Why Won't Thumbelina Be Truthful About Herself?

[mcdaddy]

Thumby, you're a sweet person for the most part, but your beliefs are BATSHITFUCKINGINSANE AND IN NO WAY CORRESPOND TO REALITY.

[ShackledNoMore]

The thing about SDAs is, they feel ostracized from the main denominations, sort of like Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses do. They are relatively new Christian denominations that started out as cults in the latter 19th century. SDAs are still cultish in some ways, so it's uncomfortable to admit their membership when the other Protestants look down on them for being "weird".

 

And it still doesn't make sense to me. Really, Thumb's beliefs or SDA beliefs are no more or less loony than those of other xians with a similar degree of literal blind faith. If anything makes some xians "weirder" than others, it's that some try to deny reality more while others try to jump through more hoops and make more concessions to try to better align their myths to what we actually know about the world. Maybe other protestants think SDAs are weird, but all I see is a black pot and a black kettle.

[mymistake]

The thing about SDAs is, they feel ostracized from the main denominations, sort of like Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses do. They are relatively new Christian denominations that started out as cults in the latter 19th century. SDAs are still cultish in some ways, so it's uncomfortable to admit their membership when the other Protestants look down on them for being "weird".

 

And it still doesn't make sense to me. Really, Thumb's beliefs or SDA beliefs are no more or less loony than those of other xians with a similar degree of literal blind faith. If anything makes some xians "weirder" than others, it's that some try to deny reality more while others try to jump through more hoops and make more concessions to try to better align their myths to what we actually know about the world. Maybe other protestants think SDAs are weird, but all I see is a black pot and a black kettle.

 

Substitue the word "uncool" for "weird". Now imagine that all of Christianity is a high school. The Christian "jocks" mock and ridicule the Chrisitan "band geeks". SDA denominations are despised by most Christians. So that gives SDA members low self esteme and self image problems.

 

One way of coping when you have been shuned by most Christians is to find a bunch of ex-Chrsitians and shun them. It repeates the cycle of abuse so that one does not feel that they are on the bottom of the food chain.

 

As in: "Sure, Baptists think I am a heretic but I found the real heretics and I sure gave them a piece of God's mind!"

[ShackledNoMore]

I suppose, but it still seems odd to me. This doesn't seem to keep other unpopular minority sects, such as JWs, from identifying themselves as the One True Christian Church^TM. Band geeks don't harbor the delusion that they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and that they should not hide their lamp under a bushel (not that jocks who deride band geeks are the salt or light of the high school--they are not). For many xians it seems that the delusion that they are the elect strengthens their resolve to promote their own church community, to the point of their wearing their affiliation as a badge of honor, even as it plays in with their persecution complex. Of course the reality is, that most adults who are not in high school (christianity) at all don't buy into the ridicule of band geeks by jocks. We are not protestants here, we are non-believers in christianity, and that's part of what I can't grok even though I understand the explanation offered: it seems to me that a representative of a loony offshoot sect here, wouldn't have it any better or worse than a representative of loony mainstream sect.

 

Of course I could be wrong about all this. Ever hear of the Church with No Name? It has me wondering now if your explanation comes into play for them, too. If so, the SDAs might have an unlikely connection with them. Sheesh. Makes me wonder what it's like to be an SDA.

[agnosticator]

And it still doesn't make sense to me. Really, Thumb's beliefs or SDA beliefs are no more or less loony than those of other xians with a similar degree of literal blind faith. If anything makes some xians "weirder" than others, it's that some try to deny reality more while others try to jump through more hoops and make more concessions to try to better align their myths to what we actually know about the world. Maybe other protestants think SDAs are weird, but all I see is a black pot and a black kettle.

 

We are not protestants here, we are non-believers in christianity, and that's part of what I can't grok even though I understand the explanation offered: it seems to me that a representative of a loony offshoot sect here, wouldn't have it any better or worse than a representative of loony mainstream sect.

......................Makes me wonder what it's like to be an SDA.

 

None of this makes sense, because you are an outsider much like I was before I was involved with SDAs. In a nutshell: They try to maintain a group image of innocence and meekness (pacifists, non-violent). They see themselves as the True Church, but with much fear of being labelled a cult. Historically, they WERE accused of being a cult by the mainstream, so their behavior is low key as a group and as individuals. Vegetarianism, Sabbath worship, and E. G. White as their Prophetess are the main doctrines that forge their identity.

 

But, their upbringing isolates them from society (it's changing, though). They have their own school system and hospitals. They mostly work within their organizations throughout their lives. Many I've known are innocent in an almost child-like way, due to being separate from most of the mainstream society. The traditional conservative ones nowadays don't watch TV or movies, dance, smoke, or drink. There are liberal ones who chuck almost every belief after the culture shock wore off. They escaped the cocoon and enjoy the freedom. I call them "cultural" Adventists because they claim to be SDAs, but you wouldn't know it.

 

I wouldn't want to be raised an SDA. They believe insulting children from society is a good thing, but it doesn't work. They have their share of problems just like everyone else. The interesting thing is, the denomination has shriveled within the USA and grown wildly in third world countries.

[agnosticator]

They believe insulting children from society is a good thing, but it doesn't work.

 

OOPs!!!!! I just saw this typo:

 

read-insulating

[duderonomy]

"Some? Who are these 'some'? Thumbelina doesn't say who these mysterious 'some' are."

 

Hi all. I haven't been here in a long time, so I don't know any of you. After reading this thread, I have to ask, has Thumbelina ever said she's SDA? Did she say that she thinks Heaven is in Orion's belt?

If not, then what's the big deal? Why does everyone feel the need to either assume that she is or pigeonhole her into something manageable? Do you want her to retreat to some camp somewhere so you can attack the camp leader? That seems silly to me.

Maybe she just believes what she believes. Maybe the 'some people' she speaks of are the the same as the 'they' and 'them' we hear and speak of so often.

"Some people believe that Heaven is in their underpants. Some people believe that Heaven is in someone else's underpants", or so they say (as it were).

 

I know I'm in the Lion's Den. I used to have some fun here many moons ago, and it could be that I'm butting in out of place. Am I?

[mymistake]

"Some? Who are these 'some'? Thumbelina doesn't say who these mysterious 'some' are."

 

Hi all. I haven't been here in a long time, so I don't know any of you. After reading this thread, I have to ask, has Thumbelina ever said she's SDA? Did she say that she thinks Heaven is in Orion's belt?

If not, then what's the big deal? Why does everyone feel the need to either assume that she is or pigeonhole her into something manageable? Do you want her to retreat to some camp somewhere so you can attack the camp leader? That seems silly to me.

Maybe she just believes what she believes. Maybe the 'some people' she speaks of are the the same as the 'they' and 'them' we hear and speak of so often.

"Some people believe that Heaven is in their underpants. Some people believe that Heaven is in someone else's underpants", or so they say (as it were).

 

I know I'm in the Lion's Den. I used to have some fun here many moons ago, and it could be that I'm butting in out of place. Am I?

 

Thumbilina has earned a special place in our hearts. She worked very hard at it. It's a special treatment that very few receive. This isn't about what she believes so much as what she does. If some other Christian wants to come here, hang out and talk about something besides religion that is fine with me. Thumbilina can do that too if it ever interests her.

[♦ ficino ♦]

"Some? Who are these 'some'? Thumbelina doesn't say who these mysterious 'some' are."

 

Hi all. I haven't been here in a long time, so I don't know any of you. After reading this thread, I have to ask, has Thumbelina ever said she's SDA? Did she say that she thinks Heaven is in Orion's belt?

If not, then what's the big deal? Why does everyone feel the need to either assume that she is or pigeonhole her into something manageable? Do you want her to retreat to some camp somewhere so you can attack the camp leader? That seems silly to me.

Maybe she just believes what she believes. Maybe the 'some people' she speaks of are the the same as the 'they' and 'them' we hear and speak of so often.

"Some people believe that Heaven is in their underpants. Some people believe that Heaven is in someone else's underpants", or so they say (as it were).

 

I know I'm in the Lion's Den. I used to have some fun here many moons ago, and it could be that I'm butting in out of place. Am I?

Hey, welcome back, Dude!

[duderonomy]

"This isn't about what she believes so much as what she does." What does she do?

"If some other Christian wants to come here, hang out and talk about something besides religion that is fine with me." Who made you God? I hope everything meets with your approval, and have you read what the 'Lion's Den' is all about?

[duderonomy]

"Hey, welcome back, Dude!"

 

Thanks.

[mymistake]

Who made you God?

 

So you jump into the middle of a complicated situation and fire off a bunch of off-the-wall ideas. If somebody takes the time to answer your questions you demand to know who made them God. Okay, whatever.

[bornagainathiest]

"This isn't about what she believes so much as what she does." What does she do?

"If some other Christian wants to come here, hang out and talk about something besides religion that is fine with me." Who made you God? I hope everything meets with your approval, and have you read what the 'Lion's Den' is all about?

 

Hi Duderonomy!

 

Perhaps I can help out here?

 

If you read this...

http://www.ex-christ...e/page__st__420

... you'll discover a number things about Thumbelina. (You need only read from page 22 onwards.)

 

First, you'll see that the Antlerman has had enough of her relentless preaching. He's patiently, politely and repeatedly asked her to stop preaching, to come down off her soapbox and to engage with him (and the rest of us) on a sensible, person-to-person basis. She's stubbornly refused to do so and has never, ever acknowledged these courteous offers of open dialog. Therefore, in his capacity as Moderator, Antlerman has taken the steps of confining her to the Lion's Den and of adding the words, 'Soapbox Christian' to her profile.

 

Second, in posts #443 and #445, you'll read where Centauri writes about the lurkers and the newbies in this forum. He makes the excellent and very pertinent point that these folks are vulnerable to the words of aggressive and persistent 'preachers' like Thumbelina. If they are wavering in their beliefs or in the process of deconverting, then this is a very difficult time for them and they deserve protecting from the ravages of a wolf-in-lambs-clothing like Thumbelina. I agree with and echo Centauri's sentiments in #448. We, who are strong enough should help those who are weaker than us, shouldn't we?

 

Finally, in #448, I wrote this...

"Lastly, we seen how 'clever' Thumbelina can be and how relentless she is in her personal 'crusade'. Here I'm referring to the way she selected confidential information from the Extimony area and then used it elsewhere to further her own ends. If she's confined to the Den, what's to stop her doing something similar? She could claim that by copying something from another area and then pasting it into the Den, she hasn't written anything outside of the Den."

...which refers to an incident where Thumbelina abused a new member of this forum. She isn't just persistent, she's also crafty in the way she tries to circumvent the rules.

 

http://www.ex-christ...ction=rules&f=5

1. Please remember the main purpose of the site in your posts; to encourage those who have left Christianity or other religions. Post something encouraging! Some members will have chosen a different path than you did; please respect their journey and remember that we all choose different turns in the road. This is not the proper forum for you to criticize or make other condemnatory statements about the path they have currently chosen. You may change tomorrow the beliefs you are espousing today.

 

Thumbelina carefully read these rules and got around them by lifting private details out of a members Extimony and transferring them into the Lion's Den - a place where she knew she could evangelize aggressively. She then proceeded to trample all over this member in the Den. That kind of behavior indicates a calculated and callous disregard for anything except her own ends. When called to account for her wrongdoing she denied all knowledge of it and eventually (grudgingly) apologized for it, after much outrage and calls for her to be banned, on our part.

 

Dude, I can assure you that Thumbelina is by far the most obstinate, cunning and fanatical 'Christian' that I've seen, in any forum I've been a member of. She's no danger to strong Ex-Christians like you and I, but she is a threat to anyone of a weaker mindset - meaning the recently de-converted, the waverers and the lurkers.

 

I'm sure that the Antlerman didn't take the steps he did, lightly. He was forced to do so by her.

For myself, I started this thread up as a warning to anyone (not in the know) to be wary of her and her trickery.

 

I hope this explains things.

 

Thanks,

 

BAA.

[blackpudd1n]

By the way, Duderonomy, if you're wondering who that "new member" BAA was referring to is, it's me. I lost the last vestiges of my faith over the weekend of October 30th-31st last year, and promptly joined Ex-C. I had been a member of this forum only something like 10 days when Thumbelina pulled her little stunt in the Lion's Den. I was so new, I didn't fully undertsand what all the sub-forums were for, and was still learning how to navigate the forum.

 

If it wasn't for BAA and the others who stood up for me and called her on what she did, I would have left the forum back then. I am a lot stronger within myself now, but back then I was not, and I was personally devastated when Thumbelina paraphrased a piece of my own ex-timony and used it to proselytise to me. It was my story to tell, not for someone else to use for their own agenda. Yes, you could argue that I shouldn't have been in the Lion's Den to begin with, if support was what I really needed, and I did, because I was facing the loss of my relationship with my sister, which we'd only just managed to rekindle after 10 years of non-contact. However, making a newb mistake is no justification, as far as I am concerned, for what she did.

 

I don't have the stomach to interact with Thumbelina, so I don't. Quite honestly, I find her little act quite repulsive, and it disgusts me. Should she ever deconvert and drop the act, I'd welcome her with arms wide open. But until that day, I'd prefer to pretend that she just doesn't exist.

[mcdaddy]

By the way, Duderonomy, if you're wondering who that "new member" BAA was referring to is, it's me. I lost the last vestiges of my faith over the weekend of October 30th-31st last year, and promptly joined Ex-C. I had been a member of this forum only something like 10 days when Thumbelina pulled her little stunt in the Lion's Den. I was so new, I didn't fully undertsand what all the sub-forums were for, and was still learning how to navigate the forum.

 

If it wasn't for BAA and the others who stood up for me and called her on what she did, I would have left the forum back then. I am a lot stronger within myself now, but back then I was not, and I was personally devastated when Thumbelina paraphrased a piece of my own ex-timony and used it to proselytise to me. It was my story to tell, not for someone else to use for their own agenda. Yes, you could argue that I shouldn't have been in the Lion's Den to begin with, if support was what I really needed, and I did, because I was facing the loss of my relationship with my sister, which we'd only just managed to rekindle after 10 years of non-contact. However, making a newb mistake is no justification, as far as I am concerned, for what she did.

 

I don't have the stomach to interact with Thumbelina, so I don't. Quite honestly, I find her little act quite repulsive, and it disgusts me. Should she ever deconvert and drop the act, I'd welcome her with arms wide open. But until that day, I'd prefer to pretend that she just doesn't exist.

 

she doesnt exist Pudds. only in digital form on the interwebz.

 

i think she's a virus infected DOS program that somehow got uploaded into the ex-c server. she/it doesn't sound much more advanced.

[duderonomy]

Who made you God?

 

So you jump into the middle of a complicated situation and fire off a bunch of off-the-wall ideas. If somebody takes the time to answer your questions you demand to know who made them God. Okay, whatever.

 

Well, you are right . Here comes Duderonomy after all this time and immediately opens mouth and inserts both feet. I swear, sometimes I don't choose my words well, and sometimes I can be a d!ckh%^d, but I don't mean any offense.

 

Thanks to you and the others that responded to me. I didn't have any idea what was going on, I only read a couple of threads with this Thumbelina in it before I posted on this one. I'll be more careful.

[mymistake]

Thanks to you and the others that responded to me.

 

No worries. I've been trying to patch things up with Thumbellina for months now. She just won't play ball. Of course if she wants to forever wish that I jump in a lake that is always her right. I'm just saying the door is open if she changes her mind. And now people suspect that she is creating new profiles to troll us. If you had been new several people might have jumped on you thinking you were Thumbellina.

[midniterider]

By the way, Duderonomy, if you're wondering who that "new member" BAA was referring to is, it's me. I lost the last vestiges of my faith over the weekend of October 30th-31st last year, and promptly joined Ex-C. I had been a member of this forum only something like 10 days when Thumbelina pulled her little stunt in the Lion's Den. I was so new, I didn't fully undertsand what all the sub-forums were for, and was still learning how to navigate the forum.

 

If it wasn't for BAA and the others who stood up for me and called her on what she did, I would have left the forum back then. I am a lot stronger within myself now, but back then I was not, and I was personally devastated when Thumbelina paraphrased a piece of my own ex-timony and used it to proselytise to me. It was my story to tell, not for someone else to use for their own agenda. Yes, you could argue that I shouldn't have been in the Lion's Den to begin with, if support was what I really needed, and I did, because I was facing the loss of my relationship with my sister, which we'd only just managed to rekindle after 10 years of non-contact. However, making a newb mistake is no justification, as far as I am concerned, for what she did.

 

I don't have the stomach to interact with Thumbelina, so I don't. Quite honestly, I find her little act quite repulsive, and it disgusts me. Should she ever deconvert and drop the act, I'd welcome her with arms wide open. But until that day, I'd prefer to pretend that she just doesn't exist.

 

she doesnt exist Pudds. only in digital form on the interwebz.

 

i think she's a virus infected DOS program that somehow got uploaded into the ex-c server. she/it doesn't sound much more advanced.

 

Her powers of replication suck. She's an 8 bit virus in a 64 bit world. She's a Netzero.

[ShackledNoMore]

And now people suspect that she [Thumbelina] is creating new profiles to troll us.

 

So I'm curious: what are the basis of these suspicions? Especially since folks here have suspected others of this sort of thing in the past and sometimes turned out to be totally off base, and other times turned out to be spot on.

[mymistake]

And now people suspect that she [Thumbelina] is creating new profiles to troll us.

 

So I'm curious: what are the basis of these suspicions? Especially since folks here have suspected others of this sort of thing in the past and sometimes turned out to be totally off base, and other times turned out to be spot on.

 

Read the thread "Sexuality and Spirituality Go Hand In Hand". It has been moved to the Lion's Den. I presumed Anuway was genuine. Then I got mad because people were not giving him a chance. Then I wondered if the mods knew something I didn't. Then I questioned myself. Now I'm confused. I can't tell you the motives of the other participants. I only saw what happened. The thread topic becomes Thumbelina starting at post 34.

[Astreja]

So I'm curious: what are the basis of these suspicions?

 

Well, I can only speak for Myself but I thought it was interesting that this new poster mentioned Aleister Crowley when Thumbelina and I and a few other people had been bandying that particular name about in another thread a couple of weeks ago.

 

The highly sexual tell-all nature of the OP also seemed not quite right. That's not the kind of thing one generally sees around here, and it did seem like the work of someone who was fishing for agreement from evil, immoral non-believers.

 

The style, however, didn't match Thumbelina's; that's why I suspected she had a Lovely Assistant from her church typing away in the wings. One way to find out would be to run an IP address check and find out if the two posters are coming from the same city (I doubt it's the same computer, though).

[florduh]

Still discussing that nude mud wrestler Thumbelina?

[ShackledNoMore]

I see now. Yeah, if I had to bet, I'd say that Anuway is not Thumbelina. Guarded as she is about (apparently) being an SDA, I think it's very likely she's the self appointed ex-C evangelist she seems to be. Details she has mentioned in her posts are consistent and keeping up a made up persona like hers would be if she wasn't what she seems is a lot of work for a small payoff. If she's what she seems she would not troll (or conspire to troll) as Anuway. I think a coincidence is probably more likely.

 

Anuway's post was simply ridiculous. I figure he's probably not genuine, but I guess there are a few people who actually adopt the crazy belief system he describes, so who knows?

 

I do think Anuway would make a more entertaining mud wrestler than Thumbelina (and I'm not even gay)!