Celsus Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Only for viewers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimov Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Honestly, you guys are killin me here. Why are you bothering with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thackerie Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Honestly, you guys are killin me here. Why are you bothering with this? Well, it ended in Amy Marie's account being suspended, so you can't say it was a total waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostOrFound Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 So, both Amy Marie and JS have been sent to their rooms? What happened that caused that? Never mind... I found the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPillAddict Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Honestly, you guys are killin me here. Why are you bothering with this? Well, it ended in Amy Marie's account being suspended, so you can't say it was a total waste of time. thank tha lard! She wasted enough space on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Open_Minded Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Honestly, you guys are killin me here. Why are you bothering with this? Well, it ended in Amy Marie's account being suspended, so you can't say it was a total waste of time. Honestly, that wasn't my intent. But.... well.... I guess it was going to happen one-way-or-the-other. Just one question for all you former fundies out there.... Why did it frighten her so much to explore common ground between non-theistic and theistic experiences? I mean - she said she was trying to find common ground and the minute I move the conversation in a concrete direction of finding common ground - she releases herself from the conversation. Is it fear? And if so, what's so frightening about realizing your part of the human race? And if it wasn't fear, what was it? I'm serious - in asking these questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Well, it ended in Amy Marie's account being suspended, so you can't say it was a total waste of time. Honestly, that wasn't my intent. But.... well.... I guess it was going to happen one-way-or-the-other. Just one question for all you former fundies out there.... Why did it frighten her so much to explore common ground between non-theistic and theistic experiences? I mean - she said she was trying to find common ground and the minute I move the conversation in a concrete direction of finding common ground - she releases herself from the conversation. Is it fear? And if so, what's so frightening about realizing your part of the human race? And if it wasn't fear, what was it? I'm serious - in asking these questions. Bruce had a good point in this, and I think the one major thing that always bothered me. Amy was never interested in an exchange of ideas. She was interested in only sharing hers. I always asked throughout the time she was here if she really ever made any effort to truly understand how we think? I never felt she really did, and that makes me genuinely sad for her. As far was why she was so frightened to explore ideas outside her own beliefs, I humbly refer you over to my thread on Absolutism.... That discussion is likely going to lead to the core of that fear that Absolutism is driven by, and that is Absurdism. P.S. Nice job OM!!!! I guess it goes to show you, it takes a true mystic to humble a hack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thackerie Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 ... Honestly, that wasn't my intent. But.... well.... I guess it was going to happen one-way-or-the-other. Just one question for all you former fundies out there.... Why did it frighten her so much to explore common ground between non-theistic and theistic experiences? I mean - she said she was trying to find common ground and the minute I move the conversation in a concrete direction of finding common ground - she releases herself from the conversation. Is it fear? And if so, what's so frightening about realizing your part of the human race? And if it wasn't fear, what was it? I'm serious - in asking these questions. Well, OM, you made an honest effort. I applaud you for that – and for your patience. (I know I could not have lasted through Round 1 without making a snarky comment.) I can't answer for the fundies. (Never been one and can't understand the mindset), but I believe that Amy had to leave the discussion because it was beyond her intellectually. Not saying that she's stupid, just that she has so restricted her outlook that she can't even allow herself to think in non-theistic ways. Sometimes I feel sorry for her. She seems to have some problems and she seemed like she might be a nice person. But, other times, I wondered if it was just a veneer of niceness compensating for a passive-aggressive personality. The refusal to engage in open two-way discussion, the attempts to evangelize to ex-christians, sidetracking threads by cutting and pasting lyrics to pop songs that had no relevance to the topic, constantly seeking compliments for her artwork, referring to some of us as "vultures" -- none of that was very nice. Oh well, I'm not a psychiatrist; I'm not up to figuring her out. Just wanted to comment that I've found that many fundies seem to be infected by such passive-aggressive traits, so I'm wondering if it's part of the meme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Just one question for all you former fundies out there.... Why did it frighten her so much to explore common ground between non-theistic and theistic experiences? I mean - she said she was trying to find common ground and the minute I move the conversation in a concrete direction of finding common ground - she releases herself from the conversation. Is it fear? And if so, what's so frightening about realizing your part of the human race? And if it wasn't fear, what was it? I'm serious - in asking these questions. Hi O_M, I think it is fear. Whilst I hope I was never as far off the edge as Amy, I do see some echoes of my old thought processes in some of her responses. When one is so entrenched in thinking that you know the truth about something, questioning that 'truth' becomes really scary because everything is built on this notion of the truth and the fear is that life will crumble if you loose your hold on the 'truth'. For example, I had this crazy fear that if God didn't exist in the very literal way and style I had believed, then that would somehow mean that love didn't exist and that was such an awful idea to me. I know this probably sounds crazy. Also I think that certain kinds of belief actually create chemical dependencies in the brain. Prior to my deconversion one of my non christian friends tried to talk to me about what he considered to be symptoms of mental illness in my thought processes. I was so angry with him as a result, he said something like 'your continued belief in a god that talks to you, in tales of magical gardens and talking snakes, in virgin births, in walking on water and bodies raised from the dead is a psychosis too far for a healthy mind' I was incredibly rude and hostile in my response. I also cried buckets. Cognitive dissonance I guess. It frightens me a little when I look back on how I behaved when my fundamentalist beliefs were challenged. Thought your efforts with Amy Marie were wonderful by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Open_Minded Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Thanks Everyone: At times I do feel sorry for Amy, but there have been times she's pushed my buttons as well. When she came out a week ago and posted about her "wedding" to Jesus - I about went through the roof. If not for the calm presence of a friend and many hours on my own roof ripping off shingles - I doubt I would have calmed down. You'd have seen an entirely different tone in my discussion with her. Intellectually I know she can't help herself, but I swear, very often her presence here has seemed like a spiritual masturbation (if there is such a thing). She seems to need the regular and consistent abuse, for some reason. Suffering for Jesus - I imagine. ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 OM..yes, it is fear. But, having been in that mindset..its not so much fear of losing one's own beliefs as it is acknowledging that someone else's might be right. And if theirs is right...then yours cannot be and they won't believe as you do. I know that when I was quite fundie..and obnoxious, I might add..it made me angry when someone disagreed with what I KNEW to be the Truth.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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