Lion IRC wrote:Welcome Atomic.

As a former atheist converted to Christianity, you are in good company.

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEESE dont get banned. OK!

There arent many Christians at rationalskepticism.org but all the other rational folk here have been kind enough to let me hang out for a long time (albeit with one or two or three temporary interruptions.)

So once you get the feel of the place I hope you'll like it.

What is the most likely way to get banned? From the new members list it looks like a lot of people do. It would be interesting to know why. - Just curious, not intending to push the envelope.

That list might include spammers and bots. So it could be misleading.

Matt_B wrote:

Sendraks wrote:Welcome aboard.

I'm interested to learn more about what you mean by "ugly atheist baggage" and hopefully this will be explained through your posts.

Perhaps he took exception to one of Richard Dawkins's suitcases?

I should rephrase that so it doesn't sound like I'm dissing atheists, I should have said my habits from when I was an atheist.

My answer to this question may be worth starting a thread. Getting rid of arrogance, condescension, jealousy, fear, resentments, bitterness, prejudice, selfishness and other unattractive (from other people's perspective) behaviors and way of thinking. Christ's call for Christians to love is inconsistent with excesses in these areas. I'm enjoying my life more than I ever did before, and I think I'm much better to be around. I still have a long way to go, but the bit of progress I'm making brings me peace.

arrogance, condescension, jealousy, fear, resentments, bitterness, prejudice, selfishness

None of these are necessarily related to atheism at all, and you'll doubtless find some Christians who are like this. You'll find people everywhere who have these qualities and the opposite.

Well, you did accept the forum users' agreement. Look it up and start breaking the rules set there. Rinse, repeat until you get banned.

That's the painful way. The quick way is to say this, "I'm a troll. Ban me."

Of course, none of us want to see you banned. I, for one, am looking forward to having a pleasant discussion over a cup of virtual tea.



Yeah, we don't have a tea smiley.

Kazaman wrote:

arrogance, condescension, jealousy, fear, resentments, bitterness, prejudice, selfishness

None of these are necessarily related to atheism at all, and you'll doubtless find some Christians who are like this. You'll find people everywhere who have these qualities and the opposite.

Point well taken. That's why I changed the wording in my profile.

Corke wrote:Well, you did accept the forum users' agreement. Look it up and start breaking the rules set there. Rinse, repeat until you get banned.

That's the painful way. The quick way is to say this, "I'm a troll. Ban me."

Of course, none of us want to see you banned. I, for one, am looking forward to having a pleasant discussion over a cup of virtual tea.



Yeah, we don't have a tea smiley.

I did see the user's agreement. Is the no "preaching" rule applied equitably, or is it something to fear if one quotes scripture in an analytical discussion?

Thanks for the welcome! Have a cold one on me.

Lion IRC wrote:Welcome Atomic.

As a former atheist converted to Christianity, you are in good company.

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEESE dont get banned. OK!

There arent many Christians at rationalskepticism.org but all the other rational folk here have been kind enough to let me hang out for a long time (albeit with one or two or three temporary interruptions.)

So once you get the feel of the place I hope you'll like it.

Enoch Powell is good company indeed. For a very specific set of people.

Atomic wrote:present day skeptic, and Christian believer

How does that work, then?

Incidentally, there's no requirement to disagree respectfully. Around here, it's considered de rigueur to disagree most disrespectfully, as long as the disrespect is only aimed at the ideas.

I respect people far too much to respect the idiotic shit they believe.

Atomic wrote:

Corke wrote:Well, you did accept the forum users' agreement. Look it up and start breaking the rules set there. Rinse, repeat until you get banned.

That's the painful way. The quick way is to say this, "I'm a troll. Ban me."

Of course, none of us want to see you banned. I, for one, am looking forward to having a pleasant discussion over a cup of virtual tea.



Yeah, we don't have a tea smiley.

I did see the user's agreement. Is the no "preaching" rule applied equitably, or is it something to fear if one quotes scripture in an analytical discussion?

Thanks for the welcome! Have a cold one on me.

Oh, you can quote scripture no problem. Everyone does it here all the time. In fact, in our Mafia games, as one of the punishments for not voting, the player has to speak in bible verses for the entire day.

Preaching goes more along the lines of, "The Lord God loves you. Accept his grace and redeem yourself." Not only is that right on the bottom end of the intellectual contribution scale, but what the fuck do you say to that?

Corke wrote:what the fuck do you say to that?

'I don't believe you.'

hackenslash wrote:

Corke wrote:what the fuck do you say to that?

'I don't believe you.'

Yeah, but then they keep preaching because a) they already knew that and b) they think it's their God-given duty to convert you.

Also, 'I don't believe you' doesn't quite manage to convey the sheer, mind-melting irritation one experiences when confronted with a wall of preachy drivel. I'm glad that bit is in the FUA, because it saves me from telling them to fuck off.