[Vetala]

Kind of a mix of a question thread and an opinion poll here, really. What are the insulting terms you've heard (or worse, had thrown at you) by a religious person? Especially one who's beliefs you don't share?

Not only terms specific to Christians are welcome, but from all religions. And perhaps some political related insults as well, if you'd like to throw a few of those in too (for those religionists who like to mix their favourite sect up in a cocktail with their political taste). I'll start it off:

Infidel.
Heretic.
Devil Worshipper.
Evil Witch.
Satanist.

This post has been edited by -Demona-: 18 August 2007 - 01:58 PM

[angel.white]

Some of my Xian friends lovingly call me "hethan" :)

[Japedo]

Evil Godless atheist Liberal... 3 out of the 4 words are true, however, by the way they mean it, I'm Satan incarnate.. :pureevil: :wicked:

[Sexton Blake]

Perhaps we could start a new site : Fundies Say The Nastiest Things.

[white_raven23]

I'm rather fond of Heathen myself.

[R. S. Martin]

white_raven23, on Aug 18 2007, 05:04 PM, said:

I'm rather fond of Heathen myself.

I was gonna say I'm learning to like the terms. Words have no meaning in and of themselves. They're just sounds until you associate them with something. Take for example retard. It's barely legal to express the sound these days. Yet the meaning the term had originally--slow development--has not changed. All the new terms they invent to use instead get the same treatment that retarded got.

Well, I grew up with the idea that Satan was an unspeakable word. You spoke that terrible name in hushed tones so as not to attract his evil eye. And then, a few years ago, I read about Satan worshippers. And they described Satan more like Star of the Morning. "False" and "name-calling" exist in the mind of the beholder, in my opinion.

If I'm going to be called an atheist and heathen, I'm going to learn to like the terms because I like myself. Mainly I just stay away from people who mean is for nasty because I can't handle the attitude.

[Grandpa Harley]

Unitarian seems to rank up with 'Child Molester' on Emerging Church boards...

[Astreja]

angel.white, on Aug 18 2007, 02:15 PM, said:

Some of my Xian friends lovingly call me "hethan" :)

I spell it 'heiðinn', myself. (The ð character, the Icelandic 'eth', is pronounced like 'th' in 'the'.)

And to me, it's a badge of honour. One of the connotations is that the followers of the Old Ways were tossed out of town and had to make a livelihood out in the wastelands while the Christian invaders confiscated all their possessions and lived the high life in town.

[Thurisaz]

-Demona-, on Aug 18 2007, 07:54 PM, said:

What are the insulting terms you've heard (or worse, had thrown at you) by a religious person? Especially one who's beliefs you don't share?

Not only terms specific to Christians are welcome, but from all religions. And perhaps some political related insults as well...

Let's see...

...the only one so far that has been said to me face to face was "blinded by saaataaan". You can tell there aren't morontheists at every corner over here. :fdevil:

As for written form (online)... the standard words that they assume are insulting. Atheist (ha!), ebilushinist, you know the crap.

And deriving from my openly announced faith, yes I've heard the claim already that I must be a neo-fascist scumbag, because after all "everyone knows" that those who honor Thor, Odin and the rest of the Asgard gang are all hitler groupies... :Hmm:

[LordofGondor]

Having been raised by a liberal-minded set of evangelical Christians, the worst thing I've had to deal with is people downplaying my apostasy by likening it to the way a teenager distances himself from his parents during the rebellious years of his life.

I'll count my blessings.

[Marty]

The fundies I work with up north called me a 'recovering Lutheran" one day (they are Baptist, I assume). At first I laughed, but then realized they weren't far off.

"Please, just call me a recovering xtian, it's more accurate" was my response to them. It was greeted with the classic deer in the headlights look.

[Mythra]

Oh, mine is easy.

Christianists see it as a derogatory term. Meant to demean and display disdain for the crass and wordly class of god's rejects.

But to me, it is a compliment.

In fact, I take great pride in this particular term and have developed it into an art form.

SCOFFER.

I think I'll have a bumper sticker made with that single word, in fact.

[Beowulf]

We had one old radio preacher who labeled anyone in disagreement with him as an "infidel who's bound for Hell," complete with lilting rhyme. Of course, this label was applied to both Christians and non-Christians. I kind of miss the old geezer - he was fun to listen to sometimes.

As for me, I hear the term "unchurched" a lot. As the name implies, it refers to those not currently active in church. For most of those concerned about it, unchurched=unsaved.

[Grandpa Harley]

The demise of Short Wave Radio on the back of the Rise of the Internet has removed some of my 'wee small hours' entertainment extreme RXing Bible Belt God channels....

[Beowulf]

Grandpa Harley, on Aug 19 2007, 03:48 PM, said:

The demise of Short Wave Radio on the back of the Rise of the Internet has removed some of my 'wee small hours' entertainment extreme RXing Bible Belt God channels....

You can still find some shortwave loonies, although they are not as plentiful as they used to be. World Wide Christ Radio out of Nashville, TN (www.wwcr.com) at frequency 5.890 has some real crazies left on it. I don't know if you can get that across the pond, or not.

[Grandpa Harley]

Depends on sun spot activity...

[Euthyphro's Thorn]

"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."
-- George W. Bush

[Robbobrob]

Grandpa Harley, on Aug 18 2007, 07:04 PM, said:

Unitarian seems to rank up with 'Child Molester' on Emerging Church boards...

At least that means they are starting to realize who we are.
I find it funny elsewhere when I go on an anti-christian rant, and they come back and say, "but your profile says you are a church going UU". No one takes the time to learn anymore, the world is full of people who have been brought up just to assume things.

There are phrases, particularly on this season of Big Brother, that I am learning to loathe:

"Everything happens for a reason."
"The winner of the game has already been determined."

Can't believe how many times destiny has supposedly stepped in for a couple of the players...and messed the game up royally for others, and themselves.

This post has been edited by Robbobrob: 20 August 2007 - 10:12 AM

[Beowulf]

Euthyphro, on Aug 19 2007, 11:41 PM, said:

"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."
-- George W. Bush

Actually, I think the elder Bush said this in 1987 while still a candidate, not the current president. Regardless, it's pretty amazing that a president would say something like this.

[R. S. Martin]

So when they're counting the votes for their elections, do they throw out the atheist votes? For example, if the margin between Bush and his competitors were made up of atheists, would he have thrown out the atheist votes to allow the other guy to be president?

I know that would be doing wrong by us atheists but I'm trying to think in what way these xians benefit from us. And I guess they benefit when we vote for them. So if they use us when it benefits them, they hardly have the right to say we are not citizens. That's my point.