Are atheists "Scrooges" by ruining all the fun of religious faith?

[Unknown Soldier]

Uh--this happens to be my thread.

The thread belongs to IIDB. IIDB provides the resources to post and save this thread as well as the community to respond to the post, thru its non-profit, educational mission to promote and discuss a naturalistic worldview. YOU are PART of the IIDB community and have been for 20 years. Once you post your op, a discussion by community members is generated from the content of the op. Your snarky comment about IIDB was not really relevant to the op and discussion generated by IIDB community members--to include yourself. If you are entitled to make such outrageous snark about the entire community (of which you are a member), then members are entitled to tell you they do not like it. You ought not try to use imagined power as an op author to try to censor other members from writing true things you do not wish to hear when you generated the off-topic snark in the first place.

OK. You win. I plead no contest. I'm a really bad person. It's not worth fighting over.

Now, let's all get back to the OP please which I started in good faith hoping to add some levity to the board because we atheists (or truth seekers) need some cheer on the holidays too.

 

[steve_bank]

Uh--this happens to be my thread.

The thread belongs to IIDB. IIDB provides the resources to post and save this thread as well as the community to respond to the post, thru its non-profit, educational mission to promote and discuss a naturalistic worldview. YOU are PART of the IIDB community and have been for 20 years. Once you post your op, a discussion by community members is generated from the content of the op. Your snarky comment about IIDB was not really relevant to the op and discussion generated by IIDB community members--to include yourself. If you are entitled to make such outrageous snark about the entire community (of which you are a member), then members are entitled to tell you they do not like it. You ought not try to use imagined power as an op author to try to censor other members from writing true things you do not wish to hear when you generated the off-topic snark in the first place.

OK. You win. I plead no contest. I'm a really bad person. It's not worth fighting over.

Now, let's all get back to the OP please which I started in good faith hoping to add some levity to the board because we atheists (or truth seekers) need some cheer on the holidays too.

 

[bilby]

which I started in good faith hoping to add some levity to the board

If true, a clear demonstration of your abject incompetence at social interactions.

 

[gmbteach]

Uh--this happens to be my thread.

The thread belongs to IIDB. IIDB provides the resources to post and save this thread as well as the community to respond to the post, thru its non-profit, educational mission to promote and discuss a naturalistic worldview. YOU are PART of the IIDB community and have been for 20 years. Once you post your op, a discussion by community members is generated from the content of the op. Your snarky comment about IIDB was not really relevant to the op and discussion generated by IIDB community members--to include yourself. If you are entitled to make such outrageous snark about the entire community (of which you are a member), then members are entitled to tell you they do not like it. You ought not try to use imagined power as an op author to try to censor other members from writing true things you do not wish to hear when you generated the off-topic snark in the first place.

OK. You win. I plead no contest. I'm a really bad person. It's not worth fighting over.

Now, let's all get back to the OP please which I started in good faith hoping to add some levity to the board because we atheists (or truth seekers) need some cheer on the holidays too.

That’s what family, and the humour threads are for!

 

[southernhybrid]

Haven't read the entire thread, but has anyone challenged the premise of the title? I don't think atheists are ruining the 'fun' of religious faith at all. If anything, the fun aspects of religious faith are the parts we also enjoy.

And, the version of Christianity that I grew up with had no fun at all. Christmas was pretty much secular in our home, with the traditional pagan decorations and lots of presents. Church was horrible. It was all about hell fire and damnation and the evil god of the OT who was always punishing people. Nothing fun about it at all, so how can we atheists take away their fun? There is no fun in most religions.


I will admit that the little Black church I visited for the anniversary celebration of my poor friend's parents last month, was a lot of fun, minus the sermon. But, even that wasn't too bad because two very cool musicians started playing near the end of the sermon and the preacher sounded like he was rapping. His voice was garbled, so we didn't even know what he was saying. It was unlike any white church I've ever visited and it meant a lot to my friend that we attended. A good time was had by all. White churches could learn how to have fun if they were more like little Black churches. Amen. Preach it brother. Hallelujah. It didn't matter what the people believed. It was all about love and the emotional high of the congregation.

See that. I'm back on topic. Atheists don't ruin Christians fun. Sometimes they join in with Christian fun, but it's very hard to find any fun in Christianity.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Haven't read the entire thread, but has anyone challenged the premise of the title? I don't think atheists are ruining the 'fun' of religious faith at all.

Atheists spoiling the fun of religious faith isn't my premise. In the OP I described my explaining the reality of death to some Christians in another forum. An atheist there objected to my doing so because he thought I was being cruel to those Christians. I then asked if I stole the "joy of Christ" from them. You may wish to answer that question.

It's normally a good idea to read the OP.

If anything, the fun aspects of religious faith are the parts we also enjoy.

Do you enjoy believing in eternal life with Jesus? If not, do you tell Christians you don't believe there is a heaven?

 

[TomC]

I will admit that the little Black church I visited for the anniversary celebration of my poor friend's parents last month,

You're reminding me of some excellent experiences I remember.

For reasons, I used to attend church services at multiple churches around town. Many were smallish predominantly black churches.

A big fave was the Calvary Apostolic church at 8th and California streets. Those people ROCKED! Sunday service lasted about 3 hours, from 11am to 2pm. Fire brand sermons and music that would have shaken a lesser building right off its hundred year old foundations. Then another few hours of fellowship. Where a bunch of church ladies were in competition for best food.

Tons of the best food people who knew how to cook brought to church.
Dayum!

Tom

 

[bilby]

It's normally a good idea to read the OP.

It's normally a good idea to avoid a misleading thread title.

 

[steve_bank]

Haven't read the entire thread, but has anyone challenged the premise of the title? I don't think atheists are ruining the 'fun' of religious faith at all. If anything, the fun aspects of religious faith are the parts we also enjoy.

And, the version of Christianity that I grew up with had no fun at all. Christmas was pretty much secular in our home, with the traditional pagan decorations and lots of presents. Church was horrible. It was all about hell fire and damnation and the evil god of the OT who was always punishing people. Nothing fun about it at all, so how can we atheists take away their fun? There is no fun in most religions.


I will admit that the little Black church I visited for the anniversary celebration of my poor friend's parents last month, was a lot of fun, minus the sermon. But, even that wasn't too bad because two very cool musicians started playing near the end of the sermon and the preacher sounded like he was rapping. His voice was garbled, so we didn't even know what he was saying. It was unlike any white church I've ever visited and it meant a lot to my friend that we attended. A good time was had by all. White churches could learn how to have fun if they were more like little Black churches. Amen. Preach it brother. Hallelujah. It didn't matter what the people believed. It was all about love and the emotional high of the congregation.

See that. I'm back on topic. Atheists don't ruin Christians fun. Sometimes they join in with Christian fun, but it's very hard to find any fun in Christianity.

You can be atheist and appreciate some down home black gospel music.

 

[gmbteach]

Uh--this happens to be my thread.

The thread belongs to IIDB. IIDB provides the resources to post and save this thread as well as the community to respond to the post, thru its non-profit, educational mission to promote and discuss a naturalistic worldview. YOU are PART of the IIDB community and have been for 20 years. Once you post your op, a discussion by community members is generated from the content of the op. Your snarky comment about IIDB was not really relevant to the op and discussion generated by IIDB community members--to include yourself. If you are entitled to make such outrageous snark about the entire community (of which you are a member), then members are entitled to tell you they do not like it. You ought not try to use imagined power as an op author to try to censor other members from writing true things you do not wish to hear when you generated the off-topic snark in the first place.

OK. You win. I plead no contest. I'm a really bad person. It's not worth fighting over.

Now, let's all get back to the OP please which I started in good faith hoping to add some levity to the board because we atheists (or truth seekers) need some cheer on the holidays too.

That’s what family, and the humour threads are for!

 

[southernhybrid]

Haven't read the entire thread, but has anyone challenged the premise of the title? I don't think atheists are ruining the 'fun' of religious faith at all. If anything, the fun aspects of religious faith are the parts we also enjoy.

And, the version of Christianity that I grew up with had no fun at all. Christmas was pretty much secular in our home, with the traditional pagan decorations and lots of presents. Church was horrible. It was all about hell fire and damnation and the evil god of the OT who was always punishing people. Nothing fun about it at all, so how can we atheists take away their fun? There is no fun in most religions.


I will admit that the little Black church I visited for the anniversary celebration of my poor friend's parents last month, was a lot of fun, minus the sermon. But, even that wasn't too bad because two very cool musicians started playing near the end of the sermon and the preacher sounded like he was rapping. His voice was garbled, so we didn't even know what he was saying. It was unlike any white church I've ever visited and it meant a lot to my friend that we attended. A good time was had by all. White churches could learn how to have fun if they were more like little Black churches. Amen. Preach it brother. Hallelujah. It didn't matter what the people believed. It was all about love and the emotional high of the congregation.

See that. I'm back on topic. Atheists don't ruin Christians fun. Sometimes they join in with Christian fun, but it's very hard to find any fun in Christianity.

You can be atheist and appreciate some down home black gospel music.

That's true, but our enjoyment had little to do with the music. The worst music was done by a white woman who was visiting the church, although she did put a lot of emotion into her singing. The keyboard guy and the drummer were very good, but the singing, not so much. The thing that we enjoyed was the love that the people displayed for each other, the warmth, the joy and how they all appreciated us coming to share in this celebration of a long, happy marriage. Actually, we had no idea we were going to attend a 2 and 1/2 hour church service, but it was an interesting cultural experience, and I can understand why such church communities are so important to some people.

I've known 3 atheists who were also Methodists. I assume they lost their beliefs while being members of a church, but they enjoyed their church communities as well as the opportunity to do charity work with others. I've personally known one local Methodist who was a very liberal believer and who thought that atheists were usually pretty cool people, including one of her own children, so it's nonsense that a lot of atheists are trying to ruin Christian fun, assuming that Christians even have that much religion based fun at all. I have no doubt that there are plenty of atheists sitting in the church pews on Sundays, for one reason or another.

Telling some one that you don't believe in an afterlife isn't spoiling anyone's fun. I once had a friend who was a fairly liberal Christian. She used to tell me that we would find out who was right about the afterlife after we died and I would always respond with, "Not if I'm right, we won't" I'm not sure she even got it, but people can discuss why they believe what they do without spoiling anyone's fun. I've had Christians tell me I'm going to hell if I don't believe what they do. I usually just tell them that their god is very egotistical if he thinks one must believe in him, in order to avoid eternal punishment. Wouldn't a loving god judge his people by their character, if he must judge them at all? That usually backs them off, but I'm never the one who starts these conversations.

Any Christian who comes here should know that there will be some strong disagreements and attacks on their beliefs. Nobody is making them come here, so if they don't want to know the truth, they need to stay away. When we used to have lots of Christians here, they were often jerks. Atheists don't tell christians they will punished eternally for their beliefs, we just tell them there is no evidence for their beliefs. If that spoils their fun, they need to stop arguing with atheists.

 

[ideologyhunter]

You can be atheist and appreciate some down home black gospel music.

My recommendations for best gospel collections: the two Gospel Sound sets on Columbia (two record sets brought out in the early 70s, and perhaps hard to find nowadays), the two boxed sets of Mahalia Jackson classics on Columbia/Legacy CDs, Aretha's Amazing Grace concerts from '72, The Complete Blind Willie Johnson on Columbia/Legacy (although he is such a fervent performer that I find him more interesting on various artist compilations than in an extended listen), Freedom Highway, a collection of Staples Singers cuts from the 60s, Shakin' the Rafters, a live recording of the Abyssinian Baptist Gospel Choir, from '60, and The Gospel Tradition: The Roots and the Branches Vol. 1, which features various artists, recorded from 1927 to 1956.
I contrast that with every experience of hymn-singing I've been subjected to, in mainstream and (mostly) Caucasian churches in my life, mostly in Presbyterian churches -- what a drag. Leaden rhythms, plodding rhymes, endless verses, melodies that stomp on every beat like workhorses turning a stile. Ugh. Ugh. Since 'fun' appears in the thread title, my verdict on most hymn-singin' is No Fun At All. I'll admit my experience is limited in those venues, but then, I've been out of the church for good since the mid-70s. If you see me in a church these days, I'm there for a funeral to or donate to a food bank. Not to sing. Every so often I channel surf on a Sunday, and I'll catch a white mega-church with a huge sound system and a full-on rock band pumping out Christian rock devotionals -- but they don't supplant Black gospel in my world. They're just odd, because the preacher never has anything good to say about rock music itself.

 

[EricH]

Nah. I think you fell for it. He posted a bigoted comment about the disabled, and then when he realized what he said, he whitewashed it. Seriously, he referred to us as "dumb" and "weak." And then you believed his lame excuse?

I think a big difference between you and I is that I treat people as honest and work to build them up whenever I can. This behavior has not let me down in 75 years. You, on the other hand, have told us that you never trust people at their word. Indeed, your sole agenda in these forums appears to be to tear down all its atheist members and label them all as corrupt, tyrannical cult members. Doesn't sound like a pleasant way to live your life, maybe ponder on how you can change your attitude and maybe change your net happiness.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Nah. I think you fell for it. He posted a bigoted comment about the disabled, and then when he realized what he said, he whitewashed it. Seriously, he referred to us as "dumb" and "weak." And then you believed his lame excuse?

I think a big difference between you and I is that I treat people as honest...

In that case you will treat me as honest too. If I'm honest, then you assume I'm not lying about the lack of credibility I've seen on this board. And if that's the case, then you can't treat the others here as honest!

So to treat everybody as honest is self-defeating and contradictory because people often deny what others say. Besides, any sensible person knows better than to assume that everybody is honest.

...and work to build them up whenever I can.

When did you ever build me up?

This behavior has not let me down in 75 years.

It's amazing that you've survived believing everybody that long.

You, on the other hand, have told us that you never trust people at their word.

That is incorrect. I never said that.

Indeed, your sole agenda in these forums appears to be to tear down all its atheist members and label them all as corrupt, tyrannical cult members.

Another explanation is that I'm a person who is concerned about much of the ideology on this board that is potentially dangerous if acted on.

Doesn't sound like a pleasant way to live your life...

Would you prefer I be a hedonist seeking pleasure regardless of the moral consequences?

...maybe ponder on how you can change your attitude and maybe change your net happiness.

If I wanted to seek happiness, then I would abuse illegal drugs and alcohol and solicit prostitutes. Happiness isn't my top priority; I want to find goodness and truth. I seem to be alone in that regard.

Let me finish by pointing out that your comments are very reminiscent of what religious followers have said to me to try to snag me as a member of their groups.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Yes, I would say alone. I just did a bunch of fentanyl with two hookers and a wild gal from Moms for Liberty, and we kicked it back with some hooch. I know for a fact that 99% of the other members do the same.

 

[Shadowy Man]

If I wanted to seek happiness, then I would abuse illegal drugs and alcohol and solicit prostitutes.

Yikes if those are the things that make you most happy.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

maybe ponder on how you can change your attitude and maybe change your net happiness.

If someone had told me that before I was about 35 I would have reacted pretty emotionally and negatively. Life was pretty much in the toilet in a lot of ways and the anxiety factor was high. Today it's different because there is way less stress, way more experience and way more freedom. That can happen if things fall the right way. Anymore, and when I'm at my best, I realize I can't know what's behind another person's eyeballs. Could be some real trauma there. Could be.

Yes, I would say alone. I just did a bunch of fentanyl with two hookers and a wild gal from Moms for Liberty, and we kicked it back with some hooch. I know for a fact that 99% of the other members do the same.

I never realized we were so transparent. Secrets sure are hard to keep.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

If I wanted to seek happiness, then I would abuse illegal drugs and alcohol and solicit prostitutes.

Yikes if those are the things that make you most happy.

I'm surprised that anybody here would disagree with me there.

 

[DBT]

They represent kind of a shallow view of life and happiness?

 

[bilby]

I have never used the services of a prostitute; I haven't used illegal drugs in thirty years, haven't smoked tobacco in twenty five; and as a consequence of my current job, I almost never drink alcohol.

I can't recall a time in my life when I was happier than I am now.

If anything, my personal experience and my observations of people around me suggest that the abuse of illegal drugs and alcohol, and the soliciting of prostitutes, are at best almost completely ineffective, and more commonly counterproductive, to the pursuit of happiness.

I have a lovely and loving wife, a cosy home full of pets and books, a job I enjoy, and a nice cup of tea. That seems to be a much more effective formula for happiness.