What he said.


Also: Has anyone thought of the possibility that such agressive behaviour is pushing some people even farther from religion than the religious content itself?

I mean whenever the Jehovas Whitnesses ring on my door at 8:00 on a Saturday ( which happens from time to time ) it makes me hate them a tinsy bit more. The "Comedians" claim that society becomes more secular by the day, have they ever asked themselves why?

Thats the way it is for me. I'll never argue or belittle someone for there religious beliefs. Thats between them and their god but please don't try to invade my house preaching. Last set was so pushy and I tried to be curteous but they wouldn't stop. I ended up telling them to ******* off and slammed the door in their face.

I tell them i'm a Druid and that i have been washed in the blood of a tree, then I ask them if i can write 666 on their foreheads with a permanent marker in homage to Satan. They tend not to come back after that...

How about if they say no? You gonna shoot them?

Crucifixion works a lot better for that kind of thing.

Ran some of them off at gunpoint, they didnt return after that. Was actualy a replica only capable of firing blanks and not loaded with those either. Maybe i shouldnt have enjoyed them runing away in a panic but even thinking of it makes me giggle.

Skybird again with the much speaking of words ...void of love.. sounding just like that loud off tune instrument in the band...we still Love ya. :) Big Hugs for Skybird...

I know all Christians are not alike ... I wonder if all atheist are alike ...

Well, are they?

and if they are ... why are they so afraid of a little piece of paper with an invitation to know Jesus?

I've handed out 6,000 tracts in the last ten years or so ... I am both an introverted person that reads a lot, studies the bible, surf the web, live alone, eat alone and an extroverted person, ex-radio newsman, ex-sailboat salesman, ex-time share salesman for a cruise ship, creative, friendly, willing to discuss life and the option of eternal life for those that believe.

I tend to stay away from arguements, especially in person. "wisdom that comes from above is willing to yield" St James 3:15

One girl at Taco Bell said, "what do I do now"? after I had given her an invitation to know Jesus as her Lord and saviour. I told her find a good bible based church and get into the Word.

Another girl I handed a tract to was about 14. I caught her sitting on the bench at a bus stop. She said, "I haven't done anything wrong, yet" That made me laugh.

Another young attractive girl in shorts and a halter top said, "Oh you don't know how important this is to me" I said that's nice mam and moved on before I sinned in looking at her ample bosum.

One man gave the tract back to me and said, "I don't drink anymore"

Most of the people that react to an invitation to accept Jesus as their Lord and saviour have just had a loved one pass away and they wonder where they went.

Some people just plain need that little piece of paper at that paticular point in time, accident, health related, lost loved one. The meaning of eternal life gets more serious the older you are.

Revival is still going on channel 365 God TV 7pm eastern time every night or go to www.freshfire.ca live revival outpouring Todd Bentley online.

But then again all Christians don't agree that this is a real revival ...

Check it out and let me know.

Peace

NoAfraid? I'd wager they are just annoyed by it. Thats how I feel anyway. I dont want anyone pushing their religion on me, I understand that those people mean well, but their paphlets and preaching are not appreaciated by people of no faith.Peace upon you aswell.

Once again What he said. It's not so much fear as rather the pure annoyance you feel despiute having told them repeatedly to **** off.

"Afraid"? Hardly. "Annoyed" is closer to the thruth. For we see too often how churches are pushing for public influence, and especially in America: fundamentalists ignoring the constitutional separation of religion and state and trying to press fundamentalist teachings into local school's curriculum and try to drive opposing teachings out (of course, the Darwin-creationism-debate must be mentioned here). It is annoyance for not being left with the choice to search and find, but being actively sought for. It is annoyance over relgions, wether it be Islam or chgristian fundaemntalism or official churches, demanding more than what is theirs, and trying to rewrite constitutional organisations of state and society.

these thing sare not as extreme over here as it seems to be the case in America. Over here, fundam,entalists are not an important group of voters, and their sects are minorities, but we have the churches and the use of public taxes for theirn interests. We aldo do not have huge organisations of atheists, mas there seem to be in America, judging by googling the internet, at least there are no German pendants I am aware of.

I did not distribute leaflets as you did, and why should I? But I taught meditation, mostly a combination of Japanese Zen (Chinese Chan) and Tibetan Kum Nye, which is something like Tai chi, just easier to learn and practice for Westerners, and I did so for several years, without depending on any cultural or religious symbology, but making pragmatic use of the reasonable helps and thoughts that can be found in the teachings of Buddha as well as Jesus (although you must expect that I interpret him totally different than you do, and I need to expect that you take the bible possibly as literal as Iceman does - else I see no reason in why you should want to distribute leaflets). I did not actively approach people, and I also made no business of it (did it for free) - but after an intial start from a clinical context, people came to me. Nobody can accuse me of actively missionizing. I neither actively approach foreign people, nor do I try to influence them to join a certain ideology. what I did was essentially what I always did and would jhave done anyway - no matter if there were people jopining me or not. In other words: I did not preach, but set an example by meditating anyway, and leaving the decision to others wether they want to try that out and see where it leads them, or not. I did not held speeches, but I answered questions if they were raised. So, I am in perfect conformity with what I demand others to do as well, and am in conformity with the reason why I criticise religions and cults and sects: respect the freedom of others, and not actively chase them, or try to convince them. If you set an example and it is convincing for others, and if they are able to make their own experiences from following that example by free choice, and they like what they experience, then people will come all by themselves, and nobody must lecture them or convince or evangelize them. And certainly I must not make their brains spinning by endlessly talking and holding speeches, and lectures. All that leads to exactly the opposite of what is man's most natural right of birth: to ask his own questions, to check them himself, to find out himself, and to assess himself what the worth of it is that he has experienced.

I do not go after every old man I occasionally see at a street corner, where he stands and just holds up his Christian leaflets, for the most they are from the "Der Wachturm" organisation here. Point is, he also does not go after me. But repeatedly I confronted Muslim street stands, for two reasons: first they were telling lies about Islam to deceive the people, second they were actively approaching people by not just being there on display, but trying to engage them in talking and hanging in pairs on them to make them stop walking - or even start public demonstration-like speeches via megaphone. If they have claim to have the right to harass pedestrians, then i claim the right to confront them and turn them down, for I do not walk in the town centre because I want to need to listen to Islamic propaganda.

I also am convinced that needing to search, to choose a direction at crossroads, and to be in doubt, is most essential part of every human's path through life, without this risik - which also is a freedom - nothing solid and valuable can be won. Man should not believe pre-produced solutions - he should find answers himself. It is often said in Asian traditions that you cannot find a master as long as you are not ready for him. From my own life I can confirm that this is true. Man must not be given answers and solutions on a silver plate. Answers without questions, will mislead the person in most cases, do harm, will confuse him and set him on wrong paths. He must learn to ask the correct questions. then the answers come all by themselves. But this is an independance that no religion and no cult and no sect accepts - because it means loss of earthly power over man.

Also, you are right, not all atheists are the same, true. Communism is an atheistic ideology, in that it knows no theistic deities. Capitalism is atheistic that it is a 100% materialistic ideology, and where there is materialism, there is no room for any non-materialistic thinking, wether it be relgion or philosophy. But not every atheist is a communist or a capitalist. Atheism is not an ideology in itself. It is the absence and/or rejection of another class of ideologies: theistic ideologies, traditions whose thinking depends on believing in the existence of theistic deities. Not more and not less atheism means. I find it almost absurd that Google tells me that atheistic organisations seem to have been founded in America. Maybe that is because there is so much polarizing, and there is so much extremism in america, regarding these things. If fundamentalism is said to form up - varying with the source you read - 20-40% of voters potential, and according communities form an according part of the population, than this is resulting in a social power and influence that explains why part of those who want to not share these communities and do wish to defend soeciety and state aginst these have organised themselves in accoridng organisations, too. But to me, building organisations on the basis of rejecting certain classes of ideolgy is somewhat absurd. One cannot missionize in the name of atheism, since atheism is not an ideology with a content of itself, as I said it just means by definition the absence of certain other ideologies wothout putting anything in their place by itself. Where religious zealots accuse it to do that missionizing nevertheless, they seem to project their own flaws onto others, while they do not see them in themselves.

Why are you approaching minors? Where there no adults around?

Sorry but you did sin by looking at her bosom. Or how do you know it was ample?;)


Do you really belief that all those nature people in the jungles of South America or Africa whose women are usually topless are living in sin? They have never heard of your belife.

The female body was formed to attract the attention of men. And by your belief it was shaped by the will of God wasn't it?

So if God doesn't want us to look at women why did he made them attractive to men? To torture us?

Sorry, but I really don't see any sense in that especially since science has found out that the male brain is programmed on looking at women. The first moment your brain realises that a woman is standing in front of you, you either have a look at her bosom or at her botto. That's a fact. They have tested it with sensors monitoring the eyes of test persons. There's nothing you can do about it's done automatically they said. But they didn't tell whether those test persons where religious. Maybe religious brains are differently programmed.

What's making having fun with bodies evil in your opinion anyway? Right the Bible tells you so. But did you never question why this might have been written down?
I think this was just a rule to make sure that unmarried girls didn't become pregnant. By the time the Bible was written this could have been disastrous for the girl and the baby since the unmarried man could always have ran away leaving them behind without any support.

Nowadays women don't have to become pregnant any more and even if they should and the guy runs away without careing there are social systems (at least here in Germany I'm not sure about the US) that would support a young mother and her baby rather than condemning them both.

But old religious rules can't be changed and so human bodies are still evil...

Sorry, but in my opinion that can't be true.
Of course if you want to live that way feel free to do so.
But please don't try to convince others especially not minors whose minds can still be easily manipulated by outsiders.
If you really have to convince others then please chose adults. There should be enough around.

Skybird wants to shoot all missionaries? Been there, done that. People have died for their religious beliefs before, are dying for them now, and will again. He talks about comedy - the only comedy is those who think these threats scare anyone.

I guess we can speculate what his reaction would be if I'd mused about shooting all atheists but then again, the most hilarious thing about Skybird is the absence of any sense of irony.

Sometimes people ask Christians about their faith without any invitation. Skybird & co would have them either lie about their faith or refuse to talk about it simply to suit HIS PERSONAL PREFERENCES.

Your reply from three days behind gives me the very strong conviction that the lack of sense of irony is with you - and the lack of complete reference to what I said, too (for example "to stay away from parties were you are not invited, but to feel free to go where you have been invited indeed - problem is missionizing zealots all too often do not stay away even if not wanted). and the killing being done in the past: for the most, missionaries survived their attempt to take it it upon thmeselves to speak in the name of their deities. much more killing was done against those native civilisations in South America and Africa (for examples) and those heretics ineurope who did not wish to join some zealot'S theistic wisdoms and dogma or belonged to another church.

Thanks for illustrating perfectly by your latest reply two more reasons why I become so bitterly determined NOT to tolerate such self-revolving thinking, and not to nice-talk about it.

He already gave the perfect answer in my place, and that includes his attack against atheism :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5cXWElb-GE

Can't say it any better myself.

More empty threats. "Not going to tolerate it!":rotfl: Maybe he should put his money where his mouth is.

Seriously - imagine Skybird's howls of outrage if someone had suggested shooting atheists. But they're "missionizing zealots", so that's okay. And SOME religious entities committed atrocities in the past, so, hey, it's all good. As opposed to atheistic regimes with their squeaky-clean hands. :up: