[Scotty]

Yes.  It didn't change from year to year.

Which is exactly what I meant.  This prayer was apparently part of the graduation tradition.  Unless he was entirely and utterly uninvested in his community and school, at which point I don't think he has a right to complain, I fail to see how he missed it.  Therefore, I'm leaning toward the "he's a dick" side.

[Ravenholme]

Yes.  It didn't change from year to year.

Which is exactly what I meant.  This prayer was apparently part of the graduation tradition.  Unless he was entirely and utterly uninvested in his community and school, at which point I don't think he has a right to complain, I fail to see how he missed it.  Therefore, I'm leaning toward the "he's a dick" side.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there were other atheists in the class who did not take pointless umbrage at something founded in tradition. Showing respect for something like that does not equate to participating - He should've bowed his head and used the moment to reflect on an education well done or something, rather than acting like (ironically) a spoiled kid.

[mjn.mixael]

Did you know what your graduation was going to be like a few months ahead of time?

  I did.

Also, I was going to go through and quote nemesis6 and pick through all of the many misunderstandings he clearly has about the Christian faith, doctrine, and what the Bible teaches... but meh. It's not worth it.

I'll just instead thank him that he (whether the study is true or not) has this notion in his mind that people who are religious obviously are uneducated enough to know better. (At least this is the impression I get from his post(s)). So my private school education + college & 16 years of being an atheist myself means nothing now that I've become a Christian. I don't know what I'm trying to say in this paragraph.. perhaps just that it's nice that Nemesis, you've made it abundantly clear the prejudice you have against me and my kind and thus, I don't need to bother spending time discussion this with you.

[Ravenholme]

Did you know what your graduation was going to be like a few months ahead of time?

  I did.

Also, I was going to go through and quote nemesis6 and pick through all of the many misunderstandings he clearly has about the Christian faith, doctrine, and what the Bible teaches... but meh. It's not worth it.

I'll just instead thank him that he (whether the study is true or not) has this notion in his mind that people who are religious obviously are uneducated enough to know better. (At least this is the impression I get from his post(s)). So my private school education + college & 16 years of being an atheist myself means nothing now that I've become a Christian. I don't know what I'm trying to say in this paragraph.. perhaps just that it's nice that Nemesis, you've made it abundantly clear the prejudice you have against me and my kind and thus, I don't need to bother spending time discussion this with you.

Rather ironic when an atheist falls into the same irrational prejudice and lack of respect for other viewpoints that they espouse hatred for in Christians. Excellent way to support their *obviously* superior intellectual stand point. If that's the way that Nemesis has been behaving (and I've yet to read back through the entirety of this thread), then he's espousing the main thing I dislike in both theists and atheists, which is the strong element of hypocrisy that surfaces in their arguments with one another. I find it particularly repugnant in Atheists, however, as it's often one of their key reasons for disliking theism (especially organised theism), yet they happily go on to commit the same 'crime'. Strikes me as HIGHLY ironic.

[castor]

I don't get you people who are saying he was only doing it for attention. Attention to what? A broken system that defies the constitution? Himself?

Everyone of that age should know it isn't a perfect world, being right doesn't mean you don't need to pay. This guy pays hugely for very little, though he probably knows the money could be spent better ways to push the same cause.

[Sushi]

It's also kind of deliciously ironic that the very same sort of crazy militant atheism that Nemesis preaches (in the literal sense of that term) is one of the main contributing factors to the reaction that the teen in this story received from his town.

I would hardly consider upholding the law to be "militant atheism", would you rather he just step back and allow others to trample his rights?

Which law? The First Amendment, which guarantees that government not sponsor any religion? Or the First Amendment, which guarantees the free exercise of religion?

Just trying to point out that there is a lot of gray area to work with in here.

[Nemesis6]

Did you know what your graduation was going to be like a few months ahead of time?

  I did.

Also, I was going to go through and quote nemesis6 and pick through all of the many misunderstandings he clearly has about the Christian faith, doctrine, and what the Bible teaches... but meh. It's not worth it.

I'll just instead thank him that he (whether the study is true or not) has this notion in his mind that people who are religious obviously are uneducated enough to know better. (At least this is the impression I get from his post(s)). So my private school education + college & 16 years of being an atheist myself means nothing now that I've become a Christian. I don't know what I'm trying to say in this paragraph.. perhaps just that it's nice that Nemesis, you've made it abundantly clear the prejudice you have against me and my kind and thus, I don't need to bother spending time discussion this with you.

For what it's worth, I have nothing against you personally. I might come off sounding like that, but I don't. I'm a crazy militant atheist preacher, obviously, but I like to think that I'm still capable of differentiating between the belief and the person, as much as I like to generalize Christianity.

[Mongoose]

It's also kind of deliciously ironic that the very same sort of crazy militant atheism that Nemesis preaches (in the literal sense of that term) is one of the main contributing factors to the reaction that the teen in this story received from his town.

I would hardly consider upholding the law to be "militant atheism", would you rather he just step back and allow others to trample his rights?

Um...where did I say that I considered the kid to be part of the "militant" concept?  I was talking about Nemesis.

[Nuclear1]

I was quoting Mongoose.

This is what happens when I try to post at 5am.

[Luis Dias]

You like to brow-beat, don't you?

The great need of our society is for thinkers who can understand and disentangle complex systems.

Those who would simplify, obfuscate, and derail this process with heuristic pitfalls and belief-driven fallacies are the biggest obstacle to human progress. Until we can start rewiring our neural structures there's nothing to do but try to keep them down and keep science and empirical thought moving forward.

Bull****. you've done nothing but troll the entire thread with your shenaniganistic idea that militant atheists are religious pricks that shouldn't be listened to, instead of actually contributing to the thread.

[Luis Dias]

Likewise [the Bible] mocks disbelievers, encourages morally bankrupt concepts like Jesus forgiving your sins(I'll explain if need will really be).

Please do explain what is morally bankrupt about Jesus forgiving one's sins.

It's a CS Lewis idea. It basically boils down to the idea that it is completely abhorrent for a third person to forgive you for the troubles you caused to a second one. Unless you think that this third person is the only one *really* offended by your actions against anyone else. It follows that if you really believe that, then you are being completely solipsistic, and think that the universe is just about you and your god.

[Luis Dias]

a good scientist and rationalist would look at that paragraph you typed and come to a conclusion. You just feed it back into your faith.

There is probably some of that, but he's not really saying something amazing, if you really doubt that the higher up the ladder of society, the less religiosity you will find, then you are not paying attention.

This thread's really brought out the religious fundamentalists on HLP, and they don't even have the honesty to run out their own colors. They're here to **** up secular humanism instead.

Not only I don't understand how am I ****ing up secular humanism by defending someone who was actually trying to defend secularism from your shenanigans, I am also doubtful if the proper response to the lining up of your abuses is to report you or not. Because clearly you don't respect people that differ from your opinions.

[Snail]

triple post oh yeah GET DOWN

[Luis Dias]

And I was thinking about creating a thread about solely the things that I *like* and I think are to be esteemed in Christianity, but you just don't let me behave!!

[NGTM-1R]

Not only I don't understand how am I ****ing up secular humanism by defending someone who was actually trying to defend secularism from your shenanigans,

You're not defending secularism, you're defending someone who has rejected the first principles of secularism, i.e. considered research and reason. Nemesis has amply demonstrated his inability to fathom even basic nuances of Christian doctrine like faith vs. works, and in a secular humanistic tradition therefore has neither responsibility nor right to participate in this discussion. He is literally white noise.

And you would defend him for injecting nothing of value!

[Nuclear1]

Bull****. you've done nothing but troll the entire thread with your shenaniganistic idea that militant atheists are religious pricks that shouldn't be listened to, instead of actually contributing to the thread.

You realize you're totally making Battuta's point right?

[Luis Dias]

You're not defending secularism, you're defending someone who has rejected the first principles of secularism, i.e. considered research and reason.

And you completely misunderstood me and added another insult to a fellow commentator. Figures...

You realize you're totally making Battuta's point right?

Yeah, I know I shouldn't feed him.

[mjn.mixael]

Yeah, I know I shouldn't feed him.

 

I think what we are saying is that we shouldn't feed you...

[NGTM-1R]

And you completely misunderstood me and added another insult to a fellow commentator. Figures...

Then who are you defending? Yourself? You claim you're defending someone else after all. There's no one else here for you to defend who's a militant atheist.

Your defense is uninspiring and unconvincing, as after all, to defend something you'd have to actually demonstrate something about it. You don't do that. You don't demonstrate anything on the offense either, though, so it's par for the course.

I don't think you know what you're fighting for. I don't think you know what you're fighting against. Nothing you've done has proved me wrong. Can you or will you make such an effort, or are you also white noise?

[General Battuta]

Not only I don't understand how am I ****ing up secular humanism by defending someone who was actually trying to defend secularism from your shenanigans

Whose shenanigans?

People who want to prevent these conflicts instead of perpetuating them? Those are some pretty benign shenanigans.