| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"McGuyver" |
| Date: |
13 Oct 2003 10:47:02 AM |
| Object: |
Christian Wheaties? |
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
There's a church on every other corner. They've got radio and TV
stations and series' like "Touched by an Angle" and "7th Heaven", not
to mention the televangelists. Religion is in substance abuse support
groups and recovery programs, criminal rehabilitation programs. People
stand on street corners holding "Jesus Saves" signs while shouting at
cars. Politicians can't open their mouths without offering their
prayers or blessing someone. Actors and musicians thank God on
national TV for their little golden statues. Charities will feed you
or give you a place to live if your house gets washed away in a flood
if you'll just listen to them preach for a little while. There's
Christian music schools, Christian pocket-knife-collecting clubs,
Christian gardening clubs, Christian Karate classes... You can get
little metallic fish for the backs of cars and dashboard Jesus
statues... air fresheners... custom shops have pre-made designs of
the virgin Mary that you can get painted on the side of your van.
There are huge publishing companies that print pamphlets for you to
hand out on street corners and slide under people's doors. There's
Christian bookstores and Christian libraries and Christian amusement
parks. Soon I expect to be standing in an isle at the grocery store
having to choose between secular and Christian breakfast cereals.
But tell them they can't put a religious symbol in a government
building or lead a highschool football team in prayer and they throw a
hissy fit, "Christians are being persecuted in this country!", "Our
rights are being taken away from us!"
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
And then we'd see what persecution really means.
-Jim
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| User: "Lord Calvert" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 12:19:11 PM |
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Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
And then they'd be fighting over which Christian sect was the "Official
Religion of the United States" and the losers would also lose their rights or
lives.
Bob Heinlein brought up this subject many times through his long career. He
summed it up very succinctly in the last book before his death.
"The only thing that preserves religious freedom in the United States is not
the 1st Amendment and is not tolerance...but is solely a Mexican standoff
between rival religious sects, each sect intolerant, each sect the sole
custodian of the 'One True Faith', but each sect a minority that gives lip
service to freedom of religion to keep its own 'One True Faith' from being
persecuted by all the other 'True Faiths.' " - Robert A. Heinlein
Rich Goranson, Amherst, NY, USA (aa#MCMXCIX, a-vet#1)
EAC Department of Applied Rattan Use
"Without faith we might relapse into scientific or rational thinking, which
leads by a slippery slope toward constitutional democracy." - Robert Anton
Wilson
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| User: "Witziges Rätsel" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 12:01:29 PM |
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Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
<snip>
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Yet atheists are generally apathetic about political and
social methods of resisting or containing religion. It seems
we're reluctant to unite or react. When the religious take over
completely we'll go down bitching in our armchairs.
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| User: "Brainfried Sysadmin" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 06:15:01 PM |
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On Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:01:29 -0400, Witziges Rätsel wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
<snip>
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Yet atheists are generally apathetic about political and
social methods of resisting or containing religion. It seems
we're reluctant to unite or react. When the religious take over
completely we'll go down bitching in our armchairs.
Sign up with the Brights. Get united. Get size and be vocal.
Granted, many atheists have worked very hard in the past to shoot down the
religious whackos. We owe them a lot. They've done a super job on their
own.
IMHO, even though atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and such have their
subtle differences, at least we're pretty much on the same page. We do
respect each other's views and enjoy sharing or views.
www.the-brights.net
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| User: "Z" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 04:33:26 PM |
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Hear Hear. christ, just today I received an unsolicited christian Yellow
Pages in
the mail. "The Shepherd's Guide...The Christian's Choice Of Yellow
Pages...
8th Annual Edition". And it's Free! At least it's a good list of
businesses to
stay away from (or, to, on the other hand, go have a nice discussion with).
I see it originates out of Safety Harbor, FL. Of course they have a
website:
www.shepherdsguide.com
And, better yet, there's a Franchise Opportunity! Perhaps they need some
feedback.
On 13 Oct 2003 08:47:02 -0700, McGuyver <bigbore@comcast.net> wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
There's a church on every other corner. They've got radio and TV
stations and series' like "Touched by an Angle" and "7th Heaven", not
to mention the televangelists. Religion is in substance abuse support
groups and recovery programs, criminal rehabilitation programs. People
stand on street corners holding "Jesus Saves" signs while shouting at
cars. Politicians can't open their mouths without offering their
prayers or blessing someone. Actors and musicians thank God on
national TV for their little golden statues. Charities will feed you
or give you a place to live if your house gets washed away in a flood
if you'll just listen to them preach for a little while. There's
Christian music schools, Christian pocket-knife-collecting clubs,
Christian gardening clubs, Christian Karate classes... You can get
little metallic fish for the backs of cars and dashboard Jesus
statues... air fresheners... custom shops have pre-made designs of
the virgin Mary that you can get painted on the side of your van.
There are huge publishing companies that print pamphlets for you to
hand out on street corners and slide under people's doors. There's
Christian bookstores and Christian libraries and Christian amusement
parks. Soon I expect to be standing in an isle at the grocery store
having to choose between secular and Christian breakfast cereals.
But tell them they can't put a religious symbol in a government
building or lead a highschool football team in prayer and they throw a
hissy fit, "Christians are being persecuted in this country!", "Our
rights are being taken away from us!"
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
And then we'd see what persecution really means.
-Jim
--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
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| User: "Josef Balluch" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 05:28:15 PM |
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In a message sent 'round the world, McGuyver poured fuel on the fire
with the following:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
Persecution and suffering for the cause are part of the Christian
mythology. Since they are told to expect it then they will find it
wherever they can possibly can do so. If they didn't do so then they
just somehow would not feel Christian.
....
Regards,
Josef
Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
-- Marcus Aurelius
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| User: "Bill, The Avender" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 01:34:02 PM |
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In alt.atheism on 13 Oct 2003 08:47:02 -0700,
(McGuyver) wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
<engage drooling theist mode>
But of course! How many witch burnings and/or lynchings have you
attended in the U.S. lately? None, I'd be willing to bet. Their
freedoms have been impinged upon because they can no longer do these
things.
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
But... but... it's for your own _GOOD_, can't you see that? The mere
fact that you're _complaining_ about it is "persecution"!!!
There's a church on every other corner.
That it's only ever _other_ corner doesn't tell you something?
Christians must band together and reclaim this country, I say!!!!
<snip rambling persecution of Christians>
Soon I expect to be standing in an isle at the grocery store
having to choose between secular and Christian breakfast cereals.
That you don't already is further proof of the persecuted status of
Christianity in this country! Are you BLIND???? {=-O
<snip more blatant persecution of Christians>
I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
And then we'd see what persecution really means.
Oh! Oh! There it was! The atheistic threat! I swear, I can almost
feel a stirring in my _loins_ from the excitement! {=-]
</end drooling theist mode>
Whew! Hope I didn't scare anyone... ;-)
--
L8r,
Avender
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
Common is the man who can be fashioned into a
reflection of the era in which he lives.
Rare is the man who can take the era in which
he lives, and fashion it into a reflection
of himself.
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
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| User: "quibbler" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 11:47:30 AM |
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In article <5db3f6ef.0310130747.1ab7582b@posting.google.com>,
bigbore@comcast.net says...
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Pretty good rant. But I'd recommend that you not bet body parts :).
Atheists know that we can't perfectly predict future events and it just
ain't worth losing your two closest friends, if you know what I'm
saying. :)
--
_____________________________________________________
Quibbler (quibbler247atyahoo.com)
"It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the
threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, 'mad cow'
disease, and many others, but I think a case can be
made that faith is one of the world's great evils,
comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to
eradicate." -- Richard Dawkins
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| User: "Bill, The Avender" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 01:34:27 PM |
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In alt.atheism on Mon, 13 Oct 2003 10:47:30 -0600, quibbler
<quibbler247@yahoo.com> wrote:
In article <5db3f6ef.0310130747.1ab7582b@posting.google.com>,
bigbore@comcast.net says...
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Pretty good rant. But I'd recommend that you not bet body parts :).
Atheists know that we can't perfectly predict future events and it just
ain't worth losing your two closest friends, if you know what I'm
saying. :)
Eh, he'd only be losing the left one, not both of 'em. :-)
--
L8r,
Avender
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
Common is the man who can be fashioned into a
reflection of the era in which he lives.
Rare is the man who can take the era in which
he lives, and fashion it into a reflection
of himself.
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - --
.
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| User: "McGuyver" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 04:02:09 PM |
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(Bill, The Avender) wrote in message news:<3f95f024.59254765@newsgroups.bellsouth.net>...
In alt.atheism on Mon, 13 Oct 2003 10:47:30 -0600, quibbler
<quibbler247@yahoo.com> wrote:
In article <5db3f6ef.0310130747.1ab7582b@posting.google.com>,
bigbore@comcast.net says...
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Pretty good rant. But I'd recommend that you not bet body parts :).
Atheists know that we can't perfectly predict future events and it just
ain't worth losing your two closest friends, if you know what I'm
saying. :)
Eh, he'd only be losing the left one, not both of 'em. :-)
Yeah! What do you think I am...
nuts?
: ) o==3
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| User: "quibbler" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 03:07:52 PM |
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In article <3f95f024.59254765@newsgroups.bellsouth.net>,
Avender@SpamMeNot.com says...
In alt.atheism on Mon, 13 Oct 2003 10:47:30 -0600, quibbler
<quibbler247@yahoo.com> wrote:
In article <5db3f6ef.0310130747.1ab7582b@posting.google.com>,
bigbore@comcast.net says...
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
Pretty good rant. But I'd recommend that you not bet body parts :).
Atheists know that we can't perfectly predict future events and it just
ain't worth losing your two closest friends, if you know what I'm
saying. :)
Eh, he'd only be losing the left one, not both of 'em. :-)
Yes, but one friend would forever be parted from the other and vice
versa. I guess it's a perspective thing.
--
_____________________________________________________
Quibbler (quibbler247atyahoo.com)
"It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the
threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, 'mad cow'
disease, and many others, but I think a case can be
made that faith is one of the world's great evils,
comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to
eradicate." -- Richard Dawkins
.
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| User: "Martin Thomas" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
14 Oct 2003 01:21:14 AM |
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On 13 Oct 2003 08:47:02 -0700, (McGuyver)
wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
There's a church on every other corner. They've got radio and TV
stations and series' like "Touched by an Angle" and "7th Heaven", not
to mention the televangelists.
[Snip many examples]
But tell them they can't put a religious symbol in a government
building or lead a highschool football team in prayer and they throw a
hissy fit, "Christians are being persecuted in this country!", "Our
rights are being taken away from us!"
Yes, they have all that - but they cannot enjoy it because they
there is something vital they are missing,
I grew up believing that the best thing that could ever happen to
me was to become a martyr, preferably dying slowly and horribly.
The worse the torture, the better he place in Heaven afterwards.
Then, when I was about 9 or 10 I was devastated to be told that
hardly anyone was put to death for being a Christian any more. I
could not be a martyr!!!
So what are those Christians who were brought up with similar
beliefs to do? The protestant attitude is a little different, but
the fundamentalists are not really so different.
If they want a good seat in Heaven, they have just got to be
persecuted.
Christians in this country have more opportunities to express their
religion and more ways of imposing their beliefs on other people than
the freakin' TALIBAN did. I'd bet my left testicle that if they had
the opportunity in the next few years to make Christianity the
"Official Religion of the United States of America" they'd do it.
Other religions would need a permit to practice and atheists would be
escorted to the Canadian border. I bet they would.
And then we'd see what persecution really means.
-
Martin Thomas
mart666t@netscape.NO.HAWKERS.net
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| User: "McGuyver" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
14 Oct 2003 11:06:25 AM |
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Martin Thomas <mart666t@netscape.NO.HAWKERS.net> wrote in message news:<505novgiv9tqd77606iosvb0l6rc3po06u@4ax.com>...
On 13 Oct 2003 08:47:02 -0700, (McGuyver)
wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
There's a church on every other corner. They've got radio and TV
stations and series' like "Touched by an Angle" and "7th Heaven", not
to mention the televangelists.
[Snip many examples]
But tell them they can't put a religious symbol in a government
building or lead a highschool football team in prayer and they throw a
hissy fit, "Christians are being persecuted in this country!", "Our
rights are being taken away from us!"
Yes, they have all that - but they cannot enjoy it because they
there is something vital they are missing,
I grew up believing that the best thing that could ever happen to
me was to become a martyr, preferably dying slowly and horribly.
The worse the torture, the better he place in Heaven afterwards.
Then, when I was about 9 or 10 I was devastated to be told that
hardly anyone was put to death for being a Christian any more. I
could not be a martyr!!!
So what are those Christians who were brought up with similar
beliefs to do? The protestant attitude is a little different, but
the fundamentalists are not really so different.
If they want a good seat in Heaven, they have just got to be
persecuted.
Martyr mentality, huh. Good angle. I hadn't thought of that. You may
be right. When there is only living non-Christian on Earth who will be
the martyr?
I like your theory but there's a dilemma: If they WANT to be martyrs
then why do they fight so damn hard? Why don't they just LET the 10
Commandments be removed and LET "God" be removed from the Pledge, etc.
and so forth? Then they can bellyache and feel like martyrs even more.
Right? Let atheists have their way than they can be martyrs all they
want. ; )
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| User: "Christopher A. Lee" |
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| Title: Re: Christian Wheaties? |
13 Oct 2003 05:48:34 PM |
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On 13 Oct 2003 08:47:02 -0700, (McGuyver) wrote:
Do Christians REALLY think they're being persecuted in this country?
They've managed to work their religion into almost everything
imaginable. I can barely leave my home without seeing religious BS.
Yes. Particularly those of an evangelising bent, and fundamentalists
who can't tell where their religion stopd and the real world starts.
For both these groups, their right to "practice their religion"
includes imposing it on everybody else. They are sociopaths who cannot
imagine anybody else having any rights of their own.
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