Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Angela Evangelia on March 9, 2013 at 10:16pm

If you've done it ... Fess Up

"Fess Up" can be the atheist version of confession and all will be forgiven ...

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Permalink Reply by Nate Lundgren on March 9, 2013 at 10:30pm

To help you understand, I will try to explain it by saying that atheists are like rainbows. They come in every color and variety. Some atheists are very cold, calculating and don't like to respect anyone or anything. Some atheists are very warm, compassionate and extremely loving, kind etc. and try to respect everyone they meet and respect property etc. Some are well balanced and educated well and others are very extreme and/or not very well educated. So please don't see atheists as being one thing with just one agenda. We are all part of the human/biological/cosmological spectrum and that is what makes things very interesting sometimes. 

Basically atheists are just as human as everyone else on the planet and we can easily see how those differences play out. Don't make the assumption that it was atheists that vandalized the bible. Even if some atheists did vandalize some bibles, don't make the false assumption that all atheists see it as being acceptable. As an atheist you represent yourself and only you.

Atheists don't have any creeds, dogmas, rules, philosophies, or any other feelings that they are required to all share about any actions or topics. To be an atheist is to be self-aware and responsible for yourself only. The word atheist is just a starting point in which you declare yourself independent from believing in any god or gods. The rest of how you live your life and what you like is completely your prerogative. 

Humans are social creatures so others influence our minds but they will never (unless science figures out a way, hahaha) be inside or be in control of your mind. I personally don't agree with destroying books for some kind of stupid revenge against religious people. Education and maybe some peer pressure are how I prefer to persuade people to stop reading or buying books that will not help them very much usually.

The bible needs to be understood as literature and the fictional history that it is. So most atheists would rather make fun of or even study and criticize the bible than destroy it. It can be quite fun to laugh at the insane stories and logic in it. Just remember that you should never let others control or define how you feel about yourself. Enjoy YOUR free mind. :)   

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Permalink Reply by Angela Evangelia on March 9, 2013 at 10:46pm

Thats your guilt speaking Nate ...

Have you done it too? ,,,

Do tell : )

 

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Permalink Reply by Nate Lundgren on March 9, 2013 at 11:04pm

I'm too poor to stay even stay in motels right now. hahaha So I don't have motive, means or opportunity to commit said vandalism. I do think it would be fine to write a letter and put it nicely inside the bible if I felt the need to express my opinion to other travelers. No vandalism required then. :)

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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on March 10, 2013 at 8:46pm

Thats your guilt speaking Nate

Methinks it's more likely his fear of guilt by association.  Don't over-psychologize.

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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on March 9, 2013 at 10:48pm

I fess up!  I enjoy writing a Foreword to the Gideon Bibles I find in my motel room. 

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Permalink Reply by Angela Evangelia on March 9, 2013 at 10:52pm

 

Doug wins a Kewpie Doll ..

What do you write Doug?

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Permalink Reply by Doug Reardon on March 10, 2013 at 5:29pm

oh usually something about myths and delusions.  And only on blank pages so as not to impugn any "sacred" text. 

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Permalink Reply by Elon Johnson on March 9, 2013 at 11:07pm

The Bible is a lie, gives comfort? Well, so does Disney, but that doesn't mean that is true.

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Permalink Reply by Angela Evangelia on March 9, 2013 at 11:58pm

 

As long as it does no harm ....

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Permalink Reply by Ed on March 10, 2013 at 10:44am

Therein lies the problem....it does much harm in so many ways. The fact that it provides a perceived comfort to a theist is lost in the sea of tragedies played out against those that choose to reject it. More people are being killed on this planet at this very second because of religious intolerance than any other pathetic reason.

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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on March 10, 2013 at 12:31am

I generally paste the sticker below inside the cover of any Bibles I run across in hotel rooms. I'm not representing anyone except myself and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (of which I am a paid member).

If you mean defile in the sense that means 'make unusable' the word doesn't apply, since the sticker doesn't stop anyone from reading the Bible. If you mean 'defile' in the sense that means 'treat with disrespect something that deserves respect', then the word still doesn't apply, since I find the Bible worthy of the same respect as yesterday's newspaper. And less so, considering how harmful is the Christian religion.

To your other point, I haven't seen any hotels stocked with copies of 'God is Not Great'. But I wouldn't mind in the least if they were and I opened the cover to find a 'Jesus loves you' sticker inside. In fact, I'd have a good belly laugh. But I seriously doubt the Christian and Muslim guests of the world would show that kind of restraint.

Just imagine the caterwauling about Christian persecution the crackpots on Fox "News" would raise if such a thing ever occurred, Angela. The Hitchens books would be stolen, shredded, blotted, incinerated, flushed, and trashed so relentlessly that keeping the hotel rooms stocked would be impossible. There's just no comparison.

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