I'm using an apt metaphor to make a joke, not insulting anyone or making any sort of argument. You see the joke as insulting and argumentative because the apt metaphor triggers some self-realization that puts you on the defensive... consider why.
When the punchline of your joke is essentially "your religion is fake and you're stupid for believing it" you can't claim that you had no intention to insult anyone or make an argument. If you're going to mock a religion and the people that follow it at least have the common courtesy to stand by your statement and not blame people for seeing it for what it plainly is. You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
"your religion is fake and you're stupid for believing it"
Your words, no one else's, but if you find truth in them, that's fine with me.
I don't think that's the punchline, by the way, nor do I think it's a criticism of Christianity per se, humorous or otherwise. It points out, in an extremely mild way, that the people who insist on inserting "prayers" in every Facebook post, forum message and email signature are talking into a void, as most of humanity doesn't share their religion. It's worthwhile to remind Christian proselytizers that their messages are no more "valid" or "meaningful" than any other religions' and that this might something to think about before strapping on the preachy loudspeaker. If you would find it weird to hear from someone that they are burning calf bones on your behalf to placate Zeus, then you shouldn't be surprised that they find it a little weird you've decided to pray to Jesus on their behalf for some reason.
Can't we just let a well-meant thought be a well-meant thought? There's no way that I've thought of yet to think that "I'll pray for you" deserves backlash.
Fishbone do you exist solely to troll kalbahamut? I have seen a few of your comments now all declaring that kal has lost an argument and nothing else except maybe a casual insult.
First time I've noticed this person but yes my head is so full of thoughts of how amazing I am that I am much too stupid to understand that I got owned by the guy snootily ranking forms of humor so as to make themselves feel superior to someone making a joke they disagree with. He's totally got me pegged.
TWM03, I call 'em like I see 'em. thanks for noticing that I give opinions (both good and bad). Kal has enough trolls already and knows how to put on his big boy pants, he doesn't need me.
You scored 16/66 = 24%. Sad that I only remembered this many books. Proud that I haven't wasted time memorizing more because religion is a waste of time.
What TW said. If you're waiting to figure things out until you're dead, by the time you have the opportunity to figure out you've been wrong all along it will be too late and you'll never realize it.
I wouldnt say relationships with imaginary people is a waste of time. It helps a lot of people through tough times and I am not talking about just religion. But like kids from an abusive family and stuff like that, they make up a friend, a safe place so to speak.
I am also not sure if knowing about religion is important, definitely not necesarry. Not more or less necesarry than knowing all the plantnames or cities in another country. It cán be usefull. But you can get along just fine not knowing anything about it.
really? I'm quite sure that religion has a much greater impact on the world than the names of the planets. Even as obviously made up as it is, it still informs a great deal of human behaviors, interactions, psychology, customs and laws.
As the religion basis is usually having a deity, if religion isn’t a waste of time, then, what you said, “imaginary friend” is not a waste of time. No offense, of course.
Lately I feel like I've spotted more and more old threads that must have previously contained some years-old comments by me that just recently went missing... like here... what is Conservatopia even responding to originally? And why nix it? It couldn't have been that bad if it stood for four years. It just makes the series of follow-up comments confusing. QM or someone got mad at me one day and started going through and deleting comments I guess.... or... they're just generally fed up with me at this point and now whenever anyone reports one of my years-old comments for being offensive or insulting... instead of ignoring the frivolous complaints... he's started deleting the old comments. To the detriment of the site. Whatever. I have no idea what my original comment here was that Conservatopia was replying to... but I can't imagine a bigger waste of time than a relationship with an imaginary friend.
It's good to see that after nearly a decade on this site you're still the same self-righteous and insufferable ponce. Just because other people are religious doesn't mean you should go abundantly out of your way to mock them and their religion, or act surprised and offended when your uncivil comments are taken down. Perhaps you should learn to turn the other cheek...? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If we're Christians and it doesn't pan out in the end, oh well. We can say we tried to live a good life and care for others, been loyal to our family and tried to make the world a better place.
If we're not Christians, though, and we show up on the doorstep of heaven, then we're in big trouble.
Pascal's Wager is so deeply flawed that it is a completely bogus argument, and it is very insulting and naive of you to say that people who are not christian are unable to "care for others, be loyal to their family and try to make the world a better place"
You have to admit, respect for an almighty deity's wishes is a lot better of a reason to act a certain way than "just because."
Pascal's Wager is only concerned with logic. I don't particularly like how it doesn't address that faith is not just a one time ticket to salvation. Christianity is a relationship with God, not something you do purely for your own benefit. That pretty much takes the point out of it. I think Pascal's Wager is an overrated Christian apologetic piece, and might help to cement an already existing and healthy faith, not build it.
You can do all those things without being Christian. Many people do, and they do it without subjugating or degrading homosexuals, women, and other "heathens." If there is a God who is in any way like the Christian conception, I think he'd be smart enough to know the difference between genuine believers and people who just shrugged and said "Well, what do I have to lose?" That's a bit like saying to someone you're dating, "Well, you're not great, but I don't think I could do better, so..."
I would suggest looking up the article on Pascal's Wager at RationalWiki. It's hilarious, in addition to being extremely thorough in its logical debunking.
Please look up the word abuse and come back. An eight year old knowing a list of things isn't abuse unless they were actually abused in the process of learning said list of things. Just because you don't like the subject the things in question are in relation to doesn't mean it was abuse. Grow up.
I was abused?! Here I thought my learning environment was trying to teach me by helping me to learn facts. I'll never teach a child any relevant information again. In fact, I'll devote my life to un-learning english. This is goodbye.
It doesn't give a date for Christ's birth, just as it doesn't say how many wise men there were, and it certainly doesn't mention a Christmas tree in the desert land nor tell about Santa Claus. Not all our Christmas traditions come from the Bible. I have no problems with celebrating arbitrarily assigned days to honor Christ's birth, death, and resurrection, nor do I have a problem with celebrating traditions that were integrated from other cultures or pagan celebrations, such as Christmas trees, Easter eggs, etc I celebrate both the religious holidays and some of the secular traditions. There are sects of Christianity who do not celebrate Christmas for reasons such as the one you mentioned, and I have no problem with them, either. I've never had anyone tell me I can't celebrate the religious holiday, but if it happened, then that I would have a problem with. To those of you who celebrate this time of year, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and/or Happy Holidays to all.
The days aren't actually arbitrary, but they come from pagan tradition predating Christianity. And I have no problem with Christians assigning significance to the date, either, or taking older traditions and putting their own spin on them. And I certainly don't take any issue with the idea that there should be a day where people try to be nicer to each other or celebrate family or generosity or other stuff like that. Just a bit of fun, on all sides of this comment.
Nowhere. Apparently, archaeological studies say that Jesus was born in a period correspondent to the month of October. I believe it was this date by convention of the Catholics, and the date stayed like that, although we celebrate Jesus’s birthday everyday.
There is no archaeological evidence that Jesus was ever born at all, let alone that indicates which month he was born. The simple fact of the matter is we do not know and likely never will. But there were holidays set near the the winter solstice long before the first century AD. When Christianity became a Roman religion, it co-opted many pagan Roman holidays and traditions.
According to the bible, Jesus was murdered when he was 33 and 1/2 years old. Since his arrest was effected sometime after he celebrated the last supper (Passover dinner) with his apostles,
and as the Passover is always celebrated in either later March or early April, counting six months from April would bring us to October. Thus, it is likely that Jesus was born sometime in October, while it was still warm enough for the shepherds to be out in the field with their flock.
It's warm enough in Israel for shepherds to sleep outside all year. Especially 2000 years ago when people weren't accustomed to indoor climate controls. And Jesus was executed as a criminal, according to tradition, not murdered.
Pilate admitted there was no basis for his execution. Since he wasn't a criminal in that sense, it is fair to say he was murdered. And his crucifixion was not traditional. There were many things that were done differently with the intent to cause more pain and suffering than usual.
You believe that a civilization that executed criminals by nailing them to elevated posts and slowly letting them die agonizing deaths to sepsis, exposure, dehydration and/or animal predation is concerned about the humane treatment of political prisoners and traitors to the empire? You've been sold a bill of goods, man.
Except that that isn't how they executed other criminals. Crucifixion involved tying people to the cross, not nailing them. And it didn't involve beating them while making them carry their own cross through the streets, placing a crown of thorns on their heads, whipping them repeatedly while spitting on them and calling them names, piercing their sides with a spear. Of course, if you believe the Bible is just a book of fictional stories then this argument won't mean anything to you. But, as written, you have to acknowledge that Jesus' crucifixion was anything but normal.
Also, I didn't say that Jesus' death being a murder vs a criminal death sentence had anything to do with which method was more humane. It had to do with Jesus' treatment being intentionally more brutal and more specifically Pilate's admission that he could find nothing Jesus was guilty of. Again, he wasn't a criminal, so that makes this a murder.
I think it's fair to say a person who was killed without legal reason on the whims of a mob was murdered. The way I'm looking at this is killing someone with a lethal injection, or an electric chair is automatically an execution according to this thought process.
Pilate said that he found no reason for crucifix Jesus. He could basically say a “f*** up” to the people who pressuring for the crucifix of Jesus, and release Him, but was everything already “consummate”. If not by that we wouldn’t be free of the sin (although we still sin), and have the chance of live with God in the heaven.
Know them all in danish, but struggled real hard with the english names and spelling. Got them all however, except Ecclesiastes and Lamentations, which are called something entirely different in danish.
Would God give you credit for knowing the names of nearly all the books of the Bible in some language that the books weren't originally written in and isn't your first language? What sort of credit would he give you? Do you think I should learn them in as many languages as possible? Do some languages count more than others? I wonder if God would give me credit for learning languages generally...
To answer your question, TWM03. But your consistently smug apathy for everything to do with Christianity along with your desire to make that apathy known to every person on Jetpunk was in equally poor taste.
Average score is 41, wow I thought I was pretty average with 10.. I guess mainly religious people (or with religious upbringing) took this quiz and others avoided it.
Damn, super tough for someone who's not Christian or from a Christian family. I did read it for some basic understanding at some point but I didn't really pay attention to the book names. 26/66 isn't even close to average but I feel like I performed fairly well. Many of those were guesses though.
Your words, no one else's, but if you find truth in them, that's fine with me.
I don't think that's the punchline, by the way, nor do I think it's a criticism of Christianity per se, humorous or otherwise. It points out, in an extremely mild way, that the people who insist on inserting "prayers" in every Facebook post, forum message and email signature are talking into a void, as most of humanity doesn't share their religion. It's worthwhile to remind Christian proselytizers that their messages are no more "valid" or "meaningful" than any other religions' and that this might something to think about before strapping on the preachy loudspeaker. If you would find it weird to hear from someone that they are burning calf bones on your behalf to placate Zeus, then you shouldn't be surprised that they find it a little weird you've decided to pray to Jesus on their behalf for some reason.
The Lord knows those that are His.
I am also not sure if knowing about religion is important, definitely not necesarry. Not more or less necesarry than knowing all the plantnames or cities in another country. It cán be usefull. But you can get along just fine not knowing anything about it.
If we're Christians and it doesn't pan out in the end, oh well. We can say we tried to live a good life and care for others, been loyal to our family and tried to make the world a better place.
If we're not Christians, though, and we show up on the doorstep of heaven, then we're in big trouble.
Pascal's Wager is only concerned with logic. I don't particularly like how it doesn't address that faith is not just a one time ticket to salvation. Christianity is a relationship with God, not something you do purely for your own benefit. That pretty much takes the point out of it. I think Pascal's Wager is an overrated Christian apologetic piece, and might help to cement an already existing and healthy faith, not build it.
It comes in handy... although not for spelling. :P
kidding... Merry Christmas, JetPunkers
Merry (late) Christmas for you also :)
and as the Passover is always celebrated in either later March or early April, counting six months from April would bring us to October. Thus, it is likely that Jesus was born sometime in October, while it was still warm enough for the shepherds to be out in the field with their flock.
Also, I didn't say that Jesus' death being a murder vs a criminal death sentence had anything to do with which method was more humane. It had to do with Jesus' treatment being intentionally more brutal and more specifically Pilate's admission that he could find nothing Jesus was guilty of. Again, he wasn't a criminal, so that makes this a murder.
If it were only one, then it would be Psalm. (Check your nearest bible)