I posted a thread in the Lounge.

[RevolutionaryActs]

I was way too scared to post it in GD. :scared:

Anyway I thought maybe you all might like to weigh in on it? Add some thoughts of your own? Or not. hehe :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2933144&mesg_id=2933144

[Fenris]

1. I thought it made an excellent point.

I grow wearier and wearier of the cries of persecution of Christians in America. :eyes:

[RevolutionaryActs]

2. I know.

I'm so sorry you're in the minority... :eyes:

But there are some who are good, and understanding of others. They're ok in my book. :)

[BiggJawn]

3. But....

But when you get right down to it, would ANY of them say "OK, so I believe in God in heaven and his Son Jesus, and you don't. That's OK. Who knows? We'll find out some day, won't we?"

Not in my experience. It's always been "God is REAL. Jesus is REAL. You don't believe in them, so you must have evil in your heart, because I KNOW the TRUTH, which you reject, even though it's been presented to you. What are you, some kind of nutcase?"

Outside of a Unitarian, I've NEVER met a "Christian" who was THAT tolerant of our disagreement.

[Az]

4. There was a Christian that regularly attended our humanist meetings

She was the SO of one of our members. She wasn't a fundamentalist or an aggressive Christian. She was definately more than a holiday believer. But she attended many of our meetings. We would talk over her head and dismantle belief systems on a regular basis. And she came to believe that we were kinder and more understanding individuals than many believers she knew.

Most people simply want to get on with living. The big questions are not prominent in their life. They accept whatever explanations are given to them by their social environment and upbringing and simply get on with their life. Atheists and fundies are periphreal things to them. Getting home from work and the football game are their primary issues.

Unfortunately the typical individual active atheists run into are those that are most concerned with our existance. Thus those brave enough to go toe to toe with us are typically the ones that believe they are protected by the armor of god.

[southlandshari]

5. Nice to meet you, BiggJawn!

If you count a cyberspace exchange as "meeting" someone, you can never again say you haven't met a Christian tolerant of disagreement with their faith!

I'm a former missionary who has served on three continents for the United Methodist Church. I am now a member of a Presbyterian (PCUSA) congregation, because it was the church that best fit my beliefs where I live. And I am not at all certain about THE TRUTH, or any number of other matters of faith or reason. My atheist and agnostic friends ask a lot of the same questions I do, so I don't find them threatening at all!

I hope I'm not out of line posting here, as a Christian member of DU. I learn from reading here. I would never post a point of argument with a point made here; this is not the right place. But I thought a positive note of support from a visitor might be ok!

Besides, BiggJawn - I've admired you from afar ever since you posted in a red state-blue state thread just after the election and made me laugh until I cried. Something about popcorn and those who hated all red states having to give it up!

:popcorn:

[BiggJawn]

9. Well Met!

Well, there goes THAT Truism! Glad to meet you.

yeah, I remember, the militants were going off about how many "red state" products they were gonna boycott to teach us some kind of lesson...

I gotta tell you, you're a rarity.

Perhaps it's the 9 years I spent working for a Fundy TV ministry, but I have met many more "You're going to HELL! (and I'm gonna enjoy watching you burn!)" "christians" than I have good people.

I'm a Cynic. I spend WAY too much energy looking for the bad in life.

[onager]

10. Ah! Shari from the True Crime group!

Excuse me for butting in, but in case you didn't see it...the book you were thinking of by Lowell Cauffiel was "House Of Secrets." The story of Eddie Lee Sexton in Florida. The guy who ordered his daughter to kill her infant, etc.

I don't think posts as gracious as yours would EVER be a problem. Thank you!

[southlandshari]

11. Thanks!

I saw your reply in the TC group. Sexton was one scary @#$%^%-@#*^$*! That is one book I'll never forget reading late at night!

Thanks for the kind words. I said in a post earlier tonight that what I most like about DU is the platform it provides (for those who want it) for finding some common ground with others with whom you might differ on most other things in life. Case in point - we may have nothing in common when it comes to religion, but we're both interested in true crime. And I'd rather build on our similarities than argue about our differences!

[PassingFair]

7. My best friend is a Christian,

and she is fine with detente.
We respect each others choices...and recognize that they are just that, choices, regarding what we believe. Mine is fixed, hers morphs. I love her just the way she is.

[RevolutionaryActs]

6. You know.

It drives me insane how some of them just DO NOT GET IT!

I don't mean the whole religion/no religion thing, but how they don't get where the fuck I am coming from on this post. What's the hard to get?

You get ostracized on a group board big deal! We all get ostracized for being on this board by the freepers. But we get ostracized all day, everyday by pretty much everyone! How is that the fucking same? :argh: :banghead:

Fucking FUCK!

[Az]

8. Never forget the enormity of the task

Religion and its attendant beliefs have been with our speices for as long as we can recall. Great minds have been believers. Even in this time with so much science railed against the foundations of many of these beliefs they still survive.

Religion is not just a simple belief. It is the result of eons of social evolution of self serving social constructs. It has developed astounding means of keeping itself alive.

Think of it as the medical community facing the onslaught of disease. Even though they are able to thwart some infections evolution provides means for the pathogen to adapt and overcome the treatment.

Reason creates focused resolutions to issues. Evolution finds ways around this. Often faster than reason can keep up with.

These are social forces we are dealing with. Most people are unaware of the forces that come together to create their world views. They simply know what they know.