This fellow is the reason I dislike organized religion...
brittanyjeanxo
Posts: 1,831 Member
Sent to me today from WillNorton:
"you have you lost your ever lovin mind...I am praying for you right this very minute ..
my religion is strong as it has ever been...not sure where you get your info but we will be the only people left when Jesus Christ comes back to take us to Heaven..
i have such a content feeling everyday and people like you are why we are so strong and still everywhere..
there are too many of us here....
we all pray for people like you...you day you will know what im talking about..
post a thread and ask if anyone believes in Hell!
God bless you"
Keep in mind, people, that just because you say it in a PM does not mean it will not get you kicked out of a group where the point is to peacefully coexist and respect each other's beliefs.
"you have you lost your ever lovin mind...I am praying for you right this very minute ..
my religion is strong as it has ever been...not sure where you get your info but we will be the only people left when Jesus Christ comes back to take us to Heaven..
i have such a content feeling everyday and people like you are why we are so strong and still everywhere..
there are too many of us here....
we all pray for people like you...you day you will know what im talking about..
post a thread and ask if anyone believes in Hell!
God bless you"
Keep in mind, people, that just because you say it in a PM does not mean it will not get you kicked out of a group where the point is to peacefully coexist and respect each other's beliefs.
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Replies
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Yeah, that's not really in the spirit of "coexisting."0
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Wow. I feel really sorry for that person.
You know what they say : Ignorance is bliss.0 -
what a ****0
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What? Ugh.0
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what made him decide to write that? it sounds very judgy, and not very christian... good to know who to stay away from
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Yeah not very coexisty at all. WOW!!!0
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That's the thing, I've NO idea! I hadn't even posted in this group in a week or so, it seriously came out of nowhere!0
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From the tone of this , maybe I didn't understand what the group was about either .0
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From the tone of this , maybe I didn't understand what the group was about either .
It's about coexisting, not messaging someone to attack them and shove your religion down their throat uninvited!0 -
that's... random and hate-y. kind of the OPPOSITE of what we're going for here.0
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From the tone of this , maybe I didn't understand what the group was about either .
It's about coexisting, not messaging someone to attack them and shove your religion down their throat uninvited!
Wow, he must know the Bible School Teacher who told me (when I was 8) that if you didn't attend church EVERY sunday for the rest of your life you would go to HELL.
Some people just flat out suck. Booo!!!!!0 -
I agree, that is definitely not in the spirit of coexisting. I believe that some people really enjoy shaking people up and I think it's just disrespectful not to let people believe and feel what they want/need to without trying to control others. These are the religious people I dislike communicating with also.0
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Some people feel the need to "save" others. Not sure where it comes from.
The Quran has a nice reminder that it's up to God, not up to us. "Live, and Leave it to God".
Only God Guides
[28:56] You cannot guide the ones you love. GOD is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance.0 -
Doesn't coexisting mean he gets to voice his opinion too? Doesn't mean we have to agree with him but if I want him to respect my right to be me than I have to return the favor right?0
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I partially agree with you. JmeHarris. I think that co-exist means that the Christian has as much right to share his/her opinion as the Pagan, Wiccan, Freemason, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu etc.
The tough part is that part of the Christian faith is that salvation only comes through the grace of Christ and this is only available to those who have faith in Christ. So how much of this (which is a central part of Christianity) should be allowed to be shared in a forum dedicated to co-existing?
When you get right down to it most faiths believe (to differing degrees) that they have exclusive claim on truth, some by making truth statements which are mutually exclusive with truth statements of other faiths and some by making statements regarding salvation, rewards in the afterlife etc which include belief in and/or living in accordance with a certain set of moral laws. Many of these moral laws are universal to all religions (and to agnostic and atheist beliefs) such as honesty & forgiveness etc. In some instances there are particular elements of a particular faith's moral law that are unique to that faith (alcohol & coffee to LDS, pork to Judaism and Islam, vegetarianism to many other traditions).
So, how much is allowed in a co-exist forum dedicated to tolerance and and mutal understanding?
Yes, the Christian, the Muslim, the Mormon, the Freemason, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Athiest and the Agnostic (and all those I didn't mention) have equal right to share their views in this forum. But even though a Christian might feel a moral obligation to bring all our souls to Christ I don't think he/she has any more right to do so than a Wiccan or a Freemason.
So what elements of Christianity should be allowed (and encouraged) in a forum like this? I would say those that are common to the universal moral code. -Now I've made a statement with an a priori assumption regarding the existence of a universal moral code... Hmm.. Maybe I should start a new thread exploring others' beliefs regarding that assumption.-
Okay, back on topic. This is a forum for understanding different faiths (as well as skeptical viewpoints) not for proselyting. As an active Christian , I understand the motivation behind this guy's desire to bring others to Christ. At the same time, the more I've studied the more I've found that there are many teachings which I thought were unique to Christianity but are more generally shared. If we enter a forum like this with an open mind there are many ways which we can learn from each other. If we look at the message of Christ without being distracted by some of the Pharisees who claim to be His disciples I think there are elements which we can all appreciate. I've been taking a podcast delivered course on Buddhist meditation (guided meditation combined with spiritual insights) and I've been impressed at how often they quote the Gospel of John.0 -
As an active Christian , I understand the motivation behind this guy's desire to bring others to Christ. ........ If we enter a forum like this with an open mind there are many ways which we can learn from each other. If we look at the message of Christ without being distracted by some of the Pharisees who claim to be His disciples I think there are elements which we can all appreciate.
This is pretty much where I am.I've been taking a podcast delivered course on Buddhist meditation (guided meditation combined with spiritual insights) and I've been impressed at how often they quote the Gospel of John.
How interesting, I always think of John as the 'Shakespeare' of the Bible - beautiful imagery conveying truths but not necessarily 'the truth' as in 'this is how it was'.
Sorry if this is off topic!
Sue0 -
TO THE OP,
whenever a religious person offers to "pray for me"
i offer to "think" for them.
Most religious ppl have NO IDEA what IS actually IN that holy book they profess to love
>
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/atrocities.html
Most of them have NOT read it, and have only heard the good snippets, or gloss over the real implications of most bible stories or quran stories or torah stories, etc etc.
Most religious ppl are unaware of the negative impact that fantastical thinking can have on our govt, our self esteem, on family cohesiveness.
Yes, when Jesus said he came not in peace, but would tear families apart, that is one thing he got right.
btw, the bible recommends only praying in private. Might be worth mentioning to your pal.
and i think it is important for a rational atheist to have a place to discuss coping with always being put down by their religious families, coworkers and friends.
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i have such a content feeling everyday and people like you are why we are so strong and still everywhere..
there are too many of us here....
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Sent to me today from WillNorton:
"you have you lost your ever lovin mind...I am praying for you right this very minute ..
my religion is strong as it has ever been...not sure where you get your info but we will be the only people left when Jesus Christ comes back to take us to Heaven..
Does WillNorton realize that is only about 1/4th of the world's population?
Does WillNorton realize, that he inherited his gods from his parents,
and that if he had been born in another country, he would just as fervently insisting that HIS god was THE 'right' god?
ONCE he explains how it is possible for him to dismiss alllllllllllllllllll the other possible gods to choose from,
i can explain how i can dismiss HIS gods.
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Sent to me today from WillNorton:
we all pray for people like you...you day you will know what im talking about..
post a thread and ask if anyone believes in Hell!
I get this all the time, too,
if someone does not believe in a god,
it is almost automatically assumed you do not know about the god.
The vast bulk of atheists in USA, at this point in time,
were previously theists.
I am VERY well versed on most religions,
more so than most theists.
I once was a very devout theist myself,
very well aware of the self-hynotic state he describes.
then i reached the age of reason,
and began asking questions.
RE:
Belief in hell.
No, no, i do not believe in hell.
there is zero proof of this.
There is zero empirical, replicable proof of afterlife, period.
Even losing one cm. of your brain, changes who you are, your very essense is different. One can not separate the body and the mind. What impacts one (body or mind) eventually impacts the other, too.
Also, hell, is such an crazy concept anyway, used to control the masses.
This whole "love me or i'll beat ya, oops, i mean burn ya"
thing
is not love.
I'm not sure what that is,
but, it isn't love.
It reminds me of my coworker's husband.
He beats her if he feels she did not love him enough,
and sometimes, like the biblegods do, (happy to provide quote after quote to anyone who doubts that)
he also beats her for no apparent reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love has to be given freely,
by choice,
without fear, without threat of punishment.
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When you get right down to it most faiths believe (to differing degrees) that they have exclusive claim on truth, some by making truth statements which are mutually exclusive with truth statements of other faiths and some by making statements regarding salvation, rewards in the afterlife etc which include belief in and/or living in accordance with a certain set of moral laws. Many of these moral laws are universal to all religions (and to agnostic and atheist beliefs) such as honesty & forgiveness etc.
No,
not really,
there are TONS of immoral laws, and stories,
throughout most holy books.
(however, civil law overrides scripture, (EXCEPT when there is no separation of church and state, in theocracies)
and thus, christians can no longer sell their daughters, murder their sassy children, avoid eating shrimp, can work on sunday, and most no longer believe they have a right to rape women from other nations, to name just a FEW of the laws, morals, etc, in the bible.
THERE ARE A FEW LOVELY MORAL STORIES IN THE BIBLE,
yes, yes, there are!!
But the vast bulk of the bible stories are very immoral, by almost any measure of morality!!!
DO READ THAT BIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honesty and forgiveness are more often than not,
NOT demonstrated in the bible stories.
HAPPY to post story
after story
after story,
where neither honesty
nor forgiveness
is the moral of the story.................let me know if you doubt it.
ah, the image does not completely show up,
it reads
Morality is doing what is right,
no matter what you are told.
Religion is doing what you are told,
no matter what is right.0 -
I partially agree with you. JmeHarris. I think that co-exist means that the Christian has as much right to share his/her opinion as the Pagan, Wiccan, Freemason, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu etc.
The tough part is that part of the Christian faith is that salvation only comes through the grace of Christ and this is only available to those who have faith in Christ. So how much of this (which is a central part of Christianity) should be allowed to be shared in a forum dedicated to co-existing?
What is required to get into heaven,
depends on WHICH part of the bible you are currently reading.
Several places it states,
one has to have faith, or believe in the gods of the bible to get the big prize when you are dead.
yet,
tons of places state is one's behavior, or deeds,
which will be rewarded after death.
many many other random rules, scattered here or there,
which are also supposed to earn one points in the biblegods's eyes too, fairly random stuff, actually.
lots of different ideas on what the biblegods really really want from you,
all throughout the entire bible.
depends on which chapter you are reading...............
I actually think the notion that faith (<
suspending one's critical thinking skills)
is really A "GOOD" THING
should be questioned.............
at the very least.
.
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okay,
i will stop,
just wanted the OP to know,
she is not alone,
and wanted to even begin to introduce a shred of insight into how some atheists do think. We are a minority,
and the most poorly understood and least trusted minority in USA,
as demonstrated by poll
after poll.
Show me an atheist who HASN'T rec'd emails like the one the OP got, (or worse! shiver!)
and i'll show you an atheist without an email account!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.:laugh:
PEACE OUT!!0 -
what made him decide to write that? it sounds very judgy, and not very christian... good to know who to stay away from
actually, WillNorton's ideas are repeated throughout the entire bible, in both OT and in NT.
It actually IS a very christian type of mindset, strongly endorsed by the biblegods.0 -
Doesn't coexisting mean he gets to voice his opinion too? Doesn't mean we have to agree with him but if I want him to respect my right to be me than I have to return the favor right?
I agree with this person,
but i see a difference,
between free speech,
and personal attacks, like calling the OP names or stating she has lost her mind.
I see a difference,
between free speech,
and giving up my right to question what has been said.
I say let this WillNorton post his ideas,
but,
as we all know,
if one DOES post their ideas,
they are, in a roundabout way,
agreeing to have comments back.
so we are, in fact,
free to question or comment on his remarks, imo. NOt to attack WillNorton as a person,
but why not be free to question his ideas or his remarks?
We should feel free to politely, and reasonably discuss, share and question our ideas. How else does one learn to understand another?0
This discussion has been closed.