For a non-religious person, you sure take a lot of things on faith (e.g., there's no such thing as a heterosexual person, or there are many genders). You also seem incredibly evangelical. A simple search of the forum for your posts can demonstrate that quite easily.
Perhaps you're just projecting when you attempt to belittle religious people. I operate in polite society every day and I don't encounter all these religious crazy people you're always talking about.
Typical religious tripe. Starting from the beginning of human history, the religious zealots are the killers. The slaughter of idolaters in the Old Testament, inquisitions, crusades, Muslims, Catholics and Protestants, and the religious terror of today – all targeting the “unbelievers”. Hey the KKK wears crosses. I haven’t seen to many non-believers wearing white hoods. I know your type always invoke Hitler or Stalin, but if you were a Jew and Christian that won’t have saved you from Hitler or Stalin. They went after ethnicity not religion. What religion were the insane, homosexuals, or gypsies that Hitler killed? I think you can match body for body the religious zealots versus any other category of mass murders. Christians take heart your body count matches.
You would think at some point people would give up trying to bring you to Jesus but they don't.
You would think people would stop worring about who has an abortion or who has sex with whom or who marries who or what bathroom people go to or saying a certain politician is God's imperfect instrument but they dont.
You would think people would stop trying to create some type of theocracy that they can impose on every one else but they dont.
anybody Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You would think at some point people would give up > trying to bring you to Jesus but they don't. > > You would think people would stop worring about > who has an abortion or who has sex with whom or > who marries who or what bathroom people go to or > saying a certain politician is God's imperfect > instrument but they dont. > > You would think people would stop trying to create > some type of theocracy that they can impose on > every one else but they dont.
One would think so, but history shows us otherwise
You have to taste the bitter to know the sweet. I have known the bitterest of the bitter. My glass of wine tastes the better for it.
I have learned to navigate a society I can't change. Still have a head on collision once in a while, but learning to drive better myself is about all I can do.
I didn't have to leave earth. For me, I have my escape to my garden where the world is hedges away and the birds and flowers keep my attention and my glass of wine and a book reminds me that the world has a lot to offer.
I hope you find a place on earth that lets you feel like you don't need to escape. I totally get what you are feeling though. Totally. Feeling it. I like the passion of your posts, anybody.
HAHA. This is why I don't buy into that old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Those bumper stickers are also why evolution left us with the ability to roll our eyes. Around and around and around.
Have you spoken with a psychologist about this? It seems really unhealthy, like a hormonal imbalance or inability to regulate emotions or something.
Help is out there. Going through life on the verge of screaming just at the sight of symbols arranged in a certain order doesn't sound like a good life to me.
Never underestimate the ability of transplanted Humans to devolve.
There is no escape. Superstition and claptrap are interwoven into our neurology. Sorry. Best to laugh at, and pity the religious. Oh.. and drink a bit.
I'm not sure I'd argue that an inability to reasonably cope with diverse thought is a sign of some advanced form of evolution. If anything, it's more persuasively a demonstration of the reverse.
I only knew mormons and mormon plygs until I was a teen. Getting out in the world and meeting people with differing views was the greatest experience of my life. I'm an atheist and proud of it. The only way I could have reached that deep core inside myself was to know people of every persuasion. There's nothing wrong with that.
The only time it's bothersome is if certain narrow thinkers show up at my door and bother me in my personal space and my private time. Mormons and JWs sometimes do that. In my lifetime those are the only overly pushy groups and they've been put to rights. They know they must stay out of my face.
Everyone has a right to believe whatever suits them. They can try to influence laws and schools and social standards as they see fit. Groups working toward their own best interest happens.
The pendulum of social change usually swings one way and the other, but it would be foolish to try to stop it completely because change is part of being a living thing.
Unfortunately, my experience with evangelical fundies has been exactly the opposite. They aren't the "live and let live" type.
I'll never forget my first day of school in America when I mentioned mummies and carbon-14 dating and another girl in the class told me "that's what scientists say to get people to believe in evolution." When I told her evolution was not a belief but a fact you could have heard a pin drop. You believe in evolution? <gasp!>
People can believe whatever they want. I don't care. I don't try to force people to go to reverse baptisms or religious de-programmng.
However, I do care if people want to promote ignorance, hate, superstition, racism, intolerance and theocratic government.
At least the Mormons gave up after I answered the door naked...
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2018 05:59PM by anybody.
I see you frequently trying to force your will on others and calling it superstition, racism, intolerance and other bad names.
As if no one has a right to beliefs if you call them a bad name for it.
People have an absolute right to believe in superstition, racism, intolerance and such as long as they don't act on those beliefs and assault or in some way damage others. Trying to dig and read in those things using political correctness and secret coding is your victims,but more so to you, because you are so constantly daily upset and alarmed that you want to leave planet earth.
And BTW, when I hear people complain about "political correctness" they don't mean the original definition but an urge or desire to say bigoted things that were once said out loud in the open but are no longer socially acceptable to say in public.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2018 06:27PM by anybody.
The so called secret code that reveals bigotry within.
It isn't that anyone has hurt someone because of their gender, ethnicity or other such status. It's that they must be thinking something and those thoughts are an abomination which others deem as superstitious or some other bad word. And so they must leave the earth to be rid of being imposed on in this way.
This thinking isn't logical. What a sad existence to see evil omens of thought and want to rid the world of it once and for all.
It can't happen. The people of the world can never all conform to this kind of thought control based on nothingness.
All I know is that during my lifetime a group of white protestant evangelical Christians have consistently attempted to make what they consider to be "God's law" and the secular law of the land one and the same.
Many African Americans and Korean Americans are also Christians and some share the same social conservative views but I never hear any theocratic rhetoric from them about taking over and making America into some kind of fundie religious paradise.
This results in constant, never-ending fights about:
Climate Change Abortion Health Care Marriage Equality Women's Rights Science And History LGBTQIA Rights Objective Fact-Based Reality Freedom Of Thought
etc, etc or whatever the new "bete noir" is that the fundies say will "destroy" America.
At first I thought they did this simply to instill a state of fear or paranoia in their followers like the Mormons or North Korea but, as recent events have demonstrated, they really mean it.
Rational people who have opposite views can sit down and try to work out some kind of compromise but they won't.
The question is -- why?
And don't want to spend the rest of my life worrying about religious fanatics trying to turn America into a fundie religious republic like Iran.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2018 08:32AM by anybody.
No, just get out of the United States. I live in Scandinavia and although Lutheran Christianity is considered the official State religion, for practical purposes Atheism is the "religion" of Scandinavia. Over 80% of people in Denmark and Sweden view religion as not being important. Christianity only serves a traditional ceremonial role, but does not play a role beyond that. The overwhelming majority just do not care about God or religion.
Many universities have "safe spaces" where students can go to escape microaggressions from people and ideas they find offensive. Some are equipped with aromatic candles,hot chocolate, plush animals, live puppies and kittens, and coloring books so people can de-stress. Contact your local communist, er, community college and see what facilities are available.
A little history may suffice here. During the 1980s, then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan was once quoted as saying that, pertaining to Nicaragua and its then-leader, Daniel Ortega, "I want them to say uncle."
It never happened. Daniel Ortega, despite the Reagan sanctions, eventually became the Nicaraguan leader again after Mr. Reagan left office. People don't drop their beliefs because other people demand it of them. In fact, if anything, such demands make them believe what they believe even more fervently. The only thing that seems to work (and it doesn't work all the time) is if somebody who is a believer lives through an experience that forces him/her to question his/her beliefs. Such experiences can range from the positive to the negative, though I'd say that the majority are the latter.
Look at it this way. Most people who leave Mormonism (including you, I'm willing to bet) didn't leave it because 1) they thought it was a great religion that they were happy with; and 2) someone with a different religion kept getting in their face about how bad Mormonism was. No. People left Mormonism because something about it didn't work for them--something that came about through experiences, mostly negative, with the religion.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2018 06:33PM by blindguy.
Rule The First: Decline to discuss religion with anybody. Say something like, "I'm not comfortable discussing religion. What do you think about Trump's latest [whatever]?"
My adult kids know I'm not a believer in anything, and they are OK with it.
My sweet TBM DH clings to the belief that somewhere, there is still a shred of belief in me that will allow us to be together in the afterlife. Since I am inclined to believe in the afterlife, but believe that it is LOVE that attracts you to the people there, I'm not worried about it.
Being retired, I don't have to talk to a lot of people, so the religion issue doesn't happen.
One hard and fast rule about living is you cannot hide or run from your problems, for they will find you wherever you are.
Another is no man is an island. I suspect the afterlife is a continuation of sorts of this earthly one. I believe there is a spirit world. Will it be religious zealots greeting us on the other side? I hope not. Would prefer they be goodly and kind souls however, and not some destroying angel.
anybody gets on the interstellar transport, heading to the just-discovered-but-completely-unknown planet Xertog. It's a great chance to get away from the Earth's crazy religious people.
After the FTL jump, upon landing, the Xertogs greet the Earthlings with great acclaim and joy. They're so happy to find out they're not alone in the universe!
Then Xertog's High Leader welcomes the Earthlings in person. And says, "I assume you believe in the Universal Overlord Tr'qk, who created the universe and all of us, and who asks only that we obey his will in sacrificing our second-born child to him by fire and praying to him daily while standing on our heads?"
The shocked Earthlings admit that they do not, and find those beliefs ridiculous and offensive.
At which point High Leader shouts to his people, "Blasphemers! Kill them all!"