Kristee wrote:
> To Sodom,
> I think you mistook my post as implying you are actually a believer
> in Christ; I too was being sarcastic. I was just trying to point out the
> irony of someone who is an atheist, you, making a statement that could be
> taken in the context of coming from a Christian (were they to tell the
> 'truth' about their beliefs). So that's where my "So you're a Christian
> eh?" remark came from, just to demonstrate something. I'm ernestly sorry
> if I offended you.
> This is unlike arguing theology in a room full of preachers; the
> list consists of people with similar view points (or so it seems). In here
> it feels safer voicing one's anti-religious sentiments.
>
> <<<Thus far, i have seen no evidence of a god or godlike creature, at
> least as described in any religion.>>>
> But what do you tell the person, like that cult leader in Texas,
> who like numerous other pious persons believe they have direct and
> indisputable evidence on the contrary, in favor of a god? I've never
> talked to a 'God' before, but the problem is telling someone else that they
> haven't either.
>
> <<God is simply an animalistic fear response to the unknown. The more you
> believe, the more animalistic and closer to barbarianism you are. >>>
> I don't mean to take your words out of context, because I agree
> that part of that belief is a "response to the unknown", but do you think
> that animals believe in God? I know that's not what you said at all, but
> "animalistic" can be interpreted as 'closer to the way animals (besides us)
> are? See, I would give animals other than humans more credit, by saying
> they are much farther advanced than us in that they don't demonstrate any
> sort of pagan ritualistic behavior or some submission to a higher being;
> they merely exist, and act as dicated by Nature.
>
> <<<As someone bereft of the emotions of "fear" or "belief", I see the
> concept of a god as no big mystery at all, just a handicap to those who are
> overrun with fear or belief.>>>
> Just because I always try to see how the opposite of everything can
> be true when I read something signifcant, I see this as sort of a paradox.
> A Christian or someone else holding strong religious doctrines would tell
> us that WE are handicapped in not believing, because we due to our lack of
> faith, we lack redemption, and ultimately are crippled when we are barred
> access to heaven. They would also say that our handicap is not being able
> to percieve God as they do, and we have spiritual blindness, and need to
> open our eyes and mind to the Lord, yadda yadda yadda.....(which is ironic
> because we would say something very similar to them about lacking
> perception). I'm not saying you are wrong about your judgement of what
> religious belief is, only that the tables could be turned just as easily on
> ourselves.
>
> <<< Dont worry, as you get to know, you will learn to hate me.>>>
> On this statement however, you couldn't be more wrong. I think the
> opposite will happen. The more familiar I become with your thoughts, the
> more I understand you. In my experience, most hatred and violence is the
> result of the lack of understanding between people.
> The reason I joined this list is to get perspective; either from
> those with a similar view point that reinforces my own, or from those that
> can show me a different way of looking at things. Already, some of the
> things you've posted have directly paralleled some of the things I've
> thought, and I agree with your opinion on matters more often than not. I
> also don't believe in the idea of absolute truth, however I do not
> subscribe to the 'rational thought process' and think all personal thought
> is irrational. My difference of opinion does not mean that I don't think
> you are intelligent person and I respect your beliefs. Anything you have
> to say (and all others on this list) enriches my understanding of how
> everything is.
> The way I currently look at things (like the internet) prevents me
> from being capable of hatred of someone I don't know. Your words are not
> necessarily you, and I make the separation. Maybe you are just joking
> again, but even more impossible is for me to "learn to hate". I have a
> choice in what I am taught, which is whatever my mind accepts is the most
> true in each case. I've disregarded many bogus doctrines in this way, and
> I will always choose open-minded dialogue over ignorant hatred. So this
> means, um, I like you!
>
> ~kjs
-- MarieWho in real life exists as
The Noble Lady Casey, Serpent's Hold, Sonoma Shard, Britannia