Anyone else tried posting on a general "religious debates" forum?

[Minimalist]

Why would I go looking for those fools?

[Mark]

Debating religious people on any website, including atheist ones, got boring to me a couple of years ago. I just don't see the point in it.

Same.  But actually I've never enjoyed debate as such anyhow.  I'd much rather have an open, honest, free wheeling discussion any day of the week.

I used to post at William Craig's site but did not like any of the people there and got booted.  I also don't like segregated sites where access is denied for atheists except in a limited subform, blech.

Now I post regularly at the forums associated with Francis Collins that is devoted to discussion of science and faith whose mission seems to be to help fundy xtians accept a more intelligent theology.  They call their position evolutionary creation.  This is pretty much what I have always tried to argue my YEC brother into accepting, without success.  Some of these people are crazy smart, insightful and open and I find myself learning quite a lot of science in the bargain.  I'm openly atheist and no one minds or tries to convert me, though when I first showed up an old guy made a good effort at it.  A lady member PM'd me to say that guy Roger is a little nuts and I'd be better off to ignore him.  It probably helps that I really don't have a negative take on religion as such.  Literalistic, YEC is of course ridiculous but then many of them think so too, though they're more interested in helping them out of those mindsets than ridiculing them.  They know my interest is more anthropological but most seem to like and accept me any way..

[Dānu]

Debating morons, religious or not, has been an enjoyable pastime for many years, but these days I just don't have the time to devote to it. I'm too busy.

[Cavebear]

Once again, I decided to try religious forums, and as usual I just end up disappointed.

The place thrives too much on inclusivity, which means that stupid theists get to believe stupid things and you get in trouble if you say the wrong thing.

I mean, it is the twenty-first freakin' century. It's not as though there is any reason to keep believing in god except for people who will ignorantly support the theistic right to continually think stupidly.

Anywho, I was wondering, have you attempted to venture beyond the atheist paradise to post on a non-atheist forum?

I've tried that a few times. I got THAT bored sometimes. It is purposeless. You just can't usefully debate with people who don't think logically.

[Alan V]

You just can't usefully debate with people who don't think logically.

And you can't argue with liars either.  

[Phaedrus]

Funny enough, a member from here just joined that forum.

[Drich]

Fore SHAME on all of you who have tried and failed to work with in the rules of a forum Not of your current belief.

The little bit of push back you get because they want civial discussions is too hard for you to coply with that you want to quit or they kick you out?!?!

Do you have any idea how many arms you tie behind the backs of Christians when you say no preaching? or prosteltising? which means anytime a christian uses the bible the same one you often use to set up a paradox or contradiction to refute an arguement or claim they are bann. so then the christian is often forced to relay the same truth another way until the atheist ASKS for biblical proof.

The bible and teaching from it is our primary tool, one that most of you tattle on when done. So for a christian to hang on any length of time is a testament to him wanting to be here. Then you measure in all of the Hate bigotry and vitrol that soceity says is never ok for any of you to feel or express unless dealing with fat people or religious people (god help you if you are fat and religious)

Now imagine someone who has dont this for more than 10 years. playing by rules that strip him of his greatest tools and yet can effectivly answer questions and provide truth without the bible's direct support. This for most Christian is all but impossible. yet that is often times the first rule atheist sites hide behind. as often times it is the emergency bann button most of you press when ever a discussion gets out of control

So do not pretend that christian sites are the only place where an active bias lives and protects it's members.

[Minimalist]

And speaking of fuckheads, here's Dripshit.... right on cue!

[mordant]

Fore SHAME on all of you who have tried and failed to work with in the rules of a forum Not of your current belief.

The little bit of push back you get because they want civial discussions is too hard for you to coply with that you want to quit or they kick you out?!?!

Do you have any idea how many arms you tie behind the backs of Christians when you say no preaching? or prosteltising? which means anytime a christian uses the bible the same one you often use to set up a paradox or contradiction to refute an arguement or claim they are bann. so then the christian is often forced to relay the same truth another way until the atheist ASKS for biblical proof.

The bible and teaching from it is our primary tool, one that most of you tattle on when done. So for a christian to hang on any length of time is a testament to him wanting to be here. Then you measure in all of the Hate bigotry and vitrol that soceity says is never ok for any of you to feel or express unless dealing with fat people or religious people (god help you if you are fat and religious)

Now imagine someone who has dont this for more than 10 years. playing by rules that strip him of his greatest tools and yet can effectivly answer questions and provide truth without the bible's direct support. This for most Christian is all but impossible. yet that is often times the first rule atheist sites hide behind. as often times it is the emergency bann button most of you press when ever a discussion gets out of control

So do not pretend that christian sites are the only place where an active bias lives and protects it's members.

Civial discussions? Too hard for you to coply with that? Prostelitising? Arguement? Bann? Has dont this for more than 10 years?

Dritch ... I gotta ask ... are you okay?

I'm pleased though that you admit that Christians have nothing to support their "arguments" but the scriptures, which are the claim, not the evidence. Maybe you're starting to catch on.

As for the use of the ban hammer here ... in my experience and observation it's pretty sparingly used, and not for quoting scripture, but for being an asshat. Which, like everything else in life, doesn't really need god to explain it.

After all ... you are not banned, are you?

The scriptures are not forbidden here, they are just not accepted as evidence. Sorry you and your friends are butthurt about that.

[Drich]

Fore SHAME on all of you who have tried and failed to work with in the rules of a forum Not of your current belief.

The little bit of push back you get because they want civial discussions is too hard for you to coply with that you want to quit or they kick you out?!?!

Do you have any idea how many arms you tie behind the backs of Christians when you say no preaching? or prosteltising? which means anytime a christian uses the bible the same one you often use to set up a paradox or contradiction to refute an arguement or claim they are bann. so then the christian is often forced to relay the same truth another way until the atheist ASKS for biblical proof.

The bible and teaching from it is our primary tool, one that most of you tattle on when done. So for a christian to hang on any length of time is a testament to him wanting to be here. Then you measure in all of the Hate bigotry and vitrol that soceity says is never ok for any of you to feel or express unless dealing with fat people or religious people (god help you if you are fat and religious)

Now imagine someone who has dont this for more than 10 years. playing by rules that strip him of his greatest tools and yet can effectivly answer questions and provide truth without the bible's direct support. This for most Christian is all but impossible. yet that is often times the first rule atheist sites hide behind. as often times it is the emergency bann button most of you press when ever a discussion gets out of control

So do not pretend that christian sites are the only place where an active bias lives and protects it's members.

Civial discussions? Too hard for you to coply with that? Prostelitising? Arguement? Bann? Has dont this for more than 10 years?

Dritch ... I gotta ask ... are you okay?

I'm pleased though that you admit that Christians have nothing to support their "arguments" but the scriptures, which are the claim, not the evidence. Maybe you're starting to catch on.

As for the use of the ban hammer here ... in my experience and observation it's pretty sparingly used, and not for quoting scripture, but for being an asshat. Which, like everything else in life, doesn't really need god to explain it.

After all ... you are not banned, are you?

The scriptures are not forbidden here, they are just not accepted as evidence. Sorry you and your friends are butthurt about that.

That's my point smart guy...

I am not bann because I can play by the rules and still make a point even with my strongest tools tied behind my back.

Where as this whole thread is how you guys see and fail being place in a similarly disadvantaged environment.

maybe if you where not so concerned about spelling you could see your way to the point on your own being made once in a while. (like 98% of your peers)

[Bucky Ball]

Fore SHAME on all of you who have tried and failed to work with in the rules of a forum Not of your current belief.

Cluck cluck cluck ... the Church Lady ... clucking again.
It's "for shame" ya dolt, not "fore shame".
So ..... we're supposed to take criticism from an ignoramus who can't spell, can't use a spell-checker and can't run a grammar checker.
You are actually spamming this forum, and ripping off the founders who created it by posting your spammy shit here.
But we expect your angry theist bullshit by now.
I see you're still angry and screwed up, and religion has done you no good. Oh well. You're the perfect example of how the gods people cook up really reflect themselves.
Your mean non-hippy Jesus is really you.

Maybe some day you'll learn that no one reads your walls of text.

[Minimalist]

Dripshit is not for serious discussion.  Him and his god are simply targets to shit on for practice.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Religious debate is boring. Barriers are up, gotcha moments are hot, they generate more heat than light.

Believe what you want, it's all good. Try to inject it into politics, I'll say something. Otherwise I'm not much concerned, and don't search out religious discussions or forums. Let them, as Frank Herbert wrote, rot in the stink of their own perceptions.

[grympy]

Why would I go looking for those fools?

 Just so. I used to love watching House. Although I must admit the man was such a cunt someone should have pushed him down an elevator shaft

.

[Dānu]

Fore SHAME on all of you who have tried and failed to work with in the rules of a forum Not of your current belief.

Cluck cluck cluck ... the Church Lady ... clucking again.
It's "for shame" ya dolt, not "fore shame".
So ..... we're supposed to take criticism from an ignoramus who can't spell, can't use a spell-checker and can't run a grammar checker.
You are actually spamming this forum, and ripping off the founders who created it by posting your spammy shit here.
But we expect your angry theist bullshit by now.
I see you're still angry and screwed up, and religion has done you no good. Oh well. You're the perfect example of how the gods people cook up really reflect themselves.
Your mean non-hippy Jesus is really you.

Maybe some day you'll learn that no one reads your walls of text.

Drich has morphed from a common garden variety moron to a dishonest and despicable troll with repulsive lies and propaganda over the years. He deserves the same bit bucket as Draino, our professional troll.

[Phaedrus]

Returned to the forum to say this:

Perhaps my departure was rather rash and unnecessarily dramatic.

Upon further reflection, instead of spewing an answer for the sake of what others want to hear, one thing I can state for certainty is that I am not here to seek anything in relation to religion. I have studied enough of religion in my lifetime to know that atheism is the only rational answer to the problem of religion and spirituality. I have also heard it all from religious people, why they believe, and in the end they simply prefer the comfort of the religious lie over reality. Many people will use an apologetic argument to invalidate my understanding of why someone else personally believes, but in the end we already know we can adequately understand how others think and why they think as they do via the source of psychology. If being the kind of atheist who will not emotionally cater to a believer's irrational way of thinking makes me hated by everyone here, so be it.

Let's see how well received it becomes.

[Phaedrus]

No, because preaching on here is against rule 8. Not all religious people want others to be the same religion as them. RF is primarily a debate forum. That you've stated you have no interest in learning about others' religions and are only here to try to 'allow others the opportunity to understand reason via atheism.' means you're walking a fine line on the rule 8 razor.

Should I take the plunge?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Drich has morphed from a common garden variety moron to a dishonest and despicable troll with repulsive lies and propaganda over the years.  He deserves the same bit bucket as Draino, our professional troll.

I put him on ignore the moment he got here. 

Life is too short to have to scroll past that much bullshit.

[Chas]

Drich has morphed from a common garden variety moron to a dishonest and despicable troll with repulsive lies and propaganda over the years.  He deserves the same bit bucket as Draino, our professional troll.

I put him on ignore the moment he got here. 

Life is too short to have to scroll past that much bullshit.

Those two aren't even entertaining.  They bring no real value to the forum, though GirlyMan would have had fun with them.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Drich has morphed from a common garden variety moron to a dishonest and despicable troll with repulsive lies and propaganda over the years.  He deserves the same bit bucket as Draino, our professional troll.

I put him on ignore the moment he got here. 

Life is too short to have to scroll past that much bullshit.

Those two aren't even entertaining.  They bring no real value to the forum, though GirlyMan would have had fun with them.

I haven't blocked Rainy. As @Dom has mentioned elsewhere, it's a convenient pulse spot for me, given the contortions the hardline conservatives must perform to excuse Trump's behavior.

I don't need up-to-date info on dumbfuck Christian apologists, though ... so I don't waste bandwidth on Drippy.

[Dom]

Drich has morphed from a common garden variety moron to a dishonest and despicable troll with repulsive lies and propaganda over the years.  He deserves the same bit bucket as Draino, our professional troll.

I put him on ignore the moment he got here. 

Life is too short to have to scroll past that much bullshit.

Those two aren't even entertaining.  They bring no real value to the forum, though GirlyMan would have had fun with them.

Girly would have. I really miss him.

[SYZ]

...The bible and teaching from it is our primary tool, one that most of you tattle on when done. So for a Christian to hang on any length of time is a testament to him wanting to be here. Then you measure in all of the Hate bigotry and vitriol that society says is never ok for any of you to feel or express unless dealing with fat people or religious people.

I'm pleased to see that you admit to needing a supportive "tool" to inform and express your ethics, morals and mores.
And that's a principal distinction between theists and atheists.  We don't need any sort of antiquated dogma or a book
of rules in order to support our attestations of atheism.  We think for ourselves using logic, inference, scientism, humanism etc.
We postulate theories and conclusions not based merely around a farrago of myths, fantasy, misconception, delusion,
fear, and even outright lies, but on reality, observation, hypothesising, theorising, and replication—the tools of the modern
sciences.

Apparently, without the controlling influence of your bible, you'd be out every day depredating the local neighbourhood?
You might rape your neighbour's wife, steal his car, and kill him?

Now imagine someone who has done this for more than 10 years, playing by rules that strip him of his greatest tools and yet can effectively answer questions and provide truth without the bible's direct support...

I've never actually encountered a Christian theist who can argue his/her point without reference to their bible at some
point.  Even this relatively new forum is littered with hundreds of pieces of scripture and/or biblical citations, many posted
by you.  And you can't rely on the bible for facts and figures anyway.  That'd be like me citing the story of the mythical
Robin Hood to support evidential claims about England's young king, Richard I.

...yet that is often times the first rule atheist sites hide behind. as often times it is the emergency ban button most of you press when ever a discussion gets out of control.

Nope.  We atheists don't hide behind anything—like the theists retreating to their churches to gather in great numbers
in order to fight off the perceived scourges of society, and inculcate absolute, blind obedience to imaginary gods with the
fear of eternal damnation for failing to do so.  And there is no "emergency ban button".  You're seeing things that don't
exist—just like most theists LOL.

This is an image of a recent anti-abortion rally in Sydney, Australia...



Which prompts me to ask you:  Why can't you theists keep your fucking noses out of everybody else's business?  What
gives you people the right to dictate to others what moral paths they should take, when your own paths are historically
littered with death, despair, and destruction?

[mordant]

Which prompts me to ask you:  Why can't you theists keep your fucking noses out of everybody else's business?  What
gives you people the right to dictate to others what moral paths they should take, when your own paths are historically
littered with death, despair, and destruction?

In my experience and observation this is connected with the concept of corporate guilt -- the notion that god punishes not just individuals, but families, tribes, and nations. If you buy into this, and too many of your fellow citizens are "sinning", then it creates anxiety that you might be punished for their sins, for insufficiently opposing them and thus "condoning" them, and this makes you controlling of these "sinners".

Fundagelical anxiety about things like gay marriage and legal abortion and even increasingly prosaic things like gender equality and contraception have reached a fever pitch as these things were reaching a societal tipping point until Trump came along and allowed them to dream of things like overturning Roe v Wade. No wonder they worship him as heaven-sent.

[Minimalist]

Yup.  God's a dick.

[epronovost]

Funny enough, a member from here just joined that forum.

Got curious after your post, decided to take a look and the forum seemed to have a decent amount of trafic and a lot of diversity which is nice.