Maybe I shouldn't be playing devil's (or um God's?) advocate here, but what do you say to those Christians who don't share some of the more negative points?
What do you say to those Christians who say God loves gay people and that it's completely wrong to say that God thinks their loving relationships are sinful?
What do you say those Christians who say that naturally you can be good without God, but that with God's support you can find inner peace and live a more fulfilling life?
Just curious. Feel free to respond with "probably the exact same thing you'd say Fatpie" if you like. ;)
I left the church, but my brother didn't. He's the music director at a local Episcopalian church. He has been married to his life partner for five years now, and their anniversary is announced and celebrated during services, like those of heterosexual people. The Episcopalian Diocese of Los Angeles elevated a lesbian bishop a few years ago. Westoboro protested - of course - but they had so many counterprotestors, including Marines from a local base, that they were able to entirely block the view of the Westboro protestors from anyone passing on the street.
I suppose in the end it becomes a bit of a "he said, she said" thing doesn't it?
They say they chose that conception of God because of personal experience. We say we've had no experiences to indicate any such thing. We say that without hard evidence it's just feelings that could be entirely mistaken. They say "sometimes you just know".
In the end it's just nice when firmly held unverifiable personal beliefs don't hurt anyone (for a change), yeah?
In the end it's just nice when firmly held unverifiable personal beliefs don't hurt anyone (for a change), yeah?
Yeah. Its less harmful than fundamentalism, but its still untrue and sorta childish to me. I think it still promotes magical thinking and a view of the world that is incompatible with reality. But then, I think some people can more easily...partition off their brain? Keep things like faith in a box, and believe in science and skepticism at the same time? IDK--to me, that level of cognitive dissonance just doesn't work. But I'm not going to march against people's personal spiritual beliefs, so long as they don't try to impinge on the happiness of others.
I recently rediscovered a new tv series called "Apparitions". It's written and directed by an atheist, but he's researched it pretty well. It's about an exorcist, but there's often some really odd twists on the mythology. For example, in one episode a rapist in prison is possessed, not by a demon, but by a saint
( ... )
What do you say to those Christians who say God loves gay people and that it's completely wrong to say that God thinks their loving relationships are sinful?
What do you say those Christians who say that naturally you can be good without God, but that with God's support you can find inner peace and live a more fulfilling life?
Just curious. Feel free to respond with "probably the exact same thing you'd say Fatpie" if you like. ;)
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Episcopalian Diocese of Los Angeles elevated a lesbian bishop a few years ago. Westoboro protested - of course - but they had so many counterprotestors, including Marines from a local base, that they were able to entirely block the view of the Westboro protestors from anyone passing on the street.
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They say they chose that conception of God because of personal experience. We say we've had no experiences to indicate any such thing. We say that without hard evidence it's just feelings that could be entirely mistaken. They say "sometimes you just know".
In the end it's just nice when firmly held unverifiable personal beliefs don't hurt anyone (for a change), yeah?
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Yeah. Its less harmful than fundamentalism, but its still untrue and sorta childish to me. I think it still promotes magical thinking and a view of the world that is incompatible with reality. But then, I think some people can more easily...partition off their brain? Keep things like faith in a box, and believe in science and skepticism at the same time? IDK--to me, that level of cognitive dissonance just doesn't work. But I'm not going to march against people's personal spiritual beliefs, so long as they don't try to impinge on the happiness of others.
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