Well then, take your passion and turn it into persuasion. This isn't a popularity contest...or is it? Persuasion; that, too, is science. Ciao.
Popularity contest? Not sure what you mean (sorry, could be misunderstanding). My point was merely that I try to see other peoples viewpoints/convictions even when I don't necessarily agree with them, but there are some that, simply put, should NOT be allowed to stand (such as forcing children into warfare, etc)
By animal I presume you mean person? I personally feel any sapient/sentient creature deserves some level of respect. And that has nothing to do with religion (recall, according to Christianity, Adam was given "dominion over all creatures" and basically it is said that animals are "beneath" humanity)
Indeed, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, mmmm! I know I could never eat an animal I had any kind of relationship with (such as a pet dog or, at one point, we had ducks as pets... I could never have eaten one of them)
We love them. This makes them special to us. We will preserve what we love. There’s no God to fear but there is Man. Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Man, and keep his laws: for this is the whole duty of man. Humans are vengeful as you can see by Kittamaru’s response. Animals are, too. It serves an evolutionary purpose. It's a deterrent and reforms behavior. The Sweet Taste of Revenge
It isn't, for me, so much a matter of vengeance - I have come to realize that, people who have such a basic disrespect for life and basic human dignity... there is no reasoning with them. I hate it, I really do... but it's the conclusion I've come to. Someone who can, with a straight face and a clear conscience, say that sending a seven year old child off with an assault rifle to "fight in a war" is okay, or that sending a teenage girl strapped with explosives into a crowd of civilians to blow herself up "for the greater good" is acceptable... no matter the argument you present, you are never going to change their mind. It isn't a matter of making the better argument, it isn't even about proving right and wrong; to willfully throw away a life in such a fashion, especially when the person in question has no choice in the matter and has been raised and all but brainwashed to think that is the "only good thing" they can ever do... I honestly don't even know what to call it, beyond an abomination. Unfortunately the only way to protect the ones these sick people use and abuse in such a way is to remove the people leading them down such a path in life. The mindset of the whole needs to change, and I have not yet seen any way to peacefully convince such a person to change their ways. Admittedly, my experience with such a mindset in person is extremely limited, thank God for that, but as I said... such opinions are so incredibly deeply ingrained that I doubt they would ever be swayed.
there are some of us that do care about following the rules, without explanation we have no clue what to avoid, you are just asking for the circumstances to repeat itself, thereby making more work for yourself, creating in yourself an attitude of disgust for those threads that you close that have the same problem. whether I agree with the thread closure or not is not the issue here.. the issue is to have an explanation to the closure so those of us that do care, can do what we can to avoid getting a thread closed . there aint nothing worse than getting into an intelligent conversation and getting slapped with a random "thread closed" with no explanation.
Oh, I see. You have God to thank for your limited knowledge. O ye of little faith in the future. How can you ever have hope in humanity, empower people, or stir cognitive dissonance with such little knowledge of the people? I have not found so great faith, no, not even in the Muslim world. There are Muslims who have converted to humanism and atheism, are there not? They need dire help with such frequency that they begin to view their entire existence as an imposition. You have no idea what it’s like. “In my view, the world was divided into Muslims and Non-Muslims, and Muslims were superior because they have the true and correct way of life.” Read more: Spoiler At that time, Quranism seemed to be the most authentic source of Islam to me because I found many contradictions within Hadith and other narratives. Quranism stems from the premise that Quran is perfect, accurate and authentic in its entirety. This claim later became dubious to me as I found multiple contradictions within the Quranic texts. Moreover, I feel that Quranism heavily relies on conspiracy theories. With so many differing viewpoints and very little methods to verify the information presented within the circle of Quranists, it gets very frustrating because you find it difficult to differentiate truth from lies. As I continued to research on religion and philosophy, I finally found an ideology that perfectly suited my worldview, and that is humanism, the idea that humans are capable of much more than that of what is “divinely sanctioned” by other ideologies. My god centered image of the world gave way to human centered concepts. I learned to love and celebrate the achievements of humanity, and to work towards the betterment of humanity. This is why I take pride in calling myself a humanist and a human rights advocate. I developed an interest in classical philosophy, in antiquity, in literature and of course, science. I learned to value people above ideas, humanity before ideologies. My world expanded. I finally tasted the breath of fresh air as the mental shackles were lifted and my mind could wander without fear of punishment. Shall we kill all of their leaders, turn them into martyrs, or teach their followers? This absurd story; life, is all that there is. There are acting gods, ripping lives, names, DNA from our book of life to build paper-mache gods. Shall we torch their villages or burn their gods? Who leads them but their gods? And those who do search for truth, what shall we serve them, hmm... candy coated dissonance from the world’s finest pinatas, Christian gods? And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. We have women with the freedom to speak out about these horrors, who are jeopardizing the opportunity to speak freely, and from the safety of our homes. It’s idiot compassion at its finest, a display, and yes, a popularity contest. Look at me-look at me. See how compassionate I am, how caring I am, how good I am. Hogwash, tell it to a child that’s being held down during genital mutilation. Tell her-tell her that she should thank those who are standing up women's rights. Those brave enough to complain about online sexist remarks. To ignore a slight nowadays is like tossing out a winning lottery ticket. If someone complains, and the appropriate action is not taken, or they feel that you've retaliated in anyway, they can file an additional retaliation claim against the administration. And the kicker…these claims have no caps, cha-ching! Well, so much for anonymity. Claims such as these are making it a thing of the past. Any internet service can be forced to reveal details under a court order, e.g., member’s names, IP addresses, private messages, etc.-etc. Anonymity can mean life or death for Muslim women.
Here is one of your "courtesies"... "Seeing as this thread has gone off-topic, and that I have already answered what was seemingly a direct question to me (as much as I intend to anyway), this thread has served its purpose." Considering that most threads go off topic at some point, that would you mean you should close them all, but you don't. So, your other reason must be the case. And of course, if we are to read the OP of that thread, the question was not directed at you. Curious.
Trooper, again, I'm not sure where religion plays into that, beyond that fact it is a religious belief (apparently) that suicide bombing is an acceptable thing... my belief stems from the fact that raising people to do that from a young age violate a basic principle of human rights, which is the right to live and make their own choices. If you are raised to believe you have a singular purpose, you are most likely going to follow that singular purpose.
As the creator of the thread, I can say that it was in part to understand Syne's view, as it was him who labelled a thread as "religion bashing" despite it being about ridiculing supposed typical atheist arguments. But there was also the more general question that was posed. And yet the thread has been closed without any attempt to get it back on topic, with no warnings, and with no consideration of whether anyone else had thought that it had "served its purpose". :wallbang:
BINGO! The “Keep Your Jesus Off My…” video was funny and creative. If Syne wants to clean up the place, he’s got his work cut out for him. Have you seen the archives? Nevertheless, his fact finding abilities do come in handy. I agreed with his assessment on LG’s comment. He is a little obstructive, though, but he’ll change over time. He’s open minded. Communicating is tough, especially online. It can be promotive, disruptive, or counter active, but it works best when it doesn't obstruct the free flow of ideas. We shouldn't force people to leave their convictions at the door. We should tackle them head on. Misinterpretation of Communication
Tired of reading after the first page.... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Mods will be mods and posters will come and go... Long ago I learned at a job those in charge are "in controll" everyone else are expendable. workers make the money but others are willing to take your spot.. you are best to work well enough to not get a boot.... some are badgering poster bullys some are peacefull but same applies in life. Know when to stay or go. Fight or run. Scream or shut the H3JJ up. I been around other forums all are about the same imo... close threads mods but I ask kindly keep us informed why they are.
I know nothing of Syne, but I do know Balerion and as usual he makes several good points. There are problems within the moderation/administration and it's well known what they are. I don't have issue with James, for the simple reason that he is, in my experience, one of the fonts of rational appeal in the system; but there are others that need to go. It is my supposition that they cannot be removed, for whatever reason, and that SF will continue to polarise. Perhaps authorities higher up take no position on the doings within.
Now the Lightgigantic thread has been closed with the old standard. "It's going round in circles." Kittamaru: *sigh* Another thread going in another circle... I do believe this one has run its course, as it is going exactly nowhere and accomplishing exactly nothing. As such, I believe it is time to let this dead horse finally be buried, because beating it with a stick has gotten nobody anywhere. No. It wasn't going round in circles. And it isn't a dead horse. It was just getting interesting. Why did LG's behaviour result in a ban whereas Bell's behaviour was condoned?
Bells behavior was addressed already; much like in a business, what happens in HR behind closed doors should stay there. Again, LG's ban wasn't just the blowjob incident, but a precedence of behavioral problems that had long gone unaddressed coupled with a stubborn desire to not drop a poor topic after being told to do so. I would ask that everyone step off their soap boxes and wait to see how the rules and moderator standards are revised; we ARE working on it, but it is something that hasn't really been changed in several years and there is a LOT that has to be considered to make sure we don't implement something that would result in sweeping bans/infractions. It's a matter of not being too lenient, not being too strict.
