[Tfug] Apple Mac OS X: tool of Godless Darwinists and Communist / TROLL ALERT?

[Malcolm Schmerl]

Imagine that, they have "the Truth."

keith smith wrote:
> Try http://www.thetruthproject.org/
>
>
>
> ------------------------
> Keith Smith
>
>
> --- On Mon, 6/22/09, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> From: Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Tfug] Apple Mac OS X: tool of Godless Darwinists and Communist / TROLL ALERT?
>> To: "Tucson Free Unix Group" <tfug at tfug.org>
>> Date: Monday, June 22, 2009, 4:53 PM
>>
>> Hi, Bowie,
>>
>> --- On Mon, 6/22/09, bpoag at comcast.net
>> <bpoag at comcast.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>>> On a truly serious note, why do you think people
>>>>         
>> become
>>     
>>>> "zealots"?  (this is not a rhetorical question)
>>>>         
>>  If you
>>     
>>>> *truly* "believe" (whatever you happen to
>>>>         
>> believe), then
>>     
>>>> why care about what others "believe"?  (let's
>>>>         
>> please avoid
>>     
>>>> the cop-out replies...)
>>>>         
>>> Exactly. I would absolutely agree that zealotry is
>>>       
>> caused
>>     
>>> by people who have unresolved doubts, deep down...
>>>       
>> The
>>     
>>> scarier the doubts, the more fiery the zealot. Look at
>>>       
>> it
>>     
>>> this way---There are people out there who claim to
>>>       
>> have
>>     
>>> total faith in God, but still feel magnetically drawn
>>>       
>> to the
>>     
>>> idea of having proof to justify it to others--A shroud
>>>       
>> in
>>     
>>> this church over here, a supposed fragment of the
>>>       
>> cross in
>>     
>>> that church over there, all sorts of little fetishes
>>>       
>> that
>>     
>>> fill in the cracks. All it takes is a Jesus on a
>>>       
>> tortilla
>>     
>>> for these folks to line up and start sobbing,
>>>       
>> lighting
>>     
>>> candles, and throwing quarters over the velvet rope.
>>>       
>> Understood.  Though please note, I wasn't trying to
>> single
>> out *religious* zealots.  Rather, *all* zealots.
>>
>>     
>>> I know I love my family, for example. I don't feel
>>> compelled to prove it, since I know intrinsically. 
>>> Similarly, I don't need to see a tortilla to know God
>>>       
>> is
>>     
>>> real, because I know it intrinsically.
>>>       
>> Exactly.  A "True Christian" might *like* for you to
>> "be
>> saved" (whatever that might mean), but I can't see someone
>> *compelled* to "make you save yourself".
>>
>> I.e., "smoking is bad", "being overweight is bad", "jumping
>> out
>> of an airplane without a parachute is bad" -- but, if you
>> want to
>> *do* them, I don't feel *compelled* to prevent you from
>> doing
>> so (the gr[ea]y area is when those things have
>> consequential
>> impact on others; i.e., if *your* obesity ends up costing
>> *me*
>> more in health insurance premiums, or if your jumping out
>> of
>> a plane w/o parachute ends up with your carcass falling
>> through
>> my living room *roof*, etc.)
>>
>>     
>>> There's nothing wrong with inviting people, or
>>> encouraging people to talk about and learn what you
>>>       
>> know,
>>     
>>> but bashing people over the head with your religion
>>>       
>> is
>>     
>>> counterproductive and stupid. By guilt-tripping people
>>>       
>> into
>>     
>>> religion, you're depriving those individuals of the
>>> unique and deeply personal connection they need to
>>>       
>> have with
>>     
>>> God....A connection that doesn't require a damn
>>>       
>> tortilla
>>     
>>> to bolster. 
>>>       
>> Yes (though I am distressed at howmuch this is focusing on
>> "religion").  I had a lover many years ago who was a
>> "holy
>> roller".  I recall engaging her in an argument about
>> the
>> existence of God.  After "toying" with her for 15
>> minutes,
>> I smiled sadly and said, "You miss the point.  If
>> *you* have
>> FAITH, then that is *the* answer; trying to rationally
>> argue for God's existence turns your religion into a
>> science or pseudo-science (i.e., something that can be
>> *proven*)"
>>
>>     
>>> I am a Christian, and i'll be the first to tell you
>>> that Christianity is absolutely buckshot-peppered
>>>       
>> with
>>     
>>> layers of stupidity so thick and so complex that it's
>>> hard even for the most well-meaning individuals to
>>>       
>> make
>>     
>>> heads or tails of it. I also refuse to believe that
>>>       
>> the God
>>     
>>> who gave us the ability to think and reason intended
>>>       
>> for us
>>     
>>> to not use them. Feel free to pick Christianity apart.
>>>       
>> I do
>>     
>>> all the time. People who call themselves Christians,
>>>       
>> but are
>>     
>>> then hesitant to take apart and examine their own
>>>       
>> beliefs in
>>     
>>> detail are fundamentally cowards looking more prefer
>>>       
>> comfort
>>     
>>> to truth.
>>>       
>> Or, use it to rationalize their actions.  E.g., the
>> clown
>> who executed the abortion doctor.
>>
>> Buddy Hackett (sp?) has some excellent stand-up routines
>> where he throws (small) barbs at Christians.  I find
>> it
>> amusing how readily (some) folks will laugh at these
>> comments -- yet fail to see the truth in them (much good
>> humor has truth as its basis).
>>
>> But, I would hate to focus this discussion on purely
>> "religious"
>> issues.  I make the same claims about *all*
>> zealots.  E.g.,
>> whether you're touting your version of gawd, your favorite
>> restaurant (BTW, *the* best Italian restaurant, IMO, is in
>> Liverpool; the second and third best are in NYC), your
>> OS/application of choice or your idea of "the best"
>> pistachio
>> nuts (hands down, Zenobia) or potato chips (amazing how
>> fervently chip eaters cling to their favorite brands!)...
>>
>>
>>       
>>
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>>     
>
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>       
>
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