Eponymic Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Okay. I'm very much a fan of being a tactful, respectful, give another person the benefit of the doubt kinda guy. But even I will drop the gloves when Christians condescend and don't pay the proper respect when dealing with the non-believers on this site. So all of you who are still Christians can understand. Let me sum it up for you: 1. Those who are former Christians on this site range from several to 50+ years of having been a Christian. In other words, we have lots of Christian experience behind us. Some people on this site have never believed in Christianity at all. 2. Most of us have read the Bible (in fact a much greater percentage of us have fully studied it and have even gone to seminary/Bible college for it). 3. Those of us who are ex-Christians predominantly did not come to the decision to end our affiliation with Christianity quickly or easily. There's nothing easy about eliminating, completely changing, & altering the entire way you live your life - which is basically what you do when you change your religion in most people's cases. 4. We have probably not only heard the argument you're bringing up, but have heard it enough to be able to recite it back to you before you even finish it. 5. We know you believe in Christianity, we don't. And witnessing to us is only showing us your ego. You're not appeasing God, you're appeasing your ego that you think you can come on a site of non-believers & be the one to make us change. We don't believe in hell fire, so preaching it just makes you look dorky. 6. The usage of excessive exclamation points, weightless arguments ("because it's what God wants"), and not using solid evidence and/or reasoning is futile. We seen it a thousand times (when we were Christians, we used that logic), you're not bringing anything new. 7. Just because we don't believe in Bible God, doesn't mean everyone here doesn't believe in a God in some fashion. Some don't, many do still believe in a God- just not yours. So in lieu of all this- show some respect for the knowledge that you're coming up against here. We're no batch of backwater, eight grade educated hicks here. A lot of thought and study went into most of our de-conversions and, as I stated above, it was not on a lark. We've done our homework, went to the dance, and found no real partner to hang with in Christianity. So there is no need to treat us as if we are ignorant of what Bible god has to offer, or just didn't understand it properly. Doing so just pisses most of us off. We understand. That's all I'm really trying to say. We un-der-stand. We understand that you still want to cling to that faith. We understand how hard it is for you to understand why we don't believe. We understand that it isn't easy to hear the things we are talking about. And if you really want to be a decent person, and are interested in learning something while you're here, you might benefit from doing the following: Try to listen a little, be respectful, and debate with some decorum if you do choose to debate us on reasons for not believing. You'll be treated with the respect you give us. Give respect, receive respect. It's that simple. Peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderbolt Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Amen - and let it be a THUS SAYETH THE LORD Eponymic. He represents me – OK. So no more whining and appealing to us with "because BibleGod says so ..." And if you really want to piss us off, then please DON’t respond to our questions when it seems clear that you want to engage in that kind of intellectual discussion with the statements you are making. That's just rude! And if you are backed into a corner, please NO "this site is not for me" bullshit. Be a player, or be a loser. Choice is yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Well-put, Brothah Eponymic! Ramen! Yes, to all Xians out there - we've heard it all before. If you can't do better than regurgitate Babble verses and otherwise offer no solid, reason-based evidence for what you're trying to say, then do not say it. Calling us names like "liar" and "murderer" only weakens your position. In your little bubbles that you live in, perhaps accusing someone of sins against your god works, but in the real world, it goes nowhere fast. Just because certain behavior is sinful in your religion's eyes, doesn't make it so in everyone's. Again, use reason and respect and perhaps we can all have a good discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poonis Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 nice work Eponymic. My thoughts exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponymic Posted February 4, 2006 Author Share Posted February 4, 2006 And if you are backed into a corner, please NO "this site is not for me" bullshit. Be a player, or be a loser. Choice is yours. True. There's no shame in admitting you don't know something or can't further defend or explain your given position. In fact, we'll respect you more if you tell us 'I'll have to look into that' or 'I'll do some research on that' or the like. Or if you simply admit you just believe it and don't have any more valid reasons for it other than your blind faith. If that's your stance, why should you be afraid to admit it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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