nigel99

Accurate summary

I’ve never been in the military, but I have experienced shooting with adrenaline/stress while hunting and seen how difficult it is to hit the target. Its actually very lucky that there were not more injuries or fatalities with reports of multiple people drawing weapons. Shit even the police miss often enough

I realise my comment was in poor taste, but I it never ceases to amaze me the hypocrisy that you are worshiping ‘almighty god’ and yet need an armed security team, because god is too impotent to protect his flock. Do people never stop to question? I genuinely feel sorry for the victims.

Agreed

I disagree. There are societies with higher gun ownership than the USA. As someone whose travelled a fair bit, USA television is far more violent than any of the other countries I’ve visited. Americans glorify violence in a manner that many others do not. From the excessive violence on TV, the preferential treatment at airports to military personnel I think it runs deep in the American psych. By the age of 14 the average American child has apparently seen in excess of 11000 murders on tv. It is NOT guns. I grew up in Africa and a very large hunting culture. You were taught that you killed to eat, guns were dangerous and you NEVER pointed a gun at another human being. I suspect a fairly large part of rural USA has similar values. I’ve never looked at the stats, but I would guess most gun crime happens in urban rather than country areas, even if you do it per capita or whatever measure levels it out. If course Bubba and his moonshine contributes to accidental gun accidents, but that’s pretty universal the world over

Recent debates have got me thinking and reflecting on my world views. There are a number of positive aspects of organised religion that I think as a whole we are worse off as it declines in western society. In general terms religion gives people a sense of belonging and community, and with an increasingly fragmented society it leaves vulnerable people with less support. Secondly to the best of my knowledge most religions encourage people to ‘give back’ to the community and not be so inward looking. The world is an increasingly selfish place. There are many people who draw comfort from their beliefs and it helps them to make sense of what can be a harsh and cruel world. I’m sure there are other positive aspects, but those are my top three

So did God not like the two people who were killed, was God asleep and not watching his flock, or did God send the gunman to kill them? The preacher should be sacked as obviously prayer doesn’t work.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/a-neuroscientist-explains-why-christian-evangelicals-are-wired-to-believe-donald-trumps-gaslighting-lies/ Interesting read

Dude, Peace out I’ll leave you with a quote from my Aunt a few months ago when I was told i was going to burn in hell for not having Jesus in my life “these righteous people drive me nuts....come to hell with me I am sure it will be more fun than sitting with those do-gooders!!”

Ah yes, the thread where all the religious guys were having a circle jerk over videos of people getting killed. In that context absolutely I attribute religious beliefs to people’s celebrations of death of the ‘infidel’ and believe the world is a better place without those belief systems. I was brought up in a very religious household and that proverb was one that was drummed into us. Don’t say mean things or nasty things and then try and get out of it with It was only joking’. It pretty well sums up the exchange between you and Jakee. edited to add: how ironic that a thread started to celebrate the world and nature is turned into a pissing about religion and who kills more etc. kind of reinforces my belief about religious views

Can you point to the thread of where I said that? I don’t get results on the search function and I’m sure that ‘if’ I said it it would have been in context. I get the feeling not long ago you threw out that another poster expressed that sentiment. By the way with regards to your joking the bible has a quite apt proverb Prov 26:18 As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows and death, 19 so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor and saith, “Am I not in jest?”

Honestly you’ve missed the point entirely. I don’t care about the ancient gods, and actually as for Christmas we chose to celebrate it along the lines of the original ‘intent’, so I’m not sure where you get that we don’t celebrate some pagan traditions at Christmas, what we didn’t do was Santa or Jesus. As someone pointed out it is a great time of year to reconnect with family and friends, that goes back a very long way

Your reaction is a mixture of sad and funny. I doubt you have the first idea where many of your ‘Christian’ traditions were taken from. Secondly it doesn’t take much looking to see the damage that happens in the festive season, due to distorted beliefs. Parents who believe they have to spend enormous amounts of money on gifts they can’t afford is common. People who drink to excess at this time of year (my nephew was killed drunk driving about 4 years ago on Christmas Eve, his children no longer have a father). There is a lot of negative in modern society that can be directly attributed to expectations or beliefs of what is expected at this time of year. As a total aside, your anecdote shows just how materialistically you view the world. As a young teenager my parents were Christian missionaries and as a result we were quite poor at times. One of my favourite Christmas presents of all time was a tin of condensed milk. It stands out from all others not because of its value on monetary terms. My partner and I enjoy learning about the universe, it’s a shared interest. And it is interesting to see how her youngest child (3) is joining in. Mommy the moon is up in the day time etc. She helps watering mommy’s special plants and seeing flowers grow and die. She’s learning about life. So to answer your one allegation, yes I’m bashing those people who get into debt, increase domestic violence, drive drunk or on drugs all in the name of Christmas. You’re welcome to defend them if you want. I’m also calling out the hypocrisy of lying to children (Santa is real), not that I’m going to stop anyone it’s their free will and choice. As for Christians, they adopted pagan traditions over the centuries to celebrate key milestones in their religious calendar, I don’t have a problem with that at all. I just recognise where it comes from.

Growing up my step dad (avid Christian fundamentalist) constantly got into trouble with the church because he wanted the ‘pagan’ symbols removed - like the tree. I am serious though, how can parents in still values when Santa is real until ‘you’re old enough to know I’ve been lying to you?’ I’m much happier with how cool is this it’s the longest/shortest day of the year !

It’s ok, I’m not offended by the post. And Jesus especially White Jesus is most certainly a mythical creature. He was a dirty rotten refugee of colour!

Absolutely understand that pagans aren’t atheists! I would not identify as pagan, just rather ‘borrowing’ or stealing their traditions in the same way the Christians have

As athiests and being interested in the universe etc, my partner and I decided we are no longer celebrating Christmas, but rather returning to older pagan based celebrations and dates. Its been fun and opened our eyes to a few things. We are no longer lying to children about mythical beings, no focus on material goods (toys and presents etc) and teaching them about how the universe works

Stealth bomber - > B2 -> B1 -> Charlie -> Rat in Hat

I am curious to see how things go for Trump. My understanding is that historically a large part of his base were evangelicals, and today’s news has their main magazine (Christianity today) saying he should be removed. Personal experience of evangelicals in my family is that the pastor is ‘god’ and they will ignore the law, morality and ethics to follow the pastors bidding - we have a couple of resident posters here who follow those same behaviours

It’s pretty sad to be honest. I used to think that you were right wing, but relatively open minded. It’s becoming more and more apparent that you aren’t. Or you are becoming more ‘Trumpian’ and being won over by the propaganda machine. The President should be a person of moral character, dependable and of outstanding repute. He/She is THE face of a country and represents that countries values. Trump is a sad indictment of American values. Should he be re-elected America will lose all credibility as a nation to be respected.

What’s Chinese cooking got to do with it? Although I am sure some of their sauce recipes go back many generations

I disagree. He is admitting that there were/are procedural flaws that he was not aware of at the time. Yes Trump and his ilk, like the sound bite of ‘I was wrong’. Most large organisations have procedural weaknesses and flaws and yes the leadership takes ultimate responsibility for them. By that measure Trumps dysfunctional White House is ‘his’ problem and he should take responsibility for it. So by your measure on Comey Trump should resign

Are you still globe trotting?

Exactly. I just saw the feature as a shortcut to saying ‘good post’. Less clutter on the threads. I’ve ‘liked’ posts that I totally disagreed with the outlook, but have thought they represented a considered opinion. Kind of like nodding your head or acknowledging someone in real life

What a stupid premise. They are so good they haven’t been caught, but you and half of America ‘knows’? I might as well claim you’re a bigger serial killer than Ted Bundy, but you’re better at not being caught, and I’ll leave it to you to prove to us that you’re not. Just give the whole Obama, Dems etc thing a break. Donald Trump is a piece of shit that makes the USA look like dumbfukingstan. Hate the dems, love the republicans but at least stay out of fairytale land.