Bumpity bumpity bump…
FFS. Do you think that you know more about your theism than I do?
Yes, but that doesn’t stop umpteen people here telling me what it “really” means what it “really” is, a crutch, a load of lies predating science a load of “crap” believed by “mythology fanboys” a “magic man in the sky” and so on.
I don’t understand your objection to mythology or magic where they are appropriate. A myth is defined as “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events, and magic as “the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.”
Also atheism is not a belief and thus makes no claims, thus describing lacking a belief as a fairytale is nonsensical.
fairy tale
noun
- a children’s story about magical and imaginary beings and lands
Atheism
noun
- disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.
They’re not even remotely comparable. I also saw no dogma in @CyberLN’s post, just because an assertion is offered emphatically doesn’t on its own make it dogma.
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha … says the guy who can’t define anything… Theism is not even a hypothesis. To be a hypothesis there would have to be something there that we could at least explore. At least some form of limited evidence that can be verified and validated through observation and experimentation. He has nothing.
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I guess that’s the same then, for you, when you keep insisting your definition for atheist/ism is more accurate than the atheist with whom you are conversing.
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With one glaring difference of course, the atheists here have unequivocally and honestly told him what they do and do not believe, from the very start, whereas he was reticent from the start about many of the specifics of his belief, in order to ringfence it from scrutiny.
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The point was that we should both be free to express our opinions of the other person’s position. The atheist calling God or the Gospels “make believe” or “fairy stories” and so on has every right whether I find it disparaging or not.
Likewise then I should be equally free to call atheism dogmatic or fairy tales, because that’s how I see it, and I can justify that too if asked.
Just because one defines “atheism” as the “the absence of a belief in God” does not alter the fact that there are other characteristics too, atheists often do have more to say than simply “I hold no belief in God” else this website and forum and hundreds of pages of abuse and invective would not be here.
- Yes, you can offer your opinion about a person’s position. However, you are not doing that. You all too frequently make blanket assertions about all people who have only one thing in common.
- You do not typically offer you opinions in ways that indicate they are opinions. I’ve mentioned this before.
- That there are folks who identify as atheist that hold characteristics other than those expressed by the posters here doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. You are not conversing with them. You are conversing with the people here and, if you want to converse in a manner that is sensible, stop laying characteristics onto people that don’t have them.
- This set of forums is here for many reasons. For instance, one primary reason for being here for me is the sense of belonging to a community.
- If you think that all this forum is, is “ hundreds of pages of abuse and invective” then why are you subjecting yourself to it? Masochist much?
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J.R.R. Tolkin disagrees with you and he is a much nicer Christian than you. When he tells stories, he does not pretend they are true. According to him " “The Gospels contain a fairy-story,* or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. And he is a much more believable Christian than you.
There is nothing likewise about it. You have been demonstrated to be wrong from your first post to this one. If Atheism is ‘dogmatic,’ please share the atheist dogma you think we are all following. Can you show me this atheist book of dogma? Can you point to the holy leader of Atheism?
Once again you are lying and dishonest. The definition of Dogma has been cleared up. Cyber just did that for you. Now here you are again, ignoring facts and evidence, repeating the same tired bullshit. Lying. And absolutely refusing to have a civil conversation. Then you want to whine about people calling you out on your lies. ‘Waaaaaaaaa!’
And you are anti-social, rude and a coward.
Except you’re not, the definition of atheism and of fairy tales is entirely incompatible.
Except they are being specific, and addressing claims, you are not.
Nope, since atheism is the lack or absence of belief in any deity or deities, and this by definition does not involve a claim. If you want to assert that something an atheist has said is a fairy tale then do so, and support that claim with something other than straw men, as no atheist is obliged to believe anything another does, since atheism by definition has no dogma.
Yes it does, and no there are not, those characteristics belong to atheists, but not to atheism.
Indeed, but atheists are not atheism, for 7 months now you have been repeating this error, despite it being explained repeatedly.
Yes it would, since those posts belong to atheists, not to atheism, it’s a pretty simple concept, and all one need do is Google the definition of atheism to see your error in reasoning.
Lying and dishonesty is rude, anti-social, and even cowardly. It seems you want to believe only you can be offended, but maybe had you approached this topic with less of a closed mind, you might understand why things have progressed as they have.
Cog is anti-social and can be rude (truthful) BUT again, he is no coward. Stop calling him that.
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It is inconceivable to me a sane person would speak like he does to a person’s face, why? what do you think happens when people think it’s OK to insult and abuse and belittle others? it leads to violence, that’s usually what or else disciplinary action. If someone was a manager and spoke to staff like that they’d be fired and likely see the employer sued for making a hostile workplace.
Go on, try it, go to your local bar, tell someone they are lying and being dishonest and tell me what happens next.
No, such abuse is very common online because there’s no risk of violence, i.e. it’s a tactic of the coward.
Nope. Not even close. Your assessment of him is far off the mark and clouded.
Again, stop with the coward comments as this is the third time I’ve said it and I won’t say it again.
Your analogy is stupid as the same conversation with you is the context of the comments - not a fucking bar or the workplace 
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No true Scotsman fallacy.
There are all manner of insult and abuse of course. The posters who stay here generally value honest debate, and rational discourse.
Really, do you think violence is a justifiable response to words?
False equivalence fallacy, he is not your manager, this is not a workplace.
Another false equivalence fallacy, and in the pubs I’ve frequented people don’t take kindly to being preached at, or lied to with dishonest claims.
I’m guessing the irony of you repeatedly calling someone a coward in an online forum isn’t sinking in?
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One week silence for @Sherlock-Holmes … it want a topic for discussion
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Oh, come on! I can think of several times I did cowardly things. I used to hide under the bed when my father beat me. A real boy would have stood up to him. I know I have told lies to people instead of facing up to them. Usually, when I do confront someone, an employee, or a friend I am having an issue with, I have the time, place, and a rough idea of how I will confront them all mapped out. To be honest, it generally goes better than I expected. I can’t just sit and not say shit to people when I know what is right or when I get my toes stepped on. But I have certainly not, not been a coward. There are situations when I could have manned up a little better than what I did. I hope I learned from them. I suppose there is a difference between looking like a coward and actually being a coward.
Hey… I just remembered a time. I was at the Orange County Fish Fry in Costa Mesa, California. A gang of Mexican guys were starting fights with people. The little guy was going up to people, pushing them, swearing at them, etc. He drew a crowd around him as people did the circle thing to see what was happening. I watched the little guy hit one man. Before the man could swing back, five other guys jumped from the crowd and beat him. He managed to run away. This little guy was going from person to person in the crowd and I guess it was mesmerizing to watch because like a dumb fuck, there I stood. Then the little guy was in front of me. I heard him uttering threats and felt him push me, but my eyes were on three big guys in the crowd that I knew would jump in if I took the kid down. Like ‘Ron White’ says, "I didn’t know if they could take me, but I knew how many they were going to use trying.’ And that is a good bit of information to know. Somehow I managed to not let my ego get the better of me and retreat like the coward I was. Rational, realistic, and still alive. I would probably do the same thing today… provided it was just me being threatened. I would find it very difficult not to swing and stand my ground was a friend of mine involved. So you see, I can be a coward. I can walk away.
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Was that being a coward or was it being smart?
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Never accuse me of being smart. Tin Man, Old Man. Sheldon, Skriten, and the rest will break out the torches and burn down the jungle to catch me, put me in the circus, and show people how I can count my toes. I was much smarter when I was a Christian.
LOL — I wrote that last line and thought to myself. Yeah, I would raise my bible and shout “Satan be Gone.” “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.” Think that would have worked?
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