Off to church...

[EtUL]

they got free coffee!

[seremtan]

mmm tastes like jesus...

also, are you so poor you need to go to church to get coffee?

[EtUL]

yeah prob.

it's a m-m-m-m-megachurch I get guilt-tripped by my mother into going to but hey, if it means I don't have to hear about the bullshit I'll go a morning a month.

Plus, you always gotta hear the other side's argument and get an idea of the shit they're selling. My nutty family is eager to push religion on me but not so eager to pick up some reading I've suggested like Misquoting Jesus, Breaking the Spell, Think (among many).

Odd that is, only seeking literature and answers that reinforce previously held viewpoints and not entertaining anything to the contrary.

[EtUL]

I'm also a bit constipated...I think that may be a sign jesus is in my life.

Seriously tho between the logical fallacies, half-truths, and then the outright lies I wanted to Joe Wilson the pastor so fucking bad but I think I'd get beaten by a mob.

"The Gospels were written by eyewitnesses to Jesus' teaching and miracles." The fucking liar went thru seminary and got a masters in divinity, whatever the fuck that means. He has to know he's lying else he slept thru bible study class.

[GONNAFISTYA]

There is absolutely no reason to think that - given the slightest opening - your family will NOT continue to push religion on you and continue to ignore the books you've suggested they read. And trust me...you going to church or even saying that you're "not sure" about believing in religion is the "slightest opening" they'll need to jam church down your throat. If they're religious, they're taught to "spread the word" and cram it in people's faces.

It is a well-known fact that people who go to church (and are believers...as opposed to those who go just to say they go) cannot/will not be dissuaded from their delusion and will angrily resist any efforts to change their perceptions.

In short...if you go to church you'll always be expected to and guilt trips await you when you don't.

If you had a brain at all you'd already understand this.

[EtUL]

What makes you think I've said I'm not sure? I've been quite avid in my beliefs, even pointing out as per a couple verses in Mark and Luke I believe I'm eternally damned as I deny the spirit.

The problem is that both teams on this are playing a different sport.

[EtUL]

I expect nothing less I guess is what I mean, but it is easier on me showing up once in a while than not. Affects me in more than just the nagging.

As for the different sport comment, to clarify, a basis of thinking based on an infallible holy text and a basis of thinking on the scientific method are fundamentally incompatible. This is quite evident in the mental gymnastics that the Answers In Genesis crowd accomplishes; and the fallacies, ignorance, and the acceptance of only confirming facts in the self called sheep.

[GONNAFISTYA]

What makes you think I've said I'm not sure? I've been quite avid in my beliefs, even pointing out as per a couple verses in Mark and Luke I believe I'm eternally damned as I deny the spirit.

My point was that if you do anything that reinforces the fact that they aren't crazy (by going to church even once a lifetime) will give them all the incentive they'll ever need to keep hounding you to go to church (aka guilt trip). You've already admitted that you got guilt-tripped into going...which means you opened the door just a crack but they'll see that as a wide open door.

The problem is that both teams on this are playing a different sport.

Yes...one team is based in cognizance of reality while the other team is simply retarded. Please don't start any BS about atheists being "fundamentalists" or "atheism being its own religion"...which I'm sure your family has tried to throw at you at least once in your life.

[EtUL]

You don't have a mother, do you?

lol

[MKJ]

lol, etul

[seremtan]

Odd that is, only seeking literature and answers that reinforce previously held viewpoints and not entertaining anything to the contrary.

this is normal, everyday human irrationality, as featured in politics, science, and every conspiracy theory ever proposed

[EtUL]

Satire isn't always evident.

[seremtan]

never more so than when it isn't remotely satirical

[EtUL]

maybe if ur a moran...

actually I was completely unaware of confirmation bias prior to your revelation.

[axbaby]

we have to have a safety meeting then a prayer before work.. i get grief for leaving the prayer. The head guy is a born again nut job who's every second word is fuck.

[GONNAFISTYA]

Born again nutters are the worst...and most hypocritical.

If Satan exists he'll be having alot of fun with those fuckers when they take the elevator down.

[Fender]

Ask your mega-church going parents to reconcile what they do with Matthew 6:5 - 7

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

[Big Kahuna Burger]

saw this in the subway a couple days ago. what gives?

[EtUL]

Ask your mega-church going parents to reconcile what they do with Matthew 6:5 - 7

5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites [are]: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

I quote Jesus to the religious constantly, partly because some don't know his words(aside from what the preacher reads to them), and partly because of the smug satisfaction I get from throwing their unchristian behavior into light. I'm an asshole but I'm honest I guess.

But anyway to not be an ignorant moran... I not only attend churches periodically but also read their literature, and I feel safe in saying I know more about the bible than the average follower. I'm trying to win playing their sport.

That Jesus was a quirky guy (and Paul moreso!) but when you're fed the same verses on a yearly schedule and you "don't have time" or whatever excuse for actually reading the shit, you tend to miss the oddities and what isn't mentioned often.

Sometimes he was an asshole. Matthew 8:18-22

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

What the fuck is that shit. I must be dense because I fail to see any other interpretation of that than "Fuck your dead father."

Pretty much all of Chapter 6 doesn't coincide with their actions. They never appear too concerned.

[EtUL]

saw this in the subway a couple days ago. what gives?

herding cats

A similar billboard got put up alongside I-71 in Cincinnati, OH not long ago and was taken down a few days later because of threats. I found that quite special.

Original article:
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2009 ... 71-drivers

CINCINNATI - The billboard stands in a prominent spot - at 12th Street and Reading Road in Over-the-Rhine, easily seen by those driving south on Interstate 71.

The simple message on it is even more attention-grabbing: "Don't believe in God? You are not alone."

The question, on a background of blue sky and white clouds and accompanied by a Web site - http://www.CinCor.org - is intended to "raise awareness about people who don't believe in God," according to a press release from the United Coalition of Reason.

The Washington D.C.-based organization is erecting what they term "Godless billboards" in Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland to let non-believers know they aren't alone and to announce the creation of local Coalition of Reason chapters where non-believers can meet like-minded people. The http://www.CinCor.org link takes users to the Cincinnati chapter's page. The chapter is actually a coalition of several groups in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky that "advocate science and reason as more reliable sources of knowledge than dogma and faith," according to the release.

The national group has run 10 prior billboard campaigns across the country. In Chicago and New Jersey billboards asked "Are you good without God? Millions are." Transit buses in Des Moines, Iowa carried the same message as the Cincinnati sign.

"Nontheists sometimes don't realize there's a community out there for them because they're inundated with religious messages at every turn," said Fred Edwords, national director of the organization in the release. "So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren't alone."

So what exactly are "nontheists?"

The United Coalition of Reason uses the term to describe the "millions of humanists, atheists and agnostics living in the United States," according to the release. The Cincinnati branch cites a recent poll by the American Religious Identification Study indicating about 15 percent of Americans don't believe in a god and/or identify themselves as non-religious. It does not give statistics specific to Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Edwords told the Enquirer that many nontheists "think they're alone because it's not always prudent to be out," he said.

"People tend to think they're a little isolated. Traditionally religious folk have places to go and go to them, so why not nonreligious people? We just want folks to know we do exist."

And he wants those who do espouse religious beliefs to understand and accept that not everyone shares their views.

So what kind of a "community" do nontheists have? The Cincinnati Atheists Meetup Group holds gatherings for "lively conversation." The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky hosts speaker presentations and potlucks. Camp Quest Ohio, hosts a summer camp for children of "Athiests, Freethinkers, Humanists, or whatever other terms might be applied to those who hold to a naturalistic, not supernatural world view," according to the Cincinnati coalition's web site.

Edwords said prior billboard campaigns have been met with only minor criticism. "Generally the response is positive," he said. Either people are glad to see the group reaching out or simply chalk it up to free speech.

The billboards cost $5,000 each, paid for by the national group through private donations. They will be up for 30 days.

"Relocated"
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2009 ... /311090013

CINCINNATI - A billboard that reached out to those who don’t believe in God lasted less than 48 hours before threats forced organizers to move it, they said.

Billboard company Lamar Advertising tore down the billboard at the intersection of 12th Street and Reading Road in Over-the-Rhine Thursday morning due to what the United Coalition of Reason – the billboard’s sponsor - termed “multiple, significant threats” to the property owner. Lamar re-erected the sign that same day on a billboard tower along the Sixth Street Viaduct in Queensgate. The sign faces traffic traveling west from downtown toward Delhi and Price Hill.

The billboard contains the phrase “Don’t Believe in God? You are not alone,” and lists the web site of the Cincinnati Coalition of Reason, a coalition of atheist and other “free thinking” groups in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in which members don’t believe in any god.

This is the first time the group has moved a billboard in this year’s campaign. It’s launched 14 prior billboard campaigns in cities throughout the country including this week in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.

“It (the threats) caught us totally by surprise,” said Fred Edwords, director of the Washington, D.C.-based national organization. He said the report of “multiple, significant” threats came from Lamar.

The situation indicates a need to continue the outreach in Cincinnati, said Shawn Jeffers of Hyde Park, co-coordinator for the local chapter.

“It proves our point, that bigotry against people who don’t believe in a god is still very real in America,” he said in a news release. “Only when we atheists, agnostics and humanists come together and go public about our views will people have a chance to learn that we too are part of the community and deserve respect.”

The billboards are among 1,400 in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky owned by Lamar Advertising. It leases the land that most of those billboards stand on, including the one on Reading Road.

The United Coalition of Reason paid Lamar $3,875 for the 30-day billboard which was visible to southbound traffic on Interstate 71. It waserected Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon, Lamar informed the group of the threats.

“(The landowner) called and said he was receiving threats and wanted it removed or he’d remove it himself,” said Tom Fahey, vice president and general manager of the company’s Cincinnati office. “We went ahead and moved it. We didn’t want him up there climbing on a ladder, trying to get it down.”

The owner didn’t specify what types of threats he had received, said Fahey.

Cincinnati police have received no complaints of threats involving that location.
The owner was unable to be reached Thursday.

Lamar does not notify property owners of billboard content, but “we comply with community standards so we usually don’t have any real issues,” said Fahey. He didn’t think this one would cause such controversy. “It’s pretty innocuous in my mind,” he said of the ad.

Lamar owns the land that the Queensgate billboard sits on so Fahey doesn’t expect any issues with the new spot.

[seremtan]

sum bibel histree shit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bar3GOzDNzg

[Underpants?]

agnostic as I am, I still respect the person who'll step up to offer wearing his secular beliefs in a non-confrontational, matter-of-fact manner. That said, I fucking loathe this Eddie guy and hope he dies in an eternal fire.
well, maybe not loathe, but definitely would completely uncalled for him irly. (pld ).

[EtUL]

lolz

[Underpants?]

best.barats.ever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XPdm9CLtYs
if you don't get the Boulder references and fucking hilariously pathetic zombie attack scenes, skip forward to 3:00 for a hot track

[Mortogon]

You GOTTA love this one!