. McDreamy has some really good news for you.
0 -
I agree Linda -- I was being too vague (well, too chicken-shit to post what I thought). I'm a weenie.
0 -
ljh58: with all due respect, you are quite wrong. Evironmentalism is not a "religion." Nor can just about "anything" be a religion, and you would be completely mistaken about "atheism" being a "religion."
Calling something a religion because it makes it easier to categorize for some people, doesn't make that classification legitimate. I understand the need for people to do that. The brain likes to categorize things and sort into patterns.
But it would be wholly incorrect to assign the term "religion" to such terms.
For one thing, the only thing that can be correctly said about atheism is that it is a lack of belief in a god-being.
Most people are atheists to some degree anyway. Christians lack a belief in the Hindu gods, such as Vishnu or Shiva. Hindis lack a belief in the christian god Yahweh.
Atheists simply lack a belief in any of those god-beings.
Other than that lack of belief, there is not one other thing that atheists "agree" on as any tenents or dogma or "belief structure" about the world.
Without those things, there can be no "religion."
Your other thesis is also incorrect. SOME people came for religious reasons. A great many others came to seek out riches and opportunities that the New World contained.
Your take on environmentalism smacks of narrow-thinking, but that's just my opinion. I will go chat in a corner separate from yours because your corner smells funny. ("worship" the environment -- by regulating lightbulbs, indeed --) I think you need a different thread altogether. One that has the word "consipracy" in the title somewhere.
0 -
Ladies;
First & foremost, I need to apologize for the little Hitler cat I posted months ago...on my phone, all you could see was the cat & Hitler Cat caption, I never saw the hateful comment at the bottom & those of you that know me, know my views are never hateful.
Secondly, I miss you all, I follow the boards, it just became too stressful to deal with the crapola that comes along with thinking for yourself.
Last but not least; I love when people try to include atheism as a religion. Let alone trying to include environmentalism as such. The ego/arrogance of people never fails to shock the hell out of me....or would that be the stupidity of people?
We, as a species, have destroyed this planet. We have taken Her for granted and have managed to undo in 2000 years what it took Her billions to perfect. If one more person, whom can not understand the concept of Global Warming tells me "It snowed all winter!", I may scream. It is a basic understanding of science & biology, people. Global Warming will eventually throw us back into an ice age, really hard to grasp I know...but, if not using styrofoam or controling your own carbon footprint seems like religion to you.....here's your sign.
End rant, Dawn<3</p>
PS. That's right, the broom fits & I wear it it.
0 -
I'm not an atheist .. never said I was. I have written that I have no longer have faith in God ... my faith, hope, love and grace are from my heart ... not the God of the Old and New Testament. I did not say that a "god" does not exist .. just that I no longer put much stock in the "Christian" god.
LJ .. please don't try to confuse the issue. Environmentalism is a "cause" and a belief in protecting the earth and environment. Just like any other facet of life, or for that matter, religion, there are extremists. In religion (all religions), we call those extremists, fundamentalists. I can recommend a very good book written by a Catholic nun on the subject if you are interested.
Bren
PS .. This isn't a political thread. Why confuse it with the conservative thread? Lots of gals post on this thread that are not atheists ... we have agnostics, Buddhists, and like our dear Analemma, who believed in the stars.
0 -
Bwahahaha .. got a kick out of the Wall Street Journal piece on Environmentalism!
I'm sure all the atheists out there are pleased as punch to know they are now, indeed, a religion. Funny kind of religion though ... as they are not organized, don't collect dues for membership or have a central "church" governing body, like say .. the Lutherans or Catholics.
0 -
ljh, atheism is not a religion, regardless of what a prisoner was allowed to have labeled so he could start a "group" in prison. That people who do not espouse a religion or a belief in a god-being are protected by the same First Amendment does not make "it" a "religion" for one very simple reason: there is no belief structure whatsoever.
Neither is environmentalism. Go peddle your bullshit trash on some other street corner.
You are trolling on this thread and you will be reported to the administrators if you continue.
0 -
LJ .. using your link .. I find your argument is taken out of context.
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=31895
http://www.atheist-community.org/library/articles/read.php?id=742
The federal court ruling that atheism is a protected religion was in the case of prisoners wanting to hold a group to discuss being atheist. As regular church services for Christians, Muslims and Jews are allowed in prison, the atheists wanted to be able to gather together as well ... thus the 2005 court ruling allowing atheist prisoners to congregate together.
Your argument is a little skewed from the actual facts.
IMHO
0
