On the futility of discussion
Offline I got an email about my being 'inactive' on the RRS site.
The reason for this is that I quite frankly find it a bit boring to engage in verbal cock-fights with idiots. And by "idiots" I mean people who believe in things that they don't have to believe in, something which forces them into an absurd position of having to defend something they cannot prove. The corollary of that is that they will resort to weirdness which admittedly has a bit of a circus-sideshow freak amusement value, but it gets really old really fast.
That being said, there are some interesting people on this site, but they are (almost) exclusvely on the "atheist" side of the fence.
And it gets kind of old to discuss things you agree about as well. But most of all it gets old - as in boringly ridiculous - to assume a stance of defence over that which someone once appropiately named 'the hobby of non-stamp collecting'. I saw a speech made by Sam Harris where he expressed more or less the same idea. There is an inherent danger in being forced to adapt and defend a position of being an "atheist" - because this label comes with a set of preconceptions. I myself don't give a diddely doo what woo woo nonsense people want to believe in, religions included, so what am I left with then?
Being a smart ass was funny when I was in my twenties. Nowadays I find it to be a wee bit at odds with my sense of dignity. I have never been a 'believer' in any sense and interpretation of that concept, so I don't even have the whole 'being liberated at last' angle to things. Quite the contrary, I was raised to be rational and to never accept things just because some authority say it is so. Rather, I was encouraged to investigate, to do my own research and arrive at my own conclusions. And this I pay forward.
That being said, nice to see y'all bitches again. 
"The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind." (Alphonse Donatien De Sade)
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That what this site is all about, I always thought. Boring ? Yes, sometimes. Futile ? No.
you need not feel alone in this regard...
HOWEVER... I like deconstructing the arguments of blithering idiots; it's hella fun, and it empowers me.
Fun, because watching people trying to defend stupid never gets old in my world!
“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)
It does tend to burn a person out though. I've only been on this site around 6 months and I notice conversations started repeating themselves quite a while ago. There really aren't that many arguments for theism, and it doesn't take long to figure that out.
I don't know how people like Bob can maintain the effort for so long. I don't have much respect for theistic arguments anymore. I think every discussion I am involved in pushes me closer to being snarky and mean right out of the gate, and I don't really like seeing myself devolve to that point.
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
I tend to take small breaks a week at a time sometime 2, usually because I just get busy with my work and social life (Thomas and Jefferick when the fuck are we all getting together for drinks and food?!?!?!?!) But I do get what you mean Marquis and especially with folks like Paisley and Fonz which all you do is just run in circles trying to figure out what they are saying and what they mean when they present their arguments as in the case with Paisley, he simply distorts everything and can't even bother to explain himself correctly, I can see how it gets boring quickly.
Argument for theism: disprove my godhood
also...
edit: devolve?! I'm the RRS Homo Habilis, then...
“A meritocratic society is one in which inequalities of wealth and social position solely reflect the unequal distribution of merit or skills amongst human beings, or are based upon factors beyond human control, for example luck or chance. Such a society is socially just because individuals are judged not by their gender, the colour of their skin or their religion, but according to their talents and willingness to work, or on what Martin Luther King called 'the content of their character'. By extension, social equality is unjust because it treats unequal individuals equally.” "Political Ideologies" by Andrew Heywood (2003)
really? like an official email? or a private email? i was inactive for like 6 months once and i never got anything. guess i wasn't missed...
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I'd say it looked an awfully lot like a "form" email.
Probably manufactured and distributed by the Rational Robot.
"The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind." (Alphonse Donatien De Sade)
http://www.kinkspace.com