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Not just you, sanspeur, but to all of you atheists, why do you respond to those people who you say are just here to stir the pot and get a negative reaction?
Why don't you all have those people on your Ignore lists?
I don't find the ignore feature at all useful.
You can still see the posts when people quote them and the type of people I would want to ignore are generally people who post a LOT.
I've used it on occasion when people really drive me to distraction but it usually doesn't last long
Me too. I have put people on ignore before, but seeing their posts in quotes about you personally seems like a good time to defend oneself. That's all I have been doing. If I don't respond, someone else will and the cycle continues. So, looks like we're all stuck with each other.
I have posters on ignored but not because I do not agree with them or do not like their posts. I place onto my ignore list posters who in my opunion are deleberately trying tonpiss others off. A smaller groyp are poster s who I do not bel ieve they even belief in what they posts. The first on my ignore lust was a car driver who claimed he regularely ran cycl ists off the road but because he has a good lawyer he is never charged.o
I do not believe that the majority of atheists or theists here are intentionally trying to insult others. Maybe I am too trusting or naieve.
Not just you, sanspeur, but to all of you atheists, why do you respond to those people who you say are just here to stir the pot and get a negative reaction?
Why don't you all have those people on your Ignore lists?
Good question.
I have people whose posts are so negative that it depresses me to read it on the ignore list. If they are quoted on the thread the ignore function stops me from responding. Most of the time. It has served me very well.
Would you like to share what you have found out in the time you have been here?
No intended insult and no attacks planned
Sure, of course no problem.
1. As introduction I will relate my experience about going to church as a kid - not that we went that often - but when we did, the thing that I was most puzzled by was this whole idea that people had a personal relationship with Jesus. There used to be comments such as 'taking Jesus hand and walking with him'. Perhaps it was always meant as a metaphor but I have a tendency to take everything literally. I'd look around and people would be nodding in agreement. I couldn't understand it. They were talking about someone that died 2000 years ago. I felt like an outsider looking in - as though everybody understood something that I didn't. This is just an example but I think that was the start of my path to atheism.
I came here to try to understand the nuances of what people believed, why they believed it, IF they indeed did believe it or were they in some ways just 'playing along'?
Quite a big part of me just couldn't really accept that people really DID believe everything they said they believed. If I couldn't believe it, how could they believe it? That's where this forum has really helped me most. It's helped me understand how people tick.
I still cannot see into people's brains so I will never fully understand the experiences people have had.
But after spending time with people on the forum I really do believe people to be sincere and that they really DO believe what they say they believe.
I've really stopped doubting people in that sense and I'm able to accept what people say.
2. I have learned that I have a lot in common with some theists, particularly those who lean towards pantheism or panentheism. They probably don't like me saying this but I think of us like two sides of the same coin. What I call 'nature' or the 'universe', they call god.
Apart from that, there really isn't that much that separates us when you get down to the bones of it.
3. A poster called Woodrow LI was a follower of Islam and had more patience that anyone on earth and would explain everything kindly and patiently. He believed in some pretty out there stuff. But I greatly admired him and I learned from him that we should be respectful of people regardless how 'out there' we think people's beliefs are. I also got over an intolerance of Islam I didn't even realise I had until I met Woodrow. He was a wonderful example of humanity.
4. Similarly I learned from Woodrow and several other posters that we are more that the sum of what religion (or not) we follow. I have probably been pretty scathing in the past of some religious views but I have learned that I don't necessarily need to voice them because they are not necessarily that important to the conversation or what makes up a person.
Those are some of the thing I have learned. I could probably list more but I have to go!
My mother is stil somewhat sharp still but not anywhere as sharp as when she was only in her 80s. She turned 95 this summer
Wow, bless her!
When my mother died at 91, she was survived by an uncle and his wife who both died later that year. They were 96 and had married at 20 when she got pregnant. Died six weeks apart.
When my mother died at 91, she was survived by an uncle and his wife who both died later that year. They were 96 and had married at 20 when she got pregnant. Died six weeks apart.
Mom has a silly goal to live at leasr three and half more years so that shw lived longer than her cousin who she grew up in the same farm. And that would make her the lingest living in her family. Said she us not interested in reaching 100, she living to be older than her cousin had been. Said she was still a bit sharp, did not say she was rational.
I don't remember if my daughter was six or if her cousin was, but the cousin died as a result of head injuries sustained in a car accident. The pastor recited that prayer at her funeral. Then we had to explain to my daughter that she wasn't going to die when she went to sleep at night.
It would have been better if the pastor hadn't done that.
Some people don't understand the difficulty with which kids under the age of about 10 separate fact from fantasy. And it is not just about creepy childhood prayers. My daughter had nightmares for weeks after her 1st grade teacher told the story of Rumplestilskin. To her 6 year old brain, a gnarled little man was going to come into her room and take her away in the night.
I discussed this with a most unreceptive teacher and principal and they seemed totally unconcerned with how this sort of story, told with a lot of, shall we say, enthusiasm, could be a little bit much for such young children. And even if my daughter was an outlier, was it that important not to take this reaction on board for the future? It seems like closing the feedback loop should have been appreciated, but their attitude was just that I was trying to ruin everyone else's fun. As if there are no other ways to have fun or learn anything.
So it isn't just Christians who are attached to these rituals and have no concern with how it effects some people.
And thank you for taking it at face value - and responding in kind. It has been tiring to be suspected of the worst in post after post. I am not a bad person. People even like me
I love science and have great respect for scientists. I am more inclined toward the humanities and philosophy myself and married to an engineer (aerospace research and his papers are still cited which tickles him no end) Most of our close friends and family are in the field of Science and Tech with advanced degrees. So I have a lot of ways to help me understand science, plus looking stuff up as well. Among them 2 of them - both scientists, one teaches high school science for inner city kids, and the other a research scientist at NIH - converted to Christianity. One of them is gay. No atheists I know of. You may see why in my experience there is no conflict between science and religion. I need both in my life.
Would you like to share what you have found out in the time you have been here?
No intended insult and no attacks planned
Thanks cb, good post. And yes, you are very likeable. When you're not picking on me.
My mother is stil somewhat sharp still but not anywhere as sharp as when she was only in her 80s. She turned 95 this summer
That is awesome. I always say that my Mother will outlive all of us, she has taken such good care of herself and everyone else. I'm not like her at all.
I don't find the ignore feature at all useful.
You can still see the posts when people quote them and the type of people I would want to ignore are generally people who post a LOT.
I've used it on occasion when people really drive me to distraction but it usually doesn't last long
My test is always, am I missing out on useful context? It's true that you see what they post when others quote them, but I'm pretty disciplined at ignoring that. I've put several people back off ignore when I find they actually contribute something useful. I've left several on. There's something about seeing four posts in a row from the same person and not having to slog through them that is very satisfying ;-)
Or as an old hymn has it:
Quote:
Blessed quietness, holy quietness
what assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea speaking peace to me
how the billows cease to roll!
Some people only contribute turgid nonsense.
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