Guest Ronin Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I recently tried to get this die hard christian at my job the other day to check out a few scenes from Bill Maher's documentary "Religulous". Now get this, he sends me e-mails and criticizes me for not reading them and for not applying Christianity to my life. So I started to read his e-mails even though I know that they won't turn me back into a Christian. So I decided to send him a youtube link to watch some scenes from Religulous. Do u know what he told me when I saw him at work? HE DIDN'T WATCH IT. Well actually I think he watched a few minutes of it and cut it off because he described Bill Maher as a liberal who only asks religious questions for the purpose of ridicule rather than asking questions so he can accept Christ. So basically u can say that my co-worker didn't watch it. Now why is it that he wants to criticize me for not reading all his e-mails, not goung 2 church, and not reading the Bible but yet when I try to get him to watch a anti-christian documentary, he boldly refuses to watch all or even most of it. This shows u just how closed minded christians really are. They just use that lame excuse of "because the Bible says so" to defend their beliefs. Well I don't just use ancient books to defend my perspective of life. I use everyday life experiences. And after 18 years of applying Christianity to my life ( I'm 27 now ) I came to realize that Christianity just doesn't work, so therefore I need to convert to another lifestyle ( I'll explain more on my conversion in another topic ) I'll admit that I use to hate Bill Maher back in my Christian days. I was a young guy who use to stay up late and every once in a while I would keep the TV on ABC to check out his late night show at the time only for the purpose of seeing how much more of a fool Bill Maher was going to make of his self by criticizing Christianity. But as I grew older and and Morpheus came to unplug me from the Christian Matrix, I realized that Bill Maher was actually a wise man and he made a lot of sense. He's just trying to explain that Christianity is not a true form of spirituality, its a deception used to keep people from rebelling against the government and its also used to help some people make themselves feel superior to others. But these Christians just refuse to hear u. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yask Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 "People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." ~Dave Barry, Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn Well, you could always email the Fundy a link to evilbible.com, after you share a few of these verses with him. Preceded by a statement that if he believes everything in the Bible is true and obeys god's word, that he should commence to living up to his claims, or accept he's a hypocrite. Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7 And close with a directive to cease and desist proselytizing to you as this is work, not a church! Else he'll also be in violation of god's word even for that. KJV) 2 John 1:10-11 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ronin Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Hmmm, I never heard of that evilbible site, I'll go have a look at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 Well, he has da way, da twoof & da wife, so why should he wisten to another view? But yeah, most religious people who want you to understand their views don't care one bit about understanding your views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 You could also ignore his emails (if he is someone you prefer to maintain a work rapport with), or tell him to f*ck off (if you don't care to maintain a good rapport). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ronin Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I could ignore his e-mails, but let me tell u my friend, that shit is too funny. I'm gonna share his views with u guys on this site. site. Just to start u all off, he says that he has proof that the world is gonna end in less than 10 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpudd1n Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Christianity is such a sickness. You know, I used to think it was a bit of an alienating experience being a Christian. But deconverting? That's a whole new ball game! I only finally deconverted fully last weekend, and it took one year to get me to admit to my dad (he adopted me three years ago and is a pagan) that I had doubts, then it was another year to consciously stop going to church, though I'd been avoiding it for the previous year, and yet another year to finally deconvert. Though I had doubts, a full-frontal attack would have only made me feel threatened and make me dig in my heels and become obstinate. My dad took the gentle approach with me, and softly made me realise that I was safe to discuss religion in the first place. He would tell me about his beliefs and discuss why he didn't like religion in general, without criticising or challenging my beliefs directly. I don't think you'll get anywhere with this guy until he sees you on a human level, and not as someone trying to attack his beliefs. That doco you tried to show him I would not have recommended, as it is just too much for someone in that mindset to handle all in one go. They will just go into self-preservation mode. There was one scripture which was a bit of an unravelling point for me. I couldn't tell you where exactly it is in the new testament, but it says "work out thy own salvation with fear and trembling". I took that to mean question. Question everything. Examine and scrutinise EVERYTHING, and not to blindly believe what anyone, even a minister, told me. And from that verse, I ended up here. Deconverted. I don't think anyone deconverts overnight. But you can always, softly and gently, at least start planting those seeds of doubt. Oh, and if you can find some common ground, some interests in common outside of religion, you may have a better chance of getting in his ear good luck with it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonForever Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 I don't think you'll get anywhere with this guy until he sees you on a human level, and not as someone trying to attack his beliefs So true - and even moreso he has to come to a point where he realizes that you probably have as good a reason to disbelieve as he does to believe. It's somewhere along the lines of John Loftus's Outsider Test of Faith. A Christian has to be willing to step out their cultural bias and recognize that people who believe other things are no smarter/dumber/chosen or unchosen than they are. They have to be willing to be shown wrong. Most aren't willing to make their faith vulnerable to that sort of scrutiny. Until your friend does, it's head/brickwall time. Oh, the verse you're looking for... Philippians 2:12-13 - (12)Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (13)for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpudd1n Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Thanks so much for clarifying the verse, Toon The thing I love the most about this forum is how many people are on it that I can learn from. It really excites me. I threw out my bibles, but I kind of wish I hadn't now, as I'd like to read it again without having the wool of christianity over my eyes. I'm going to have to go get a bible now lol. It's going to feel so weird walking into the christian bookshop as a non-believer lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 I could ignore his e-mails, but let me tell u my friend, that shit is too funny. I'm gonna share his views with u guys on this site. Well as long as you can still laugh about it... Seriously now, when trying to debate with a morontheist (rare as it is for me nowadays), I always do my best to see them as what they are: Full-blown, real citizens of Orwell's Oceania. Anyone who can't imagine that people can really be forced to apply Orwellian doublethink and crimestop to their thoughts just needs to take a closer look at morontheists to see the error of her point of view. It's all there already - and in a way, BB is here already too, in the form of jebus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 ...I then ask, 'Which one is extortion?' If they try to back peddle, I give them the definition of extortion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extortion ...of course they will just redefine the term for themselves, in a way that basically says "extortion is anything that we and our cult don't do!", just like a certain Western government did with the definition of torture some years ago... but one can still have a laugh pointing the morontheists to the cheap and ludicrous nature of that copout Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thanks so much for clarifying the verse, Toon The thing I love the most about this forum is how many people are on it that I can learn from. It really excites me. I threw out my bibles, but I kind of wish I hadn't now, as I'd like to read it again without having the wool of christianity over my eyes. I'm going to have to go get a bible now lol. It's going to feel so weird walking into the christian bookshop as a non-believer lol. Why? Why waste you money? With commentary: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ Without commentary: http://www.biblegateway.com/ I recommend the one with commentary. If you must spend your money on a book then make it a good book rather than the Bible. Have you read Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavis and Elliot Aronson? Much better than reading a Bible. But that is faint praise for most books are better than reading a Bible! If you absolutely must spend your money on a Bible there is a new Catholic one out that has alternative endings. They did not decide which manuscript was "authentic" so they included multiple texts from several manuscript versions. Sorry the exact name slips my mind but Catholic Bible stores should help. I also find it interesting how the Catholic Old Testament holds a wider selection. MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpudd1n Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thanks so much for clarifying the verse, Toon The thing I love the most about this forum is how many people are on it that I can learn from. It really excites me. I threw out my bibles, but I kind of wish I hadn't now, as I'd like to read it again without having the wool of christianity over my eyes. I'm going to have to go get a bible now lol. It's going to feel so weird walking into the christian bookshop as a non-believer lol. Why? Why waste you money? With commentary: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ Without commentary: http://www.biblegateway.com/ I recommend the one with commentary. If you must spend your money on a book then make it a good book rather than the Bible. Have you read Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Carol Tavis and Elliot Aronson? Much better than reading a Bible. But that is faint praise for most books are better than reading a Bible! If you absolutely must spend your money on a Bible there is a new Catholic one out that has alternative endings. They did not decide which manuscript was "authentic" so they included multiple texts from several manuscript versions. Sorry the exact name slips my mind but Catholic Bible stores should help. I also find it interesting how the Catholic Old Testament holds a wider selection. MM Thanks for that, MM I'll go and have a look at them The only reason I did want a bible (I will be getting other books, too), is that I will be having the conversation myself with my sister in a few months. As my sister is a baptist, a bible would be way more effective. Especially one with notes, etc. in my own handwriting. But the Annotated bible would most likely help there, as I am no theologian If I got a book that was not the bible and held it up, well, all I'd get was, "that's not God's true word, it's written by someone who hates God and wants to turn everyone against him, they're going to hell..." and so on and so forth. I will put Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) on my wishlist at Betterworld Books, so I don't forget it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 The only reason I did want a bible (I will be getting other books, too), is that I will be having the conversation myself with my sister in a few months. As my sister is a baptist, a bible would be way more effective. Oh I get it. Well in that case you should find out what she considers a Bible. The Catholic one I mentioned would probably be useless to you. You need one your sister believes is real. Ask her to recommend a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackpudd1n Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 The only reason I did want a bible (I will be getting other books, too), is that I will be having the conversation myself with my sister in a few months. As my sister is a baptist, a bible would be way more effective. Oh I get it. Well in that case you should find out what she considers a Bible. The Catholic one I mentioned would probably be useless to you. You need one your sister believes is real. Ask her to recommend a good one. The NIV should be fine. She's not a fan of the KJV, because she always struggled with English as it was (she is about to complete a degree in Mathematics), and I'm pretty sure she doesn't appreciate the newer translations, mainly because she's used the NIV for so long and it's familiar to her. And as for the Catholic bible, well, we were raised that the Catholics had it all wrong to begin with, worshiped idols, and weren't saved, especially because we were taught that there is no point baptising a baby/child, as they are innocent anyway; baptism had to occur after salvation, which was made as a conscious decision, and generally not before the age of at least 8. So yeah, if I rocked up with a Catholic bible, she would probably freak out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts