[i]"You have irreparably violated my civil rights by using public resources to promote religion," wrote Messina, a self-described atheist who lives in San Jose, Calif., and owns property in Lyon County. "I am offended that Christians have used this tragedy from the World Trade Center to promote their own religion," he said.[/i]
[b]Seems like the atheist is the intolerant one here! But nowadays it's okay to be intolerant of "Christians".[/b]



[b]No, you haven't because the Buddhists don't care about you one bit.  They only care about THEMSELVES and what brings THEM "inner peace".  And Muslims, well when they come knocking, they do it with explosives and hijackings.  YES, I know that's stereotypical and gross generalities, but hey, sue me.[/b] [;)]


[b]
Any amount of incredible evil can be rationalized away just as easily through the use of "reason" alone (secularism) as through religious extremism.
[/b]

Here are several words, however, that are:

Cultural Revolution
Kristallnacht
Holocaust
Marxism
Stalininsm
Eugenics

Don't even [b]attempt[/b] to start comparing body counts.

If you trust in Man, why then, NSF, do you lock your doors at night?

For you M4 and ArmaLiter and anyone else who are over-reacting to my "shoot 'em" line:

I'm sorry if you took offense at this.  I thought is was obvious that it was said in jest.
Maybe I should have used the wink icon instead.



And for those atheists/secularists who thought I was gunning for them,  Answer me this:  Why is it bad to kill?  I understand from a utilitarian point of view that to deprive the collective as a whole of the future productive benefits that the victim could have provided society makes killing "wrong".  

But is there more to it than that?  
[b]Is killing a person any different than killing a seeing-eye dog?[/b]
What is the value of a human in the atheistic/secularist perspective beyond what that person provides to society?

Post from Duffy -

Yes, what is the agenda with Christians? Read the Book and find out!

We certainly can see from the article that began this thread what the atheist/pagan/non-christian [b]agenda[/b] is - to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth.

It ain't gonna happen, you can trust God for that! Well, since you don't believe in Him, let's just say you can bet the farm on it!

If you don't like living in a Christiam nation, why don't y'all atheists/pagans go find a country that's more in tune with your philosophy - like [b]Red China![/b]

They persecute Christians there, too! You'd feel right at home!

Yeah, like when we impose or attempt to impose our beliefs concerning the true meaning of the Second Amendment and the RKBA on others, I suppose that's brainwashing, too?

I suppose you brainwash your child when you teach them the difference between right and wrong.

Ooops, sorry, I forgot you were an atheist and didn't have any basis for determining right and wrong!

Eric The(MyAbjectApologies,Sir,YouMayTeachYourChildrenWhateverYourHeartDesires)Hun[>]:)]

We are indeed unrepentant sinners here. As for being offended by the words on his water bill, do y'all realize why we hate Californians? I am bombarded daily with messages like "Report that smoking car" to "enjoy Coca-Cola." It's all about the sales pitch.

Gun(In homo friendly,easily offended,gun fearing out of state property owners we most definately do not trust)Monkey

Those poor Chinese people, to think that a billion will be going to hell.  There's a reason they call it a [b]mission[/b] in the political world they call it an agenda.

The Chinese people were extremely open to the Christian missionaries, and Christianity was making good headway in China until Mao took over in 1949!

So unlike nearby Japan, which after 175 years of contact with the West, boasts a Christian population of less than 5%!

Well, I suppose that the Chinese people had a hunger for something, with an intensity that the Japanese people simply do not feel.

Or maybe it was the Emperor worship that kept them from embracing Christianity.

Eric The(WhoKnows?)Hun[>]:)]

Sounds like Heaven is a uni-sexual, multi-cultural paradise. Guess Jesus [b]was[/b] the first hippy...

Was that "religion" classes or "Become a Christian or Fail" classes?  Oh, did they also force algebra, English, science and history down your throat as well?  Those bastards! They should have let YOU decide your entire curricula like Johnny Taliban Walker's School did.




And what country "requires" you to become Christian?  I can name a few that should require you to be more tolerant of Christian expressions of faith but I know of none that "require" you to convert.




How about a secular nut job telling them what to do?  There are lots of those around too.





By your fruits ye shall be known.

God damn right! A bunch of heathens that can't swim for shit...They should all all go to hell, or Seattle!

               Teddy Kennedy
               Hyannisport,Ma.

Ok, You know what?  I thought about that now for about 15 minutes.  I came to the conclusion "Unspotted from the world" could mean two things:

1. Consciousness without existence.
2. Individuality.

The first one would state that your aware of what you are doing but you feel your not really "in this world" but in another, perhaps heavenly world, and are just biding your time in this "illusion" comes to an end.

2.  Or it means do your own thing.  It means that you choose your own way, not of what others are doing, but what you know is right and morally sound.  That I have no problem with.

But the whole "visit widows... in their afflictions" nonsense seems to be a bit irrational.  Why should I fawn over them if I wasn't the one who caused their affliction?  Shouldn't you blame God for being fatherless or a widower?  Does their suffering hold some sort of guilt over me for not suffering?  Please elaborate.

[):)]
NSF

Post from NSFJoJo -

Or 3. Not a partaker in sin.

Unblemished by worldy sins. It's easier if you try to refrain from new-age-think, when trying to understand scripture.

No. If that was what was meant by James, he would have said keep yourself 'unconnected to this world.' How can you get from what James is saying to some sort of 'life is but a dream' meaning? I'd say you need to think about this for more than 15 minutes. I've known folks who've spent a lifetime trying to understand and put into effect what James has proposed.

'Do your own thing'? Well, gee, what earthly creature could possibly pass on a religion that simply said 'do your own thing'? No wonder you would have no problem with that interpretation! It requires nothing from you at all!

Hmmm. NSFJoJo are you trying to bait me or something? Surely you must understand this!

Let's get personal.

If [s]you[/s] Joe Blow, fireman for the City of New York, had been at the World Trade Center that fateful day in September, and on duty, would [s]you[/s] Joe Blow have been right/correct/moral/reasonable to have gone up the stairwell to attempt to rescue as many souls as [s]you[/s] he could, without giving much thought to the fact that, say, a couple of hundred thousand tons of building materials might come crashing down on [s]you[/s] him, as a reward for [s]your[/s] his efforts?

Could [s]you[/s] Joe Blow, fireman, have not rationalized the decision to death - 'Why should I fawn over them if I wasn't the one who caused their affliction?' [s]You[/s] Joe Blow asks.

I am fairly certain that [s]you[/s] Joe Blow could have remained on the ground and saved [s]your[/s] his own life in the tragedy, and gone home at the end of [s]your[/s] his shift.

By the same token I suppose that you [u]could[/u] walk past a truly needy widow and orphan and not take care of them in [i][b]some[/b][/i] manner, but the question becomes '[i][b]Why would you?[/b][/i]

Let me know when you've given more than 15 minutes to this issue, and we can continue.

Eric The(Disappointed)Hun[>]:)]