Question [Way Down Yonder on Trollville]
Posted on: March 1, 2008 - 9:51am
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Question [Way Down Yonder on Trollville]
Am I the only one who thinks it's a bit ironic that the area where theists are restricted from posting is called 'Freethinking Anonymous'? Wouldn't this place better better described as 'Restricted Thinking Anonymous' or perhaps 'Atheists Only'?
I think maybe someone's missing the point of 'free thought'.
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Shansou-
"Free" as in free of irrational fetters.
There's no more to say. Theists can post anywhere else, just not there. That's totally reasonable.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
-Marvin W. Raycliff, from my novel-in-progress
"That's where you're wrong: I'm under no obligation to respect your beliefs. I respect people and I respect facts."
-Lillian Keighn, from my novel-in-progress
Free thought means you are not subscribed to a "dogma". Independent thinking. I will admit we have about...2 or 3 freethinking posters on this forum that are still considered theists but they are extremely rare individuals. I personally think those individuals (wavefreak is the best example I know of here) should be allowed to post in Freethinking Anonymous.
Believers in the Dogma's of Christianity, Islam, etc. though are not "freethinkers" about religion and should be restricted however. Nice try at trying to challenge our ideas though. But still a failure.
Science. It works, bitches.
"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day."
Douglas Adams
Good point, Watcher. There are some theists here who are a lot more rational than others. I also don't see why there's no distinction of the "Theist" and "Deist" labels here. I don't consider them the same thing, but I agree with you. Some "theist" posters deserve special permission to post in Freethinking Anonymous. But to deny other posters that privilege is definitely reasonable.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
-Marvin W. Raycliff, from my novel-in-progress
"That's where you're wrong: I'm under no obligation to respect your beliefs. I respect people and I respect facts."
-Lillian Keighn, from my novel-in-progress
I'm under the impression that Christians consider their thinking "free" because it is "free of sin," Buddhists consider their thinking "free" because it is "free of desire" and Aztecs consider their thinking "free" because it involves freeing the heart from the chest cavity. I'm an atheist, and a strong atheist at that, but I find this very sectarian concept of "free" to be both childish and harmful to the freethought movement as a whole. Atheism is emphatically not a secret cabal like the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, the Church of Scientology, etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum. We have no secret knowledge, no secret rites, no secret ideas, no secret meeting places, no secret codes, no secret treehouses, no secret decoder rings, no secret Santas, no secret Valentines, and no Secret Squirrels.
Treating atheists with special privileges solely on the basis of their beliefs (or lack thereof) is just as screwed up as when Christians or Muslims or anyone else does the same thing with a religious basis. I've met plenty of atheists who are just as stupid and dogmatic as any Christian out there. Oddly enough, it seems that the Rational Responders Squad has more than their fair share of those.
And, by the way, your mom.
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint. It is the view that beliefs should be founded in science and logic. It rejects emotion, authority, and dogma as valid means of discovery and therefor rejects them as a basis for forming valid beliefs. It has nothing to do with considering all beliefs to be equal or people being free to believe whatever they want based in whatever philosophical, or religious, viewpoint they hold. That religions may consider their thought to be free based on different criteria has nothing to do with freethought as the term is being used (its common usage) in the title of the forum. People seem to be confusing free thought, or being free to think whatever they want, with freethought and freethinking.
“Philosophers have argued for centuries about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but materialists have always known it depends on whether they are jitterbugging or dancing cheek to cheek" -- Tom Robbins
Terminology aside,I think the RRS is extremly open with regard to theists. I've seen christian sites where there will be 8 different rooms,and 6 will say'christians only.' but 'people of other religions are welcome to join.' And post where?
I know there's the difference that the RRS actively seeks debate,but why don't theist sites do the same if they want to help us.
Loc'n'Load
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Why is this so hard to understand? RRS just wanted to set up a place where atheists could talk, joke and yes, bitch about things without some Christobot coming in and saying "Well, you just need Jesus."
Yes, you are the only one.
You, Sir, are obviously not an atheist. Otherwise, you would possess the "atheist dictionary," which allows you decode atheist speech. (They run about $35.30 on eBay, and are just as useful as the Mark Super VII Quantum E-meter, which used to run in the hundreds of dollars on eBay.)
Here, "freethinker" means "tweak the Christians' nipples."
Here are some more entries from this most informative volume:
"Rationality" means, "deny all evidence of the existence of God."
"Christian" is defined as, "One who possesses the truth, but is too sanctimonious to bear."
"Christian Apology" is defined as, "Not accepted."
"God" is defined as, "Big scary invisible dude who is going to spank our disbelieving asses on judgement day."
"Heaven" is defined as, "Six beers and free internet porn."
I hope you are as finely-tuned to irony as you claim.
Slow down, mister. No one said anything about 'fine tuning'. Clearly I'm coarsely tuned.
Australopithecus trollensis, I thought you were extinct!
What's it gonna be, eh? You have the moral choice to stop trolling, but are you to be a - dare I say it- clockwork orange? Let us check "The Book."
A like, right bezoomnie bastard you've been, as they say. I'm trying to make up my razoodocks on what to with you.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
-Marvin W. Raycliff, from my novel-in-progress
"That's where you're wrong: I'm under no obligation to respect your beliefs. I respect people and I respect facts."
-Lillian Keighn, from my novel-in-progress