How would you debate a street preacher?

[Learner]

My main problem is that why so many not only fall for these threats and inducements but so many others keep their silence. Not all religions do this - just Christians and Muslims - Hindus don't neither do Buddhists & some other religions.

You seem to have the knack for street preaching or at least those qualities as evident in the amount of threads you create (against Christianity) and the posts you make for the promotion of your faith.

(You could take it as a compliment ).

 

[James Brown]

Yeah, he did, because this wallet was actually someone else's that he had lifted earlier, and that was taken from yet another thief, etc.

You know the Ol' saying... "There are three elements to Morality... Context, Context, Context."

Another one: "The great thing about moral standards is that there are so many to choose from."

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

You know the Ol' saying... "There are three elements to Morality... Context, Context, Context."

Another one: "The great thing about moral standards is that there are so many to choose from."

Moral absolutes are subject to interpretation.

 

[Shake]

I don't know if they were street preachers exactly, but the last time I saw anyone on a street shouting out religious stuff was some folks yelling at those of us who were going to a Lamb of God concert. Once Gojira started playing, it somewhat drowned them out, especially as I got closer to the venue. I was really there to see Machine Head, though now have become a bigger fan of LoG.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I walked by a street preacher at lunch today. He droned on in a soft, monotone voice about how Jesus died for us and the blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away our sins. He sounded bored as shit and wasn't selling it at all.

If you're going to be an insane guy ranting about bullshit on a street corner, I really need you to put some fucking effort into it and own your crazy. This half-assing doesn't cut it.

 

[Ramaraksha]

My main problem is that why so many not only fall for these threats and inducements but so many others keep their silence. Not all religions do this - just Christians and Muslims - Hindus don't neither do Buddhists & some other religions.

You seem to have the knack for street preaching or at least those qualities as evident in the amount of threads you create (against Christianity) and the posts you make for the promotion of your faith.
(You could take it as a compliment ).

Mostly against the concept of Heaven - which is not a Christian idea - lots of Hindus and other religious people believe in that as well
I discuss ideas - Heaven is an Idea, Reincarnation(which is what i promote) is an idea, unless we are willing to discuss ideas how will we get better?

The idea that i am a street preacher simply because i make a post is interesting. Since all these other posts exist are they all also street preachers?

 

[sharon45]

You seem to have the knack for street preaching or at least those qualities as evident in the amount of threads you create (against Christianity) and the posts you make for the promotion of your faith.
(You could take it as a compliment ).

Mostly against the concept of Heaven - which is not a Christian idea - lots of Hindus and other religious people believe in that as well
I discuss ideas - Heaven is an Idea, Reincarnation(which is what i promote) is an idea, unless we are willing to discuss ideas how will we get better?

The idea that i am a street preacher simply because i make a post is interesting. Since all these other posts exist are they all also street preachers?

The street preacher is actually stalled in the road, and blocking traffic, so it is perfectly natural for other drivers to honk their horns and yell out of their windows.

 

[Learner]

Mostly against the concept of Heaven - which is not a Christian idea - lots of Hindus and other religious people believe in that as well

I see ...so you are a Hindu reformist of sorts. New "ideas to a new "Hindu religion maybe? (Other than what one would call "cherry picking")

I discuss ideas - Heaven is an Idea, Reincarnation(which is what i promote) is an idea, unless we are willing to discuss ideas how will we get better?

No problem discussing ideas. The titles of your threads and how you were portraying this, seemed to be something other than sharing ideas. Thats probably why you haven't had much input from theists (especially) to discuss by the title of your topics.

The idea that i am a street preacher simply because i make a post is interesting. Since all these other posts exist are they all also street preachers?

They're usually posts from those that do not believe in any religion.

The interest for me (similar to what one member said before) was a sort of rallying up atheists to mutually agree to criticize a religion whilst distancing your own. Now I'm not suggesting any devious agenda as I think ... finally from the logic confusion ... I get the gist of where you are actually coming from.

 

[Ramaraksha]

The interest for me (similar to what one member said before) was a sort of rallying up atheists to mutually agree to criticize a religion whilst distancing your own. Now I'm not suggesting any devious agenda as I think ... finally from the logic confusion ... I get the gist of where you are actually coming from.

The problem here is that since it is Hinduism that originated the idea of Reincarnation - since i am talking about Reincarnation i must be pushing Hinduism, that seems to be the allegation here - not much i can do about it, is there? I am proud of the fact that Atheists are welcomed in Hinduism, I myself am an Atheist Hindu, something that Buddhism carried forward

I am not in favor of rallying against religion as you put it - then we are no better than them, are we? There are good and bad ideas in any religion - my hope is to criticize and discard the bad and keep the good

Rama's razor - everything originated from earth - all religions came from life experiences - that is what i discuss - you do detect a bias towards Hinduism in my posts because yes i do believe it is superior to Abrahamic religions - to me these are simple religions - "Pray to X, he will reward you with the good life" - just like Kings used to reward their loyal followers - can't believe such simple and primitive ideas are the dominant ones today

We don't polish shoes to get ahead anymore - it would be an insult to us if we were to get a job or a promotion because of our religion. And we would really get mad if we were to be denied a job or a promotion because of our religion or lack of it

And yet when it comes to religion i find it amazing that in the 21st century, it is still believed praying to X or Y God makes a difference. Hindus, Buddhists are praying to the wrong Gods, polishing the wrong shoes and will end up in hell! Of course Atheists are not polishing anyone's shoes & they will be hurt forever!

The reason Hinduism has so many Gods, it is saying Gods do not matter, our Karmas (actions) matter(and that is why Atheists are welcomed, what or whom you pray to or do not does not matter) - What a great thing to say & this is back about 5,000 years ago! There is no begging God for forgiveness in Hinduism - God cannot/will not do that - but the goal is different - whereas for Christians and Muslims, life on earth is in the mirror after death and all they want to do is to get to Heaven and they think begging God to get into Heaven makes sense.
For Hindus God is like a Teacher - it is like asking the Teacher to change your grade - no Teacher will do that and nor should any student should even ask

 

[sharon45]

I am not in favor of rallying against religion as you put it - then we are no better than them, are we?

That would ultimately depend on what this rallying actually is. Being against believing in fantasy is almost everyone's idea, even the religious, since they simply don't accept that their faith is in fantasy.

For Hindus God is like a Teacher - it is like asking the Teacher to change your grade - no Teacher will do that and nor should any student should even ask

Yet teachers can be wrong sometimes, and a student ought to be able to freely point out their mistakes.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Yet teachers can be wrong sometimes, and a student ought to be able to freely point out their mistakes.

Religion is obviously full of mistakes. If it wasn't there wouldn't be so damn many of them.

 

[braces_for_impact]

I've had discussions with a street preacher or two in my time, or other evangelists trying to witness to me. Whether I engage depends a lot on the situation. Often I ignore them, but once in awhile you get one that is very nasty in calling people names or scaring children. Those types sometimes get me angry enough to debate. Or, someone tries to converse specifically with me. Normally I try to tailor my approach to the audience. I find with street preachers, knowing some key bible verses helps, and I have a bible app on my phone for just such occasions. You would think a street preacher would know the bible back to front, but in my experience that's not the case most of the time.

 

[Brian63]

Do you think you won those debates you had with them, or they won?

I think now I could clean the clock of Comfort in a written debate, but he would definitely "own" me in any kind of quick-reflex oral debate, like one on the street.

Brian

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

When Mormons used to make house calls the last two left in shambles. When they asked me about my soul I said people don't have souls, that's just pretend. When they mentioned god I said gods aren't real, just pretend, because they can't show me one. My method is to speak plain english and it works quite well. Doing that allows you to dictate the terms of the exchange.

 

[Shake]

When Mormons used to make house calls the last two left in shambles. When they asked me about my soul I said people don't have souls, that's just pretend. When they mentioned god I said gods aren't real, just pretend, because they can't show me one. My method is to speak plain english and it works quite well. Doing that allows you to dictate the terms of the exchange.

It was mid-evening and I was tired when some recently came by my door. I didn't even start, just opened up long enough to say, "No thank you, guys," before closing the door. I'm not really into confrontation, though, so as much as I might like to go off on them, I'm not sure I'd have handled it that much differently had it been say, on a weekend afternoon when I was more alert.

 

[sharon45]

When Mormons used to make house calls the last two left in shambles. When they asked me about my soul I said people don't have souls, that's just pretend. When they mentioned god I said gods aren't real, just pretend, because they can't show me one. My method is to speak plain english and it works quite well. Doing that allows you to dictate the terms of the exchange.

Right, because they start out with no argument.

 

[sharon45]

When Mormons used to make house calls the last two left in shambles. When they asked me about my soul I said people don't have souls, that's just pretend. When they mentioned god I said gods aren't real, just pretend, because they can't show me one. My method is to speak plain english and it works quite well. Doing that allows you to dictate the terms of the exchange.

It was mid-evening and I was tired when some recently came by my door. I didn't even start, just opened up long enough to say, "No thank you, guys," before closing the door. I'm not really into confrontation, though, so as much as I might like to go off on them, I'm not sure I'd have handled it that much differently had it been say, on a weekend afternoon when I was more alert.

It's probably better that way to not have to waste your time, since the Mormons have nothing else to do besides waste theirs.

 

[Shake]

It was mid-evening and I was tired when some recently came by my door. I didn't even start, just opened up long enough to say, "No thank you, guys," before closing the door. I'm not really into confrontation, though, so as much as I might like to go off on them, I'm not sure I'd have handled it that much differently had it been say, on a weekend afternoon when I was more alert.

It's probably better that way to not have to waste your time, since the Mormons have nothing else to do besides waste theirs.

OTOH — and I thought about this later — the more of their time I waste is less time they have talking to others, who may be less well-equipped to rebut their BS and perhaps even plant some seeds of doubt within them. I don't regret my decision, though. It would have just taken more time away from my family.

 

[Underseer]

There are a ton of videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to use Street Epistemology. If your goal is to deconvert someone, Street Epistemology is far and away the most effective method.

 

[ideologyhunter]

I have found that Mormons disappear from your door instantly if you utter 3 simple words: 'I'm an atheist.' Their training manuals are geared to winning away members of Christian denominations -- confronting unbelief is more of a burden than they'll take on.