Ken Ham's Opening Day at the Ark. #FAIL only 4000 show up. (zealous, curse)
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I never claimed that we were the only ones. But in times of tragedy, most people are thankful that a spiritual leader is available to not only take care of physical needs, but emotional and spiritual as well. It is so comforting when you have a loved one fighting for their life in surgery, and a pastor is right there for you.
Yep, like a child's blanket. A way to escape the reality of the situation. I guess some people just can't handle life without their blanky. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Ahh playing the indifferent card now, huh? If you didn't care that much, why even bother? You're not going to convince me that my faith is a fiction. Besides when someone treats me with disrespect they lose the right to convince me that anything they say is true.
I'm not playing any 'card'. I really don't care what an anonymous voice on the Internet thinks of me. I've never tried to convince you that your faith is a fiction, either; I have (and many others have) pointed out that the Bible is full of inspiring stories, most of which are fiction. Accepting that doesn't make it bad. It doesn't make the stories any less powerful, or invalidate what they have to teach. It just means that they're not literally true. Take whatever meaning you want from that.
And again, you want respect, but you're unwilling to give respect. One for the other, Jeff: why should we respect you when you're constantly whinging about atheists and blaming atheism and secularism for everything that goes wrong in the world? Don't throw mud at us non-Christians and expect that we won't respond in kind.
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I have no problem agreeing that there are bad apples in every group. I even condemned on this very forum the outrageous Westboro Baptist and the crazy Arizona pastor. At this point, I don't even know what point you are making beyond taking some cheap shots at my character which is usually the last ditch effort to look superior. Like I said, typical condensending bark.
Well, at the very least you're capable of speaking against the snakes in the grass. It's still pretty disingenuous of you to claim secularism and atheism are the 'problem' when members of your own religion do some pretty horrible things in the name of Christ and the Bible.
It actually isn't my intent to be condescending, and I try to be very careful about the tone of my writing. If I sound condescending, I apologize. Remember, though, that you're the one that said that your faith is 'on the front lines', as if you're the only people actually doing anything. That's not condescension, actually, that's the arrogance you accuse me of displaying.
Just for a point of comparison: I've spoken to some very condescending Christians, who mock and ridicule and insult anything that's not their particular brand of faith. Likewise, I've known at least one militant atheist (though I'm pretty sure it was simply a defensive mechanism, as he didn't have a very balanced home life), and I got sick of his constant 'there is no god' when anyone uttered the 'g'-word, even in the context of 'Oh, my god'. I didn't find that 'condescending', honestly -- it was more 'irritating, shrill and repetitive'. Still, if you constantly shove your religion (or lack thereof) in people's faces, they're eventually going to tell you where to put it all.
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I never claimed that we were the only ones. But in times of tragedy, most people are thankful that a spiritual leader is available to not only take care of physical needs, but emotional and spiritual as well. It is so comforting when you have a loved one fighting for their life in surgery, and a pastor is right there for you.
On that much, we can agree. If you're religious, having your fellows around does help. If you're not religious, the same is the case. Anyone is capable of helping and being a friend and bringing comfort, Jeff -- Christianity doesn't have a monopoly on kindness (for the record, I'm not claiming you ever said such a thing. Just pointing out a fact).
Last edited by FredNotBob; 07-25-2017 at 03:32 PM..
Turns out the authorities had in fact encountered the old "Sell the business for $10 to a ministry in my wife's name to avoid taxes" scheme before. Who could have known?
Hey look - Ken Ham decided that when it really, kinda-sorta came down to it (and his precious tax credit was in danger), turning his park into a "ministry" to stiff the town for 50 cents/ticket for emergency services wasn't really the best idea, after all.
This is what I like about a God-fearing, purpose-driven person like Ken Ham - he's firm on principle. OK, so perhaps the principle of "Grab what you can and stiff the local taxpayers" isn't very Biblical, but it is a principle and he is holding very firmly to it.
Is that what you would say to the people who committed suicide today? They are just too weak to handle life?
What would you say to those that committed suicide because they were gay and tired of being harassed/feeling like outsiders and have no place in the world because of religious zealots such as yourself?
Well stated. There are so many Christians on this forum who are not only a delight but a real pleasure to covers with. I have read how the fundamentalists have gained power and corrupted much of the Muslim world, so much so that too many of us in the West think that this fundamentalism is not only typical of Muslims but that this is the way it has always been. One reads of fundamentalist Jews spitting on and harrassing young girls who are simply in their way to school to get an education. And how fundamentalist in the States are constantly undercutting solid science as well as trying to stigmatize higher education that is not based on the way they read the Bible. I think Jeff is angry at all those who stand in the way between his church and having a country that is much like his fellow members, no room for the rest.
That's why I have always said that Christian fundamentalists, the Evangelicals (especially the syncretic Zionist wing), are a bigger threat than ISIL. They're already here in the U.S., have control of one of the two major parties--the Republicans, and are actively pushing their beliefs down non-believers' (mainstream Christian and non-Christian) throats in the social issues that they controversially bring up in their demagoguery.
What would you say to those that committed suicide because they were gay and tired of being harassed/feeling like outsiders and have no place in the world because of religious zealots such as yourself?
That's why I have always said that Christian fundamentalists, the Evangelicals (especially the syncretic Zionist wing), are a bigger threat than ISIL. They're already here in the U.S., have control of one of the two major parties--the Republicans, and are actively pushing their beliefs down non-believers' (mainstream Christian and non-Christian) throats in the social issues that they controversially bring up in their demagoguery.
Totally agree looking in from the outside. But it could happen here too.
What would you say to those that committed suicide because they were gay and tired of being harassed/feeling like outsiders and have no place in the world because of religious zealots such as yourself?
I would tell them to that God loves them and to distant themselves from the LGBT community who promotes harrassing and hatred of Christians. Kinda like this:
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The activists even sent excrement to the pastor's house.
"They sent fecal matter to our house, gay porn to our house. Last night, for instance, someone threatened in a Facebook message to rape me. They said if I disrespect their pride flag they would come pound my behind," he explained. "These people are absolutely horrid. ... These are the types of things a decent human being wouldn't do, regardless of whether they are Christian or not. It was all meant to bully us and try to silence us."
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