ATS Anti-Christian Conspiracy?

Originally posted by saint4God
My proof that ATS is not an Anti-Christian conspiracy is that I have not been banned yet.

Well, I did get banned for about a week. No one knows why, guess it was a fluke in the system.

ATS is a community of varying beliefs. There are some who express their beliefs with less style and grace than others. As long as we keep personal attacks out of the equation, we should be able to express our ideas and beliefs without fear of attack from others.

Originally posted by darkelf
Well, I did get banned for about a week. No one knows why, guess it was a fluke in the system.

Oh yeah, me too, but that was a hAxxoRz and the mods got 'em. I guess you can say at that time there was a "conspiracy" but not sure if one person qualifies as a whole conspiracy. At least...I THINK it was one person ... _>

hmm... if ATS was anti-christian, i doubt the prayer vigil for WOS thread would still be up

I have been reading this site for a close to seven years, and I was really shocked to see an ad that had the face of Jesus, saying " He didn't exist." I actually watched the trailer out of curiosity and was really shocked to see a very biased film that contained hateful statements about believers in Christ and that all whom believed in him were silly for believing in a fictional hero.

I suppose I was surprised to see it on a site that wants to deny ignorance. For anyone who watched the trailer, that statements made during the whole 3 minute trailer were not backed by any evidence and were quite ignorant and hateful. It was not a debate but rather an attack.

Other then that, I still love ATS.

Would finding the remains of Christ prove or disprove anything anyway. many Christians regard the ascemsion into Heaven as metaphorical, a spiritual event rather than a physical one. There are far too many subjective aspects within this and any religion to be able to come up with definitive proofs. As has been pointed out it's the teachings themselves that, at least to me, validate or invalidate a belief system.

Originally posted by Ashley_T
I have been reading this site for a close to seven years, and I was really shocked to see an ad that had the face of Jesus, saying " He didn't exist." I actually watched the trailer out of curiosity and was really shocked to see a very biased film that contained hateful statements about believers in Christ and that all whom believed in him were silly for believing in a fictional hero.

i actually own the movie. it isn't hateful, it doesn't say anything HATEFUL about people. it says they are merely misguided, not stupid or anything.

I suppose I was surprised to see it on a site that wants to deny ignorance. For anyone who watched the trailer, that statements made during the whole 3 minute trailer were not backed by any evidence and were quite ignorant and hateful. It was not a debate but rather an attack.

Other then that, I still love ATS.

um, do you have any specific statements for "the god who wasn't there" to back up your position on the documentary?

Well, I watched the trailer, so I only have that to go on. They compared Christ to a hero concept.

If there isn't an Anti-Christian conspiracy then there needs to be. Along with all the other religions. It would be the best idea since......well, since abraham and his tainted offspring.

Originally posted by Ashley_T
I have been reading this site for a close to seven years, and I was really shocked to see an ad that had the face of Jesus, saying " He didn't exist."
...
Other then that, I still love ATS.

Glad you still love ATS

The ad on the side bar is exactly that, an ad, not something we as a website endorse. Heck, we don't even choose which ads show up, a marketing firm does that for us. So, to make it clear, we, as a website, do not endorse the Jesus Didn't Exist documentary, the Girl Scouts, Irish Spring, alien artifacts, or John McCain.

Hope that appeases some of your concerns about the ad, Ashley

Originally posted by Ashley_T
Well, I watched the trailer, so I only have that to go on. They compared Christ to a hero concept.

and what's hateful about comparing a mythic figure to other mythic figures?

oh, i see
it's hateful because it's YOUR mythic figure

I wonder if ATS would allow an ad for a film featuring a portrait of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, containing the caption "He didn't exist"...?

That's a useless question, I suppose, since ATS has no control over what ads appear on the site. But I wonder how likely it is that we'll ever see such a film, or such an ad?

You know damned well that we'll never see such a film or such an ad on the ATS site, or anywhere else, because it might offend the Muslim community. We must not offend Muslims.

We can offend Christians 'til our nuts drop off, no problem. We can call Americans "Nazis" if we want, no problem. But we mustn't dare offend other cultures and other religions.

After all, Christianity and America are the two greatest evils in the world, aren't they? Christianity and America deserve whatever insulting rot the rest of the world dishes out, don't they?

Hardly.

— Doc Velocity

[edit on 3/28/2007 by Doc Velocity]

ATS has no official policy regarding specific groups. Advertising is a necessary "evil" to fund a site the depth and breadth of ATS. Any advertisement that doesn't contain obscene or graphic material, or solicits for illegal or questionable products is likely to be seen. You find offense at one ad, another member may find something else offensive that you don't. Therein lies the beauty of ATS, we are all different, yet here we are together discussing topics in a civil manner... And because of those advertisements... That privilege happens to be free...

5th Avenue Monkeys, not just for the big account anymore...

The ones on top are exactly like the Mirthful One explains. And the ones on the left are triggered by keywords in the posts on the current thread. That's how google ads work.

Very easy to understand.

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
I wonder if ATS would allow an ad for a film featuring a portrait of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, containing the caption "He didn't exist"...?

it's a lot harder to deny the existence of a guy when we have a huge mosque built around his body...

That's a useless question, I suppose, since ATS has no control over what ads appear on the site. But I wonder how likely it is that we'll ever see such a film, or such an ad?

You know damned well that we'll never see such a film or such an ad on the ATS site, or anywhere else, because it might offend the Muslim community. We must not offend Muslims.

we'd be offending common sense
we
have
the
body
of
muhammed

We can offend Christians 'til our nuts drop off, no problem. We can call Americans "Nazis" if we want, no problem. But we mustn't dare offend other cultures and other religions.

oh, the persecuted american christians card.
you're so badly persecuted, having majority control over the government and money

After all, Christianity and America are the two greatest evils in the world, aren't they? Christianity and America deserve whatever insulting rot the rest of the world dishes out, don't they?

well, i wouldn't just single out christianity, throw in all other religions and all other nations

you know what documentary they could make?
did moses exist?

but it would be very short. all you have to do is show how there is no evidence to support the whole exodus account and that there is no mention of the man outside of religious texts

did muhammed exist?
well, obviously he did. we have his bones, he has descendants, and we can locate both.

but whenever you say "here are these bones that could be the bones of jesus" or "jesus had a wife and kids" christians have a fit

I believe the ad was for the DVD release of this 62-minute 2005 documentary:

The God Who Wasn't There

Which I haven't seen, but I read the synopsis on RottenTomatoes:

Holding modern Christianity up to a merciless spotlight, this bold and hilarious new film asks the questions few dare to ask. And when it finds out how crazy the answers are, it dares to call them crazy. Your guide through the bizarre world of Christendom is former fundamentalist Brian Flemming, who unflinchingly explores the absurdity of belief and believers.

So I guess I jumped the gun in concluding that this was an anti-Christian film — I see now that it's actually a "documentary" that only calls Christians crazy and absurd. I'd be interested to see if Brian Flemming follows up with a "bold and hilarious" sequel documentary addressing the craziness and absurdity of Islam.

Right... He wouldn't have the balls.

— Doc Velocity



[edit on 3/28/2007 by Doc Velocity]

Thread

Trust me, this topic has been beaten to death.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
it's a lot harder to deny the existence of a guy when we have a huge mosque built around his body... we'd be offending common sense... we have the body of muhammed

What does that have to do with the stupidity of the religion? Islam is just as absurd and just as dangerous as any other cult on the planet, and perhaps more so. It wouldn't matter if Muhammad was still alive today, it's still a nutty and violent religion, worthy only of history's scrapheap of bad ideas.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
oh, the persecuted american christians card. you're so badly persecuted, having majority control over the government and money

Having control over the world, let's keep it honest. Yes, I am American, but I'm not a Christian, nor even religious.

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
but whenever you say "here are these bones that could be the bones of jesus" or "jesus had a wife and kids" christians have a fit

I suppose you're referring to the Discovery Channel's "Lost Tomb of Jesus"... Umm, I'm not hearing Christians having fits over that program. I didn't hear Christians having fits 27 years ago, either, when the tomb was discovered and the original translations were made of the sepulchres.

And nobody has said "Here are the bones of Jesus," because the Israel Antiquities Authority reburied the remains in an undisclosed, unmarked location outside of Jerusalem 27 years ago. Apparently, even a distinguished body of archaeologists and anthropologists such as those of the IAA weren't terribly impressed with the bodily evidence, either.

— Doc Velocity

[edit on 3/28/2007 by Doc Velocity]

Originally posted by dynphasia
In case these guys or anybody don't know it, the whole basis of Christianity's based on Jesus' undying Assumption into Heaven.

Christianity is based upon the mission, miracles, and examples set by Jesus Christ. The confirmation of the truth of his words was made apparent in his Resurrection — he thus proved to his followers that he really had survived death, and they could do so, as well, as long as they followed his example and believed in him. The Resurrection, therefore, is the core of Christianity.

By only citing Christ's "Assumption" into Heaven, you're skipping over crucial bits of the story... After his crucifixion and entombment, Christ returned to earth — He chatted with his disciples, he could walk around with them and even sit down and eat with them!

In short, Christ had returned not only in spirit, but in body. Many of the descriptions in the New Testament are of a very physical Jesus Christ following the Resurrection. I have no trouble with the theory that Jesus didn't actually die on the cross at all, and that he may have survived to live out his life, in spite of the tales woven around him. But the tales became larger than the man himself.

Sort of the way Sherlock Holmes (a fictional character) became larger than life. Holmes was actually based on real persons with very real deductive abilities such as those attributed to the fictional detective. More importantly, readers believed Holmes was a real person, so much so that his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, couldn't seem to kill the chartacter off. Doyle actually resented the manner in which Holmes had consumed much of his life.

Even stranger, some of the fictional "sciences" employed by Holmes — such as studying fingerprints, tobacco ashes and post-mortem bruising — actually matured into real sciences on the strength of the popular Sherlock Holmes tales.

So, we see real personalities becoming larger than life through a fictionalized telling, and the fiction coming back to shape reality in a significant fashion! The great circle of myth and reality, interdependent upon one another. Same thing with Jesus, I think.

No, you can't destroy Christianity simply by producing a box of bones. This is another case, I believe, of the story taking on a life of its own, greater than the man himself, and motivating generation-upon-generation of believers for over 2000 years.

Originally posted by dynphasia
Yeah, duh, if you found Jesus' remains or his grave, why, it'd definitely have an impact on the religion.

Well, the Christian faith has accepted since 336 AD that Christ's grave lies under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. I mean, as far as they're concerned, Christians have known about Christ's grave all this time. If you're saying that the "Lost Tomb of Jesus" discovery is the real thing and that it could have an impact, I don't see how, since the human remains from that discovery were reburied in an unmarked grave outside of Jerusalem 27 years ago.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by Doc Velocity
What does that have to do with the stupidity of the religion? Islam is just as absurd and just as dangerous as any other cult on the planet, and perhaps more so. It wouldn't matter if Muhammad was still alive today, it's still a nutty and violent religion, worthy only of history's scrapheap of bad ideas.

well, the premise of the god who wasn't there isn't that christianity is a cult, nutty, oy violent, just that the central figure is mythic.


and there are already plenty of books and propoganda movies saying that type of stuff about islam, you can pick them up at plenty of chruches around america.

Having control over the world, let's keep it honest. Yes, I am American, but I'm not a Christian, nor even religious.

well, america hardly controls the world
and christians make up about 1/3 of the world's population

I suppose you're referring to the Discovery Channel's "Lost Tomb of Jesus"... Umm, I'm not hearing Christians having fits over that program. I didn't hear Christians having fits 27 years ago, either, when the tomb was discovered and the original translations were made of the sepulchres.

well, 27 years ago nobody really heard about it
there were plenty of articles that were badmouthing the discovery channel well before the release of the documentary

and i was also talking about the massive amount of hysteria surrounding the da vinci code (a self-labeled work of fiction)

And nobody has said "Here are the bones of Jesus," because the Israel Antiquities Authority reburied the remains in an undisclosed, unmarked location outside of Jerusalem 27 years ago. Apparently, even a distinguished body of archaeologists and anthropologists such as those of the IAA weren't terribly impressed with the bodily evidence, either.

i honestly think the IAA was appeasing certain people at that moment, because there's still more research that can be done