U.S. Religious Landscape Survey (detailed demographics, maps etc.)

[Torie]

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Ya, piece of cake it is. That must be why California passed proposition 8.

By the way, is there anything that you don't have an opinion on, be it an issue or a poster?

[Scam of God]

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Ya, piece of cake it is. That must be why California passed proposition 8.

There was no real campaign waged against Proposition 8. Any reasonable politico would have seen it as an opportunity to resist the growing secular influence of the Churches and would have been easily able to sway the vote. But even the so-called 'liberals' of today are all cowards, either in complete thrall to the Church or unwilling to buck its influence for fear of electoral retribution.

Give it ten years. Full-on gay marriage will be permitted in at least a dozen states, I guarantee you that.

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No. And everything on which I have an opinion I am right. The rest of you are half-hearted jackasses and pussies unwilling to take a stand.

[Joe Republic]

No. And everything on which I have an opinion I am right. The rest of you are half-hearted jackasses and pussies unwilling to take a stand.

What a pleasant individual you are.

[Torie]

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It must be lonely up there on the mountain top where nobody ever makes a mistake. What do you do for a social life? 

[Scam of God]

No. And everything on which I have an opinion I am right. The rest of you are half-hearted jackasses and pussies unwilling to take a stand.

What a pleasant individual you are.

I do not propose to be 'pleasant'; I propose to be right. Which I am. Everyone else is a pathetic slave to a Book - or a dead syphilitic Jew, which is the same thing.

[Bacon King]

Lol Einzige, I'm not sure what's funnier, the silly things you say or the silly attitude you have saying it.

[Joe Republic]

Well I don't know about the rest of you "pathetic slaves", but I know for sure that behaving like an arrogant prick is by far the best way of convincing others that one's own opinion is the right one.

[Хahar 🤔]

On another note, it's funny how Muslims view themselves as liberals here and, more specifically, Pro Choice.

"Muslims here"? That's me and Rocket, and he's not a liberal.

[Keystone Phil]

On another note, it's funny how Muslims view themselves as liberals here and, more specifically, Pro Choice.

"Muslims here"? That's me and Rocket, and he's not a liberal.

I meant nationwide.

[Alcon]

Einzige, I'm wondering what religious tradition you secretly belong to that requires you to act like a haughty, knee-jerk jackass.

[The Mikado]

Einzige, I'm wondering what religious tradition you secretly belong to that requires you to act like a haughty, knee-jerk jackass.

About time!

[Keystone Phil]

Einzige, I'm wondering what religious tradition you secretly belong to that requires you to act like a haughty, knee-jerk jackass.

Finally seeing what atheists are like, Alcon?

[SPC]

No. And everything on which I have an opinion I am right. The rest of you are half-hearted jackasses and pussies unwilling to take a stand.

What a pleasant individual you are.

I do not propose to be 'pleasant'; I propose to be right. Which I am. Everyone else is a pathetic slave to a Book - or a dead syphilitic Jew, which is the same thing.

Fuck you

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Einzige drama is hilarious, but it's distracting from what had been an interesting thread.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The Einzige drama is hilarious, but it's distracting from what had been an interesting thread.

I also love how he basically proved exactly what I was saying about him to be correct.

[Alcon]

Einzige, I'm wondering what religious tradition you secretly belong to that requires you to act like a haughty, knee-jerk jackass.

Finally seeing what atheists are like, Alcon?

To take your comment seriously for a moment...

I don't have a problem with militant atheists any more than I do evangelical religious.  I get it.  If you are convinced that good is at stake and disseminating your beliefs is how to do it, you do it.  I'd much prefer that any such belief was based on empirical observation than faith.  But I also recognize that any system of belief or practical purpose is based on some underlying fundamental made by a human's mind.  Being that we're not Gods, we have to apply some 'objectivity' to our entirely fallible beliefs -- empiricism does not make a belief inherently true, nor does faith; belief in truth is based on fallible human conjecture.  I don't think that should involve calling them infallible just 'cause you believe real damn hard.  But, anyway, other than that, I get it.

And I actually "get" some of Einzige's philosophy too -- enough to be reasonably sure that his behavior is indefensible.  His beliefs are not stupid, even by our narrowly defined subjective cultural standards.  They're a bit more infused with metaphysical thought than most people here probably like.  But whatever.  The point is, it's not entirely so far removed from the underlying desires of religion, or secular humanism, or whatever.  Not enough to present a philosophical explanation of his behavior, at least.

That is: From what I can see, nothing he's said prescribes, nor defends, jackassery.  Even if you define the purpose of life as Einzige is, you have defined personal fulfillment.  As far as I can tell, he is outrageously, aggressively pissed off that other people have different definitions of personal fulfillment than he.  He is, in fact, essentially creating an arbitrary objective by which people have to lead their lives without explaining why in terms other than "it's how it is."  It seems a bit familiar to the parts of organized religion he's down on:  other people's divergent subjective preferences piss him off, even if they don't cause harm.  At least with most religious beliefs, arbitrary as they may be, the "moral objective fascism" comes from (at minimum) some sense of moral hegemony.  Here, as far as I can tell, he's just stomping his feet because other people have a different preference in existential ice cream flavor than he.  He hasn't adequately explained why it causes him outrage.  Seems to me like he would have, if he cared.

And until he explains exactly why they do, the ineffectiveness of his message distribution is totally non-point.  Vulgar, coarse, whatever; most offensively he's just aggressively hypocritical.  And that makes it boring.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Or put what Alcon said in a more simple sense, this is not the best way to get your point across or win anyone to your side:

Anti-Christian. Whatever is en vogue with the great mass of Christian scum I will oppose, and whoever opposes them is my ally. If they become economically populist, I will be as fiscally conservative as a hawk; if they stand against gay marriage, I shall stand with the gays. Christians are degenerate psychological weaklings and must be opposed on all fronts, on all issues, whatever side of the issue they come down on.

EDIT: Also, and as a corollary to the above, anti-Southern. Let the scum-suckers learn to toot the Deutschlandlied, because they'd not be singing Dixie if I had my way with it.

[LanceMcSteel]

Well it is clear that Evangelical Christians are a tumor on the life of the American people, sucking them of their precious lifeblood and leaving behind only a weak dying corpse gasping for life.

The only cure is Atheism.

[Madhur]

Republicans are much like their Muslim counterparts in that both wish to destroy America, secularism, freedom, and implant theocracies in their place.

[Alcon]

Or put what Alcon said in a more simple sense, this is not the best way to get your point across or win anyone to your side:

Anti-Christian. Whatever is en vogue with the great mass of Christian scum I will oppose, and whoever opposes them is my ally. If they become economically populist, I will be as fiscally conservative as a hawk; if they stand against gay marriage, I shall stand with the gays. Christians are degenerate psychological weaklings and must be opposed on all fronts, on all issues, whatever side of the issue they come down on.

EDIT: Also, and as a corollary to the above, anti-Southern. Let the scum-suckers learn to toot the Deutschlandlied, because they'd not be singing Dixie if I had my way with it.

In simpler terms, people express religious beliefs for one of three reasons:

I. To win converts
II. Self-affirmation
III. Catharsis

He is certainly not doing (I).  By doing either (II) or (III), he acts in a way that assumes they are more important than (I).  However, he is also expressing outrage that other people would disagree with him.  So either:

A) He views his beliefs as an objective that the world should conform to, but sees self-affirmation or catharsis as more important -- in which case it's unapologetic narcissism; or,

B) He sees his beliefs as an objective that the world should conform to, but doesn't care -- in which case it's unapologetic apathy; or,

C) He doesn't actually care, or feel philosophically obligated to behave this way, but does anyway -- in which case he's just being a jerk; or,

D) [mystery option that I'm not seeing that explains and justifies it all]

I mean, I'm hoping for a D), Einzige, but I'm about ready to place my bets by now.  Prove me wrong, man.