An atheist, a homosexual, and a vegan walk into a bar, and....

Psst--that is what all political forums are about

 

There are ways to combat confirmation bias. When talking about how "most" people within a group act, for example, you can look at polling data for at least a more objective take. We can certainly do better than "most Xs act like Y because I've seen a lot of Xs act like Y, nevermind the fact I completely ignore all Xs that don't act like Y because, by definition, I only notice Xs when they act like Y."

 

they told the Christian preaching to the patrons that they were all sinners, to give it a rest, this is a bar, not a church

.

 

Well most people won't do that, now will they?

 

And how many atheists do you know that you don't know are atheists? Obviously, you don't know. So you are basing your statement that atheists find it necessary to divulge that information based only on atheists who do not find it necessary, and you have no way of comparing their numbers to the numbers of those who do not find it so necessary. Hence, your opinion is based on the worst sort of confirmation bias.

If we are just going by personal experience, I don't know of any Christians who are in the closet about their Christianity, and most of the Christians I grew up with thought it was a sin to keep their religion to themselves. In most of the atheist groups I've met, however, the vast majority of the atheists were not open about their atheism in public.

 

I think that most ppl referred to as "Christian" in this thread are referring to 'evangelical' Christians, those who take the Bible literally (altho written by many 'men' over many years as well as canonized by 'men') based on this scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed <inspired> and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

And what's known as "The Great Commission" in the NT tells followers to

&#8220;All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit..

and from a parable

Luke 14:23 "And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled"

But also scripture states "No man comes to God unless the Spirit of God draws him."

which goes along with:

"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."

So many believers, esp those who have received a recent transformation, take off like "wild-eyed" but well intentioned evangelicals, sharing their experience with others.

The other side is those who have stagnated, being steeped in religious often denominational doctrine & dogma, become hardened as modern day Pharisees, who were in opposition to the message that Jesus preached.

And door-to-door evangelism, showing up announced particularly, is not profitable (been there/done that many years ago). As a matter of fact often what is being pushed is a denomination such as Jehovah Witness...I had a woman in a sliver van 'haunt' me when stopping and loading my bike (only car in the park lot) after a ride at 7 am as well as in the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery at 6:30AM over about 2 yrs...after 2-3 times when she approached I would just wag my head 'no' and she would turn around and drive off.

There is a balance that comes with 'spiritual maturity," 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

Emphasis on the last sentence!

Paul likens faith as a race, but a marathon & not a sprint. Many start out running a sprint & fall to the wayside. Others get tired & drop out. The key is to pace oneself and complete the race!

My own personal belief is that "the Spirit of the Word of God is contained within, but cover-to-cover weighing the frailties of men who wrote them and messages often recorded as parables, and I look to the example that Jesus the man set when living my life, and not the doctrine & dogma of men...i.e. spiritual messages & truths.


Bottom line is said here: John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.&#8221; And w/o that Love, scripture states

1 Corinthians 13:1-8
1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8Love never fails;

The combative Christians on this site, acting no better than those attacking them, need to reread this verse over-an-over again..

EDIT: Btw, there is such a thing as 'tough love' which Jesus often used on His disciples..sometimes a 'verbal' slap in the face is needed to get one's attention & snap them out of their stinkin thinkin!

 

I am sure you would not be so offended if the joke was about a priest, an imam, and a rabbi.

 

I'm not offended; just pointing out the logical fallacies at work. Yes, it would be just as fallacious to say that Christians, Muslims and Jews all feel the need to tell people about their religious beliefs, unprompted, based on similar reasoning. The only difference I can see is that Christians, if they are to fulfill the Great Commission, are obligated to share their religion with others proactively. I'm not sure if Muslims have any similar scriptural obligations, and I know Jews don't. Though, who cares? I mean, unless we just start with the assumption that there is something wrong with sharing your beliefs and identity, why should it bother anyone? I can't make it two miles down the road without Christians telling me about their beliefs, but it doesn't offend or bother me. I'd rather hear what other people think than make them feel like they owe some sort of public debt of silence.

 

Get a life, and buy a sense of humor.

 

You've been pretending that it is a serious topic for about 9 pages now.

 

It was tongue in cheek response. You as a claimed minister was wanting to swindle some person out of money with beach front property in Ok.
And I've never claimed you were not a minister. Only that you claim you are one and the lack of knowledge and now a want to swindle just makes it suspect.

 

Are you really that dumb that you think I have beach front property to sell? Do you ever read your own posts?

 

I'm wondering which denomination you preach in.....curious.

 

I think you would try to sell it. I don't think you have it. So I'm not the dumb one. I didn't try to say I'd swindle someone out of money, you did.. That would be from a self proclaimed christian minister who tried to do that.
Do you read your own posts?

 

You and tecoyah have some serious rage issues you need to deal with.

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One with a sense of humor.

 

Interesting...a strange understanding of what "Rage" entails and a desire to avoid being associated with a religious sect.

Me thinks you are not who you pretend to be.

 

This is twice in this thread you have insulted me, once by claiming I am not Christian, and now by calling me a liar. Your friend accuses me of being a con man for my use of a throwaway phrase that has been used for as long as I can remember to mean "if you believe that, you'll believe anything", and insinuating that all clergy are not to be trusted.

If you don't believe the other things, why would you believe that?

If you want to know something, try being a little more civil, instead of constantly being argumentative and insulting.

 

Cute but not accurate.

I see vegans do this a lot but not so much homosexuals and never atheists.

 

You are obviously a very sensitive individual that cannot be debated without feeling you are attacked and insulted. As all of my interactions with you have been calm and measured but firm and accurate, it seems likely that any further discussion will result in continued dodges to avoid answering questions posed and eventual complaint to Moderation. For these reasons I do not wish to risk discipline or actual insult.

Have a nice day.

 

Calling me a liar and a fraud is not debate, it is ad hom attacks. You are obviously someone who has not been socialized very well, or someone very young, or both.

And I have not reported anything, but if you leave me alone it won't hurt my feelings.

 

No rage on my part. Just humor. Keep providing it.

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No one is calling you a liar or fraud. Just noting in your posts how they could be taken that way. Mr claimed chrisitan minister.

 

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God. ~Heywood Broun

But maybe its just in the forums.. I have many friends who are atheists, & at time we have spirited discussions, but they seldom promote their beliefs actively.. unlike many of the resident atheists on this forum. But philosophical discussion & debate is what forums are for, & it is expected that the deepest, most important questions of life would come up from time to time, & be argued for & against with passion.

So i went to a mixed religion seminar, The Christian Priest came, laid his hands on my hand and said, “By the will of Jesus Christ, you will walk today!”
I smiled and told him I was not paralysed.
The Rabbi came, laid his hands on my hand and said, “By the will of God Almighty, you will walk today!
I was less amused when I told him there was nothing wrong with me.
The Mullah came, took my hands and said, “Insha Allah, you will walk today!”
I snapped at him, “There’s nothing wrong with me”
The Buddhist Monk came, held my hands and said, “By the will of The Great Buddha, you will walk today!”
I rudely told him there was nothing wrong with me.
After the sermons, I stepped outside and found my car had been stolen.

 

BS, I drink at Frankie's in Melbourne with an atheist, vegan, and homosexual. Very few of us know. No one cares. They are adult about it.

 

Some people have issues.. they are unable to calmly discuss some things.. they are 'hot button' issues with them. One of the posters you mention is just being true to his user name, & the other is just contentious. I'm sure you are not surprised or offended by these 2, & many others on the forums who are on a crusade against God, christianity, or just christians in general.

I've been amazed at how many victims of molestation by priests there are. I cannot explain the irrational hostility in any other way.

..sorry, not funny. Dark humor is usually out of place here. So, let's get back to some real religious humor, that atheists & skeptics can enjoy, & not take offense..

A priest, a preacher and a Rabbi walked into their favorite bar, where they would get together two or three times a week for drinks and to talk shop. On this particular afternoon, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn't really all that hard. A real challenge would be to preach to a bear.

One thing led to another and they decided to do an experiment. They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it. Seven days later, they're all together to discuss the experience.

Father Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, is on crutches, and has various bandages, goes first.
"Well," he says, "I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation."

Reverend Billy Bob spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, with an arm and both legs in casts, and an IV drip. In his best fire and brimstone oratory he claimed, " WELL brothers, you KNOW that we don't sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God's HOLY WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN another until we came to a creek. So I quick DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus."

They both looked down at the rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IV's and monitors running in and out of him. He was in bad shape.

The rabbi looks up and says, "Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start."