Try this ignorance on for size...

Mabel - posted on 01/01/2011

Okay I have to say one thing - first of all America was not built by homely Christians it was built by people ESCAPING from religious persecution in Europe don't need to tell you all this. AND Americans enjoy Freedom FROM religion not freedom of religion there's a huge difference. Renee try living in the BIBLE BELT.Tennessee .

Mabel - posted on 01/01/2011

My favorite saying when someone says they will pray for me and my soul is"don't waste mine or your time on doing absolutely nothing and don't worry about my soul because I know exactly where it is and where it is going." I was also told on a site that I needed to go back to my own country because I didn't believe like this woman did and I told her I was in my own country...AMERICA BITCH!!!

Carrie - posted on 08/25/2010

I know exactly what you mean. Take a look at this debate that started off as an innocent discussion about our kids going back to school. Of course, someone just had to make it about religion!
Laura--Orientation for the kids at school tonight. Wonder who their teachers will be? LOLOL :-)
Me--Aydan's went great! His teacher is so nice! She asked me to be the class mother! Yay! I am looking forward to be more involved with Aydan at school.
Laura--We knew who our teachers were before we went in tonight. :-) The kids are super excited, it's gonna be a great year!!
Me--Aydan is, too. It's gonna be a busy year!
Alexis Adler Duckett--The best part about it is God will be at school each day with them! Doesn't get much better than that!!
Laura--Amen Ms. Alexis
Me--Aydan will have his conscience, his self-esteem, and his determination. Same thing, you guys just call it god. And you're right, it doesn't get much better than that!

Laura--Our kids have all that too. They think for themselves, know right from wrong, and are hard workers.(well most of the time lol) They just have extra guidance. :-)
Sunshine Ellis--Conscience has to do w/ a self knowledge. Self knowledge can be a knowledge to do right or a knowledge to do wrong. Your conscience can be controlled by Satan Or God. Yes everyone has a conscience but not everyone's conscience leads them to do right that depends on who you are letting run your life God or Satan.
about an hour ago · LikeUnlike
Me--We each run our own lives......we are each responsible for our own actions. What we do with each life experience is up to us. We can choose to let it make us or break us. And that choice is our own to live with.
Me--Just because it's extra guidance doesn't mean it's good guidance. Guidance can be good or bad. I'm not saying, Laura, that the guidance you are referring to is the bad kind. I am just saying it's a matter of perspective.

Me--I don't want this to turn into a religious argument. I hate that everything has turn into a discussion about religion. This started as a couple of simple comments about our kids being excited about starting school this year, and then somebo...dy decided to make it about god. When I see this: "The best part about it is God will be at school each day with them! Doesn't get much better than that!!" it just makes me feel like that person is trying to either generalize my child into that category or snub my child out of it. You know, the whole "doesn't get much better than that" comment comes off as offensive and rude to me. Maybe that's not the way it was meant, but it sure is the way it sounded.
Alexis Adler Duckett--Carrie, as I see it, you're the one that started this whole discussion. What I said had nothing to do with you, but had ALL to do with my God. I can with a clear conscience say that the reason I give God glory is because He changed my life ...11 years ago, and I know alot of people who can say the same thing. I once was like you. I didn't care about God, didn't want anything to do with Him, BUT THANK GOD He wanted everything to do with me. As a teacher in this school, I also see God REALLY do miracles in these kids lives. So I have every reason to be glad that God is there.
Sunshine Ellis--AMEN Alexis!!!!!
Tina Alexander--Amen Mrs Alexis, when you give God all the glory, then your life "doesnt get much better than that" and those that don't just calls it something else!
James--Thats right Alexis, every thing YOU said has to do with your "god". Carrie said she is tired of everything turning into religous bs. I am too. You belive....good for you , but dont shove it down everyone elses throat. Besides having "god" guide you means jack if thats the only "guidance" you get. ALL children are a product of their enviroment. I would put my kids up against the best on the world, we have raised them welll........ and your fairy tale had nothing to do with it.
Sunshine Ellis--If it's a fairy tale then I have nothing to lose but if it's not then all who do not believe have everything to lose.
Me--So you're just following your religion because it's the "safe" thing to do? What kind of crap is that? I really hope that if there is a god, he's not too stupid to see through that! Alexis, I didn't make this a religious discussion. You did... that all on your own. And I am just really tired of the snide little comments I keep getting from holier-than-thou "Christians". I can't get any better than you, my kids get less "guidance" than you, etc. I can't bite my tongue any longer! I don't try to act like I am better than everyone else because of my beliefs.......they're just different, not better! I deserve the same respect! I don't bring up being an atheist every chance I get......why can't I go anywhere without having religion shoved down my throat? Alexis, you don't give yourself enough credit. YOU changed your life. You just don't realize it. God can't do anything for you that you didn't already know how to do.
Sunshine Ellis--I'm not following a religion I'm following GOD. And no maam it is not a always a safe thing to do I have been mocked, persecuted, & even abandoned by my friends & family for my beliefs. But I have seen God come through to many times for m...e to say this is coincidence or this happened because of me. I know there is a God I have seen him work to many miracles & answer to many prayers when my nephew was born w/ a huge mass on his chest rushed from the NICU to the childrens hospital in Agusta me , my family and the people of my church began to pray he had several ct scans in Greenwood & Agusta all before having surgery all revealing a large cancerous mass but when they opened his chest up for surgery that mass was gone and his heart which was to begin w/ on the wrong side of his chest b/c of the swelling was back where it was supposed to be. NO ONE WILL EVER CONVIENCE ME THAT GOD DID NOT HEAL HIM!!!! I will glady defend my personal relationship w/ God until I did I will endure being mocked, persecuted & abandoned for Christ! 2 Timothy 3:12-13Yea, and all that will live godly in Jesus Christ shall suffer persection. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, decieving and being decieved. Call it what you want, call me what you, call my friends what you want but I will defend GOD, MYSELF & MY FRIENDS! Alexis is 100% right it is nothing she has done but the suffering of God's son Jesus for her sins and not just hers sin but the sins of the world even yours God knew you would reject Him & His son and yet he still sent his only begotten son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins.
Me--Sunshine, I completely understand your desire to want all things to be explained, for there to be a good reason for everything, for there to be no ending. I used to cling to those things too. I used to believe in god too! But one day, in church, I was told something that just didn't quite add up and left me with a nagging feeling. I started asking questions and looking for answers. But no one at my church seemed to be able to answer any of those questions. And that was the beginning of my disentanglement from religion. I have never felt freer, happier, more enlightened, or more at peace than I do today, and it only gets better every day because every day I learn something new. Religion puts limits on what you can learn because it trains you to cast aside anything that doesn't coincide with what you believe to be true. To be religious is to believe you are exempt from being wrong, and the fact is that no person on the face of this earth is exempt from being wrong! And if anyone ever were, I would truly feel sorry for them, for they would have lost the thrill of the future, the unknown, and, I feel certain, the most basic of all characteristics of life on earth--persistence, for it is the assumption of tomorrow that fuels it. And if there cannot be anything to accomplish, then what is the point of tomorrow? I am sorry that you have been mocked, persecuted, and abandoned by your friends and family for your beliefs. I most definitely know how that feels! But for someone who claims to have experienced these things, you don't seem to have a problem doing them to other people. Throughout this entire conversation, you've been thumping your bible at me and throwing your beliefs at me like a sack of rocks. I am sorry about what happened to your nephew. But what you explained does not prove a miracle or that there is a god. Maybe a test was wrong or got mixed up with another one. Maybe the doctors made a mistake. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for it. Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean it was the work of god. It just means we don't understand it yet. There were many things only 10 years ago that we didn't understand that we do understand now. I'm glad your nephew had people supporting him, but his recovery does not prove that prayer works. If prayer worked, then people would always get what they prayed for. Instead, they get what they want about 50% of the time, same as everybody else, including atheists and people who don't pray. The fundamental difference between you and I is that you are uncomfortable with the unknown and I am not. You choose to fill the void with god and religion because it satisfies and pacifies, regardless of whether it answers anything. I choose not to fill it, but to embrace it! I love the unknown because it means I have something to learn! And I refuse to fill it with anything other than solid evidence. Anything less would be a disgrace to human knowledge. I do have some questions for you, though, and I sincerely hope you can answer them. If god made us in his image, and we are imperfect, then does that not suggest that god himself is imperfect? And if he created us imperfectly, then why do we need his forgiveness for being imperfect? Isn't it his fault? Shouldn't he be the one apologizing? And regardless of all this, if he sent his "only begotten son" to die on the cross for our sins, does that not suggest that god is vengeful and bloodthirsty instead of kind and forgiving? I mean, I don't feel the need to kill my child every time I think about forgiving someone. I just forgive them! And if Jesus died on the cross for our sins, then aren't we already forgiven? And if so, then why would I go to hell for the "sin" of not believing in god, which, by the way, was supposedly all part of his plan to begin with? I'm just very confused about this. I've asked many people these questions, and no one has ever been able to answer them for me. All I ever get is mumbo jumbo quotes from the bible instead of a real explanation. So if you can explain this rationally, you would be the first. In fact, if ANYONE can explain away all my questions rationally, I will gladly convert. But quoting the bible does not count simply because the bible itself cannot be proven to be true and is just a reiteration of all the things that confused me in the first place. So, care to enlighten me?
Chris--But that's the thing Carrie, you want someone to explain it to you without using the Bible, but it can't be. The Bible is the only way to answer your questions, but if you refuse to believe it then there is nothing anyone can do for you. The simple fact is that if you don't believe that Jesus died for your sins and accept him into your heart then you will never get the answers you seek and you will go to Hell.
Sunshine Ellis--First off there were no mistakes in my nephews test 12 different test 5 different dr.'s all w/ the same results. Prayer worked God healed my nephew Even the Surgen. who was a non believer said there must be a God when we opened him up the ...mass was gone. Second off I don't have religion as you so call it I have GOD and yes there is a difference and that does not make me exempt from doing wrong I still make mistakes the difference is when I do I ask those I have wronged for forgiveness and I appoligize to God for the mistakes I make.There isa point for everyday of your life. The point of tomorrow is different for everybody the point of mine is to live, love, laugh more than I did the day before to rust God mor than I did the day before. To read my Bible more than the day before. To tell the people around me I love them more than yesterday. To share w/ my friends & family how good God has been to me. Third off God answers ALL prayers just maybe not the way we want. Sometimes he has a greater yes another plan a better way than you or I can see or think you may not see if now but looking back you can see it. 4th God gave his son to the world because he loved the world & Jesus said no man take my life I give it freely. God was not only thinking of himself or his son but the world. Yes are sins are already forgiven but you go to hell for not excepting Jesus Christ as your Lord & Saviour. God gave us all free will and w/ that it is your choice to accept him or deny him. I'm sure you have heard of C.S. Lewis he wrote the Chronicles OF Narnia series of books he was an atheist who set out on his own journey to prove the Bible was a lie & God did not exist instead he proved to himself that the Bible was in fact true & God really existed. He was a professor @ a college where he tought the athiest belief after his research he stood up and appoligized to his class for teaching them a lie. There is a God There is a Heaven & there is a hell and if you do not trust God then you will find out Hell is real Hell is hot anf Hell is forever. Just because you can't see God doesn't mean he doesn't exist I've never seen a million dollars but I believe it exist. The Bible doesn't not confuse satan confuses because he doen't want you to understand because he know if you do the he is on his way to losing the battle.
Me--No, I will only go to hell if what you believe is true. If I don't believe in god, and I am right, I will simply cease to exist. And I would rather seek truth and follow evidence and go to hell than believe in something false my entire life... just because there may be something in it for me in the end. The answers I seek do not have to come from the bible. If any religious person is able to find and present real evidence that their beliefs are true to me, I am completely willing to take that evidence seriously. But as long as none of you can accomplish that, I have all the answers I need because until that happens, my theories remain more logical.
Sunshine Ellis--That is just it what you believe is just that a theory. Apparently you have not done the research even your theories are base on what someone else has said until you research things for yourself you have no basis for your stand. My beleif... in God is not just based on what someone else has told me but on what I have researched, experienced & discoverd to be fact for myself. It is your so callled logic that is going to send you to hell to burn for eternity if you think that is no big deal then you are wrong. I will be praying for you & your family.
Me--Yes, Sunshine. My beliefs are just theories. Yours are too! You cannot prove there is a god, and I cannot prove there isn't. But then, I can't prove there isn't a teapot in Jupiter's core either, but we all know that is very unlikely. Aren'...t your theories based on what other people have said? Things you heard in church and from religious people who have influence in your life? Almost every theory that anyone has is at least partially based on what other people have said because we can't help but be exposed to other people and we take what we learn from our surroundings and build on that to form our own theories. I don't understand why you seem to think I haven't done/am not doing my own research. I research everything I am curious about. Does the syntax of my posts seem uneducated to you? I'm sure if you read back you would see that my posts are far clearer than your own. My lack of belief in god is based on "what I have researched, experienced, and discovered to be fact for myself" as well. If having logic is grounds for eternal suffering in hell, then I will gladly go! Obviously, if that's the case, the devil must be the epitome of logic, for he was supposedly once an angel who was banished from heaven by god to run the underworld. And I guess that would make god a very illogical pompous ass. Why would I want to spend an eternity with someone like that? No thanks! Sunshine, I assure you I have come to my conclusion through many years of questioning myself and others, digging for the truth, admitting when I am wrong and being happy for it because it meant I learned something, and through lots and lots and lots of research. I would even venture so far as to say I most likely know more about your religion and your bible and especially religion in general than you do. See, I don't just read and research all the warm fuzzy parts of the bible so I can go around quoting them in an effort to convince myself I am right. I read all of it, all the rape, murder, torture, slavery, contradiction, hypocrisy, child abuse, and so on and so on and so on that god orders, supports, and causes in the bible. If you want to pray for me, knock yourself out! Let's see if prayers work........
........well, I'm still an atheist. I sincerely hope that if there is a god that he will ignore your prayers for me because I believe your god is a psychopath and I have no interest in being chummy with him. And if I am right, and there is no god, well your prayers will have been a waste of breath. But it's your life to waste, so have at it.
Sunshine Ellis--My Beliefs do not come from what others tell me but what I have experienced and what I reasearched for myself!!! And as for you knowing more Bible than me I highly doubt that I have read the Bible cover to cover more than once. I too have read of the murder,rape, abuse& slavery I have also read of how God helped those who suffered these tradgies. As for praying for you I will everyday and so will my family. Believe it or not God does exist and He loves you.
Me--Sunshine, I've never seen a million dollars before either, but a lot of other people have. Do you know a single person who has seen god? I don't, not literally anyway. Your comment, "The Bible doesn't not confuse satan confuses because he d...oen't want you to understand because he know if you do the he is on his way to losing the battle." is exactly what I was talking about when I said that "Religion puts limits on what you can learn because it trains you to cast aside anything that doesn't coincide with what you believe to be true." Aside from your statement's obvious grammatical error, it reeks of ignorance. You have been trained to believe that to be a Christian is to understand. Well, I have yet to meet a single religious person who completely understands their religion. I know they don't because none of them have ever been able to rationally explain it to me. Why do you think preachers have to write or memorize a sermon? They could never just wing it! They would undoubtedly slip up and misquote something or contradict themselves. If I am the one who does not understand, does that mean that science and discovery are the devil? Because they sure are winning the battle! And Sunshine, if extraordinary recovery from physical trauma is just the work of god, then why is it that the death rate drops with advances in medicine? I mean, if recovery, or death for that matter, is just the work of god then advances in medical technology should have no affect whatsoever on the death rate. There should have been just as many praying survivors in the stone age as there are now. But the fact is, there were not. That strongly suggests that survival depends on medicine, not god. In fact, the "Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer In Cardiac Bypass Patients" in The American Heart Journal in April, 2006 found that there was no difference in success rate, recovery rate, or rate of complications between people who were prayed for and didn't know it and people who were not prayed for and didn't know it. However, there was a significant rise in complications during/after surgery in those who were prayed for and did know it, possibly due to the added stress of wondering if they were really so sick as to need a prayer group. Still think I don't do my own research?
Me--I just saw your last post, Sunshine. I'm sorry, you read of how god HELPED those who suffered from murder, rape, abuse and slavery? Half the time, god was the one who made these things happen to these people!!!!! "(Deuteronomy 20:10-14) As ...you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you." Enough said.

Jessica - posted on 08/22/2010

Lol, did you know that 2% of Americans don't realise that there is a world outside of America? Maybe she is part of this 2%?

Taylor - posted on 05/10/2010

I don't like vindictive Christians. When I tell someone I'm atheist and they respond by saying they'll pray for me. They have no idea how hurtful and rude they're being. But as long as they say it with a smile and have good intentions, I'm supposed to accept it. If not, I just fit their stereotype of a surly atheist who hates everything.

Jen - posted on 05/08/2010

Hahaha That sounds really similar to a "fuck" argument I got into with one of my old friends parents. They were oober conservative Christians. My husband used "fuck" as an intensifier not directed at anyone and I sent her whole family in a downward spiral. We are no longer friends however the argument was completely worth it and is quite funny to read back. :)

Joe - posted on 03/31/2010

WOW! I'm glad I'm an Atheist! I thought this country down here already was founded by various groups of people who all believed various different things until one day some Europeans came along to spread their "Christianity". I don't get it that there are still people here on this planet that use their "God" in such an inflammatory way. (But you're right, shit happens) What about "Love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek" ? Oh yes, Jesus would be proud.

Jen - posted on 01/19/2010

Well, I think you overreacted. I really do. And I have no problem with profanity at all. Shit don't bother me none. ;) I don't think your comparison to her god bless was valid. Whether it fits our own personal speech patterns, 'shit happens' is still considered profane by most standards. For example, you're not likely to hear it in a commercial - even for diapers. Culturally it is still not acceptable speech. God Bless while clearly appealing to invisible bogeymen, is acceptable in our culture.

Plus there's a distinct difference between not candy-coating something and being deliberately unpleasant.

Missi - posted on 01/11/2010

what a whack job. she sounds like all the people in my life that feel its widely accepted to bring religion into every conversation.

Nicole - posted on 12/26/2009

All I hope is that all you international mommy's don't think all american mommy's are like that. Jeeze. She's what we call Christian right or right-wing conservative (politically that is); and they just lost political power... so she probably is a little butt hurt... people like her think that obama is the antichrist... I KID YOU NOT. Ignorance is bliss... until you wack your face with the truth stick. Cheers!

Claire - posted on 12/16/2009

It's stuff like this that really embarrasses me. I'm willing to bet the girl you were talking to is from the wonderful Midwest US, just like myself. I love where I live...but I hate the close-mindedness of my neighbors. I love the line, "so I won't take my atheist butt elsewhere--because it's already elsewhere!"

I guess when you get started on it...technically we ARE a country founded on religion. We all learn that the pilgrims came here to escape religious persecution, but in my History class this semester we've been learning that even though they were coming here to escape one religion, they were also extremely against atheists as well.

But still, she can't sit there and honestly tell you she is always happy to meet people of other cultures and beliefs but tell someone to get their atheist behinds out of her country. Idiot.

Renee - posted on 12/12/2009

Okay I have to say one thing - first of all America was not built by homely Christians it was built by people ESCAPING from religious persecution in Europe don't need to tell you all this. AND Americans enjoy Freedom FROM religion not freedom of religion there's a huge difference.

?? - posted on 12/08/2009

lol I think what really gets me... is the fact that I wasn't even saying anything about her faith or her religion. I was just trying to point out that being offended by a common phrase is stupid and it's your own doing! She decided to get super uber butt hurt over something that wasn't even a dig... it's like she REALLY needed to get angry about something and let it out! (I hope I helped her make her feel better about herself LOL)

Krista - posted on 12/08/2009

My atheist butt is elsewhere. But yeah -- that's just bizarre. A lot of people just don't seem to realize that not everybody WANTS to be blessed, or to hear them talk about how wonderful their faith is. It was like that thread where the woman was told by some self-righteous prig that she and her daughter are going to Hell because she wasn't raising her in the ways of the church. I swear, a full half of the comments were by Christians who were basically saying "Yes, she was rude...BUT, you really should let the Lord into your life, and here's why....(insert sermon)".

They just don't get it, do they? I have NO problem with people having their own faith -- but the proselytizing REALLY cheeses me off.