A respectful request to Sherman for tolerance in moderation.
- Thread starter Eeset
- Start date
musterion
Well-known member
Seconded.
A request is not a whine. But nonetheless I hold the opinion that you are a bit too quick with the hammer. I hope other members will voice their own perspectives.
musterion
Well-known member
Have you privately contacted Knight? I ask because that's what a mature person would do, whereas trying to rile up a troll mob against his mod not only looks petty and vindictive but is just going to annoy him.
What is the definition of an atheist? According to one dictionary, an atheist is "a person who does not believe in God or gods." By that definition, every atheist considers God to be an imaginary friend, and any post they made on the subject would necessarily reflect that opinion. I agree with the statement in the OP. If you are going to give an infraction to one atheist for expressing his atheism, you may just as well ban all atheists from ever posting on this forum.
I would not go behind Sherman's back to lodge an objection with Knight unless circumstances were more egregious.
musterion
Well-known member
I agree with Sherman on this one. Lots of atheists participate here and have no trouble respecting the fact that this is a Christian run site. My name is Delmar and I aprove Sherman's message.
Intentional Blasphemy deserves a ban. Well done Sherman.
glorydaz
Well-known member
:thumb:
I don't understand how someone who identifies as Christian would not be offended by his comment. Everyone knows it was meant to be offensive, so why pretend otherwise?
Okay, if you insist. Sherman does an excellent job of moderating.
You do an equally excellent job of instigating.
Ask Mr. Religion
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In the town square the non-believer may get away with all manner of nonsense. This site is not the same venue. Persons should familiarize themselves with the "house" they have come into here and here.
Sadly, some folks think that having a computer, some anonymity, and an open text editing window on the internet means they can behave in any odd manner without consequences.
AMR
I don't think this was about expressing atheism, but rather belittling Christians.
One can express their disbelief by simply stating "I have never seen evidence that would convince me that God or any other deity exists".
musterion
Well-known member
Not when some of them are just a constant drip of the same old sniping.
By the way. What would you consider crossing the line into blasphemy?
PureX
Well-known member
Personally, I think any theist who is offended by an atheist referring to God as an "imaginary friend" is a very weak theist, indeed.
There are instances on TOL where offense is intended (a good example is the reference to a "flying spaghetti monster" nonsense that so often gets posted) and those should be reprimanded because they are stupid and intended only to offend. But referring to God as an imaginary friend is not one of these. I am a theist and a Christian and I understand full well that God is a fundamental and divine mystery to we humans, that we conceptualize in various ways, each according to our needs, or history, and our own nature. For a great many theists God IS an "imaginary friend". And there's nothing wrong or insulting about that. In fact, it's just one of many healing attributes of having a belief and faith in God. No theist should be ashamed to admit that their idea of God is "imagined". One, because it's true. And two, because it's part of how the healing works. God is an object or faith, not a matter of fact.
Not only that, it makes the theists of TOL look weak, and petty, and intellectually childish to be banning non-theists for what is essentially an accurate characterization of their conception of God, even though it is a very limited and naive one on the part of the atheist. And I don't doubt that in the atheist's mind, characterizing theist as "imaginary" could be intended to belittle, as some atheists believe that imagination is somehow wrong, deceptive, childish, or otherwise unimportant; which is ridiculous. I also know that stuu can be somewhat abrasive in exactly this way.
But I think the OP is right. Atheists do believe that all gods are imaginary. And they can't be expected not to say so. And theists make themselves look petty objecting to it when in fact there is some truth to it. Even if not in the way that the atheists think.
Frankly, we theists ought to be stronger and more honest than this. Especially in how we present ourselves to the non-theists.
There are instances on TOL where offense is intended (a good example is the reference to a "flying spaghetti monster" nonsense that so often gets posted) and those should be reprimanded because they are stupid and intended only to offend. But referring to God as an imaginary friend is not one of these. I am a theist and a Christian and I understand full well that God is a fundamental and divine mystery to we humans, that we conceptualize in various ways, each according to our needs, or history, and our own nature. For a great many theists God IS an "imaginary friend". And there's nothing wrong or insulting about that. In fact, it's just one of many healing attributes of having a belief and faith in God. No theist should be ashamed to admit that their idea of God is "imagined". One, because it's true. And two, because it's part of how the healing works. God is an object or faith, not a matter of fact.
Not only that, it makes the theists of TOL look weak, and petty, and intellectually childish to be banning non-theists for what is essentially an accurate characterization of their conception of God, even though it is a very limited and naive one on the part of the atheist. And I don't doubt that in the atheist's mind, characterizing theist as "imaginary" could be intended to belittle, as some atheists believe that imagination is somehow wrong, deceptive, childish, or otherwise unimportant; which is ridiculous. I also know that stuu can be somewhat abrasive in exactly this way.
But I think the OP is right. Atheists do believe that all gods are imaginary. And they can't be expected not to say so. And theists make themselves look petty objecting to it when in fact there is some truth to it. Even if not in the way that the atheists think.
Frankly, we theists ought to be stronger and more honest than this. Especially in how we present ourselves to the non-theists.