Legion Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Uh, alrighty. Let us adopt the presupposition that Christianity sucks. And further, that it sucks in all of its aspects, and always has sucked in this manner. Why waste your time with it? It's not even a worthy opponent. Also, there is the drawback that the fundamentalist portions of Christianity (just as the fundamentalist portions of atheism, or Leftism, or reductionism, or many other 'isms') is actually strengthened through attention... any attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Well, read the testimonials on this site. Christianity has ruined many lives. Christianity leads to shitty policy based on a non-existent entity that is supposed to live in the sky. Christianity fucks up all sorts of things, so yeah, I say fight against it, and prove that it's false and that its tenets are evil. Attention that proves it's wrong won't help it. Islam isn't strengthened by videos of extremists burning down buildings because of some stupid Mohammed film or drawing, is it? I even read an editorial on how atheism is rising in Gulf states (and it was written on an Arab website), so I think younger Muslims are seeing their own religion do all sorts of stupid crap and turning against it. So yeah, fighting religion can harm the religion. Pointing out how much religion sucks is a good thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 I'd hate to see this topic die, when something like this should be a movement. Seriously, we should be spreading this idea to other atheist websites. The best way to destroy religion is from the inside, exposing it. They tear down atheist billboards, threaten those who put them up, etc., so this is the best way to fight Christianity, by appearing to support it but secretly showing people what's actually in the Buybull. Come on, let's at least get this idea out to other atheist sites, YouTubers, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Come on, let's at least get this idea out to other atheist sites, YouTubers, etc. Its already happening. I dont think you need to lose sleep over it. You type "Religion" into youtube, you get "Religion is bullshit". Tye "Christianity" into youtube you get "Christiantiy exposed" "Christianity is stupid" "Christianity is a lie". Whilst I agree with the facts that are being put out. I sometimes think in-your-face atheism can be as annoying as Christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Whilst I agree with the facts that are being put out. I sometimes think in-your-face atheism can be as annoying as Christianity. That's because some of them never leave religion, they only change label. I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 This is a fave! 1 Timothy 2:12. 12 pI do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. I'm not sure fundies care much about hiding this verse: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Come on, let's at least get this idea out to other atheist sites, YouTubers, etc. Its already happening. I dont think you need to lose sleep over it. You type "Religion" into youtube, you get "Religion is bullshit". Tye "Christianity" into youtube you get "Christiantiy exposed" "Christianity is stupid" "Christianity is a lie". Whilst I agree with the facts that are being put out. I sometimes think in-your-face atheism can be as annoying as Christianity. That's not what I meant. I meant subverting it. Putting Christian Bible verses that are plainly retarded in places where Christians are bound to see them. Gideon's Bibles as bookmarks and highlighted verses, pieces of paper in places where Christians will see them, and so on. To get them thinking and realizing that the Bible's shit. What you described is simply people who are against Christianity preaching to an audience that already knows it. Christians won't look for such YouTube videos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... You know, only a Christian would have a hard time with someone being an atheist instead of smoking, doing drugs or having sex. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity Rose Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I love this idea, Yalta. Those that say there is a lot of stuff out there are right and those that say it's gradually declining already are right, but I think that the more of a gentle push we can give the movement, the better! I'm going to be spreading some ideas to our local group. We have a lot of musicians and others that travel a lot that would probably love to highlight some of those nasty verses in the hotel bibles. I think I'd book mark them, too, or at least bend the corners a bit so they will be more likely to turn to those pages. Won't it be cool when you go to a motel and open up one of these bibles only to find another atheist has been there and marked it already? This and other campaigns similar to this are not "in your face" campaigns in my opinion. For ever truly fundy Christian, how many wives or husbands or children in that family question the religion that they are subjected to without choice? THOSE are the ones a campaign like this might let them realize that they are NOT alone. That's what these campaigns are about. Empowering those that would like to leave religion to do so when they are ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Here's another thing that I've thought would be kind of interesting. A lot of praise & worship songs use quotes from Psalms, so wouldn't it be funny to write a "praise" song with a bunch of mean quotes from Psalms, such as hating people and dashing babies against rocks? Take that song to your local church and ask their praise band to play it because, after all, it's straight from the Bible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... This does sort of bother me. I am glad that more people are steering clear of religion, but I'd much rather it be through critical thinking and reason than just jumping on the latest bandwagon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity Rose Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... This does sort of bother me. I am glad that more people are steering clear of religion, but I'd much rather it be through critical thinking and reason than just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Yeah, this bothers me, too. How can something like this be addressed? I'm involved with teaching the teens Sunday School classes at my UU, but we don't have very many teens. What we find is that they go with their friends to their big box churches because they do all kinds of fun stuff and give them food. Then they come to UU and no matter how you wrap philosophy and critical thinking about religious diversity, it's still just more school. They aren't that interested. Especially since most adult UUs tend to be flower child hippies or boring nerds. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 From what I remember, the Gideons bible only have the psalms and the NT. Even in my batshit crazy days, I carried a mini amplified babble with me but really did not read it when overseas. While the approach may be noble, I seriously doubt you would get mileage out of it. A laissez-faire christian probably has no clue as to the contents of the bible and likewise the fundies, they just skip it and dismiss it as not applicable under the new covenant. They probably have no clue as to the NT either. I had no idea of the plagiarism of the other cultures till I went looking for answers. For most, this is a no show stopper. In the cocoons of their churches, what the stand up comedian says goes. Beyond that, even in fundieland, they pay mostly lip service to their beliefs. When there is crisis and no one seems to have solutions, folk will groups, seek validation and will latch onto any lie that gives them a modicum of "hope" Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness. ~ The Matrix Reloaded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 I like making "inspirational" e-posters and updating my Facebook with, "A Bible Verse for Today!" For example... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Any Christians respond to your "inspirational" verses? It would be good to get them thinking, at least! Plant that seed of doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I get a couple of, "Eww... gross!" about Ezekiel and, "I didn't know that was in the bible," from 1 Peter. Surprisingly, people are very accepting about the Deuteronomy verse. I think that's the worst one, but they're like, "Well, God is a jealous God! If you worship Him, you have nothing to worry about!" Lé sigh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yalta Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Add in the verse where God performs an abortion, or where he moons Moses, or where he tells parents to kill disobedient children. See how they like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Jose, you need to use kittehs and puppies to really get the message over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... This does sort of bother me. I am glad that more people are steering clear of religion, but I'd much rather it be through critical thinking and reason than just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Critical thinking never got me to atheism. Maybe it influenced me but I never would have reached that destination through thinking alone. The indoctrination had too much of an emotional hold on me. It took an event to break that emotional hold. I'm left with the idea that we don't directly control what we believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... This does sort of bother me. I am glad that more people are steering clear of religion, but I'd much rather it be through critical thinking and reason than just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Critical thinking never got me to atheism. Maybe it influenced me but I never would have reached that destination through thinking alone. The indoctrination had too much of an emotional hold on me. It took an event to break that emotional hold. I'm left with the idea that we don't directly control what we believe. Me too. It was an emotional hold that kept me in belief, not reason. I knew it was irrational to believe, but it felt right. It wasn't until we experienced a series of events that the emotional bondage was gone, then I could see the true irrationality of it. It wasn't a choice in either case. I believed, and then later not, because that was the person I had become. Belief was an identity with my very person, and so was unbelief, and what I believe now is far more complex than ever before. Besides, the fad does produce people who argue they're atheists from reasons and rationality. They learn all the proper argument. Hopefully, people learn to think for themselves and not be led by authoritative figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 27, 2012 Share Posted October 27, 2012 I heard from my daughter that it's becoming a fad to be an atheist in high school. It's in. That's the cool thing now. You wanna be hip, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't have sex, but become an atheist. Fascinating world we live in... This does sort of bother me. I am glad that more people are steering clear of religion, but I'd much rather it be through critical thinking and reason than just jumping on the latest bandwagon. Critical thinking never got me to atheism. Maybe it influenced me but I never would have reached that destination through thinking alone. The indoctrination had too much of an emotional hold on me. It took an event to break that emotional hold. I'm left with the idea that we don't directly control what we believe. I fully agree that we don't directly control what we believe. We can affect it by what we choose to study and learn, but our beliefs are based on how we process things. That's one of the reasons why the whole Christian argument that we need to choose to believe is just ridiculous. We can't choose to believe something that we're convinced is not true. What I was concerned with in my comment was not situations like yours, but the issue of people just jumping on a bandwagon. It's basically a matter of people thinking, Hey, so-and-so are atheists, so I'll call myself an atheist too. That is not a good way to arrive at one's views. Even in your case, where emotions were substantial, wasn't there some logical reasoning that helped evaluate how an event could detatch you from something that held such a strong emotional bond? As for myself, it was simply studying the Bible and finding serious problems that undermine Christianity that led me to realize that it's baloney. No event happened to break my emotional ties. I had been indoctrinated with the belief that it was absolute fact, and it turned out to be a bunch of mythology and falsehoods. There were definitely emotions that came from the factual realization that I had been duped, but they were the result, not the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Even in your case, where emotions were substantial, wasn't there some logical reasoning that helped evaluate how an event could detatch you from something that held such a strong emotional bond? I reached a point where I could find no argument to support any of it but I continued to believe in a creator God anyway. I was stuck there. I was in between agnostic and generic theist. I didn't know why. I wasn't happy with it but it's where I found myself and I couldn't see a way to change. Even then I loved logic but it couldn't get me to the next step. I might have stayed there forever but an event took place where something that I had trusted to God fell completely apart. That moment gave me an epiphany. I instantly went from "can't stop believing" to "can't believe". I realized trusting God with important things is just like giving up and hoping for the best. It's just trusting random chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Here's another thing that I've thought would be kind of interesting. A lot of praise & worship songs use quotes from Psalms, so wouldn't it be funny to write a "praise" song with a bunch of mean quotes from Psalms, such as hating people and dashing babies against rocks? Take that song to your local church and ask their praise band to play it because, after all, it's straight from the Bible! Hey, cool idea. I should get started on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Here's another thing that I've thought would be kind of interesting. A lot of praise & worship songs use quotes from Psalms, so wouldn't it be funny to write a "praise" song with a bunch of mean quotes from Psalms, such as hating people and dashing babies against rocks? Take that song to your local church and ask their praise band to play it because, after all, it's straight from the Bible! Hey, cool idea. I should get started on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I like making "inspirational" e-posters and updating my Facebook with, "A Bible Verse for Today!" For example... These are great. How do you make them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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