An Invitation from The Thinking Atheist Forum

[Adeodatus]

Lol no thanks Jeff. Athiest forums are hell holes. Self congratulatory ignoramuses high fiving each other for how rude, obnoxious and immoral they can be. I don't believe a word those snakes say. Too many times I've tried to debate with internet atheists. Have yet to come across one that was sincere. Think about it, if they were sincere God would have already rewarded them for their seeking truth. As it stands it's nothing more than mockery, ganging up and some pretended intellectual interest which is nothing more than an excuse later in life to tell someone "I know all your arguments you Jesus loving pedo". This is a bold and prideful forum war challenge not a meaningful and humble pursuit of truth.

In my opinion!

I must agree with Bas, mikemac and others. Just look at the 20th Century: atheists always, always say one thing but do another. They will say and do absolutely anything to win, and then whenever they wield power they employ it in the most selfish and brutal way possible. The names Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho and Pol Pot easily come to the lips, but what also of their millions of followers? It is a philosophy of narcissism, self-deceit and raw power. They have no principles or morality and in fact they explicitly decry these things as mere inventions.

It is merely a matter of logical and levelheaded reasoning to conclude that the majority of them are barely salvageable as human beings, let alone as conversationalists. They will employ every fallacy and sophism, as well as outright fabrications, to bolster their jejune and ahistorical beliefs. If cornered, they will resort to abuse. Expect this forum to be hacked eventually if one of them gets particularly embarrassed.

In short, don't waste your breath.

[Probius]

ReRev, what I meant was that although they said when and where, they did not say what the miracle was going to be before hand.  It would have been more convincing if they had said before the event that the event was going to involve the sun, instead they just said a miracle would occur.

Call me crazy, but I think if they had said it would involve the sun then skeptics wouldn't have just dropped all their objections, they would just shift them saying they put ideas in people's heads. It was a premeditated and initiated group delusion. I think it's much more plausible seeing as they didn't say what it would be. Individuals found out all on their own. Independently. Weird.

That's fair enough.

[Heinrich]

Nein, Danke.

[Jayne]

I must agree with Bas, mikemac and others. Just look at the 20th Century: atheists always, always say one thing but do another. They will say and do absolutely anything to win, and then whenever they wield power they employ it in the most selfish and brutal way possible. The names Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho and Pol Pot easily come to the lips, but what also of their millions of followers? It is a philosophy of narcissism, self-deceit and raw power. They have no principles or morality and in fact they explicitly decry these things as mere inventions.

It is merely a matter of logical and levelheaded reasoning to conclude that the majority of them are barely salvageable as human beings, let alone as conversationalists. They will employ every fallacy and sophism, as well as outright fabrications, to bolster their jejune and ahistorical beliefs. If cornered, they will resort to abuse. Expect this forum to be hacked eventually if one of them gets particularly embarrassed.

In short, don't waste your breath.

I have looked at more of their posts since I last wrote, and I was encouraged to see a few of them of them who reminded me of the atheists I used to know online.

Back when atheism was less socially acceptable, most of the self-identified atheists I encountered had really thought things through.  Calling oneself an atheist carried a cost, so these people were making a commitment.  They were interesting to talk to.

Now, atheism is more like a fashion accessory that people put on because their friends do.  Part of this stylish atheism is nastiness to theists.  These people are not fun.

There was a time when I would have described most of the atheists I knew as a thinking atheist.  Now it is only a name for a forum.  Still, seeing the few people there who deserved the title brought back fond memories for me.

[voxxpopulisuxx]

I've apologized for the poll, I was a bit upset about the name calling toward homosexuals.  I have a homosexual in my family, and that can touch a nerve.

I forgive you for the poll. (Even though I was especially annoyed that you did not include me in it. )

Thanks for making this point about name-calling.  I objected to the name-calling at the time, but when I was explaining why it was a bad idea, I did not mention the reason that your comment illustrates.  It creates bad feelings, hardens people's hearts and makes them less open to anything one has to say. 

As long as there are people like Voxpop shooting off their mouths it will be extremely difficult to convince anyone of the Catholic position.

Excuse me...as long as there are capitulators and limp wristed cowards like yourself trating violent savage aggressors like homosodomites with kit gloves they will grow exponentially. And I guarantee you that in any face to face encounter with sincere seeking individuals I can defend the faith better than you....sticky saccharrin catholic neocons attract no one. Further if your fooled by crimson flyboy it just proves what a sap you can be.

I am so glad that you were keeping down the vitriol.   

Your an extreamly dishonest person...you take cheap shot at me then run back to your ivory tower

[Jayne]

I've apologized for the poll, I was a bit upset about the name calling toward homosexuals.  I have a homosexual in my family, and that can touch a nerve.

I forgive you for the poll. (Even though I was especially annoyed that you did not include me in it. )

Thanks for making this point about name-calling.  I objected to the name-calling at the time, but when I was explaining why it was a bad idea, I did not mention the reason that your comment illustrates.  It creates bad feelings, hardens people's hearts and makes them less open to anything one has to say. 

As long as there are people like Voxpop shooting off their mouths it will be extremely difficult to convince anyone of the Catholic position.

Excuse me...as long as there are capitulators and limp wristed cowards like yourself trating violent savage aggressors like homosodomites with kit gloves they will grow exponentially. And I guarantee you that in any face to face encounter with sincere seeking individuals I can defend the faith better than you....sticky saccharrin catholic neocons attract no one. Further if your fooled by crimson flyboy it just proves what a sap you can be.

I am so glad that you were keeping down the vitriol.   

Your an extreamly dishonest person...you take cheap shot at me then run back to your ivory tower

Voxpop, you make Catholics look bad.  That is the truth.  I do not know why it is a cheap shot to say so. 

[Othmar]

I have a homosexual in my family, and that can touch a nerve.

You're not the only one.

[Heinrich]

I've apologized for the poll, I was a bit upset about the name calling toward homosexuals.  I have a homosexual in my family, and that can touch a nerve.

I forgive you for the poll. (Even though I was especially annoyed that you did not include me in it. )

Thanks for making this point about name-calling.  I objected to the name-calling at the time, but when I was explaining why it was a bad idea, I did not mention the reason that your comment illustrates.  It creates bad feelings, hardens people's hearts and makes them less open to anything one has to say. 

As long as there are people like Voxpop shooting off their mouths it will be extremely difficult to convince anyone of the Catholic position.

Excuse me...as long as there are capitulators and limp wristed cowards like yourself trating violent savage aggressors like homosodomites with kit gloves they will grow exponentially. And I guarantee you that in any face to face encounter with sincere seeking individuals I can defend the faith better than you....sticky saccharrin catholic neocons attract no one. Further if your fooled by crimson flyboy it just proves what a sap you can be.

I am so glad that you were keeping down the vitriol.   

Your an extreamly dishonest person...you take cheap shot at me then run back to your ivory tower

Voxpop, you make Catholics look bad.  That is the truth.  I do not know why it is a cheap shot to say so.

Jaynie, Jaynie, Jayne. If anything, Voxxpop exemplifies what a Catholic man should be. Shame on you for saying this. Especially as you yourself support transexualism and are a completely dishonest fraud. I always, always wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt when being smeared by your detractors(you know who and about what) but now I am beginning to think they are right.

[mikemac]

Nein, Danke.

"No, thank you"

Hey I'm learning German here too. 

[Probius]

voxxpopulisuxx, I've been meaning to ask.  Why are you against the will of the people?  (from your name)

[Heinrich]

voxxpopulisuxx, I've been meaning to ask.  Why are you against the will of the people?  (from your name)

You di int ask me, but I will tell you: because people like you can vote. And that's just not a good thing.

[Jayne]

Jaynie, Jaynie, Jayne. If anything, Voxxpop exemplifies what a Catholic man should be. Shame on you for saying this. Especially as you yourself support transexualism and are a completely dishonest fraud. I always, always wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt when being smeared by your detractors(you know who and about what) but now I am beginning to think they are right.

My husband exemplifies what a Catholic man should be and I am sorry for you that you don't know him.  For examples from this forum, I point you to our male moderators.  All of these men are thoughtful, reasonable and articulate - qualities that make them better able to share our Faith with others.

I do not support transsexualism and I am tired of people on this forum saying that I do, presumably based on an incident that I am not allowed to talk about.  Read my posts in this thread concerning a recent news item: http://catholicforum.fisheaters.com/index.php/topic,3461438.0.html and see if I support it.

[Hughsie]

Well I suppose I can chip in here. I'm a Super-Mod and former Admin of TTA, I'm also a member of two and a half years.

I would say that Crimson's poll was rather ill-advised. However, if we ostracised everyone who ever did something stupid because of a moment of strong emotion I doubt society would exist at all. The team running this forum have grown immeasurably in my eyes for allowing him to return (and I already held them in high regard).

Unfortunately some of the criticisms levelled at the atheist community in this thread have some truth to them. There are atheists around these days who are hostile to theists for no reason and seem to see it as a positive thing, and that saddens me. TTA used to be more tolerant of the religious than it currently is and that's a shame. Don't get me wrong, I still thing we are one of the more theist-friendly atheism forums on the internet but we're not just quite as theist-friendly as when I joined. We seem to have acquired a few very vocal anti-theists who can't help acting with hostility towards any theists they encounter. They are a minority but they also seem to be the quickest to post and the most vocal in the 'Atheism & Theism" section and I think they can detract from the forum by devolving potentially valuable debates into insults and putting potential theist members off. It's rather sad really.

However, I think some of the attacks in this thread are a little far-fetched. To accuse all atheists of being immoral liars isn't any better than atheists attacking theists, and it's just as incorrect.

Perhaps the world would be a better and more tolerant place if people with opposing views were all prepared to engage with each other in a civil manner. I'm not holding my breath that it will happen any time soon though.

[Othmar]

Well I suppose I can chip in here. I'm a Super-Mod and former Admin of TTA, I'm also a member of two and a half years.

I would say that Crimson's poll was rather ill-advised. However, if we ostracised everyone who ever did something stupid because of a moment of strong emotion I doubt society would exist at all. The team running this forum have grown immeasurably in my eyes for allowing him to return (and I already held them in high regard).

Unfortunately some of the criticisms levelled at the atheist community in this thread have some truth to them. There are atheists around these days who are hostile to theists for no reason and seem to see it as a positive thing, and that saddens me. TTA used to be more tolerant of the religious than it currently is and that's a shame. Don't get me wrong, I still thing we are one of the more theist-friendly atheism forums on the internet but we're not just quite as theist-friendly as when I joined. We seem to have acquired a few very vocal anti-theists who can't help acting with hostility towards any theists they encounter. They are a minority but they also seem to be the quickest to post and the most vocal in the 'Atheism & Theism" section and I think they can detract from the forum by devolving potentially valuable debates into insults and putting potential theist members off. It's rather sad really.

However, I think some of the attacks in this thread are a little far-fetched. To accuse all atheists of being immoral liars isn't any better than atheists attacking theists, and it's just as incorrect.

Perhaps the world would be a better and more tolerant place if people with opposing views were all prepared to engage with each other in a civil manner. I'm not holding my breath that it will happen any time soon though.

There's a lot of needless hostility from both sides, and those who are hostile tend to be the most vocal. We ought to be more mellow.

[Jayne]

Well I suppose I can chip in here. I'm a Super-Mod and former Admin of TTA, I'm also a member of two and a half years.

I would say that Crimson's poll was rather ill-advised. However, if we ostracised everyone who ever did something stupid because of a moment of strong emotion I doubt society would exist at all. The team running this forum have grown immeasurably in my eyes for allowing him to return (and I already held them in high regard).

I was impressed by our mods doing that too.

Unfortunately some of the criticisms levelled at the atheist community in this thread have some truth to them. There are atheists around these days who are hostile to theists for no reason and seem to see it as a positive thing, and that saddens me. TTA used to be more tolerant of the religious than it currently is and that's a shame. Don't get me wrong, I still thing we are one of the more theist-friendly atheism forums on the internet but we're not just quite as theist-friendly as when I joined. We seem to have acquired a few very vocal anti-theists who can't help acting with hostility towards any theists they encounter. They are a minority but they also seem to be the quickest to post and the most vocal in the 'Atheism & Theism" section and I think they can detract from the forum by devolving potentially valuable debates into insults and putting potential theist members off. It's rather sad really.

It is interesting that you say the hostile ones are a minority.  They quite dominated my impression of TTA.  I agree that is sad.  I greatly enjoyed my discussions with atheists 20 years ago and I am sad that it no longer seems possible.

However, I think some of the attacks in this thread are a little far-fetched. To accuse all atheists of being immoral liars isn't any better than atheists attacking theists, and it's just as incorrect.

Yes, I agree with this.  I meant to say something at the time but got distracted by making other points.

Perhaps the world would be a better and more tolerant place if people with opposing views were all prepared to engage with each other in a civil manner. I'm not holding my breath that it will happen any time soon though.

Unfortunately there are too many uncivil people among both atheists and traditional Catholics.  I applaud your efforts to rise above the incivility.