Pagans IV: Because This is a Weird Place

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
Then there's the posts that, well...you wouldn't see 'em carved on the wall of a truck stop john. Ya know, the ones ignored at least half the time.
 

Lon

Well-known member
The fact that you perceive yourself to be "attacked" tells me that ...
As far as my faith, can't be shaken. I know firsthand what I know. This isn't what I mean by attacked. I'm talking about slights against the Church body and against God. Of course there are personal attacks too, but I take these other two as personal. Those are my Church members, He is My God. "Imaginary Friend" isn't courteous or appropriate. I am learning to reel it in and learning to be gracious, but I know I'm also to defend those God has made me part of as well. There is a fine line balance in there somewhere. Oddly, it is the Christians coming to defend some of these, that really troubles me. Maybe they really aren't as bright as a few say. They don't seem to know when they or their God are being insulted. OR perhaps a few of those attacking aren't as bright or cultured. Some of them don't seem to know they crossed many lines of propriety. At any rate, I'm a bruiser, but I'm working on being appropriate/gentle.
 

Lon

Well-known member
There's always going to be a certain level of discomfort in having this debate. Shouldn't stop us from having it.
It can and should be done, without 'imaginary friend' or tfsm. They serve literally, no purpose other than to purposefully offend.
We all have to deal with personal attacks and general attacks on our affiliations, but those too get tiresome. That said, I know this thread isn't for this specific purpose, was just fielding a question. I'm not wanting to derail your thread and will try to let you head some of these off at the pass if you'd like, before responding to them. I'm not sure which serves its purpose and which do not so would appreciate the kind help and direction you've already given, to continue. Thanks.
 

Caledvwlch

New member
It can and should be done, without 'imaginary friend' or tfsm. They serve literally, no purpose other than to purposefully offend.
We all have to deal with personal attacks and general attacks on our affiliations, but those too get tiresome. That said, I know this thread isn't for this specific purpose, was just fielding a question. I'm not wanting to derail your thread and will try to let you head some of these off at the pass if you'd like, before responding to them. I'm not sure which serves its purpose and which do not so would appreciate the kind help and direction you've already given, to continue. Thanks.

Well fortunately, this thread can't really be derailed.

It started when I was a heavy poster eight or nine years ago, and I, along with some others, derailed a thread that was about atheists, agnostics and pagans. I don't really remember what the point of that thread was, but we derailed it, and were asked to create a new one, which I called "Pagans 2: Some Subtitle or Another." Eventually that one was lost in a storage-space purge, so I started "Pagans III: Because Trilogies Rake in the Cash (Not the real title)." Then I was not posting for several years, and when I started again a couple of months ago, I figured, why not make another sequel nobody asked for?

By "tfsm" do you mean "The Flying Spaghetti Monster"?
 

Granite

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Hall of Fame
Lon's on my ignore list but I can't help but notice since Cal's engaging him he's pontificating about "tiresome" personal attacks. That is awfully rich.

Today we have a wine and cheese tasting over in aisle three.:cheers:
 

Caledvwlch

New member
Lon's on my ignore list but I can't help but notice since Cal's engaging him he's pontificating about "tiresome" personal attacks. That is awfully rich.

Today we have a wine and cheese tasting over in aisle three.:cheers:

Well, like I said. I was gone for a long time. I only just started ignoring aCW like, last week.

It's like a whole new TOL, btw. :cheers:
 

PureX

Well-known member
As far as my faith, can't be shaken. I know firsthand what I know. This isn't what I mean by attacked. I'm talking about slights against the Church body and against God. Of course there are personal attacks too, but I take these other two as personal. Those are my Church members, He is My God. "Imaginary Friend" isn't courteous or appropriate. I am learning to reel it in and learning to be gracious, but I know I'm also to defend those God has made me part of as well. There is a fine line balance in there somewhere. Oddly, it is the Christians coming to defend some of these, that really troubles me. Maybe they really aren't as bright as a few say. They don't seem to know when they or their God are being insulted. OR perhaps a few of those attacking aren't as bright or cultured. Some of them don't seem to know they crossed many lines of propriety. At any rate, I'm a bruiser, but I'm working on being appropriate/gentle.
As was being discussed somewhat on the other thread, I think you are making a fundamental error in perceiving those who happen to reside under a specific set of religious proclivities as belonging to God, and to you, as opposed to those who don't. And the reason I believe this is a fundamental error is because the truth of God and Christ is not a religious truth. It's a truth of the human spirit. I know atheists who are far better Christians than most Christians. And I know Christians who would be amazing human beings regardless of their religion, and sometimes they are amazing in spite of it.

So when someone denigrates the term or the religious idea of God, who cares? They're shooting at symbols, not truth. It's like vandalizing a plastic Santa or burning an American flag. It's the intent of the act that needs to be addressed, not the perceived insult.

When I see a purported 'atheist' using terms like "flying spaghetti monster" I know that I'm either conversing with a 12-year-old, or an emotionally and intellectually retarded adult. Why would I get angry at them for that? They are what they are. And lets face it, we all think and act like children, on occasion. It may be somewhat offensive when it happens, but that isn't a particularly good reason to actually take offense. Children are often offensive, for example, but only an idiot of an adult would actually engage them on that level. (Though I know it happens often enough.)
 

Zakath

Resident Atheist
...When I see a purported 'atheist' using terms like "flying spaghetti monster" I know that I'm either conversing with a 12-year-old, or an emotionally and intellectually retarded adult...

PureX, surely you've run across some who use the FSM or the Invisible Pink Unicorn as satire, something that intellectually retarded adults just do not usually do?
 

Caledvwlch

New member
PureX, surely you've run across some who use the FSM or the Invisible Pink Unicorn as satire, something that intellectually retarded adults just do not usually do?

I use it as an illustration of why you can't prove a negative. I also have an FSM decal on my car. If that makes me an intellectual twelve-year-old, then hey, at least I'm not a Scientologist.
 

PureX

Well-known member
PureX, surely you've run across some who use the FSM or the Invisible Pink Unicorn as satire, something that intellectually retarded adults just do not usually do?
I love satire! But I consider it an art form, which means I expect personal creativity and intuitive self-expression. Neither of which is possible using such terms (unless one has achieved a whole new level of 'inverted' satire). :)
 

Lon

Well-known member
Lon's on my ignore list but I can't help but notice since Cal's engaging him he's pontificating about "tiresome" personal attacks. That is awfully rich.

Today we have a wine and cheese tasting over in aisle three.:cheers:


Let bygones be bygones or stick to your ignore plan.

You are only casting yourself in a disgruntled and bad light.

Take me off of ignore, or don't take pot shots in cowardice (I 'might' deserve some of it but I didn't 'mean' to deserve it. Do you even remember what it was about after about a year?)
 
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Granite

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Hall of Fame
I love satire! But I consider it an art form, which means I expect personal creativity and intuitive self-expression. Neither of which is possible using such terms (unless one has achieved a whole new level of 'inverted' satire). :)

Well there's high-brow (Swift) and low-brow (FSM) satire, PureX. Steak or burger, as it were.
 
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