Cruelty in Theists?
Offline First off, let me tell you something about myself. I am blind. Yep, scary ain't it? And I am supercrip because I can surf the web and even post on forums.
This being said, it is not the most important thing about me, nor do I even feel particularly bad or sad about it. However, some comments by theists regarding my 'handicap' do hurt me.
Why is it that some theists feel it's ok to point out that my being blind is a punishment from their particular god? Either he punished my parents (if they think I was born this way) for transgressions in their lives, or it's because I have strayed from the path (if they think I got blind later in life). I find it rather painful, ignorant, insulting, cruel, degrading and completely absurd. And the scary thing is, that those who say it aren't even considered (by their own standards as well as society's) to be fundamentalists. Moreover, some will suggest that if I pray sincerely, and repent of course, I will 'get cured'.
Isn't the time that we punished people for things they could do nothing about long over?!
How do I respond to such ignorance? Anyone have any suggestions?
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People actually tell you that their God is punishing you with blindness? What dicks! Isn't eternal damnation enough for their fricken tyrant deity, now? That he has to rack up vengeance points in life cause infinity in the afterlife is too few for him.
How to respond to such ignorance as 'repent and you'll be cured'? You'd be quite justified to not even want to, nikske, actually and I hope you never feel you need to. But I suppose if you like you could say to them lets pray together, I'll pray god gives me functioning eyes and you can pray he gives you a functioning brain.
Theist badge qualifier : Gnostic/Philosophical Panentheist
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Some people are assholes. Some assholes are theists.
... I dont want to be a COMPLETE dick here... but how can a blind guy post on an internet forum? You know, with the whole "Not seeing" thing >.>
Please enlighten me, as one day i will surely go blind from hours of radiation streaming from my monitor to my brain stem... i do not wish for that day to be the end of my internet lurking existence (God knows what the hell i would do without porn >.>
What Would Kharn Do?
poke em in the eyes and tell em god did it.
Slowly building a blog at ~
http://obsidianwords.wordpress.com/
Voice recognition programs for "typing", speech synthesizers for reading. I've even seen programs that convert digitized text into Braille and send it to a reader that duplicates the letters on the user's finger.
Technology abounds.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
What do you mean people are dicks for pointing out that this persons blindness is a punishment from god for either a transgression that he himself did (sorry is it from birth or after birth) or a transgression his parents did, i mean come on, many of you have read the bible, you know god is quite capable of doing such a punishment just for shits and giggles. I mean this is the same god that ordered the israelites to commit genocide, to kill every man, woman and child, you think blindness is out of the question?
Now with that said, we all know there are believers that are daft, very very very very daft, not all of them, many on these forums are quite well informed and not as daft as people that would say the god is punishing you thing, although beatz probably would. Besides blindness is only a handicap if you allow it, it may limit what you can do, but it doesn't mean a person can't live a fulling life. I know people with downs syndrome that lead a good fulling life. So blindness is just another obstical, it's part of the imperfection of nature, not the punshiment of some imaginary being.
So how doeas a speech synthesizer deal with ROFLMAO?
There is also legal blindness as opposed to complete blindness. I knew a women that was functinally blind for most normal tasks but could read using a special monitor that rendered the text about 10 inches high.
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Usually it spells it out.
Just letting you know that options abound in both cases
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
lol
See, told you I was supercrip! I can do the impossible!
Anyway, you get a program Supernova, which can convert text to either braille or voice and use a computer voice like Heather...
BTW, I am not a guy, but a girl, or rather a woman.
She (I refer to my speech engine as a she, because it's a female voice) will spell some things out, but with roflmao she will say it like a word. I'm used to it, so I know what it means tho. It sounds like rough-L-Mao (like the chairman)...
BTW I'm really blind, no amound of enlargement will help me see the screen.
Neway, not the topic... Back to topic. Why are people so eager to lay the blame on the 'victim'? Have they no shame, no empathy? Or do they think it's a kindness?
I don't get it, I really don't.
There's a bit of "better you than me" involved, I think.
Still really pathetic on their part.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
Because they think they're telling you that if you decide to believe in their specific version of God, it'll make everything better.
And they're deuchebags.
"You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know... morons." - The Waco Kid
I don't really get it either. To me it is one of those inexplicable things that people spew out of their own mental shit holes.
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It's their own backwards way of thinking. They in all honesty DO think they are helping. They're so dilluded by the mind disease that is theism that they actually believe what they are saying is true, they really do believe that it was god's anger that caused it. In their screwed up mentally ill heads, the only way to fix this is to "turn back to jebus" as they say, to start worshipping their sugar daddy in the sky and become a theistard like themselves.
They do have shame. They do feel empathy. They also honestly think this is the absolutely kindest and advice they could possibly give. It's just a fucked up but all too common by-product of the mind disease they have succumbed to when it goes beyond its "moderate" stage.
The best thing to do isn't to feel insulted or hurt, but rather to feel sorry for them, empathy for them. After all, they're suffering from something much worse.
Organised religion is the ultimate form of blasphemy.
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AU: http://nocleanfeed.com/ | NZ: http://nzblackout.org/
First rule of the internet, there is no such thing as women, you are a man, until proof is provided, displaying otherwise. Thus, i call you a guy by default, even if you were to call yourself a girl (Guy in real life).
Secondly, I would love to test out this "Supernova" program, or is it an entire system? Either way, i'd love to give it a whirl.
Thirdly, Its not so much the text reading that baffles me, but more so on how such programs would interpret web page design, and allow a person to click on the correct links. After all, i can only do so much trial and error, trying to click 1 specific link that i cannot see... before i throw my monitor through the nearest wall >.>
Lastly, and FINALLY on topic ^_^
Blaming the victim is very easy, and often makes alot of sense... i dont know how many times i hear a report of some dumb schmuck getting turned into roadkill at a crosswalk, only to think, "Stupid putts... look out for the 14 ton truck barreling down on your ass!"
Then again, this same sentiment is not so easy when it comes to factors of a biological nature... What am i to say? "Lol, that'll teach your parents to reproduce with inferior genetics!" or "See kids, this is why i lock the cabnet beneath the sink."
Its just stupid, all of it... just a lame guilt trip attempt by the people who couldnt pray their way out of a plastic bag before they suffocate...
*Note to self, have invented new faith test, must now attempt to use upon random theist on the street*
*Side note to self, this test may not be entirely legal, make sure its a backstreet*
What Would Kharn Do?