Stop trying to convert me!!

reply to post by undo


Oh I completely agree with you! I have no issues whatsoever with somebody believing in a higher power. That's their right as a human being and hey, it's none of my business.

reply to post by BrawleR


and vice-a-versa, wouldn't you say? i doubt seriously, that god would honor forced conversions. additionally, it's highly unlikely that god would reward the forcer with a crown of spreading the good news lol. even within your own mind you can sense forced behaviors are inherently wrong. you agree to abide by the laws of the land for the general welfare of all but should the laws of the land begin to infringe on the space between your ears in a way it is inherently unauthorized to do, that's when all bets are off.

p.s. by "you" i mean, anyone, really. we can all sense that forced behavior is wrong and that free will is an inherent condition of existence and decision making. we learn by instruction, of that there is no doubt. but we learn best by knowledge of ourselves and our environment. why did i do that, for example. why shouldn't i do that. what should i have done differently. if another person or group of persons is busy interfering in that sacred space, you can't ask yourself the questions you need answers for and get a real answer, because the waters will be muddied by outside interference. you also can't converse as readily with god because the space is crowded up with other people's noise.

People are actually trying to 'convert' you? Lol.

As a Christian, that makes me chuckle.

reply to post by itbenickp


i was intrigued by your statement re: having people trying to convert you to religion on a daily basis. i am wondering what is the cause of this daily activity.

in the past 5 years i've had one visit from representatives of a local Kingdom Hall. it was on Christmas and the fellow at the door was concerned that i knew what Christmas was all about.

other than that, no one else has invited me to partake in praise & worship at a church, house of worship, synagogue etcetera. no one has mentioned participating in a seance, using a ouija board, nothing.

i live in NJ/USA, a tiny but very highly populated area of the world. rural by NJ standards but we have red lights, a wal-mart, high taxes, the whole nine yards. every window you look out of you can see neighbors houses.

i'm wondering, do you live near a religious-based college or university, something like that, where there is an incredible amount of theology students? do you work near a place that has people outside trying to recruit passers-by to subscribe to their beliefs? i'm pretty old and i've not heard of someone encountering as many people bent on swaying others to religion. as you encounter this on a daily basis i can't help but wonder what the backstory is.

looking forward to having the mystery solved. thanks in advance for your reply.

You'll go to hell for what you have said Still look on the bright side all the people who drink, swear, fornicate etc are in hell. All the teetoallers, bible thumpers and virgins are in heaven.

Hell here I come

Oh, no damn forgot I don't believe in all that stuff. Ah well..........better do it all here on Earth first.

reply to post by Arrowmancer


Quite succinct I must say, and I gotta say I've actually enjoyed this conversation, which did indeed take me by surprise. However I cannot agree that my sub conscience is a form of a higher power. Its just the human ID. No more no less. Knowing the difference between right and wrong does not necessarily equate to a higher power. Heck if what you say about him blowing my mind is true then why would that be a bad thing? I w9uld then be enlightened and you and I can skip around in heaven together. But something I just thought of, and maybe its one of those questions a child would ask, if god created us, then who created him? Did he think himself into existence? What came first the chicken or the egg so to speak. You mentioned Lucifer being cast out of heaven for disagreeing with god about us, which basically is a tyrannical move. We look down on tyrants in our world yet the majority of the planet worship and praise the biggest tyrant of them all. A tyrant that killed the first born sons in Egypt. Then you got the story of Moses which is genocide. Yet the religions of the world still cannot figure out which bible is correct, a book written by man, edited by man, but supposed to hs the word of god.

reply to post by itbenickp


What bothers me is....ok...so someone can preach to me the conversion speech once.....but....when I answer with what my spiritual beliefs are...and that we can agree to disagree...I point out that we have discussed this once...and I don't want to discuss this topic again.....

And......(they don't really listen to me...) and/or they don't care...and they keep on preaching anyway! How annoying is that!

reply to post by caladonea


Didn't you read the other post? We wont be left alone. Ever. We MUST be converted, and our wants and desires matter not. Our beliefs are wrong, misguided.

Originally posted by itbenickp
reply to post by caladonea

 

Didn't you read the other post? We wont be left alone. Ever. We MUST be converted, and our wants and desires matter not. Our beliefs are wrong, misguided.

i have no problem leaving you alone but folks such as yourself and caladonea, insist on commenting about it, so who would know better on how to address your comments than someone who believes the thing you're commenting on? expecting a different result from a fellow human being while commenting on their world view, would, i'm suspecting, typically result in the same thing: a response.

The Greatest lie ever told - The Bible, page 1

Demons & proof that perhaps the bible is a lie!!!, page 2

The Core issue (the Lie) of the bible "Scriptures"., page 1

The Bible Is A Forgery, page 3

The Great Jesus Swindle, Greatest lie ever told. , page 3

CHRISTIANITY is a LIE which covers a SINISTER agenda , page 1

Proof that Christianity's a false religion, page 1

Another lie in christianity exposed?, page 1

Christianity - History's Greatest Scam, page 1

The Hypocritical Christian , page 1

Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims BBC ...

Sparks Fly As 'Gay" Activist Mob Swarms Christians, page 1

Typical Christians and Their Hypocrisy, page 1

Challenge to Christians: Prove the Bible is True, page 1

Why are christians accepted?, page 1

Christians what is the deal? You don't really believe this stuff ...

Why do Christians always assume they're right?, page 1

Are Evangelicals and conservative Christians the Anti-Christ?, page 1

Born Again Christians actually Satanists!, page 1

Hatred for Christians, page 1

etc etc etc
freakin etc. lol

these are just some of the hundreds of threads that are directly aimed at christians, expecting a christian response. i dunno what else a person would expect to get other than a response. some of the threads even went as far as to question whether ATS should allow christians to post on their website (i kid you not!). some people are so freaked out that not everyone has the exact same world view as themselves, they want to outlaw any variants from their own (and we know this is yet another example of human nature gone awry).

reply to post by undo


Finally something we can agree on lol. If I'm not mistaken most if not all of those threads were in the religion forum right? See, I didn't go out of my way to bash one particular religion, or even put my thread in the religion forum, I put it here in the rant forum, cuz that's what this is a rant, to get this stuff off my chest. Do I feel a lil better now that I put it out there? Ya kinda. But in the end I know it makes little difference in anyone's life what my opinion on the subject is, your gonna have your views, I'm gonna have mine. All I ask anyone is to not try to push those views down my throat, if I want saving I'll ask for it. I don't want nor do I need a religion. But I still can't figure out how an absence of religion in my life is a religion in itself....

reply to post by itbenickp


i'll explain that part as far as i understand it:

religion is another word for world view. your world view colors your hobbies, habits, sexual activity, form of morals, political stance, stance on world history, stance on various aspects of science, the meaning of life, the universe and everything. it colors how you behave in society, who you interact or don't interact with and why. where you go. what you do with your brain in your spare time, and who is the most important sentient being you personally know of.

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by itbenickp

 

i'll explain that part as far as i understand it:

religion is another word for world view. your world view colors your hobbies, habits, sexual activity, form of morals, political stance, stance on world history, stance on various aspects of science, the meaning of life, the universe and everything. it colors how you behave in society, who you interact or don't interact with and why. where you go. what you do with your brain in your spare time, and who is the most important sentient being you personally know of.

Well your pretty close to the definition of it but not quite.

. 2 results for: religion re·li·gion -noun 1. belief in and worship of a God or other superhuman agency 2. particular system of these beliefs

The keyword in the second definition is THESE beliefs, I.E belief in a god or super human agency. Not believing in a god or super human agency does not equate to a religion. So just because I have no religion does not mean I need one or want one.

dictionary. com

reply to post by itbenickp


in your world view, that would make you god, since you would remove the need for the definition of some other god from your world view and replace it with your own. and as god, you declare that there's no afterlife or whatever your position is on that subject, for example. you have your own 10 commandments, etc, written by you personally, and don't feel you need some other god to tell you what to think/do/be/become

reply to post by undo


Not quite. While I do believe I am answerable to myself, I don't have a god complex. That and the state says I'm answerable to them and honestly I have no choice but to answer to them if I want to continue to be am American citizen. I just grow weary of religious types thinking I am immoral or what not for not believing in their god, when in fact the opposite is what's going on. I have morals, that are from my mother and father, my family and friends and myself. I live a decent life, I make mistakes. I learn from those mistakes. I don't want nor do I need a god or a book telling me how to live my life or show me the way. However I will say that there some things in the bible I can agree with morally, but that does not mean I agree with or believe in it in its entirety, but I refuse to base my life on its word and teachings or does that make me hypocritical? Its kinda like how I like Toby Keith's music but don't agree with his politics.

reply to post by itbenickp


no no, it isn't about having a complex. see, the premise is, that your world view will contain an ultimate authority on subjects falling under the heading of world view. i'm guessing the government is not your ultimate authority. do you see now what i'm saying?

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by itbenickp

 

religion is another word for world view. your world view colors your hobbies, habits, sexual activity, form of morals, political stance, stance on world history, stance on various aspects of science, the meaning of life, the universe and everything. it colors how you behave in society, who you interact or don't interact with and why. where you go. what you do with your brain in your spare time, and who is the most important sentient being you personally know of.

What you're talking about is philosophy.

Religion, is usually poor philosophy with outlandish fairy tales backing it up.

There is the worldview definition of religion, but that's the wrong definition in this context.

Originally posted by undo
reply to post by itbenickp

 

in your world view, that would make you god, since you would remove the need for the definition of some other god from your world view and replace it with your own. and as god, you declare that there's no afterlife or whatever your position is on that subject, for example. you have your own 10 commandments, etc, written by you personally, and don't feel you need some other god to tell you what to think/do/be/become

This is even worse. He doesn't think he's a deity, and neither do I. You make it sound like arrogance, but it isn't. I don't believe in deities =/= I am a deity. Simply, following what you know is right, instead of what some millenia out story writer thought was right, does not make you entitle yourself as a god.

No one 'declares' anything to be fact, just because they don't believe in god. They just see things how they are, not make up their own rules.

It's not arrogant to not need to have a god figure tell them who to be, or what to do. For the same reason that it's not arrogant to not consult unicorns for financial advise. You just don't waste energy reaching out to what you see isn't there.

~
You're telling someone how they think, and you're just plain wrong to do so. Itbenickp knows what he thinks and believes, the only person who'll follow your claims are you. It strengthens your standpoint to yourself, but it puts a thick wall between you and leading others to yours too.

reply to post by xxsomexpersonxx

with outlandish fairy tales

what if i could prove to you (with the same or similar quality of evidence offered for any other matter of history), that the ancient stories of our ancestors all over the world, were not outlandish fairy tales, would you agree to stop calling ancient texts, outlandish fairy tales?

reply to post by xxsomexpersonxx


oh and about the arrogance thing: as i said to him, it isn't about having a personality issue. it's about who you look to as your ultimate authority. if you say the government, i'll assume you are not well practiced at being honest with yourself, as YOU (meaning everybody) are always the first ultimate authority, before any others are chosen or rejected. AND any other authorities of varying magnitude of importance will naturally fall under your own ultimate authority, and further, they will often be filtered thru YOUR personal 10 commandments before you decide what stance you will take on them.

p.s. to circumvent any attempt to claim i'm saying you have a literal 10 commandments, that's not what i'm saying at all. hopefully you read this entire thing before you respond.