# Happy international blasphemy day 2012!



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.

And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!

So yeah, happy blasphemy day to all sane people who actually care about knowing the truth vs. believing what happens to make them comfortable! :3


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## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

I'm neither happy, nor upset. I do not hate Religion and neither do I believe in it.

I just don't see the point in wasting a day of your life on something so bloody trivial. =/


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpAeNZNd9IE

[nsfw]

Enjoy! 

Also, members of free thinking communities must remember that whilst opposing blind religious indoctrination is very important we musn't take our eye off political and economic equivalents, even if they're less sensational. For example BP banned its workers from talking to the press or allowing the press near its corrupted oil well, that's a substaintial challenge to free communication.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

God dammit.

There. Contribution.


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## Hakar Kerarmor (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
> To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
> 
> And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!
> ...



Here's what far superior beings have to say about blasphemy:
[yt]znGBU5oODz8[/yt]


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Bipolar Bear said:


> I'm neither happy, nor upset. I do not hate Religion and neither do I believe in it.
> 
> I just don't see the point in wasting a day of your life on something so bloody trivial. =/



Trivial? Are you freaking kidding me? People are dying in the middle east right now. Leaders of islamic countries have called for the death of the makers of that video.
People have died throughout history because of this supersticious nonsense and people are dying and suffering because of it now for a multitude of reasons. Be it blasphemers, apostates, people in Africa who were told that condoms are the work of the devil who are dying of AIDS now... The list goes on and on!
Calling this trivial isn't just ignorant. It's flat out retarded.


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## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Trivial? Are you freaking kidding me? People are dying in the middle east right now. Leaders of islamic countries have called for the death of the makers of that video.
> People have died throughout history because of this supersticious nonsense and people are dying and suffering because of it now for a multitude of reasons. Be it blasphemers, apostates, people in Africa who were told that condoms are the work of the devil who are dying of AIDS now... The list goes on and on!
> Calling this trivial isn't just ignorant. It's flat out retarded.



Captain, I'm just saying that why should you spend a whole day of your life hating and cursing, when you could be spending it in a better way. Like, I don't know, reading a book, looking at the sunset, riding a bike, going out with friends, living your life and not caring about the troubles in the world around you. =(

Also, a verbal statement that has no negative or positive context to it does not hold the mental attributes to be 'retarded'. A better word or phrase would be 'Incorrect' or 'False' or 'That's just one way of looking at it'. =/


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

So instead of trying to do something more worthwhile you're going to just insult their beliefs? You're just as bad if not worse for acting like you're higher than them.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Yay, blasphemy day!  I'm going to go ahead and get a few blasphemies out of the way that everyone seems to always forget.

Fuck Odin, Thor, Hela, Frigg, Aegir, Tyr, Freya, all the rest, and may Yggdrasil be devoured by the serpents that feed on its roots.
Fuck Zeus, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Apollo, Poseidon, and all the rest, and may Mount Olympus crumble to dust.  Also fuck the Roman versions of those guys.
Fuck Amaterasu, Uzume, Fujin, Omoikane, and everyone else, and may Mount Fuji erupt and blow its top off into space.
Fuck Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, Indra, Durga, Ganesha, and the rest of them, and may the river Ganges stop flowing and dry up.
Fuck Osiris, Thoth, Amun, Rah, Anubis, Sobek, Bath, and all those other animal-headed freaks, and may the river Nile stagnate and flood the land with mosquitos.

Okay, there.  Now I've hopefully offended my quota of gods this Blasphemy Day.  The rest of you guys can insult Jesus or Allah or whoever.  I feel like I've probably done that enough throughout the year that I don't need to do anything extra today.


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## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

The flying spaghetti monster probably tastes like shit.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Fuck Amaterasu,



D: B-but but...how can you hate this adorableness? D:


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Bipolar Bear said:


> Captain, I'm just saying that why should you spend a whole day of your life hating and cursing, when you could be spending it in a better way. Like, I don't know, reading a book, looking at the sunset, riding a bike, going out with friends, living your life and not caring about the troubles in the world around you. =(
> 
> Also, a verbal statement that has no negative or positive context to it does not hold the mental attributes to be 'retarded'. A better word or phrase would be 'Incorrect' or 'False' or 'That's just one way of looking at it'. =/



Simple. If we don't do anything about it the world isn't going to change. I WANT to care. I actually want to change the world. I want to help getting rid of this medieval nonsense.

And of course your statement was retarded. You said that as if religion doesn't have any negative impacts on the world at all. Sure, that is false. But in my opinion that is so false that I might as well call it retarded.



Aleu said:


> So instead of trying to do something more worthwhile you're going to just insult their beliefs? You're just as bad if not worse for acting like you're higher than them.



If insults are the only thing that is still getting through to them to make them think about their beliefs then yeah, sure.
And where did I say that I'm in any way better than them?



M. LeRenard said:


> Fuck Amaterasu



Ammy has one big advantage compared to other gods: Within the world of the game she actually does exist so the people inside of the game would actually be perfectly justified in believing in her X3


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## Hinalle K. (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
> To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
> 
> And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!
> ...


Hey come visit me in the Middle East, let's celebrate, and be executed together!
I'll buy you the ticket!


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Simple. If we don't do anything about it the world isn't going to change. I WANT to care. I actually want to change the world. I want to help getting rid of this medieval nonsense.
> 
> And of course your statement was retarded. You said that as if religion doesn't have any negative impacts on the world at all. Sure, that is false. But in my opinion that is so false that I might as well call it retarded.



HEY ALL YOU RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. YOUR GOD SUCKS.

And then the world was a better place....except oh, it doesn't work like that.



CaptainCool said:


> If insults are the only thing that is still getting through to them to make them think about their beliefs then yeah, sure.
> And where did I say that I'm in any way better than them?



Shit, I dunno. Basically your condescending attitude to anyone with a religious or spiritual belief? Calling them delusional even though there is no evidence for or against the existence of gods/goddesses. Calling them insane? Yeah, that's not acting like you're better at all :U


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Hinalle K. said:


> Hey come visit me in the Middle East, let's celebrate, and be executed together!
> I'll buy you the ticket!



Thanks but no thanks^^;



Aleu said:


> HEY ALL YOU RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. YOUR GOD SUCKS.
> 
> And then the world was a better place....except oh, it doesn't work like that.



That's SO not what this day is about.



Aleu said:


> Shit, I dunno. Basically your condescending attitude to anyone with a religious or spiritual belief? Calling them delusional even though there is no evidence for or against the existence of gods/goddesses. Calling them insane? Yeah, that's not acting like you're better at all :U



You kind of nailed it. There really is no evidence for the existence of a god and that is exactly why religious people are delusional. If there is no evidence then you have no way to know that what you believe in is the truth.
I also never called them insane. I called them missguided.


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## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Simple. If we don't do anything about it the world isn't going to change. I WANT to care. I actually want to change the world. I want to help getting rid of this medieval nonsense.
> 
> And of course your statement was retarded. You said that as if religion doesn't have any negative impacts on the world at all. Sure, that is false. But in my opinion that is so false that I might as well call it retarded.



Captain. The world isn't going to divulge into chaos and anarchy if you don't insult someone's beliefs every 10 fucking seconds. Over 1,000,000 people are already doing that! You alone think your shouting and insulting and hating is going to change one little thing? NO! IT WON'T! Because 10,000,000 people are the doing the exact same thing as you are. 

And... wh-where in Dog's name did I say THAT? WHERE? All I said was that Blasphemy is only going to fuel the fire, not put it out! 

Ah, screw it. I'm not even going to try and make you see the reason behind my argument. l=P


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> That's SO not what this day is about.



That's pretty much what it's all going to boil down to.



CaptainCool said:


> You kind of nailed it. There really is no evidence for the existence of a  god and that is exactly why religious people are delusional. If there  is no evidence then you have no way to know that what you believe in is  the truth.
> I also never called them insane. I called them missguided.


Absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It cannot be proven any more than it can be disproven. You also called them insane IN YOUR FIRST POST.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> D: B-but but...how can you hate this adorableness? D:


I don't.  I'm just blaspheming as much as I can, for fun.

Guys, it doesn't sound like this was invented just to have a hate-filled day where you try to piss people off.  I think it's more about free speech, that we all should have the right to speak out however we like about ideas without having to fear for our lives or the lives of others.  The people who started the riots over this latest YouTube prank are extremists; the first assault, wherein Ambassador Stevens and those others were killed, was done on September 11 by people with RPGs and other weaponry.  It was planned by people who had political ambition but were unpopular in elections because of their insane religious views; people whose only recourse to win popular opinion is to demonize the West and incite anger and violence.  They are not loved, not by anyone in the West, not by hardly anyone in their own countries.  So why should we have to kowtow to these fucknuts in the name of religious sensibility?  We should treat them like any other criminals; not start only saying pleasant things about Mohammed because doing otherwise might cause a riot.  No one should have to stand for that level of bullshit.  Right?
So happy Blasphemy Day, God damn it.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

I think the focus is perhaps being overlooked. 

In some countries  you stand to invoke mob law and demands for execution, as well as  judical punishment, for blaspheming criticising or even professing an  unconventional view of popular gods and religions. 

The whole point of bothering to blaspheme is to show that enforcement of such mentalities is self defeating and that yelling insults at the sky has no intrinsic badness to it, just like effing and jeffing your heart out. 



It's not about condescention, it's about showing that blasphemy is a definitely harmless therefore not worthy of hyperbolic responses.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> I don't.  I'm just blaspheming as much as I can, for fun.
> 
> Guys, it doesn't sound like this was invented just to have a hate-filled day where you try to piss people off.  I think it's more about free speech, that we all should have the right to speak out however we like about ideas without having to fear for our lives or the lives of others.  The people who started the riots over this latest YouTube prank are extremists; the first assault, wherein Ambassador Stevens and those others were killed, was done on September 11 by people with RPGs and other weaponry.  It was planned by people who had political ambition but were unpopular in elections because of their insane religious views; people whose only recourse to win popular opinion is to demonize the West and incite anger and violence.  They are not loved, not by anyone in the West, not by hardly anyone in their own countries.  So why should we have to kowtow to these fucknuts in the name of religious sensibility?  We should treat them like any other criminals; not start only saying pleasant things about Mohammed because doing otherwise might cause a riot.  No one should have to stand for that level of bullshit.  Right?
> So happy Blasphemy Day, God damn it.



Then why not call it "free speech day" instead of blasphemy day?


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## Dreaming (Sep 30, 2012)

Oh I heard about this day, it just seems like another baww event where you spend the day thinking you're better than X for mocking them, or celebrating it for the sake of celebrating it. I don't really see much point in celebrating it.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Then why not call it "free speech day" instead of blasphemy day?



Because which do you think is going to cause the most sensation?



Dreaming said:


> Oh I heard about this day, it just seems like  another baww event where you spend the day thinking you're better than X  for mocking them, or celebrating it for the sake of celebrating it. I  don't really see much point in celebrating it.



and if you have any commitment you blaspheme every day, not just once a year. x3


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## Hinalle K. (Sep 30, 2012)

Bipolar Bear said:


> Captain. The world isn't going to divulge into chaos and anarchy if you don't insult someone's beliefs every 10 fucking seconds. Over 1,000,000 people are already doing that! You alone think your shouting and insulting and hating is going to change one little thing? NO! IT WON'T! Because 10,000,000 people are the doing the exact same thing as you are.
> 
> And... wh-where in Dog's name did I say THAT? WHERE? All I said was that Blasphemy is only going to fuel the fire, not put it out!
> 
> Ah, screw it. I'm not even going to try and make you see the reason behind my argument. l=P


Come on Bear... Religious belief or not, no one deserves to die over the making of a silly video.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It cannot be proven any more than it can be disproven. You also called them insane IN YOUR FIRST POST.



But how do you it's true without having any evidence? If you can neither prove nor disprove it (which is a freaking logical fallicy anyway >__>) why should you bother with that idea anyway?
"It's fucking nuts!" Do you mean that part? I was talking about the situation as a whole there, not specific people... You might want to try reading my posts before jumping to conclusions about me~


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Then why not call it "free speech day" instead of blasphemy day?


Because the focus is the riots and the violence incited by religion.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Hinalle K. said:


> Come on Bear... Religious belief or not, no one deserves to die over the making of a silly video.



Pakistan used to have politicians willing to stand up and put pressure on the government to remove the anti blasphemy laws. 

They were assasinated.



CaptainCool said:


> But how do you it's true without having any  evidence? If you can neither prove nor disprove it (which is a freaking  logical fallicy anyway >__>) why should you bother with that idea  anyway?
> "It's fucking nuts!" Do you mean that part? I was talking about the  situation as a whole there, not specific people... You might want to try  reading my posts before jumping to conclusions about me~



Rather than arguing the toss over the epistemology of Gods, let's put it this way. 

People in real life are punished exiled and murdered for blasphemy. 

What's the actual physical problem incited by blasphemy? None- and we can prove it by having a good old eff and jeff about muhammed and jesus doing it all night while vishnu watches, and then having a good night's sleep confident the sun will rise in the morning. 

Whether or not there's a god there's clearly no practical implication of blasphemy, even if some people do insist we're going to go to hell and be raped by the devil for ten thousand years.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Because which do you think is going to cause the most sensation?


Getting everyone worked up is what makes them lose focus on the more important issue. You hold humanity in too high regard if they're not going to use this as an excuse to persecute religious people simply for believing in gods or goddesses.


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## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

Hinalle K. said:


> Come on Bear... Religious belief or not, no one deserves to die over the making of a silly video.



Oy Vey... I honestly don't know what to say anymore. But just for funsies...

*slams $100 note on table* $100 says this thread turns into a massive shit-fest by Page 2. -____-


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> But how do you it's true without having any  evidence? If you can neither prove nor disprove it (which is a freaking  logical fallicy anyway >__>) why should you bother with that idea  anyway?
> "It's fucking nuts!" Do you mean that part? I was talking about the  situation as a whole there, not specific people... You might want to try  reading my posts before jumping to conclusions about me~



"So yeah, happy blasphemy day to all sane people who actually care about  knowing the truth vs. believing what happens to make them comfortable!"

Maybe you should try reading your own posts :V


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## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

>Gets angry at video that marks their religion as full of angry violent assholes
>Tries to prove everyone wrong by acting like angry violent assholes


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> "So yeah, happy blasphemy day to all sane people who actually care about  knowing the truth vs. believing what happens to make them comfortable!"
> 
> Maybe you should try reading your own posts :V



Now where did I call them insane?^^ I still fail to see that word in my post.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Getting everyone worked up is what makes them lose focus on the more important issue. You hold humanity in too high regard if they're not going to use this as an excuse to persecute religious people simply for believing in gods or goddesses.


I think if people are doing that, they're most likely missing the point entirely.  The way I see it, this is just another way of saying, "Why can't we all just get along?"
There will be conflict of ideas, now and forever.  The point is that as adult humans, we all ought to be mature enough to handle that without flying off the rails and murdering people.  I mean, shit, you blaspheme every day by not worshiping Allah or praising Mohammed.  You also blaspheme by eating pork, or by not building a shrine to your ancestors, or whatever.  So celebrate your right to do that (or not do that, as it were).  Blasphemy is for everybody.


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## Mayfurr (Sep 30, 2012)

International Blasphemy Day?

Fuck that.

It's one thing to exercise free speech, it's entirely another thing to do the equivalent of poking bears with a sharp stick and then bitch about how they attack you. This is the same kind of nutjob thinking behind the fuckwits who did the "Innocence of Mohammed" video.

There's no need to be an arsehole and stoop to the religious nutjob level. We atheists should be better than that.


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## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Now where did I call them insane?^^ I still fail to see that word in my post.



Hmmmmm...



CaptainCool said:


> Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
> To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
> 
> And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!
> ...



Eeeehhhh... I'd say right about there. Not really sure though. Aleu, can you confirm this? I need a second opinion. l=/


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Now where did I call them insane?^^ I still fail to see that word in my post.



Really? You're going to pull this shit of "I didn't say it therefore you can't prove I mean it"? CONTEXT CLUES. WE CAN FUCKING USE THEM.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Getting everyone worked up is what makes them lose focus on the more important issue. You hold humanity in too high regard if they're not going to use this as an excuse to persecute religious people simply for believing in gods or goddesses.



Religious people are the majority, this will hardly cause wide spread persecution. x3 

What's seriously funny is that even in a website compiled of 'enlightened' individuals living in countries with relatively high freedoms of speech and press that encouraging blasphemy is esteemed to be of any controversy at all. 

The fact that days like this reveal blasphemy as a contentious subject is important because it gives us a good look at ourselves as a species- where a significant proportion of us willingly take offense to empty and indirect criticisms such as blasphemy.



Food for thought: A majority of muslims didn't actually respond violently to the blasphemous video circulated on youtube recently. A small number of these people decided to prove their disagreement with the former group...by killing the individuals responsible for murdering the american ambassador. 

And so the cycle of violence continues.


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## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

Hey Captain, I got no beef with you, but the way you make these threads and posts against religion is putting you in a position which makes you the same - if not worse than - a lot of the people you claim to be against. Your atheism is a little bit too strong.

Jussayin'


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> I think if people are doing that, they're  most likely missing the point entirely.  The way I see it, this is just  another way of saying, "Why can't we all just get along?"
> There will be conflict of ideas, now and forever.  The point is that as  adult humans, we all ought to be mature enough to handle that without  flying off the rails and murdering people.  I mean, shit, you blaspheme  every day by not worshiping Allah or praising Mohammed.  You also  blaspheme by eating pork, or by not building a shrine to your ancestors,  or whatever.  So celebrate your right to do that (or not do that, as it  were).  Blasphemy is for everybody.



If so then what do we need a day for it? It's about as stupid as  establishing an international day of prayer. If those who pray do it  every day and those who don't don't, then why is there a need for a day?  

The reason behind it is to rub it in everyone's face to spite them. Really? We need days to spite people?


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Really? You're going to pull this shit of "I didn't say it therefore you can't prove I mean it"? CONTEXT CLUES. WE CAN FUCKING USE THEM.



I can honestly say that I did not intend to call anyone insane with my post. If you believe that then I really don't care because that is NOT what I'm thinking.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Because the focus is the riots and the violence incited by religion.



So then it's not about free speech. 

If it was a free speech day I'd think we'd all start celebrating how brave homophobes are for denouncing homosexuality. Or racists for being able to voice their displeasure for the impure masses invading their respective countries. 

Free speech of course being a two-way street.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

What blasphemy tells us about ourselves: Unlike other species, which do indeed fight and make war for resources of mating rights, humans will also fight battles for ideology or even for concepts such as honour. 

The silliness of fighting and becoming weaponised or angry over honour needs to be emphasised to us.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> I can honestly say that I did not intend to call anyone insane with my post. If you believe that then I really don't care because that is NOT what I'm thinking.


Oh come on that's a load of crap and you know it. You call religious people delusional any time the subject is brought up. You can't POSSIBLY say in all seriousness that you don't mean to call them insane.


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> Hey Captain, I got no beef with you, but the way you make these threads and posts against religion is putting you in a position which makes you the same - if not worse than - a lot of the people you claim to be against. Your atheism is a little bit too strong.
> 
> Jussayin'



It's just something I'm passionate about. I think it is one of the most dangerous aspects of humanity. There is nothing good about it that can't be achieved through secular means.
Atheism can't really be strong by the way^^ It is just a lack of belief as a logical consequence of skepticism.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Oh come on that's a load of crap and you know it. You call religious people delusional any time the subject is brought up. You can't POSSIBLY say in all seriousness that you don't mean to call them insane.



Delusional doesn't necessitate insanity. 

Jim believes the earth is flat because it looks flat, he is ignoring other important proofs and concepts that contradict him and therefore is delusional because he accepts an idea void of supporting grounds. Jim is not insane, he's just wrongheaded. 

Margarate believes that MI5 is out to get her, that she lives on ganymede and her arms are made of jelly, these ideas manifesting through extreme paranoid schizophrenia. She is both delusional and insane.



CaptainCool said:


> It's just something I'm passionate about. I  think it is one of the most dangerous aspects of humanity. There is  nothing good about it that can't be achieved through secular means.
> Atheism can't really be strong by the way^^ It is just a lack of belief as a logical consequence of skepticism.




Maybe you should also describe yourself as antitheist.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

Also why are we getting so worked up over a blasphemy day?  As if every religion thread on this forum isn't specifically for this purpose or ends up getting twisted into a "YA KNOW THE THING ABOUT RELIGION IS..."

Blasphemy day?  That's EVERYDAY for some people here.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Also why are we getting so worked up over a blasphemy day?  As if every religion thread on this forum isn't specifically for this purpose or ends up getting twisted into a "YA KNOW THE THING ABOUT RELIGION IS..."
> 
> Blasphemy day?  That's EVERYDAY for some people here.




It's every day for everyone, because my God considers defecating on the earth she lovingly crafted an act of blasphemy.


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## Hinalle K. (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Pakistan used to have politicians willing to stand up and put pressure on the government to remove the anti blasphemy laws.
> 
> They were assasinated.


Indeed... The way that the people and even goverment back up that kind of thinking has to tell you something about all of this.
We are not violent, but here's $100k if you kill the people responsible for that video.

My father commented with me some time ago that he would also feel satisfied if the makers of that video were to be assassinated for mocking his religion. I didn't know how to respond, and it pains me that I have to go along with that kind of thinking.I would not dare behaving like my true self near people here. It's definitely not like this in every muslim country, but in some of them , it's really bad. I even have to use proxies to be able to freely browse wikipedia, goddamnit.
He also supports the killing of those who commit apostasy, and gays,much like the general populace over here.
You'll excuse me if I feel like ranting about religion every now and then


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Oh come on that's a load of crap and you know it. You call religious people delusional any time the subject is brought up. You can't POSSIBLY say in all seriousness that you don't mean to call them insane.



Well, I know that isn't the case so I really don't care.



Fallowfox said:


> Maybe you should also describe yourself as antitheist.



I am an antitheist in the way that I think that religious faith is actively harmful. But thats about it.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Hinalle K. said:


> Indeed... The way that the people and even goverment back up that kind of thinking has to tell you something about all of this.
> We are not violent, but here's $100k if you kill the people responsible for that video.
> 
> My father commented with me some time ago that he would also feel satisfied if the makers of that video were to be assassinated for mocking his religion. I didn't know how to respond, and it pains me that I have to go along with that kind of thinking.I would not dare behaving like my true self near people here. It's definitely not like this in every muslim country, but in some of them , it's really bad.
> ...



In short the rights of blasphemers, denouncers and homosexuals should come first because we're 100% sure they exist.


----------



## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> It's just something I'm passionate about. I think it is one of the most dangerous aspects of humanity. There is nothing good about it that can't be achieved through secular means.
> Atheism can't really be strong by the way^^ It is just a lack of belief as a logical consequence of skepticism.



And why is atheism ~SO MUCH BETTER~ here?

Speaking of logic, have you ever decided that you should do what you ask of jehova's witnesses once in a while and just you know... keep your mouth shut sometimes? Nobody asked for this thread to be made to criticize religion once again. We get it, you hate religion, I'm not a fan of it either, but we don't need another shit-flinging match. There's absolutely _no point_.


----------



## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> we don't need another shit-flinging match.



Hey! I have a bet hanging off that. l=/


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> It's just something I'm passionate about. I think it is one of the most dangerous aspects of humanity. There is nothing good about it that can't be achieved through secular means.
> Atheism can't really be strong by the way^^ It is just a lack of belief as a logical consequence of skepticism.



If it achieves the same result, what does it matter?
So to you, a person who believes in God and wants to do good for humanity because they feel that's their purpose is somehow not as good than someone who does not believe in God but does the same thing?


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> And why is atheism ~SO MUCH BETTER~ here?
> 
> Speaking of logic, have you ever decided that you should do what you ask of jehova's witnesses once in a while and just you know... keep your mouth shut sometimes? Nobody asked for this thread to be made to criticize religion once again. We get it, you hate religion, I'm not a fan of it either, but we don't need another shit-flinging match. There's absolutely _no point_.



Keep your mouth shut about the loch ness monster not existing...well actually I admit I don't talk about this a lot a part from the rare occaisions I come across internet forums and people in real life that genuinely believe there's a plesiosaur in loch ness.



Aleu said:


> If it achieves the same result, what does it matter?
> So to you, a person who believes in God and wants to do good for  humanity because they feel that's their purpose is somehow not as good  than someone who does not believe in God but does the same  thing?




On this subject I personally wonder...is someone who does good because they believe they'll get an eternal lavish afterlife doing their actions from the same altruism as someone who is doing them for their own sake? 

Practically there's little distinction, I suppose, though the intent is arguably poisonous- what if they would also do things that are bad for the same lavish afterlife? Some people do.


----------



## Bipolar Bear (Sep 30, 2012)

Darn. Page 3 and no-one has resorted to screaming yet. Right, you win Aleu. l=/

*hands Aleu $100 note*


----------



## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Keep your mouth shut about the loch ness monster not existing...well actually I admit I don't talk about this a lot a part from the rare occaisions I come across internet forums and people in real life that genuinely believe there's a plesiosaur in loch ness.



Oh shit, someone should make a thread about Cryptids already. Even though they're arguably just silly myths, they're great stories. One of my favourites involves a creature fitting the description of a Carnotaurus, back in the 1930s or something. Badass.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> Oh shit, someone should make a thread about Cryptids already. Even though they're arguably just silly myths, they're great stories. One of my favourites involves a creature fitting the description of a Carnotaurus, back in the 1930s or something. Badass.



Big foot threads are a regular fixture on the other forum I'm addicted to.

If we imagine the blasphemy perspective of this thread...imagine the proponents of bigfoot getting upset if I accuse bigfoot of killing an innocent young girl, or write a fictional story in which Bigfoot is a nasty villain. 

x3


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> And why is atheism ~SO MUCH BETTER~ here?
> 
> Speaking of logic, have you ever decided that you should do what you ask of jehova's witnesses once in a while and just you know... keep your mouth shut sometimes? Nobody asked for this thread to be made to criticize religion once again. We get it, you hate religion, I'm not a fan of it either, but we don't need another shit-flinging match. There's absolutely _no point_.



That wasn't really the point why I made this thread though^^ Pissing people off or being rude on purpose just isn't my style AT ALL.
I made this thread because I like the general idea behind this day, promoting free speech and rational thinking.



Aleu said:


> If it achieves the same result, what does it matter?
> So to you, a person who believes in God and wants to do good for humanity because they feel that's their purpose is somehow not as good than someone who does not believe in God but does the same thing?



It matters because one thing is true and the other is not. There simply isn't any evidence for that belief so in my opinion it is pointless to pursue it.
I would applaude them for doing something good for humanity but I would argue that they are doing it for the wrong reasons.


----------



## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> That wasn't really the point why I made this thread though^^ Pissing people off or being rude on purpose just isn't my style AT ALL.
> I made this thread because I like the general idea behind this day, promoting free speech and rational thinking.



So basically, preaching atheism.

I see.


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> On this subject I personally wonder...is someone who does good because they believe they'll get an eternal lavish afterlife doing their actions from the same altruism as someone who is doing them for their own sake?
> 
> Practically there's little distinction, I suppose, though the intent is arguably poisonous- what if they would also do things that are bad for the same lavish afterlife? Some people do.



There's no difference whether religion is involved or not. Religion is and always will be a human concept. People have their beliefs but have different justifications.
Say someone is working hard at their job because they want that big raise/promotion. Is that less of a reason than someone who works hard because they genuinely enjoy their job and want the best for customers/clients/patients/what have you?


----------



## Hakar Kerarmor (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> we don't need another shit-flinging match. There's absolutely _no point_.



Who are you, and what have you done with Gibby?


----------



## Schwimmwagen (Sep 30, 2012)

Hakar Kerarmor said:


> Who are you, and what have you done with Gibby?



I killed him.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> There's no difference whether religion is involved or not. Religion is and always will be a human concept. People have their beliefs but have different justifications.
> Say someone is working hard at their job because they want that big raise/promotion. Is that less of a reason than someone who works hard because they genuinely enjoy their job and want the best for customers/clients/patients/what have you?



If someone needs to be offered gifts to be altruistic then their actions are motivated by greed. 

Greedy personalities are generally not looked on favourably, which is why people who derive selfish incentives for behaviours we'd hope would be altruistic may not score high points in the ratings of other people.


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Big foot threads are a regular fixture on the other forum I'm addicted to.
> 
> If we imagine the blasphemy perspective of this thread...imagine the  proponents of bigfoot getting upset if I accuse bigfoot of killing an  innocent young girl, or write a fictional story in which Bigfoot is a  nasty villain.
> 
> x3



Or eating beef jerky. 







Fallowfox said:


> If someone needs to be offered gifts to be altruistic then their actions are motivated by greed.
> 
> Greedy personalities are generally not looked on favourably, which is  why people who derive selfish incentives for behaviours we'd hope would  be altruistic may not score high points in the ratings of other  people.



OK? I never said anything about altruism nor do I care. I'm saying  the end result is the same. There are selfish people and there are  selfless people. That's not going to change.


----------



## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> That wasn't really the point why I made this thread though^^ Pissing people off or being rude on purpose just isn't my style AT ALL.



Could have fooled me. 



> I made this thread because I like the general idea behind this day, promoting free speech and rational thinking.



Which I established is very much not the point of this thread because of your gross misunderstanding of what free speech is and how you try to apply that to your dislike of religion. 

If this was about free speech why not celebrate those people you constantly bitch about who exercise their right to tell you they think you may be on the road to damnation?  They're voicing their opinion just as much as you're voicing yours.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Or eating beef jerky.


Mhm. Replace big foot with muhammed or moses and we have a recipe for death threats right there.


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Gibby said:


> So basically, preaching atheism.
> 
> I see.



You can't preach atheism. It's not a religion afterall 




Aleu said:


> There's no difference whether religion is involved or not. Religion is and always will be a human concept. People have their beliefs but have different justifications.
> Say someone is working hard at their job because they want that big raise/promotion. Is that less of a reason than someone who works hard because they genuinely enjoy their job and want the best for customers/clients/patients/what have you?



Oh I think there is a massive difference. If you want to help someone ONLY because you think it will get you into heaven then you are acting out of greed. If you help someone only for the sake of doing the right thing without expecting a reward then there is absolutely no greed involved at all.



Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Which I established is very much not the point of this thread because of your gross misunderstanding of what free speech is and how you try to apply that to your dislike of religion.
> 
> If this was about free speech why not celebrate those people you constantly bitch about who exercise their right to tell you they think you may be on the road to damnation?  They're voicing their opinion just as much as you're voicing yours.



I don't have a problem with the right of religious people to believe what they want. Let them go to church and do their thing, I don't mind at all! What I do have a problem with is people harming each other because of their beliefs or forcing these beliefs on others.


----------



## Hinalle K. (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Could have fooled me.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Calling it the "day agaisnt religion" would be fine by me.


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Mhm. Replace big foot with muhammed or moses and we have a recipe for death threats right there.



Moses? Since when?


----------



## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> If someone needs to be offered gifts to be altruistic then their actions are motivated by greed.
> 
> Greedy personalities are generally not looked on favourably, which is why people who derive selfish incentives for behaviours we'd hope would be altruistic may not score high points in the ratings of other people.



You're automatically assuming it's gifts they want. 

Having worked for a non-profit in the past I can tell you for certain that there are people who will work for a cause for the sole reason that they need work in order to help pay their bills or feed their families. How selfish is the person who works for a cause but requires compensation for their time in order to make sure their family can have food on the table and a roof over their heads?

Seems like you're lacking a huge grey area in your judgement.



Hinalle K. said:


> Calling it the "day agaisnt religion" would be fine by me.



As it would be for me. Just own up to what the day is about without trying to sugar coat it.




			
				CC said:
			
		

> I don't have a problem with the right of religious people to believe what they want. Let them go to church and do their thing, I don't mind at all! What I do have a problem with is people harming each other because of their beliefs or forcing these beliefs on others.



Not really relevant to what I'm asserting and even then as I've pointed out often what you claim you do and what you actually do are very much in conflict, hence why I still maintain how fraudulently you present yourself. 

Again, how is this thread about free speech if its only a celebration of one opinion?


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> You can't preach atheism. It's not a religion afterall
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Just because it's not a religion doesn't mean you can't preach it. Saying atheism is better than religion is still preaching :/

There's a difference between doing it to get into heaven and doing it because it's what we're allegedly created for.

That's not really limited to religion. That can be said for anything so bitching about how religion does this when people in general do that seems kinda pointless.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Moses? Since when?



Since there were extremists from every single political group, religious and walk of life- and because I'd like to illustrate that by not exclusively concentrating on mohammed. 

I remember Elton John recieved death threats when he said his personal view was that 'jesus was a loving gay person,'. 

In fact in line with this discussion there are also secular communities which defend their idols from 'blasphemy', such as companies which sue independant regulators when they don't get the high reviews they desire- for example greek dairy companies that sued greenpeace for giving them a low grade. 

This is essentially very similar to blasphemous attitudes but actually has a wider practical implication.



Term_the_Schmuck said:


> You're automatically assuming it's gifts they want.
> 
> Having worked for a non-profit in the past I can tell you for certain  that there are people who will work for a cause for the sole reason that  they need work in order to help pay their bills or feed their families.  How selfish is the person who works for a cause but requires  compensation for their time in order to make sure their family can have  food on the table and a roof over their heads?
> 
> ...



You're right, I did miss out intermediary descriptions; the proposition was too simplistic. 

If the motive is to achieve eternal rewards then I might perhaps suggest such peopleare acting from greed, but I agknowledge myriad other motives of varying subjective moral description.


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Just because it's not a religion doesn't mean you can't preach it. Saying atheism is better than religion is still preaching :/
> 
> There's a difference between doing it to get into heaven and doing it because it's what we're allegedly created for.
> 
> That's not really limited to religion. That can be said for anything so bitching about how religion does this when people in general do that seems kinda pointless.



Atheism in itself can't really be better. It just describes a lack of belief. Not an active act of doing something. It's just a default position.

Right, "allegedly". People don't have a purpose, we give ourselves a purpose.

People do it BECAUSE of religion though. Sure, religion itself is just a concept but people are doing that because of said concept.


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Atheism in itself can't really be better. It just describes a lack of belief. Not an active act of doing something. It's just a default position.
> 
> Right, "allegedly". People don't have a purpose, we give ourselves a purpose.
> 
> People do it BECAUSE of religion though. Sure, religion itself is just a concept but people are doing that because of said concept.



People do it because of said concept. So? People abuse the fuck out of welfare so does that mean welfare is bad? How about instead of generalizing, we look at individuals :O There's a thought!


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> People do it because of said concept. So? People abuse the fuck out of welfare so does that mean welfare is bad? How about instead of generalizing, we look at individuals :O There's a thought!



-People with exotic beliefs who are altruistic for evidently selfish ends are arguably greedy. 
-This doesn't mean all people who share those beliefs are any greedier than usual, that's highly unlikely in large sample sizes.
-This in turn doesn't mean the beliefs them selves are therefore free of greed or of any epistemological value. 

...and finally all of this means that analagous subjects could have entirely different answers to the last two points- but this begs the question...how strong is the analogy in these cases?


----------



## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> So then it's not about free speech.
> 
> If it was a free speech day I'd think we'd all start celebrating how brave homophobes are for denouncing homosexuality. Or racists for being able to voice their displeasure for the impure masses invading their respective countries.
> 
> Free speech of course being a two-way street.


It's not about generalized free speech, no.  It's about the one particular aspect of free speech some religious groups like to call blasphemy.  I guess if that's too specific for you, so be it, but some folks felt a need to celebrate that one particular aspect of free speech.
If you want to make a Homophobia Day, feel free.


----------



## Judge Spear (Sep 30, 2012)

Dammit. Already digressed into FAF Daily Srs. I was too late. O^O


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> It's not about generalized free speech, no.  It's about the one particular aspect of free speech some religious groups like to call blasphemy.  I guess if that's too specific for you, so be it, but some folks felt a need to celebrate that one particular aspect of free speech.
> If you want to make a Homophobia Day, feel free.



I'm going to make an anti freespeech day to exercise my freedom of speech. :3


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> It's not about generalized free speech, no.  It's about the one particular aspect of free speech some religious groups like to call blasphemy.  I guess if that's too specific for you, so be it, but some folks felt a need to celebrate that one particular aspect of free speech.
> If you want to make a Homophobia Day, feel free.



You realize that now that you said it Homophobia Day actually exists, right? Or does that work for fetishes only?


----------



## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> You realize that now that you said it Homophobia Day actually exists, right? Or does that work for fetishes only?


I'm sure it exists on the internet only, kind of like Blasphemy Day.


----------



## CannonFodder (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
> To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
> 
> And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!
> ...


CaptainCool I have no problem with someone using their freedom of speech or such regardless if it blasphemic or such... but you're developing a bit of a.. obsessing as of late.  Take a chill pill man.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> I'm sure it exists on the internet only, kind of like Blasphemy Day.



Arguably the only 'days' which really exist in our society are the commercialised ones that demand we buy pointless gifts to prove our love to others.


----------



## BrodyCoyote (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Mhm. Replace big foot with muhammed or moses and we have a recipe for death threats right there.


Let's replace a giant, hairy guy who nobody but a few kooks have seen and there is no proof of existing with one of two hairy guys who nobody but a few kooks have seen and there is no proof of existing. _Sounds like a plan!_

Honestly, it's the antitheistic train of thought disguised in the atheism cloak that makes people dislike atheists in general. One can be an atheist and just not really care, not feel the need to grab the banner and raise it high. It's like the Westboro Baptist Church of atheism, which most Christian groups pretty much abandoned. (And even right-wing religious groups disowned, noting Fred Phelp's past as a Democrat)


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

CannonFodder said:


> CaptainCool I have no problem with someone using their freedom of speech or such regardless if it blasphemic or such... but you're developing a bit of a.. obsessing as of late.  Take a chill pill man.



I'm kind of feeling bad about making this thread now... I did not want this mess all over again


----------



## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Arguably the only 'days' which really exist in our society are the commercialised ones that demand we buy pointless gifts to prove our love to others.


Or gorge ourselves on tons of food.
So I looked into Blasphemy Day just a bit.  I guess it was started by the Center for Inquiry (whom I generally respect, although they can often be rather heavy-handed).  I guess their official mission statement for it is more or less along the lines that there seems to still exist a sort of taboo regarding discussion of religious ideas, that people are reluctant to argue religion for fear of offense, while we give free reign to politics, science, and everything else.  Not sure if that's generally true, but I can see where they're coming from.  They essentially felt that people needed to be more forthcoming with religious criticism, to even out the playing field of ideas.
So in some ways it's based on the same general principle as Affirmative Action.  Obviously then, it will be extremely controversial.

Edit: 





			
				CaptainCool said:
			
		

> I'm kind of feeling bad about making this thread now... I did not want this mess all over again


Well, to be fair, it might not have devolved into this sort of thing if you didn't start off by insulting every religious person directly.


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

BrodyCoyote said:


> Let's replace a giant, hairy guy who nobody but a few kooks have seen and there is no proof of existing with one of two hairy guys who nobody but a few kooks have seen and there is no proof of existing. _Sounds like a plan!_
> 
> Honestly, it's the antitheistic train of thought disguised in the atheism cloak that makes people dislike atheists in general. One can be an atheist and just not really care, not feel the need to grab the banner and raise it high. It's like the Westboro Baptist Church of atheism, which most Christian groups pretty much abandoned. (And even right-wing religious groups disowned, noting Fred Phelp's past as a Democrat)



I'm not quite sure the behaviour we've seen on this thread is _quite _comparable to the westboro church...

I do know of an example that is though, a georgian radio station run by two atheists who use their non religious philosophy as a vehicle to make themselves seem veracious and forward thinking whilst they argue 
-for seggregation
-for the persecution of homosexuals
-for black supremacy

Now, I'll criticise these people, and their use of a philosophy as a vehicle to fallaciously deliver their hate, just as avidly as any fundamentalist. I just don't come across these people quite as often online or in real life.


----------



## CannonFodder (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> I'm kind of feeling bad about making this thread now... I did not want this mess all over again


Me personally I may be religious, but my views on religion and "blasphemy" have changed over the years.
Originally I used to be ultra-conservative "bible thumper".
Then I was "you guys do have a point".
Then I was extremist liberal in my views.
Now my views are more of "let's watch the different sides tear the living shit out of each other in a eternal slap fight while I eat popcorn".


----------



## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Not sure if that's generally true, but I can see where they're coming from.



Dude! Just look at this thread! XD I could have criticized anything and no one would have said a thing but once you even just touch religion you get people calling each other names and a shitfest that got to page 4 in no time at all! XD


----------



## BrodyCoyote (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> I'm not quite sure the behaviour we've seen on this thread is _quite _comparable to the westboro church...
> 
> I do know of an example that is though, a georgian radio station run by two atheists who use their non religious philosophy as a vehicle to make themselves seem veracious and forward thinking whilst they argue
> -for seggregation
> ...


Oh yeah, it was totally hyperbole, I just couldn't think of a single group that opposed any non-religious or non-Christian that wasn't just 'Conservatives', and that seemed like a whole new can of worms.

Also how does one argue for segregation _and_ black supremacy? That seems sort of self-destructive. Seperate but equal is not equal! *It means we're better!*


----------



## Bliss (Sep 30, 2012)

_*Perkeleen Perkele!*_


----------



## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

BrodyCoyote said:


> Oh yeah, it was totally hyperbole, I just couldn't think of a single group that opposed any non-religious or non-Christian that wasn't just 'Conservatives', and that seemed like a whole new can of worms.
> 
> Also how does one argue for segregation _and_ black supremacy? That seems sort of self-destructive. Seperate but equal is not equal! *It means we're better!*



They were two black men arguing that the southern usa should expell all the white folk and live in a utopic african-style culture. Oh and naturally homosexuals are an evil that was invented by white men living in greece, so the homosexuals should be chased out too for not being sufficiently african.


----------



## CannonFodder (Sep 30, 2012)

My only problem with this "holiday" is that it's on a sunday and I don't get the chance to see in one class how the "militant atheist", who thinks all religious people should be sterelized, and the resident "bible thumper", who thinks anybody that isn't christian should be sent to a re-education camp, scream at each other.. again.
I would have gotten popcorn ready and carry a scoreboard with a microphone and be a smart ass.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.  It is a lovely day in the neighborhood.  The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing and it is a beautiful day for a religious slapfight.  I'm your host CF, but first a word from our sponsors before round one starts and boy are we in for a doozy of a screaming contest between the two contestants".


----------



## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Dude! Just look at this thread! XD I could have criticized anything and no one would have said a thing but once you even just touch religion you get people calling each other names and a shitfest that got to page 4 in no time at all! XD


My point is, you weren't criticizing religion, you were criticizing religious people.  THAT'S where the shitfest always comes from on these forums.  Honestly, if you want to convince people of your views, the last thing in the world you should do is start off by calling them insane or nutjobs or stupid, because that's basically pushing a giant red button in their minds that says "STOP LISTENING NOW".


----------



## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CannonFodder said:


> My only problem with this "holiday" is that it's on a sunday and I don't get the chance to see in one class how the "militant atheist", who thinks all religious people should be sterelized, and the resident "bible thumper", who thinks anybody that isn't christian should be sent to a re-education camp, scream at each other.. again.
> I would have gotten popcorn ready and carry a scoreboard with a microphone and be a smart ass.
> "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.  It is a lovely day in the neighborhood.  The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing and it is a beautiful day for a religious slapfight.  I'm your host CF, but first a word from our sponsors before round one starts and boy are we in for a doozy of a screaming contest between the two contestants".



damn I'd kill to see that. You should record that.


----------



## CannonFodder (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> damn I'd kill to see that. You should record that.


Personally what I'd kill to see is for a high ranking person in a atheist organization and a high ranking person in a christian denomination for the both of them to get together and schedule two conventions right next to each and have the hotels right next to each other for a entire week.


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## Hinalle K. (Sep 30, 2012)

Well now, blasphemy day seems like a day where people who aren't actually threathened by religion may feel free to complain about religion
If I was feeling suicidal I'd celebrate it here


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## Unsilenced (Sep 30, 2012)

Why does this need to be a day? Like, is saying "god fucking damn it" really something we do so rarely that we need a specific day to do it or something? 



Fallowfox said:


> I'm going to make an anti freespeech day to exercise my freedom of speech. :3



My friend had to do a paper in his class about whether or not people should be allowed/encouraged to question authority, with the obvious expectation that he would argue "rah rah fight the power" like all the other college freshmen. 

Instead, he argued in favor of fascism, and while he got a good enough grade the professor told him, quote, "Not to do that again."


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Unsilenced said:


> Why does this need to be a day?


Since so many people apparently believe this is a very clever question, I guess we could put it out there for real: why do human beings have holidays, anyway?


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## CaptainCool (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Since so many people apparently believe this is a very clever question, I guess we could put it out there for real: why do human beings have holidays, anyway?



Celebrating things that actually happened is a good thing in my opinion. Like this wednesday is German Unification Day. A national holiday where we celebrate the unification of east and west Germany.
But then there are tons of christian holidays that we celebrate here... Like Whit Monday which is the celebration of the sending of the holy spirit. That never happened for all we know! I mean, I don't mind getting a day off (a payed day off mind you!) but that doesn't change the fact that it is a day dedicated to a freaking ghost


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## Rilvor (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Since so many people apparently believe this is a very clever question, I guess we could put it out there for real: why do human beings have holidays, anyway?



To celebrate what makes them happy, I would say. If standing up and saying you do not subscribe to religions gives you satisfaction, I suppose that is fine. It is when you make threads worded like the OP that you deserve your head submerged in mustard.

I mean goodness, I get what the holiday is about but this basically sounds like a reverse Westboro.

I like to celebrate World Goth Day, which has been recurring for years, but I keep it to my signature with a link for a day rather than make a thread like this.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Celebrating things that actually happened is a good thing in my opinion. Like this wednesday is German Unification Day. A national holiday where we celebrate the unification of east and west Germany.
> But then there are tons of christian holidays that we celebrate here... Like Whit Monday which is the celebration of the sending of the holy spirit. That never happened for all we know! I mean, I don't mind getting a day off (a payed day off mind you!) but that doesn't change the fact that it is a day dedicated to a freaking ghost


We get it. You don't believe in the existence of spirits. You don't need to keep saying it all the damn time it's mentioned.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> It's not about generalized free speech, no.  It's about the one particular aspect of free speech some religious groups like to call blasphemy.  I guess if that's too specific for you, so be it, but some folks felt a need to celebrate that one particular aspect of free speech.
> If you want to make a Homophobia Day, feel free.



Blasphemy is absolutely an aspect of free speech.

So is hate speech.

Point being that trying to qualify the need to have a blasphemy day by trying to lump in the greater concept of free speech is ludicrous given the narrow focus you're basing it on.  And certainly given the tone of the people who often exhibit "blasphemous speech" on a daily basis here, the last thing they need is a whole day devoted to what amounts to first-world white people feeling intellectually superior to their religious counterparts because they don't have any level of faith in their lives.  The few people, like Hinalle who may actually benefit from such a day given where they live in this world are ultimately overshadowed by someone who cries about the grave injustice that some Jehovah's Witness happened to solicit them that one time five years ago.  It's just so hard to deal with some people at Herald Square in New York asking people if they've been saved.



CaptainCool said:


> Dude! Just look at this thread! XD I could have criticized anything and no one would have said a thing but once you even just touch religion you get people calling each other names and a shitfest that got to page 4 in no time at all! XD



The problem is we'll never know because religion is practically all you ever talk about in R&R and Off-Topic.  You keep talking about how "if I did this, if I did that" you wouldn't get criticized by people.  But you never do.  The only thing you ever seem to have to talk about is religion.  For someone who claims to be an atheist, you let religion rule your life more than someone like me who actually claims to be religious in some respect.  Even in threads which aren't specifically about religion you find ways to sneak it in there because you just can't go too long in R&R or Off-Topic without shoehorning it into the conversation.  That's not passion, that's obsession.  And yet here we are again with ANOTHER thread by you talking about religion, because clearly we haven't gotten the message yet that you don't like it.  Stop playing the part of some sort of victim here, which I know you love to do.



Hinalle K. said:


> Well now, blasphemy day seems like a day where people who aren't actually threathened by religion may feel free to complain about religion
> If I was feeling suicidal I'd celebrate it here



Pretty much my feelings on this thread summed up.


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## Aetius (Sep 30, 2012)

Hey guys, Fuck the North Korean religion

Fuck Kim Jong-il and his fatass son.

*[USER HAS BEEN EXECUTED FOR THIS POST] *


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

Aetius said:


> *[USER HAS BEEN EXECUTED FOR THIS POST] *



And rightly so.

You should know that top doctors say that his weight is just right for his height and build.


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## Ozriel (Sep 30, 2012)

Buddhism is a religion for pussies -shot-

Ironically I am one.


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## Aetius (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> And rightly so.
> 
> You should know that top doctors say that his weight is just right for his height and build.



He is too....magnificent....


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## Bliss (Sep 30, 2012)

[yt]gNtnN_DiP3o[/yt]


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## Judge Spear (Sep 30, 2012)

Rilvor said:


> To celebrate what makes them happy, I would say. If standing up and saying you do not subscribe to religions gives you satisfaction, I suppose that is fine. It is when you make threads worded like the OP that you deserve your head submerged in mustard.
> 
> I mean goodness, I get what the holiday is about but this basically sounds like a reverse Westboro.
> 
> I like to celebrate World Goth Day, which has been recurring for years, but I keep it to my signature with a link for a day rather than make a thread like this.



Your head submerged in mustard.......
Fate worse than listening to Nyan Cat.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Blasphemy is absolutely an aspect of free speech.
> 
> So is hate speech.
> 
> Point being that trying to qualify the need to have a blasphemy day by trying to lump in the greater concept of free speech is ludicrous given the narrow focus you're basing it on.  And certainly given the tone of the people who often exhibit "blasphemous speech" on a daily basis here, the last thing they need is a whole day devoted to what amounts to first-world white people feeling intellectually superior to their religious counterparts because they don't have any level of faith in their lives.  The few people, like Hinalle who may actually benefit from such a day given where they live in this world are ultimately overshadowed by someone who cries about the grave injustice that some Jehovah's Witness happened to solicit them that one time five years ago.  It's just so hard to deal with some people at Herald Square in New York asking people if they've been saved.


I'm not entirely sure why having a day dedicated to questioning the idea of faith must amount entirely to first-world white people trying to feel intellectually superior to their religious counterparts.  I'm a little surprised at this post, Term, because usually you don't resort to strawmen.  Yes, clearly a ton of people take it just that way.  Those people are pricks.  I think we all agree with that.  But the principle still stands, that atheism is a huge minority still in the US, and our opinions deserve as much airtime in the public sphere as any other ideology.  Think of it like Christians celebrating Easter.  It's the same bloody principle, except that Easter is a national holiday you get work off for.
It always kills me, this persecution complex that religious people have, when they control the government and everything else about the United States.  I'm just thankful that there's still enough people in power who are religious but recognize that separation of church and state is an important facet of society.  We could be back in the McCarthyism era, when atheism and Communism were the same thing and branded you a traitor.  I mean, come on guys, really?  Expressing disdain for religion makes you elitist?  I wonder if that implies that atheism really is inherently the more elite way of thinking?

In terms of not being able to talk openly about your beliefs in a foreign country, well, that's partly the point too.  In a perfect world, you would feel safe to do so.  The fact that you don't is a problem.  Maybe you don't think so; maybe countries should have the right to force every one of their citizens into a certain world view, and then give them permission to commit murder against any outsiders who merely belong to the same culture as someone who would have the gall to insult one of their divine icons.
I _think_ we all agree that's wrong.  So hopefully that's at least one thing we all agree is a benevolent part of something like Blasphemy Day.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Expressing disdain for homeopathic medicine is an elitist way of medical thinking. ;3



Unsilenced said:


> Why does this need to be a day? Like, is  saying "god fucking damn it" really something we do so rarely that we  need a specific day to do it or something?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




The irony...playing devil's advocate is I suppose actually very important, because it provides a control to reveal unsound reasoning in arguments we might otherwise accept simply because we like them or they've been put forward with charisma.


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## Echo Wolf (Sep 30, 2012)

Seriously? Is trying to do everything to piss of Muslim extremists the hot thing to do now? Yeah I can see how kicking a hornets nest is just the most intelligent and safe thing to do. You know these things actually affect people other than yourself right?

Anyway if you're going to support a Blasphemy day for people who hate religion how can you oppose comparable Holidays for people who hate other things like Gays or Minorities? There purpose is essentially the same after all. Jesus Christ. (there you go for topic)


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## Llamapotamus (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> I'm kind of feeling bad about making this thread now... I did not want this mess all over again



It's kinda inevitable considering the topic.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> I'm not entirely sure why having a day dedicated to questioning the idea of faith must amount entirely to first-world white people trying to feel intellectually superior to their religious counterparts.  I'm a little surprised at this post, Term, because usually you don't resort to strawmen.  Yes, clearly a ton of people take it just that way.  Those people are pricks.  I think we all agree with that.  But the principle still stands, that atheism is a huge minority still in the US, and our opinions deserve as much airtime in the public sphere as any other ideology.  Think of it like Christians celebrating Easter.  It's the same bloody principle, except that Easter is a national holiday you get work off for.
> It always kills me, this persecution complex that religious people have, when they control the government and everything else about the United States.  I'm just thankful that there's still enough people in power who are religious but recognize that separation of church and state is an important facet of society.  We could be back in the McCarthyism era, when atheism and Communism were the same thing and branded you a traitor.  I mean, come on guys, really?  Expressing disdain for religion makes you elitist?  I wonder if that implies that atheism really is inherently the more elite way of thinking?
> 
> In terms of not being able to talk openly about your beliefs in a foreign country, well, that's partly the point too.  In a perfect world, you would feel safe to do so.  The fact that you don't is a problem.  Maybe you don't think so; maybe countries should have the right to force every one of their citizens into a certain world view, and then give them permission to commit murder against any outsiders who merely belong to the same culture as someone who would have the gall to insult one of their divine icons.
> I _think_ we all agree that's wrong.  So hopefully that's at least one thing we all agree is a benevolent part of something like Blasphemy Day.



The difference is that pretty much all the holidays we have established aren't some knee-jerk reaction that doesn't really benefit anyone. Easter was made to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. MLK day was established to honor a civil rights leader. New Year's is to...well duh pretty self explanatory.

I'm all for free speech but we don't need a day to tear down other's beliefs and insult them. As I said before, it's a holiday just to spite people for no benefit.


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## Sar (Sep 30, 2012)

CannonFodder said:


> Personally what I'd kill to see is for a high ranking person in a atheist organization and a high ranking person in a christian denomination for the both of them to get together and schedule two conventions right next to each and have the hotels right next to each other for a entire week.


That's a Gang Fight I would love to see.
I also love the fact this day is on my birthday. Both are going to be celebrated in roughly the same way.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> The difference is that pretty much all the holidays we have established aren't some knee-jerk reaction that doesn't really benefit anyone. Easter was made to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. MLK day was established to honor a civil rights leader. New Year's is to...well duh pretty self explanatory.
> 
> I'm all for free speech but we don't need a day to tear down other's beliefs and insult them. As I said before, it's a holiday just to spite people for no benefit.



I will provide a counter example. April fools was a holiday invented by expanding christian settlements to mock the celtic calendar, which began in spring rather than the middle of winter. 

April fools was a holiday historically to spite people for no benefit [people whose calendar arguably was more intuitive as it was seasonal], even today we play pointless tricks on one another to no avail. ;3

The idea of viewing a blasphemy day as entirely spite driven, is of course, straw man. Some people will be full of spite- others will exercise their opportunity for a good joke, some people want to prove the triviality of blasphemy. What we should gain from this event is realising that...hey, people all over the world have been swearing about different Gods, and if nobody had told us...would anything have been any different?


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> I will provide a counter example. April fools was a holiday invented by expanding christian settlements to mock the celtic calendar, which began in spring rather than the middle of winter.
> 
> April fools was a holiday historically to spite people for no benefit [people whose calendar arguably was more intuitive as it was seasonal], even today we play pointless tricks on one another to no avail. ;3
> 
> The idea of viewing a blasphemy day as entirely spite driven, is of course, straw man. Some people will be full of spite- others will exercise their opportunity for a good joke, some people want to prove the triviality of blasphemy. What we should gain from this event is realising that...hey, people all over the world have been swearing about different Gods, and if nobody had told us...would anything have been any different?



So because it happened before, it's okay? Hypocritical much? I thought we were supposed to be "better than the primitive mindset". Or whatever.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

You know... ugh.  This is the funny thing.  People talk a lot of strife, suffering all that.  They try to put the blame on a lot things; religion, lack of religion, homosexuality, wearing funny clothes, whatever.  But what it always seems to come down to, at the base, is misunderstanding and the making of assumptions.  Every religious person here is making the assumption that this is a spite-driven holiday meant to insult people with religious beliefs.  This is demonstrably false:


			
				Blasphemy Day International Mission Statement said:
			
		

> International Blasphemy Rights Day, held each year on September 30, is a day to promote the rights to freedom of belief and expression and stand up in a show of solidarity for the liberty to challenge reigning religious beliefs without fear of murder, litigation, or reprisal. The event is administered by the Center for Inquiry as part of its Campaign for Free Expression.


There.  That's why the CFI started the damn thing.  If people are taking it as a day to go out and piss off a priest, that's apparently not in the spirit of the original idea.  So quit with this reductionist assumptive bullshit already, and maybe then this discussion won't turn into a meaningless merry-go-round like all religious discussions seem to become.
You realize talking about religion doesn't necessitate getting pissed off, right?  Talking to the atheists and the religious folks in this thread both.  Quit making things personal.  Jeez.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> I'm not entirely sure why having a day dedicated to questioning the idea of faith must amount entirely to first-world white people trying to feel intellectually superior to their religious counterparts.  I'm a little surprised at this post, Term, because usually you don't resort to strawmen.  Yes, clearly a ton of people take it just that way.  Those people are pricks.  I think we all agree with that.  But the principle still stands, that atheism is a huge minority still in the US, and our opinions deserve as much airtime in the public sphere as any other ideology.  Think of it like Christians celebrating Easter.  It's the same bloody principle, except that Easter is a national holiday you get work off for.
> It always kills me, this persecution complex that religious people have, when they control the government and everything else about the United States.  I'm just thankful that there's still enough people in power who are religious but recognize that separation of church and state is an important facet of society.  We could be back in the McCarthyism era, when atheism and Communism were the same thing and branded you a traitor.  I mean, come on guys, really?  Expressing disdain for religion makes you elitist?  I wonder if that implies that atheism really is inherently the more elite way of thinking?



As we've seen here many of the actual personal experiences people tend to exhibit here on religion are mundane.  OP for instance constantly makes reference to someone who may, in a roundabout way, imply they are going to Hell.  How awful, especially when it appears OP actually goes out of his way to talk to these people and ask for those kinds of opinions.

I do believe expressing disdain for religion by calling said people delusional or hold to "retarded" beliefs as has been said in the past on these very forums is a very elitist way of expressing atheism.  I have absolutely no problem with people who are atheist.  Good for them.  On the same token though, who are often the people who make religion threads on this forum?  9 times out of 10 it's an atheist for the sole reason of talking about how terrible religion is.  9 times out of 10 when religion gets shoehorned into an unrelated topic, it's an atheist bringing it up.  We had a member not too long ago who was religious who would bring up religion when it wasn't asked for, but he's long since been banned not for his beliefs but how he conducted himself.  And that's what I don't appreciate, the conduct which you have to admit is extremely elitist and downright rude.

Do atheists deserve national airtime?  Absolutely.  They deserve to have just as many billboards as anyone else, as I've seen while driving down the Jersey Turnpike and in the city.  But what that takes is initiative and if you're willing to spend the money on a billboard, go for it.  But then you have people like the American Atheists organization who tries to get national airtime by waging a campaign on trying to get some steel wreckage from 9/11 removed from the memorial because certain religious people connected with it since it was in the shape of a cross, you're crossing into asshole territory.  The comment that sticks out to me, and I'm paraphrasing here, being that "If your God cared so much why would he let all those people die and leave you with a cross?"  Seriously, fuck that guy.  Regardless of how absurd you find some person's means of comfort in a tragedy, especially the people who I personally know who lost someone in those attacks that person is an elitist prick who should stick their opinion right back up their ass where it came from.  

The elitism I also see stems from this image certain people here have presented of themselves as being "tolerant, open-minded" individuals who constantly feel the need to refer to other people as "morons" who hold believe in a retarded delusion.  Pretending that your shit don't stink is a very elitist, especially when trying to hold some sort of moral high-ground of "I'd never force my opinions on someone" and then badger on about how someone's religious faith is stupid.  The amount of double-talk on these forums regarding religion is astounding.

By the by, there's no law saying people have to take off for holidays, and many people, like myself, work year round on nights, weekends, and holidays.  Getting work off for those holidays is entirely up to the organization you work for, and at this point most government worker unions would throw a fit if you tried removing religious holiday breaks like Christmas for the sole reason that they "deserve" the break to be with their families.  But no one's stopping you from being able to work on those days if you're an atheist, so if you want to by all means do so.  I already do it as a Catholic.



> In terms of not being able to talk openly about your beliefs in a foreign country, well, that's partly the point too.



If you were going to hold a "Blasphemy Day" I'd think that would be the most important point.  Not as a vehicle for people to continue going "DURRHURR RELIGION IS RETARDED" to represent a day for atheists, which oh by the way, we just had in R&R which started earlier this month and who's last post was two days ago titled "Ever wonder why religious types are seen as a bunch of intolerant morons?"

So again I question, why is this thread necessary when it's clear the concept of this thread happens ALL THE TIME on these forums and others?


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> So because it happened before, it's okay? Hypocritical much? I thought we were supposed to be "better than the primitive mindset". Or whatever.



You appear to have skipped over the last half of my post. 

An international blasphemy day is not, definitively, an exercise of spite- In fact I actually think the point which is meant to sink in is 'wait a second...all that blasphemy about my god didn't actually offend me- it was just a bunch of chin wagging,', rather than 'and tonight I pray for you to kill the infidels who called you names, my lord,'. 

This should be cause to highlight and laugh at the fact many regions on the planet take this seriously. Because the one thing serious extremists really hate is being giggled at.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> You know... ugh.  This is the funny thing.  People talk a lot of strife, suffering all that.  They try to put the blame on a lot things; religion, lack of religion, homosexuality, wearing funny clothes, whatever.  But what it always seems to come down to, at the base, is misunderstanding and the making of assumptions.  Every religious person here is making the assumption that this is a spite-driven holiday meant to insult people with religious beliefs.  This is demonstrably false:
> 
> There.  That's why the CFI started the damn thing.  If people are taking it as a day to go out and piss off a priest, that's apparently not in the spirit of the original idea.  So quit with this reductionist assumptive bullshit already, and maybe then this discussion won't turn into a meaningless merry-go-round like all religious discussions seem to become.
> You realize talking about religion doesn't necessitate getting pissed off, right?  Talking to the atheists and the religious folks in this thread both.  Quit making things personal.  Jeez.



Maybe it wouldn't be such a merry go round if people didn't make threads specifically to bash religion. The other thread was created to point out the hypocrisy in a specific circumstance which then lead to "Yeah, fuck all religion."

This on the other hand is basically named to poke at religious people who do care about blasphemy themselves but not enough to kill someone over it. The "reasoning" is just a very thin veil to cover it up.



Fallowfox said:


> You appear to have skipped over the last half of my post.
> 
> An international blasphemy day is not, definitively, an exercise of  spite- In fact I actually think the point which is meant to sink in is  'wait a second...all that blasphemy about my god didn't actually offend  me- it was just a bunch of chin wagging,', rather than 'and tonight I  pray for you to kill the infidels who called you names, my lord,'.
> 
> This should be cause to highlight and laugh at the fact many regions on  the planet take this seriously. Because the one thing serious extremists  really hate is being giggled at.



If people are offended for you poking at their god, doing it MORE isn't going to change that.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Maybe it wouldn't be such a merry go round if people didn't make threads specifically to bash religion. The other thread was created to point out the hypocrisy in a specific circumstance which then lead to "Yeah, fuck all religion."
> 
> This on the other hand is basically named to poke at religious people who do care about blasphemy themselves but not enough to kill someone over it. The "reasoning" is just a very thin veil to cover it up.
> 
> ...



If you think this is the case, stop feeding the trolls?


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> If you think this is the case, stop feeding the trolls?



Cuz existing is totally feeding them


----------



## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:
			
		

> As we've seen here many of the actual personal experiences people tend to exhibit here on religion are mundane.


This is going to sound incredibly cheeky, but you mean like someone stating on a furry forum that religious people are delusional?  I think I'm missing your point.


> I do believe expressing disdain for religion by calling said people delusional or hold to "retarded" beliefs as has been said in the past on these very forums is a very elitist way of expressing atheism


Oh yeah, totally.  You might notice I'm not at all defending CaptainCool.  See my post above, which I bet I wrote while you were writing this.  Being a dick isn't the original intent of the holiday's concept, not at all.
Look; I can give just as many examples of Christians being outright pricks to atheists to gain national airtime.  This is what you call a culture war.  People like Jerry Falwell (bless his deceased heart), who spit on the beliefs of everyone who doesn't hold to their extremely limited and self-serving interpretation of the Bible piss me off in exactly the same manner that people like P.Z. Meyers, whose unapologetic arrogance and antipathy toward anyone who holds any kind of suspicion that there might be such a thing as the supernatural, to any degree, piss me off.
So what you're saying is, if I started a thread about Blasphemy Day instead of CaptainCool, this thing wouldn't have gotten out of control?

Edit:





			
				Aleu said:
			
		

> The "reasoning" is just a very thin veil to cover it up.


For the love of fuck, what did I just say about making assumptions?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's starting to sound like you _want_ to be offended.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Cuz existing is totally feeding them



No, reacting to the fact some people are uttering meaningless words about the impotence of apparently transcendent all powerful gods is. 

If these gods _do_ exist they do not require billions of followers to be insecure on their behalf or to defend them.


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## Artillery Spam (Sep 30, 2012)

You know what. 

Just because of this thread. 

I fucking hate internet atheists now. 

No seriously this is the fucking icing on the cake, with the layers being the bullshit they spew on DA, FB and a bunch of other sites. 

I hope the inrl versions are better than the internet versions. 

Because you lot are fucking horrible. Bad. Horrendous. TERRIBLE.

Way to go CC.


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## Butters Shikkon (Sep 30, 2012)

I see the thread title...already know who made it.  

Religion is CC's white whale after all...I just wanna know who his starbuck is.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Oh shit, I just realized.  Someone put up a brick wall.  No wonder... we'll have to take this stupid thing down before we can have an actual discussion.


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> You know what.
> 
> Just because of this thread.
> 
> ...



Yes, everybody who doesn't believe in a God on the internet is responsible for what Captaincool does.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> Edit:
> For the love of fuck, what did I just say about making assumptions?  Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's starting to sound like you _want_ to be offended.


Yeah, you are wrong. So, unless it blatantly states "This is about insulting religions" then it's not about insulting religions? I find that a load of bullshit. It's not that fucking hard to connect dots.
Blasphemy itself doesn't offend me. Hell, I did it earlier. What I take most offense is among a group who are supposed to be above all this are insisting on stirring the nest. Nothing is going to get changed other than some people might end up either dead or dissolved friendships because* PEOPLE ARE FUCKING ASSHOLES.*


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## Fallowfox (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> Yeah, you are wrong. So, unless it blatantly states "This is about insulting religions" then it's not about insulting religions? I find that a load of bullshit. It's not that fucking hard to connect dots.
> Blasphemy itself doesn't offend me. Hell, I did it earlier. What I take most offense is among a group who are supposed to be above all this are insisting on stirring the nest. Nothing is going to get changed other than some people might end up either dead or dissolved friendships because* PEOPLE ARE FUCKING ASSHOLES.*



You're taking part in a stir because you're worried it's going to cause a stir?


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Sep 30, 2012)

Hinalle K. said:


> Come on Bear... Religious belief or not, no one deserves to die over the making of a silly video.


 The reaction it's gotten only proves that the religion in question deserves what it gets.
I'm a little bummed out that I missed what day it is.


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## Aleu (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> You're taking part in a stir because you're worried it's going to cause a stir?



I blasphemed my own religion because it is MINE. It's like a making fun of yourself while not making fun of others kind of thing to put it simply. There's causing a stir, then there's people getting asswhooped because some dick wanted to take it too far and THEN more religion bashing.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Aleu said:


> It's not that fucking hard to connect dots.


Especially if you already know the picture you think it should make.  Which is what I mean by making assumptions.  So then we get folks who can only see the bad in what this is trying to accomplish, and they get offended, outraged, and they create a conflict where none previously existed, and that's when people get hurt.  The road to hell, and all that.  I could make that assumption and turn you into the bad guy, right?  But all that does is create more problems, so it's probably better to believe you have good intentions, that even in speaking out against this holiday you don't wish harm to those who would celebrate it, that you're not petty and spiteful like that.  Probably this whole thing is merely a disagreement between people who put a lot of thought into the same subject and came to separate conclusions.  In other words, give those who disagree with me the benefit of the doubt until I have proof to the contrary.
I mean, it's been my experience that people are actually not assholes, that they just have a really hard time figuring out that they aren't special.  Maybe this spawns from my lack of belief in original sin.


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## Artillery Spam (Sep 30, 2012)

Fallowfox said:


> Yes, everybody who doesn't believe in a God on the internet is responsible for what Captaincool does.



No, but the shitty members of the atheist community (and there are a metric shit ton of them) are the loudest ones, which makes it _very _â€‹difficult (if not downright fucking impossible at this point) to take any of you seriously. 

Threads like these are just a small testament to what I mean. Check everywhere else on the internet. Batshit Christians are everywhere in the real world, but fucktarded atheists infest the internet like cockroaches do a house. 

Really, you all are that bad. 

Like really bad. 

I honestly can't take atheists or their non-beliefs seriously anymore. 

I'm still waiting to see a sane atheist stand up and actually give the individuals who make all atheists look bad the finger. 

Hasn't happened yet.


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## BrodyCoyote (Sep 30, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> I'm still waiting to see a sane atheist stand up and actually give the individuals who make all atheists look bad the finger.
> 
> Hasn't happened yet.


I think that's been most of the thread you're posting in presently.


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> I'm still waiting to see a sane atheist stand up and actually give the individuals who make all atheists look bad the finger.
> 
> Hasn't happened yet.


You could try reading this thread.
Or if not, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIiznLE5Xno&list=UUdGkmb5zEDXnPSmQlV43t0Q&index=23&feature=plcp
(Edited to add: skip to ~6:40)


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## Artillery Spam (Sep 30, 2012)

BrodyCoyote said:


> I think that's been most of the thread you're posting in presently.



Well there is that.


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## Jashwa (Sep 30, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> No, but the shitty members of the atheist any religion based community (and there are a metric shit ton of them) are the loudest ones, which makes it _very _â€‹difficult (if not downright fucking impossible at this point) to take any of you them seriously.


Fixed that for you, for the truth. Try to point out one religious based community (religion/lack of religion/cult/etc) that doesn't have its idiots as the loudest bunch.


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## Artillery Spam (Sep 30, 2012)

Jashwa said:


> Fixed that for you, for the truth. Try to point out one religious based community (religion/lack of religion/cult/etc) that doesn't have its idiots as the loudest bunch.



You and I both know this game is not winnable. 

Reminds me of one of this bogus prize games they have at circuses or state fairs.


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## Jashwa (Sep 30, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> You and I both know this game is not winnable.
> 
> Reminds me of one of this bogus prize games they have at circuses or state fairs.


That's the point of a rhetorical question, Artillery. 

The point I'm making is for you to stop being a hypocrite and judging all of the athiests and not taking any of them seriously just because some say bad shit that pisses you off just like you wouldn't want anyone else to stop taking you seriously because a religious extremist said something stupid that pisses them off.


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## Zuckerdachs (Sep 30, 2012)

Not to mention that a lot of us atheists just don't want to be associated with the embarrassment that is people like Captain Cool, so we keep our heads down.

That is, until people yet again try to paint us all with the same brush.


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## Term_the_Schmuck (Sep 30, 2012)

M. LeRenard said:


> This is going to sound incredibly cheeky, but you mean like someone stating on a furry forum that religious people are delusional?  I think I'm missing your point.



Point being for what frustrations I may have, I also don't feel the need to make thread after thread on the subject.  I'm not a fan of making threads to say "look how much of an idiot this person/group of people are" in order to garner the response of "Lol yeah that person/group of people are stupid."



> Oh yeah, totally.  You might notice I'm not at all defending CaptainCool.  See my post above, which I bet I wrote while you were writing this.  Being a dick isn't the original intent of the holiday's concept, not at all.



Yet this is what we get, a thread made by a person who's not concerned so much with people being able to voice their opinions in a safe environment but one where the person tries to use the day to try and rub his opinions in everyone else's face while claiming him and people like him are the only sane/intelligent people in the world.

Thisiswhywecanthavenicethings.gif



> Look; I can give just as many examples of Christians being outright pricks to atheists to gain national airtime.  This is what you call a culture war.  People like Jerry Falwell (bless his deceased heart), who spit on the beliefs of everyone who doesn't hold to their extremely limited and self-serving interpretation of the Bible piss me off in exactly the same manner that people like P.Z. Meyers, whose unapologetic arrogance and antipathy toward anyone who holds any kind of suspicion that there might be such a thing as the supernatural, to any degree, piss me off.
> So what you're saying is, if I started a thread about Blasphemy Day instead of CaptainCool, this thing wouldn't have gotten out of control?



Regardless of who started it, if their OP was made in the same vein as OP I'd take issue. I'd also still question what the point of the day is or why it deserves it's own thread here of all places given the large number of religion threads started on this forum. And most of the posts made by myself and others have primarly been made on the conduct of the atheists in those threads, but not attempting to call atheism stupid or a rediculous idea.  I'd think many religious individuals on this forum wouldn't call atheists and their lack of faith retarded, I'd like to think they could show the same curtiosy but again, lofty expectations for people on the Internet.

I realize that we can all come up with anecdotal evidence to why the other side is filled with assholes.  But of course whereas I can point out that the WBC or Falwell are jackasses, which I have done numerous times on this forum, how dare I point out an athiest's arrogance and the ridiculousness of what appears to me like an international day to feel morally and intellectually superior to a bunch of people soley because you have a different opinion on a single issue. I'm just as concerned about someone's lack of free speech as the next guy, but as Fallow brings up selfishness, it's a bit self-serving to treat the day as a middle finger to everyone who doesn't share your opinions in an attempt to offend as opposed to the thousands of people trapped in an area of the world where saying boo about religion, another person or a government means death or imprisonment. 

So yes, the concept of fighting for free speech I can agree with you on. I however don't agree with the method people here are going about it.


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## Ames (Sep 30, 2012)

"Hardcore" atheists are just as detrimental to the mental health of the general populace as biblefagging religious fanatics.

Term is right, this is why we cannot have nice things.


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## Heliophobic (Sep 30, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> Today is international blasphemy day! A day dedicated to educating people about the importance of freedom of speech and to openly criticize the concept of religion and their followers for blindly following these doctrines without having any evidence whatsoever!
> To quote Wikipedia: The day was set on September 30, to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of satirical drawings of Muhammad in one of Denmark's newspapers, resulting in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
> 
> And you guys know me. I'm loving this day a LOT. It is important to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. It is also important to tell people how dangerous religion can be, just look at how the middle east and pretty much all islamic countries are going apeshit about that one youtube video. Even here in Germany there were reports about muslims who planned attacks on embacies. It's fucking nuts!
> ...



Why can't I hold all this try-hard edginess?


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## M. LeRenard (Sep 30, 2012)

Just wanted to say, I consider my atheism to be more or less a natural extension of my more scientific and proof-based worldview.  I'm a scientist first and an atheist second, because whether or not the answer to that big mystery is God or something else isn't really my concern.  I'm more concerned with the answer we come to being the correct one, and right now, I don't buy into religious thinking because the best arguments I've heard for it are variations on, "It FEELS right to ME."  Which doesn't strike me as particularly useful, considering different people feel that different things are right.  There doesn't appear to be any way to disentangle that particular degeneracy.  So it's like you're saying that the solution to x+1=2 is -âˆž â‰¤ x â‰¤ +âˆž.  It's like, okay yeah, that's true, but let's try to narrow it down a little more than that given what we know.
Hence why I can get behind something like Blasphemy Day, at least under the banner of its mission statement, true or just a false front like Aleu thinks.  We need to keep having this discussion if we're ever going to figure things out, and you can't do that if people aren't allowed to say anything that might offend someone.


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## Traven V (Sep 30, 2012)

Don't you just love the power of belief?


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## Mayfurr (Oct 1, 2012)

Term_the_Schmuck said:


> Blasphemy day?  That's EVERYDAY for some people here.



Actually, _everybody_ has beliefs that are blasphemous to _someone_.

For example, the primary tenet of the Christian faith - that Jesus was the son of god - is technically blasphemous to Muslims (because no man should be elevated to the level of God). Similarly, the Muslim belief that Jesus was a prophet is blasphemous to Christians because that denies Jesus's divinity.


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## Jashwa (Oct 1, 2012)

Also some threads make me wish I wasn't a mod now so I could just say what I want to say and take the infraction points for it. This is one of those threads.


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## Hakar Kerarmor (Oct 1, 2012)

Artillery Spam said:


> You know what.
> 
> Just because of this thread.
> 
> ...



My heart bleeds for you.


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## M. LeRenard (Oct 1, 2012)

Jashwa said:


> Also some threads make me wish I wasn't a mod now so I could just say what I want to say and take the infraction points for it. This is one of those threads.


If it's against the religious side, then kindly don't go pouring gasoline on the fire.  I already did, although in my defense, I tend to get annoyed when the olive branch gets snatched up and then cracked in half and thrown into that very fire.


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## AshleyAshes (Oct 1, 2012)

Hey neat, CaptainCool found a day where he can try and pretend his biggotry can be used for activism.

Zealots like CaptainCool scare me just as much as the extremists that make up the minority of an religion.


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## DarrylWolf (Oct 1, 2012)

Mohammed sucks! There I said it!


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## TeenageAngst (Oct 1, 2012)

*walks into topic*

Did somebody say blasphemy?

*sees self-righteous religious drama*

Ha ha ha, oh wow. And I thought CE hit the religious topics hard. Stay classy, FAF.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 1, 2012)

Zuckerdachs said:


> Not to mention that a lot of us atheists just don't want to be associated with the embarrassment that is people like Captain Cool, so we keep our heads down.
> 
> That is, until people yet again try to paint us all with the same brush.



It always puzzles me that speaking up against something that is actively harmful is apparently a bad thing.



AshleyAshes said:


> Hey neat, CaptainCool found a day where he can try and pretend his biggotry can be used for activism.
> 
> Zealots like CaptainCool scare me just as much as the extremists that make up the minority of an religion.



I am terribly terribly sorry for criticizing something that is demonstrably harmful to thousands of people and is causing way more harm than good overall.


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Oct 1, 2012)

I will say that organized religion* was *beneficial to society, but has long been sucked dry of most of its beneficial components. The shriveled husk that remains only gets in the way.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 1, 2012)

Kit H. Ruppell said:


> I will say that organized religion* was *beneficial to society, but has long been sucked dry of most of its beneficial components. The shriveled husk that remains only gets in the way.



It did provide a rather weak moral compass at the time. But now we have better ways to know what is right and what is wrong, we simply don't need it anymore.


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## Zuckerdachs (Oct 1, 2012)

CaptainCool said:


> It always puzzles me that speaking up against something that is actively harmful is apparently a bad thing.



It's not a bad thing until you exacerbate it out of some misguided attempt to be _cool _and _edgy_, then when people understandably get defensive and retaliate, you jump up and down and point your finger as if the results of your jackassery prove something. That's the kind of nonsense behavior people are supposed to grow out of when they move beyond first year philosophy classes.

I for one am an atheist because (1) religion doesn't make sense to me on an intellectual level, and (2) the religious people I grew up around were closed-minded pricks with painfully exclusive moral compasses. I'll be damned - by whatever god you choose - if I am going to be just like them out of retaliation. You can call religious people hypocrites all you want, but you can be fairly certain you won't win anyone over to your side by being one yourself.

I am an outspoken atheist who likes to present my opinions in terms of intellectualism and social advancement. Just like any other social group, I do not care what people believe so long as they don't try to apply their beliefs to the way I run my life. That's why I don't participate in arbitrary, contrived "holidays" like this one. It's embarrassing. Atheists will not be able to gain more social acceptance if we resort to the same methods used by the very people we like to defy. 

I hate to go No True Scotsman on you here, but those methods are not what I identify with, and I really wish immaturity and loud mouths didn't go hand in hand so frequently.


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## CaptainCool (Oct 1, 2012)

Zuckerdachs said:


> It's not a bad thing until you exacerbate it out of *some misguided attempt to be cool and edgy*, then when people understandably get defensive and retaliate, you jump up and down and point your finger as if the results of your jackassery prove something. That's the kind of nonsense behavior people are supposed to grow out of when they move beyond first year philosophy classes.
> 
> I for one am an atheist because (1) religion doesn't make sense to me on an intellectual level, and (2) the religious people I grew up around were closed-minded pricks with painfully exclusive moral compasses. I'll be damned - by whatever god you choose - if I am going to be just like them out of retaliation. You can call religious people hypocrites all you want, but you can be fairly certain you won't win anyone over to your side by being one yourself.
> 
> ...



That isn't my goal at all :O I simply see religion as something incredibly dangerous and as one of THE top reasons why humans simply can't understand each other and why we can't stand together.
We are essentially atheists for the same reasons as well. Religion makes no sense (so our atheism is a logical consequence of our skepticism) and we are fed up with religious bullcrap.
I'm not even try to retaliate or something like that. I am simply voicing my opinion (and I am still doing that in a rather tame way in my opinion...) and I try to make people think about their beliefs.
And how am I being a hypocrite? As I said, I'm not really retaliating, I'm simply voicing my opinion and stating facts.

My approach to this is also pretty much the same as yours. As long as a believer doesn't force his stuff on me I'm cool. The whole reason I made this thread and the reason why this day exists is to promote reason and to make people think about their beliefs by openly criticizing it.


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## Fallowfox (Oct 1, 2012)

The day is over, internet debates raged like any other day, the sun came up in the morning.


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## Zuckerdachs (Oct 1, 2012)

You are a hypocrite because of 



CaptainCool said:


> As long as a believer doesn't force his stuff on me I'm cool.


 
You are not engaging anyone. If you re-read your own OP - and I mean really look at what you said - you are not opening a dialogue, you are simply calling believers idiots and sheep. _Nobody_ responds well to that. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.



CaptainCool said:


> The whole reason I made this thread and the reason why this day exists is to promote reason and to make people think about their beliefs by openly criticizing it.



I think you could probably count on one hand the number of people in any given square mile who will seriously sit back and think about their beliefs as a result of you calling them "blind" and "insane."

So no, your approach is absolutely nothing like mine. I talk to people about this when they want to. I don't get up in peoples' faces and go "YEAH THOSE GUYS ARE NUTS, AM I RIGHT??" People with conviction in their faiths and the capacity for meaningful introspection are in no way going to just hang their heads in shame and shuffle over to atheism because a handful of assholes on a furry forum called them names.


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## Kit H. Ruppell (Oct 1, 2012)

Zuckerdachs said:


> You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.


You catch swarms of them with bullshit.


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