Good question. Why do Christians do the same for an entity that only gives them two choices: Torture or Slavery?
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What? You greedy bastard…how many choices do you need in a monochromatic reality?
Edit to desaturate
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…(spraying soda across table… cough-cough-cough)… Huh? Whatchyou talkin’ 'bout? Old Man? Loveable? Oh, sure… He’s about as cuddly and loving as a rabid porcupine with severe jock itch. 
Oh, wait… Or is that Cog? 
… Well, doesn’t really matter. They’re both about the same.
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For the record, I don’t wear a concert shirt everyday(40+ years) just to be offensive, I do it because I love this fucking music. Being a metal head is a lifestyle that I refuse to give up because other people think it’s only for immature morons who don’t fit in with society.
You’re allowed to have your opinion of me, that’s fine. However, just know that other people’s opinions mean less than nothing. I worked for over 35 years to support my wife and kids, including a few part time jobs on top of that. We owned our own home, and raised 2 great kids that are married with families of their own.
During all those times, the one outlet I always had was music, and I went to as many concerts as I could, and still do whenever I’m able. I’m not like most people that “mellow out” when they get older, my musical tastes have gone in the opposite direction.
I’m a lifetime Atheist, so of course my musical interests eventually led me to the black/death metal genre, which I’ve been a fan of for over 20 years now. The music and lyrics used in this kind of music reflect my own thoughts and views on everything from religion to politics and history.
Listening to black metal always makes me smile, and it also helps me deal with the constant chronic pain I’ve had for almost 10 years now. Whenever I’m having a really bad day, even my wife of over 40 years knows that listening to music helps me. She’s a devout believer who hates my choice of music, but she knows that it helps me when my pain and depression are really bad. This form of music has literally saved my life on more than one occasion.
I’ve never been a stereotypical metal head, my first live concert was in Feb. of 1980. I saw RUSH on their Permanent Waves tour at the Forum down in LA, and I’ve been hooked on live music ever since. The stereotypical metal fan still lives with their parents, can’t keep a real job, smokes pot, drinks to excess, and has been busted by the cops.
I’ve never used drugs, I don’t drink(never have), and worked my ass off in an industry that eventually will break you physically if you do it long enough. I’m paying the price for that now, and will until the day I die.
I’ve been collecting concert shirts since my first show, I still have the shirt from the RUSH concert in '80. I can put it up on this thread if you don’t believe me. Either way, I really don’t fucking care. My collection is huge since I try to get at least one shirt from every show that I go to. It’s a badge of honor for some metal heads, it identifies you as someone who’s different from most people.
A lot of my shirts are 20+ years old, some almost 30, and a few over 40, and I still wear one everyday. I wore one under my work clothes every day when I was still working. I also have a lot of heretical/occult/Halloween shirts in my collection that I wear depending on the situation or time of year, plus my collection of cut offs that I wear during warmer weather.
I’ve never been a biker, I prefer older muscle cars(can’t afford it anyway). I’m sitting here listening to the song Ground Zero from the Greek black metal band SEPTIC FLESH at the moment. Now, Elthe Kyrie from ROTTING CHRIST just started playing. Both of these bands hail from Greece and have been playing this music for over 30 years.
Either you love this genre of music, or you hate it. There’s no middle ground. I’d assume that you would hate it if someone made you listen to it, which is fine. To each his own.
I’m not afraid of other peoples opinions, that’s another reason I am who I am. Don’t like it, don’t look at it then. I’m still going to post a photo of every shirt I wear every day regardless of what you said in your message, I couldn’t fucking care less.
P.S. my cat Abby is better than your cat.
If this is the case, help me understand why you post in a debate forum.
Thankyou for completely missing my point. But that is to be expected given your apparent mindset.
BTW Mau weighs a tad over 8kilos. He has claws like sabres, I would counsel respect.
I’m specifically talking about my taste in music. I could have worded that a little better.
Well then, what exactly is your point? Am I supposed to live/look the way you’d approve of?
You claim to know my mindset, care to elaborate?
Let me be more specific as well. Why are you posting about music and showing pictures of your music wardrobe in an atheist debate forum?
That’s a good question, I started this thread wanting to show how I’ve looked for the past 42+years despite being the only atheist in a family of devout christians. My wife hates everything that interests me, music, movies, books, she even hates my cat Abby.
My family would love nothing better than to see me “come to Jesus” and join them in their delusional belief system. It’s taken decades of disagreements and arguments to convince them that I have no intention of ever doing that. We’ve finally agreed to disagree.
I truly love listening to my music, it helps me get through each day, and I love seeing the reactions I sometimes get whenever I’m out in public.
Everyone wants/needs to belong to some kind of group, and this forum, along with being at a show gives me that kind of connection. I want to show people what my tastes are in music. They just so happen to not “align” with my family’s beliefs, or with the majority of people.
Music is very important to me, I can listen to “classic” rock music all day, I even like classical music. It’s the only kind of music my wife and I agree on. Coincidentally, I got a message from my music provider Spotify earlier today.
They give you a summary of what kind of music and which bands/songs you listened to the most during the past year, along with the total number of minutes you were using their service.
Last year I listened to music for over 51,000 minutes, this year it was almost 55,000 minutes.
I have 3 priorities in my life, my health, family, and music. You can’t always choose your health, and you definitely don’t get to choose your family, but I still get to choose the type of music I listen to, which is black metal and death metal.
As much as we have to look at their christian symbols out in public, I’m just paying them back a little.
I’d suggest you post this sort of personal string in the Atheist Hub then.
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quite. My point, glad you got it in the end.
You just “want a reaction”. For an intelligent man that seems immature.
BTW I do not give a shit about your music. I taught it as demanded for quite some time. Like Punk, Ska, and all the others it demands a uniform code and a certain behavior from its most ardent adherents. Like all such fashions it has its hey day, then its emulators then it slowly dies in its own lack of progress and splits into many competing formats and sub genres until the only people listening are those clinging to their rebellious youth.
You are indeed the “very model of a modern major general” to crib a line from other musicians.
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Hate to break it to you but your wife is your worst enemy. I couldn’t stay with someone that degrades you the way your wife does. It sounds to me that you just stay with her just because you don’t want to be alone. It’s your life, your choice. Whatever floats your boat.
Or he thrives on the reactions.
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Hey, Mr.Mac. If you don’t mind, please allow me to expand a bit on what Old Man is saying. He’s not saying you should change who/what you are. He’s not criticizing your “lifestyle”. The point he is trying to make is one that I (and possibly others) have also noticed. Let me try it like this…
From the very beginning, you have made it quite clear to us that you get pleasure out of being brazenly open about your lack of respect for religion. Whether out in public or with your own family, you regularly go out of your way to display your utter disdain for god and the bible and such. And that’s all good and well. Whatever makes you happy. HOWEVER…
At the same time, you also regularly complain about how your own family treats you like an outcast and has little respect for you, as if you cannot understand why they do that. Has it ever occurred to you that respect works both ways? Basically, what Old Man was saying is that you are free to be who you want and act in whatever way you want. BUT, there are always consequences (good or bad) to every action you do. And if your actions are such that you disrespect the beliefs of others, then you should not be surprised (and you have no right to complain) when those others act the same toward you. See what I mean?
@Old_man_shouts_at_cl (Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.)
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No, in fact you hit it right on the button.
It is Mr Macabre’s complete lack of introspection that is causing his problems judging only by his posts on this forum. At the level of a pubertal adolescent as it happens.
Perhaps M should show these posts to his wife/son and discuss (that means and open and truthful discussion) their import and see whether they can agree with any points made.
Most cats ( Mau does, I know) understand cause and effect as it affects their comfort and lifestyle. Humans, some of them, obviously find it more challenging.
One more thing…what is so fuck hard to understand about the following? Is it in Mandarin? Gaelic? I read it to Mau and he made the point it is fuck all to do with music, lifestyle or belief, or even lack of it.
If this is easier then help yourself: Tha mi a ‘smaoineachadh gun deidheadh na puist agad a leughadh a bhith a’ leughadh a 'mhòr-chuid de na gearanan agad gu dìreach mar thoradh air na rinn thu fhè
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Okay. Good. When I read your first post, I knew exactly what you meant because the same thought had occurred to me a few times since Mr.Mac joined us. I have intentionally done a few things during my life that I KNEW would cause others to take a “dimmer” view of me. Sometimes it was for “fun”, and other times it was for reasons of my own personal integrity. Either way, though, I knew the potential consequences of my actions, and I fully accepted those outcomes. I certainly didn’t get all butt-hurt and mopey when those my actions were directed toward reacted as they were expected to react toward me. I certainly had no right to complain about the reactions.
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We don’t do that here anymore. Now we post our personal heartbreaking stories in the debate section. That way when someone replies with something critical, instead of debate, the critic gets suspended. Worked great for me, got me a 3 month “vacation” from AR!
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Despite the two of us being polar opposites in many ways, I still love my wife. True, I’m exposed to her beliefs and symbolism every day, along with both of our kids and their families.I do what I can to ignore it and tune it out. That’s one of the reasons I listen to music as much as I do.
I’m not afraid to be alone, some days when she’s at work late or doing her Wednesday night thing at her church, I enjoy the quiet and the dark. First thing she does when she gets home is turn every light in the house on, drives me crazy. But it’s not worth fighting about anymore.
Even if I wanted to be on my own, there’s no way for me to be able to do it. I’ve been retired on permanent disability for over 7 years and don’t have enough to live on my own, not even close. My medical insurance comes from her job, so that would go away too.