It's easy to make fun....
...of people that believe in God. Because it is based on belief, there isn't any proof, christians can't go: "There, see, that proves God exists!" So believing must be hard. I wouldn't know, I don't, but I have met people that do. And I have been bashing my head against their steadfast refusal to see sense ie: MY point of view. As I grew older, I started to tone the rethoric down a bit. I still didn't believe, but on the other hand, I didn't want to offend, or be seen as rude, often to people I was working with. And now, I'm thinking: Perhaps religion is good for some people. Some people, that need that mental crutch, could do a lot worse, than believing in christian principles, 10 comandments, love thy neighbour, and that. Live and let live I say. It's not for me, I prefer to see reality as clearly as I can, that is not to everybodys taste, and to get worked up about it, is counter-productive.
(Lump, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 16:50, 5 replies)

I agree
My atheism is certainly a lot less militant than it once was. I stand by it, by I appreciate that some people are just going to believe in a god, no matter how many times you cite the lack of evidence. And yes, I'll quite gladly take the piss out of the Bible-bashers in the Southern States, but most of the religious types I know are actually as happy to live-and-let-live as I am now.

It's when they force it upon me ("Have you thought about becoming a Jehovah's Witness?" "...well, that's all very well, but if you don't believe in the word of Jesus/Mohammed/Ganesh then you'll go straight to Hell/Purgatory/Eternal Damnation/Scunthorpe!") that they cross the line and become twats. (And, on balance, I'm sure many atheists have done the same to religious types...) Thankfully the vast majority haven't done that to me.
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 17:02, closed)

Well you're quite right
If belief is required in someones life, the could believe worse things.

But your point the christians can't go: "There, see, that proves God exists!" is a little misplaced because that is what quite a few (not all) of them do.

Look here: Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
( gareth_alien will be human again at, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 17:06, closed)

As I've mentioned before, I'm generally anti-religious
but I think there's a case to be made - a guy I knew at school was really fucked up due to his girlfriend's suicide, and became this crazy, violent psychopath with a penchant for knives and self-harm. Bumped into him a few years later and he was the most amiable, sociable guy you could imagine. Admittedly he was trying to raise funds in the town centre for his next missionary trip to Africa, but at least he wasn't dead or in prison, which is where I feared he'd end up.

I think the point is, though, that if any group of well-meaning people had looked after him for a number of years and tried to help him through the bad times it would have had the same result. The fact that it was a church that stepped in and saved him saddens me a bit, but at least they did help him.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 17:58, closed)

^^Reminds me of an excellent Cheech and Chong sketch:
"I used to be all fucked up on drugs. Now I'm all fucked up on the Lord."
(cheez is feeling ergophobic, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 18:19, closed)

Yup, some Christians're bastards for that,
saving people who're beyond reasonable help, seeing the good in scary people nobody else wants.
That's what Jesus himself was up to - tolerance, humility, generosity.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 7:51, closed)