A question for people of ATS

reply to post by ShortMemory


You rang the bell so I answered the door...
There are probably more threads BASHING religion then promoting it.

Religion....

The greatest conspiracy ever...

So it stays

Even tho it can get up your ass sometimes.

But hey, live and let live.

I understood that letting it go was the equivalent to allowing the homeless lady outside my office refer to herself as Lady Di: if she sincerely believes she's Lady Di incarnate, she has PLENTY of her own problems without me upending her entire identity to make a rational point. And if I tried explaining it to her anyway, her only reply would be "I'm Lady Di". Replace her response with a bible quote and ya got the whole point of arguing with the indoctrinated.

Essentially, I understand those posts are allowed to "ride" out of pity. Sure, I enjoy jabbing when I see a flicker of intelligence, but mostly I lurk - it's pure comic relief. It's like when you're home sick with the flu and the only thing that makes you feel better is a Jerry Springer marathon where, by the end, you become convinced you aren't in such bad shape after all, and you go to the gym. Many of us owe our healthy self-esteem to these "believers" - don't take them for granted!

I was tempted to try and float a little one-liner to the OP in the form of a "Wah!"

But, the awesome responses by the "non-religious" were really impressive. Gazrok, and Klassified, and a whole bunch more. That is the spirit of ATS law and very well-stated.

Thank you for weighing in.

OP: You seem rather tightly wound. Might I suggest the Bible as a way to possibly find some peace?

reply to post by The GUT


Thanks for the compliment. I was raised Southern Baptist, but often found the clergy couldn't really answer my questions and "The Lord works in mysterious ways" was a cop-out used way too often...

As a child, I lived overseas, and interacted with many different kids from different nations and beliefs (went to an International school). In college, I learned about many different religions, and often studied these on my own. I lived in the Middle East for a couple of years, (I'm still a born and bred American though), way before the recent wars, so I also learned about real muslims vs. the militants we see all too often on TV.

I've been to services in many religions also, sometimes just for curiosity. I've also studied the Bible a lot, as like most religious texts, it is still filled with many parables and history, etc.

Thing is, the more I studied, the more I found that all were basically saying the same thing, the same Golden Rule...Do unto others as you would have done unto you. That's basically my main belief, with all of the rest of it being background filler.

If there is some kind of deity at the end of life, judging us, then no matter who it is, all I can hope for is that this entity considers how well I lived towards that end. The bottom line, is that if someone is right, then most of the rest of the world is wrong. I seriously doubt any of us have it right...so all I can do is what is right for me.

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by The GUT

 

...As a child, I lived overseas, and interacted with many different kids from different nations and beliefs (went to an International school). In college, I learned about many different religions, and often studied these on my own. I lived in the Middle East for a couple of years, (I'm still a born and bred American though), way before the recent wars, so I also learned about real muslims vs. the militants we see all too often on TV.

Funny you mention it, the Muslims I've met in my life have been very kind and impressive folk too. It's never the ordinary folk of any religion/philosophy that seem to be wreaking the havoc and mayhem.

I've met so many peace-loving, kind-hearted people from most of the extant faiths that it's hard to understand how the extremists hijack public perception.

I'm an Air Force brat so I can relate to your experience. You are definitely a thinker.

This rant OP somehow managed to make a right somewhere along the way.

There is no evidence for what? Why so vague?

Just because some people are totally misinformed or uninformed about their own religious texts doesn't mean that the texts are technically incorrect as far as context is concerned especially after thousands of years of mistranslated and lost documents etc.

There have been many fascinating archaeological finds in recent times which have really brought a lot of light upon many subjects found in many many religions worldwide. There really is something more to it than meets the eye, and we are only beginning to get a glimpse into the intricate and complex history of mankind.

More to the point can we remove all stupid threads?

No, on second thoughts, there would be nothing left on ATS.... and you wouldn';t be able to post this either

No way should the topic of religion be pulled from the table. That's the most ignorant suggestion i've heard since people making tinfoil hats lol.

1. Religion is at the heart of many events and actions taken by individuals and groups

2. Your understanding and comprehension of the texts differentiate from individual to individual(on average)

3. The importance that religion has had as being an influential power in the descisions made by leaders all around the world is not to be dissolved.

4. To even to begin to understand the progression of todays events, and the actions of occult groups that have beleifs that contain mystic comprehensions is important to remain relevant on ATS as it is extremely relevant outside of this website.

5. Once you begin to remove the topic of religion, well that's a slipper slope or will have a snowball effect, as the justifications for removing religion from ATS can then be used on many other topics

6. If you dont care to read it, then dont.....

reply to post by ShortMemory


I really think that this thread has run it's course...stop crying and get over it...one of the Top Mods is trying to calm you with excellent points concerning the said "Laws", and you keep thumbing through the by laws to find a loophole to support your need to ban an entire forum.

Getting intense on a subject is in the spirit of ATS...and yours is acknowledged...how about letting others get equally intense about theirs.

You too, are getting dangerously close to inciting members to join a movement to ban a recognized forum. Could be breaking a Law...hmmm?

I don't read posts I am not interested in...oh occasionally I will make a comment, if I feel strongly about a headline. But for the most part if it sounds like you aren't interested move on...maybe some other people on here are...Don't try to be in control of the subject matter here. That's why we have very competent Mods here.

Just enjoy your stay here and make contributing comments on subjects you are interested in ...don't flame those that you are not.


PEACE

Yah, lets move all the people who don't look like us or believe what we do away somewhere.
And lets put wire around them so they can't get out and infect others with their "op-inion".
Better yet lets just gas em all, burn em in ovens and dump their ashes in the river.
There was another time and place where this happened you know.
And it all began because someone objected to someone else's opinion.

ok there were a lot of replies against the idea so i will give you all a general answer:
this is not opinion, nor was it intended to be an emotional argument. it was simply raising contractual agreements and therefore a legal conversation.

Originally posted by ShortMemory
ok there were a lot of replies against the idea so i will give you all a general answer:
this is not opinion, nor was it intended to be an emotional argument. it was simply raising contractual agreements and therefore a legal conversation.

It seems to me that a good many threads on ATS covering a wide variety lf different topics are largely based upon philosophy and speculation. If this site contained only undisputeable facts than it wouldn't be many threads on ATS at all.

I can see where you are comming from and it is a legitimate question but I just don't think that it's that simple.

reply to post by ShortMemory


I really am against "censorship" even if it seems (at least on the surface) as a good idea. Simply because people can still LEARN from even false/bad information. Having a "religion" based forum can grant insight into those type of people and how they think even if you don't believe in it yourself you can learn a lot about THEM, and there are a LOT of "them"...

You don't have to visit the forum or even read the threads, I have found it very easy to navigate through and away from those threads easily. Religions threads usually give themselves away in the title, if not in the first couple sentences which usually quote scripture.

There is value in religion whether you agree with it or not. As most of the planet is religious to some degree it would be beneficial to practice your "debunking" here so when/if you ever come across a situation in your life you will be prepared with an arsenal that JUST might leave the "religious" folks stumped and again relying on absolutely nothing but "faith" to hold their world together...

Originally posted by ShortMemory

Should a majority of ATS threads regarding religion be removed?

I see a lot of religious posts that are for nothing more then solicitation of said religion. They include no factual information and I see no reason for religious propaganda to be spread on a website that prides itself on evidence..

I see a lot of political posts that are for nothing more than the solicitation of said political beliefs, that include no more factual information, and are pure propaganda. Honestly I'd rather have both political and religious discussions here on ATS than take them away...even if they annoy the heck out of me, or outright offend me.

ATS has gotten WAY too Censorship Crazy lately! For instance removing posts that talk about legitimate marijuana legistlation stories. ATS has proven that it's not a place that allows freedom of speech...We should be fighting against that attitude not encouraging it.

I think the religion forum should be kept as a sub-forum.
new posts in it should not show up in the New topics,Newest Flags, and Active topics nor the front page just like
R.A.T.S doesn't show up there
that way there is still a place for members to preach and do whatever they want in regards to religion but it does not end up spamming the rest of the site or front page.
ATS does not need to be a platform for preaching there are numerous forums on the internet that already fulfill
this role.

Originally posted by ELahrairah
I think the religion forum should be kept as a sub-forum.
new posts in it should not show up in the New topics,Newest Flags, and Active topics nor the front page just like
R.A.T.S doesn't show up there
that way there is still a place for members to preach and do whatever they want in regards to religion but it does not end up spamming the rest of the site or front page.
ATS does not need to be a platform for preaching there are numerous forums on the internet that already fulfill
this role.

this is a great idea
if there are any mods still reading this thread please consider this suggestion

There's a huge difference between a discussion about religion and using
every single opportunity, whether relevant or not, to preach, proselytize, or
reply to every post with a wall of bible scripture.

I don't often come to BTS, but lately when I have, I see the majority
of the threads one page 1 of recent posts are from the Religion forum.

Did BTS change to Bible Thumping Site
because sometimes it can be hard to tell.

reply to post by ShortMemory


No! I like hearing all types of crazy theories. After all I even listen to the politics thing, and even much more crazier theories then that, such as the ones that say government's exist for the people, or that it's democrats vs republicans. And don't get me started on the science's, some of them need to do more testing and less theorizing. Little tiny dots a billion light-years from here and they think they see everything= much that they will have to rewrite when they get closer to those dots, or those dots decide to come closer to us.

However there is truth and lie in everything, and even when somebody is reading the same text of any religion or any believe period, it all means different things to different people. And a lot of if is meant to mean and be exactly that, as in the more you learn and experiences about this life, the more sense some of those "religious" things and sayings start to make.