Hi - My wife dragged me in here.
Posted on: April 17, 2011 - 4:13pm
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Hi - My wife dragged me in here.
Hi. My wife dragged this lay-Wiccan, disabled Navy veteran, Romance editor in here. (I came willingly.)
Though by definition a theist, I find rational/skeptical forums to be much more refreshing than those that allow certain points of view a "free pass" because "toes cannot be stepped on" or some such rot.
That said, I notice the site's spellchecker hits Wiccan, FSM, and IPU, but not Christian or Hindu or atheist. Does the forum play fast-and-loose as to which theologies are really words, and which ones are not? 
James, the Anymouse.
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Welcome! How's the Romance biz these days?
As far as the spell-checker. I never use it. My advice: Just don't spell anything wrong.
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Hey James the Anymouse, I'm Cameron/B166ER, welcome to the forum. I'm happy that even as a self described theist you enjoy a free exchange of ideas and information. I may not agree with your positions, but I have much more respect for you as a person then I would have for someone who isolates themselves so as to never deal with criticism of their positions.
I hope you enjoy your time here!
"This may shock you, but not everything in the bible is true." The only true statement ever to be uttered by Jean Chauvinism, sociopathic emotional terrorist.
"A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished." Mikhail Bakunin
"The means in which you take,
dictate the ends in which you find yourself."
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme leadership derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
No Gods, No Masters!
Barnes & Noble was recently cited in the New York Times: Romance E-book titles now outsell all their print books together. Romance abounds amidst all the talk of doom and gloom by the religious wing-nuts.
Thank you. A free exchange of ideas never hurt anyone; on the other hand, repression and censorship, bigotry and hatred, repression and all those other good Old Testament values have maimed and killed countless numbers.
An ye harm none, do what ye will. (Wiccan Rede) James.
Hi Anymouse. Glad to have you around to argue with
, and to give me something of a break so I don't have to do ALL of the prosthelytizing (def: Beating someone over the head with the crutch of religion) here. (Aside to Cameron/B166ER - there's hope for this one. 
). Seriously, he is more talkative and fun to discuss things with - even when he disagrees with me - than was my previous husband who is a self-described atheist. At least I can watch Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris videos with Anymouse and discuss them... even if Anymouse sometimes has the wrong opinion on the existence of God(dess). Ah well.... I can accept the reality of such things as planting season and harvest season and equinoxes and solstices that doesn't seek to do anything more than provide food for people and attempting procreation of them (although nearly all Pagans I know have taken the IMO responsible step of using permanent birth control after a maximum of 2 children - how's THAT for an oxymoron for a "fertility" religion? (different topic) ).
Ah well. I can put up with this sort of silly theist more than the ones that want to force my conversion or kill me in their Gawd's mercy (TM). Some days I get the idea that many Pagans are as atheistic as I am, it's just that they redefine the forces of nature and natural laws to have proper names and independent personalities - that generally respond in predictable ways... Unless it's Eris, the personification of quantum physics, that underlies the operation of Everything (TM) by chaos.
How's my proselytizing? Call 1-800-FANATIC
Beth
Welcome to the forum. Any tips on romance gratefully accepted. Like Beth I am ambivalent about 'rustic' theism. I don't agree with it any way but I understand why it's appealing and it poses no threat to me.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
"Rustic." That's a quaint description. Old-fashioned, as it were. Gimme that -old- time religion.
As for being a threat, I haven't been going around knocking on doors lately. And I don't have a rocket-launcher. I have been the target of pickets (for running a Wiccan BBS on my Commodore 64 back in the 80's).
My only beef about the term "theism" is one. While it is correct to say that one who believes in a force or being(s) outside nature is a "theist," quite commonly Christians, and many atheists, use the term to mean "Christian."
And though atheists are not guilty of this particular misuse, "atheist" is often taken to mean "not Christian."
In my experience (such as that might be), Christians are almost as "atheistic" as atheists. They disbelieve all the gods and goddesses ever postulated throughout all human history, save one (or three, depending on who is counting).
But "theist" does not mean "Christian." The term also does not adequately explain non-theistic religion, such as Buddhism. "Theist" refers to a belief in a/many god/goddesses; but also implies that those god/goddesses must be outside nature, are somehow "supernatural." - James.
As for everything I've read on the subject, theism also implies that said god(s) affect the real world.
"This may shock you, but not everything in the bible is true." The only true statement ever to be uttered by Jean Chauvinism, sociopathic emotional terrorist.
"A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished." Mikhail Bakunin
"The means in which you take,
dictate the ends in which you find yourself."
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme leadership derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
No Gods, No Masters!
In my understanding of Deism, an outside force creates the world/universe, whatever, then leaves it on its own with no further interaction. That would be an effect on the real world (by bringing it into being), but only one effect. Still, that is one more than none.
And that neat "theist/atheist" tag under the avatar: how does it get there? An unseen hand, or perhaps magic? Or am I not using the right mystical incantation on the Website (not clicking on the right button)?
It still is limited though: that "theist" tag garners much assumption that the "theist" is Christian, I'll bet. They ain't got a patent on theism, whatever they think.
Welcome to the forum.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
Rustic is simply the literal translation of the word pagan. In modern Australia we'd call rustics 'westies'. So the word pagan in Rome 200AD was meant as a slight - the implication being that people who believed in the older established gods were uninformed hillbillies. It's typical christian ad hominem and not an opinion I subscribe to myself.
The Commodore 64. Oh, the functionality...
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
qft
You will find that magic does not work within the world of the "emotionally hardened, hegemonic, evil baby eating atheist cabal". Or maybe it does, we just haven't seen any evidence for it yet! On to the question at hand, there are sometimes threads started by the mods that you can apply for the tag if you want it, but you usually have to have a history of posts so the powers that be can tell you are truthful about your position. If you post here enough, and you're a theist, you will probably get one.
Not at all. Members like Luminon, Eloise, and Ciarin all have the theist badge and are definitely NOT Christians. We are a mature enough bunch to understand that Christians are not the default position when it comes to theism, or when it comes to children for that matter! XD.
Don't worry, I doubt with the things you have posted here that people will mistake you for a Christian, as many of us here understand fully why you would find being referred to with that title as repulsive. I doubt you have anything to worry about. Just state your positions and people will structure their questions and arguments accordingly (unless they are of the batch of local Christtrolls like "Jean Chauvinism, sociopathic emotional terrorist" or "ElijahTemporary"Truth", both my little nick names for them, who will spew the same oft-refuted garbage repeatedly without missing a beat).
So just be yourself, you'll most likely get a theist badge, and we will understand once we read a post or two from you that you're not a Christian theist.
Now, in the wise words of the 10th Doctor: "ALLONS-Y!!!
"This may shock you, but not everything in the bible is true." The only true statement ever to be uttered by Jean Chauvinism, sociopathic emotional terrorist.
"A Boss in Heaven is the best excuse for a boss on earth, therefore If God did exist, he would have to be abolished." Mikhail Bakunin
"The means in which you take,
dictate the ends in which you find yourself."
"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme leadership derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
No Gods, No Masters!
Thanks all, for the kind welcome. I will do my best not to be an antagonist. (Good luck with that.) I got tossed off a "heavy thinkers" group on Yahoo! recently because my religious leanings were an affront to the Christians there. (That would be [email protected] )
As long as that "theist" tag doesn't get me lumped in with that organization that likes to hold periodic weenie-roasts of my kind (or those they allege are of my kind), that is fine with me. I find much of my opinion seems to square more with atheism than any other religious position: at least atheists are willing to listen, and if they shoot your position down, it is generally because they have thought about it first and it came up short (and will then offer their opinion as to why it comes up short).
Much better than just the default "He done it." And I have yet to see an atheist come round my door to preach the "Gospel of Nothing." The default position for this forum is atheism. Anyone coming round here ought know that. It is not prosetlyizing to operate such a forum; one comes here freely.
Thanks again for the welcome. James.
I thought that was only Christian women that dragged their husbands to church. First time I heard of this for atheists.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
There was a really funny schtik on Prairie Home Companion some years ago. A guest comedian was going on about being agnostic. And how one could proselytize - "Hello, I don't have a clue. Do you want to talk about it?" Might be fun to see if you can find a clip.
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
Aww, where's the fun in that? XD
I had actually thought of the same thing.
Faith is the word but next to that snugged up closely "lie's" the want.
"By simple common sense I don't believe in god, in none."-Charlie Chaplin
welcome to the forum
EXC wrote:
My wife (BethK) has a number of other amazing attributes, as well. - James
Hello,
I've studied Wicca. It would be fun to discuss why you are a Wiccan. If you are a wimpy Wiccan, then I assume solitare at home with Wiccan Tools at your home like a Pentegram table cloth, goblet, and so fourth. So you may not know what you're talking about.
Never mind.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).
A Rational Christian of Intelligence (rare)with a valid and sound justification for my epistemology and a logical refutation for those with logical fallacies and false worldviews upon their normative of thinking in retrospect to objective normative(s). This is only understood via the imago dei in which we all are.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).