I am dying and ****** hate it

[Nick Sabalausky]

"John Reimer" <terminal.node at gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:28b70f8ce4828cb164ea7d841c0 at news.digitalmars.com...
> Hello Nick,
>
>> "John Reimer" <terminal.node at gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:28b70f8ce3c28cb162db563ba40 at news.digitalmars.com...
>>
>>> Hello BCS,
>>>
>>>> Reply to Christopher,
>>>>
>>>>> I sympathize with your dislike of proselytizing. If someone wants
>>>>> to convert, they probably know where to get more information
>>>>> on how to do so.
>>>> I agree that trying to *force* religion on anyone is wrong. However,
>>>> inviting someone to explore it (and that's all I saw) is not.
>>>>
>>> Perhaps the OP is getting a real kick out of this discussion already.
>>> ;-)
>>>
>>> Here's my "little" analysis of the situation.  It's full of
>>> speculation and philosophizing and no proselytizing! ;)  Coming from
>>> me, most of you know what to expect, so take it or leave it.  I tried
>>> to be as circumspect as possible. :)
>>>
>>> The OP was doing one of three things:
>>>
>>> (1) was drunk and posted to the newsgroup in an unhappy state (Not a
>>> joke!
>>> This could happen)
>>> (2) was an alias hijacker hoping to incite debate for "no good
>>> reason" but
>>> to watch some fireworks
>>> (3) was trully seeking help
>> I thought the same things. But I'm a bit...weird...and also had a
>> fourth: (4) was in the middle of a failing stand-up comedy routine.
>> (hey, it could happen! ok, maybe not...)
>>
>
>
> Yeah, I guess there's always a few more options in there, eh? :)
>
>
>> Also, I know I probably shouldn't, but I'm going to have to take the
>> reference to methods of religious conversion as an opportunity to
>> point out the way that I..."found Jesus":
>> http://www.normalbobsmith.com/findjesus/  (I don't think it would be
>> offensive to anyone religious or otherwise, it seems good-natured
>> enough. Apologies if you are offended.) After all, it's not like I'll
>> ever find a more relevant opportunity to link to that on a programming
>> language newsgroup.
>>
>
>
> That link unfortunately demonstrates (perhaps accurately) how 
> (non)seriously the modern American Christian community is taken, 
> especially in light of modern television evangelism and the prosperity 
> groups where pastors compete for the largest congregations.  It's become 
> insipid, cheep, weak, and hypocritical. While I'm sorry to see it 
> represented this way and believe the truth behind it is much more real 
> than is demonstrated in many modern churches today, I do understand why it 
> would be lampooned this way.
>

Many of the people who disagree with christianity (or western religion in 
general) don't consider such groups to actually be part of those religions 
in the first place. As such, the exploitative groups that pretend to be part 
of a particular religion have often become a bit of a straw man in the 
counter-arguments against those who argue against religion. (No offense 
intended).

But that said, I'm not going claim that there are or aren't other good 
counter-arguments against those who argue against religion, or overtly state 
which side I'm on, because I've engaged in such discussions before (both on- 
and off-line) and the end result is always somewhere between nobody 
convincing anyone of anything and everyone's feathers getting ruffled.

As for the specific link, it's really just a play on words, I'm not sure I'd 
read quite so much into it. Heck, my mother comes from an irish-catholic 
background, and even she found it more funny than anything. *shrug*.

>
>> Sorry I don't have anything more constructive (or at all constructive)
>> to add to this conversation... :(
>>
>
>
> I guess I'll survive. :)
>
> -JJR
>
>