Post theist/atheist preponderance

It's been a while since I've been around this site, and so I hope my reputation (any that remains) will be as refreshed as my thoughts are.

This is a video in response to a YouTube experiment.

Theists, let me know how I did.

Atheists, let me know your thoughts as well.

Thank ye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-pjiV_UwAY

 

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Dude, that was beautiful. And I truly wish every theist saw the essence of their faith in the same way you do. I truly do. It is rare (though not unheard of) for a Priest or Rabbi to publicly state that religion is merely a shelter against pain, as opposed to a truth that must be defended against logic and reason, but when it does happen, it is truly a wonderful thing.

But what you must remember when you state your case for the simplicity and passive nature of faith that there is a wholly different, opposing viewpoint that is shared by people who call your god theirs. They are not a minority, nor are they without influence. They are a strong vocal group of people who believe to best serve their faith is to impose it on everyone, and to demolish whatever they believe stands in their way.

They believe that evolution equates to atheism, and that it should not be taught in schools. They cry for "equal time" for their religious myth, yet dare not grant evolution "equal time" at their Sunday Schools. These people are on the attack, and that is why scientists and teachers and politicians and judges must stand against it, fight against it, try to keep it as far away from the process as possible. To do anything else would do exactly what you claim to have no interest in doing: suppressing science.

Again, you state your case eloquently and accurately. But I have to remind you that you have a very unique perspective on religion, and that those who call out against it are not calling out against you. We are simply fighting back against the illogical zealots who lie to people to make them believe that there is a controversy among scientists in the field of evolution just so they can forward their propaganda. Trust me, man, you are my view of the perfect theist. You are aware of what purpose faith really serves, and what it should never intend to do. Sadly, there are many more who take the opposite view.

 

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I didn't watch the question.

Basically, you are rejecting thousands of years of religious tradition. Since at least the Middle Ages, the religious have accepted that if the bible is true, scientific and pre-scientific investigation would not contradict it but confirm it. Galileo said that if it seems to contradict it, our interpretation of the bible was not true. Granted, you don't necessarily accept that tradition.

If something isn't true, then isn't it's comfort an illusion? Do you prefer a comfortable illusion to the way things really are? Why is it sad to arrive at an accurate picture of reality? I submit that accuracy is also pleasurable, since it happens to be the most useful, and you don't have to fool yourself or give up your innate powers of logic and reason. It is also the most interesting, since it opens up ever new avenues of exploration.

Why is Theism the most pleasurable? Isn't it because it's like having a surrogate family or social group (or king) that looks out for you? Aren't most of us just conditioned to find pleasure in this way? For all of it's alleged pleasure and comfort, there is equal domination and compulsion- to act in such a way that pleases Him. Here is a being that demands you to be good or you will be tortured for all eternity, and by the way, He loves you. Believe what you want to believe, but this doesn't seem like a worldview that modern humans can live with, not if we want to become a spacefaring race and explore the universe in which we find ourselves.

 

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I don't mean to speak for him, but I don't think he was saying religion was the only way to pleasure. I think he was simply saying it was his way.

 

Who's that pale-skinned [profane bigotry deleted] in the video with the curly hair? Look, far be it for me to criticize your video setup and whatnot, but it's difficult to take you seriously within such a setting. I urge you to avoid washing out the image; sure, it may help hide your identity, but by the same token, it makes you look like a spineless coward. Those meagre concerns aside, I barely made it fifty seconds into the video, at which point I abruptly hammered my mouse (which was conveniently placed over the "X" symbol on my browser, as a precaution). Each of your arguments sucked worse than the last. Look man, I certainly don't want to discourage you from pursuing future endeavors akin to the video you just made, but this attempt simply fell flat, and that's all there is to it. Oh, and don't get mad at me because I didn't applaud your efforts or acknowledge your rationale (in the video): you asked theists to enlighten you on "how you did", and I'm delivering to you the unsatisfied reception.

By the way: the eerie Dracula music playing in the background was both dreadful and distracting. Avoid the "Halloween" environment for upcoming videos.

All the best,

Kadark the Infallible

 

And you, sir, are a perfect example of what is wrong with religion. It allows racist, zealot bigots like you to hide behind god as the reason for your hatred.

And trust me, Celpha did not have you in mind when he asked for the theist response. You are the worst example of a theist. You are a bigot that hides behind religion.

 

/cocks eyebrow

What?

"Racist"? Riiight. I thought atheists were thick-skinned, bud. Take my constructive criticism and make the most of it. You can't put a price on good advice. Seriously, don't publicly post a video and ask for people's opinions if you can't handle certain comments.

Kadark the Great

 

I assume you are racist because you are clearly a bigot. They typically go hand-in-hand. And it's also clear that you are a holier-than-thou douchebag.

The advice that you post isn't advice. It's an insult. You called him a "faggot" and said that his arguments sucked, despite the fact that you only lasted about fifty seconds. So you criticized his work without even watching all of it. Meaning that you had no intention of critiquing his work, but simply slamming him because he didn't take the "GOD KILLS FAGS" stance that you so obviously do.

Crawl back under your rock and stay there, please. Before I have to put you on my very short list of ignored folks.

 

Don't blame me, blame the filmmaker. The point of a video is to keep the viewers entertained, interested, captivated, enraptured, etc. This video failed miserably, which is why I lasted a forgettable fifty seconds. Simply put, I highly disliked the video for a variety of reasons; your bitching and pleading surely won't change my stance. Oh, and of course God doesn't kill fags - AIDS does. Duh.

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Oh no! Please don't ignore me, ugh ... "JDawg"? (Who the hell is "JDawg", anyway?)

Kadark the Vengeful

 

Judging his video based on its appearance is the same as judging a book by its cover. Which should come as no surprise, since you don't seem to judge anyone or anything by its merits, rather by whatever label your tent preacher puts on them.

I will rest comfortably knowing that if you have children, your brand of parenting will force them to run so far away from religion that they will help bring about its demise in the political arena.

 

I was judging the video from all aspects - visuals, sound, content, etc. The visuals were atrocious, the audio was downright scary, and the content was difficult to absorb due to all of the aforementioned distractions. Even without the distractions, though, the content sucked. No, I won't sit here at 3:00 AM refuting every baseless argument he utters in his six minute long video, but I will give a general review on the parts I managed to see. My verdict is in: Sucks ass.

Good night, my brother.

Kadark the Fearless

 

But you didn't judge it by content. If you didn't see it for more than a minute (less than that, actually), then you can't speak to its content. You just want to be a corrosive force on this forum.

 

Hello Kadark,

I'm not sure anything that you said could possibly be considered constructive, or even valid, criticisms. You criticize the artistic style in the video and irrationally imagine that I must be doing this to hide my identity. If I wanted to hide my identity, I probably wouldn't post a video of myself on a very public forum. If you were slightly less hasty in your zealous conclusions and delusions of grandeur, then you would notice that this comes from a youtube channel wherein I feature several videos of myself, unaltered. 20 to be exact (this number is subject to increase). If you'd like to see them, they are freely displayed for you to view. Where exactly is this spineless cowardliness that you see again?

You also might have noticed that these arguments are not my own. This was in a response to a challenge to best represent the "other side of the debate," that other side for me being the theist's position. What makes this significant is that I am an atheist. The point was not to present to you a convincing argument for theism, which obviously flew over your head, but instead to encapsulate the most common argumentative attitude endorsed by them. In doing so, my hope was to show that there are potential middle grounds--perhaps higher grounds--on which theists and atheists can operate, leaving behind the over-baked and trite debates that unfortunately permeate bright minds that could be accomplishing more on more edifying subjects. You obviously missed that too.

But regardless of that, you say that you exited the page after 50 seconds. At this point in the video, only one argument is given, which is that God does not belong under the scrutinizing lenses of science and philosophy. How then is it that you feel not only well-informed enough, but downright justified in dismissing each of the subsequent arguments (which according to your own admission, you didn't see) as "worst than the last"? This doesn't make sense, does it?

Finally, that you only could grossly misinterpret prestigious and acclaimed Medieval music--and some of the most influential at that--as Halloween and Dracula-like is a further indication that your opinions (which after all are pure aesthetic preferences which have nothing at all to do with more important elements of this presentation, like how this video stands in relation to the common statures of theists and atheists of the day) are of incipient taste at best.

"...the Infallible"?? Oh goodness, you do have something to contribute after all; sheer unabashed humor.

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-Celpha

 

You should, at least to put the video in appropriate context.

The point of that bit was a contention with this "the way things really are." This goal is unattainable; to believe that it is attainable is the actual illusion. This is why in the video, I note it as being a sad goal to ultimately strive for. Yes, accuracy is pleasurable, but is merely one avenue of many to pleasure. After all, the promise of pleasure is what gives accuracy its attractiveness in the first place, is it not?

Ah, but this is why the video is entitled "If I were a theist..." and not "If I were a Christian..."

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Thank you for your constructive and discussive criticisms.

 

Damn...I got totally no-sold...

 

Hey JDawg,

This was a hope of mine, as well as one of the author whose video mine is a response to; that more respect would be given to either side by adopting a polar viewpoint which would encourage empathy, open-mindedness, and an expansion of perceived diversity wherein respectable views can be discovered. A major obstacle that I see impeding this from being a more actualized reality is, as you implicitly allude to, not so much with the belief in god, but instead with those who carry that belief in an imposing and pejorative way.

Thanks for the watch,
Celpha

 

Schwhatev, as of now, you're my most satisfied customer! =P

 

Yeah, exactly. If everyone had a more benign approach to their faith, then they'd never hear anyone questioning their faith. But the problem with religion is that it really does breed the kind of intolerance and ignorance and violence that you see so much of. Maybe it would take a new brand of the religion or something, I don't know.

But the bottom line is that the religious folks are the ones who need to do the compensating here, not me. I'm not forcing mythology to be taught as viable alternatives to scientific fact. Once you can get the rest of your ilk to get the hell out of the schools and political arenas with their BS, then we can be friends. And the crux of my point was that while you have an excellent view, it's a minority one.

 

Can you refute anything in the video? Highly doubtful.

A review on the parts you have seen? HA!