"Mom pregnant with 18th child" (put a cork in it bitch)

[Ksandra]

Hell, I actually think there's a thread on /r/atheism about whether or not (and how to) come out as an atheist to your family. There's a very real fear of religious persecution.

so one thread about religious zealotry justifies a fuckton of threads on religious bashing? It stands out to you because you're an atheist. The amount of bashing people like myself get on the forums over being religious is insane.

[Tyche]

so one thread about religious zealotry justifies a fuckton of threads on religious bashing? It stands out to you because you're an atheist. The amount of bashing people like myself get on the forums over being religious is insane.

That's sort of the point I'm making. You catch shit on the internet where atheism is more prominent and people are less afraid to speak their mind because of anonymity. Most atheists I know aren't outspoken in real life, which was my original point. We catch shit in real life. Would you like to trade places?

[Ksandra]

and as I said, it happens in real life to us too.

[Tyche]

Maybe it's dependent on who your peers are and where you live. I still have a very difficult time believing that you're persecuted a tenth as much as your atheist friends, but maybe the bible belt has me tainted.

[Ksandra]

Maybe it's dependent on who your peers are and where you live. I still have a very difficult time believing that you're persecuted a tenth as much as your atheist friends, but maybe the bible belt has me tainted.

I actually don't have as many atheist friends as I used to (not on purpose or anything, it seems asians are predominately religious an that tends to be what most of my friends are that I met in cali), BUT yes I did get made fun of a lot from some that I had back in the day in CT. Including a boyfriend who teased me about it constantly and would bash me by saying things like "I just don't get it, you seem level headed so I don't understand how you can believe that stupid stuff."

Keep in mind to, I don't talk about my religious beliefs ever irl. I definitely believe in the idea that "you believe yours, I'll believe mine and keep it at that". Only time I ever talk about it is if others bring it up with like questions n' stuff. Oh and ya, I will say (and do) I'll pray for people if they've come down on hard times, but I can't imagine that's THAT insulting.


edit: btw my point wasn't so much that one is persecuted more than another. Just that I think it's stupid to justify EITHER persecution.

[Priran]

Black presidents: 1
Atheist presidents: 0

I think atheism is still more favorably looked upon than being Muslim but that isn't saying much.

[Kerberoz]

Poor, poor widdle persecuted majority. How dare anyone point out your lack of reason or infringe on your Nyarlathotep-given right to indoctrinate your children and proudly work toward the Rapture?!

(also kinda lol at the devil stuff, because it seems most Christians think Paradise Lost is scripture)

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Black presidents: 1
Openly atheist presidents: 0

[Tyche]

I believe we've probably had an atheist president, just not an openly atheist president. there's been far to many intelligent and reasonable individuals to not have at least one, or I'd like to think so.

[Ksandra]

Poor, poor widdle persecuted majority.

again, don't think it's right to persecute anyone, majority or not.

How dare anyone point out your lack of reason or infringe on your Nyarlathotep-given right to indoctrinate your children and proudly work toward the Rapture?!

No one should infringe on either belief, atheist or religious. Telling atheists they have to pray would be as fucking stupid as telling a religious person they have to start calling them "holiday trees" (neither a law, thankfully).

Of course people are welcome to argue about it, but it gets a little old on the forums. Too many people here are happy this woman miscarried her child only because she's religious.

So it's nice to know if I ever have that misfortune you guys would be cheering because my future children would go to church so therefore shouldn't be born.

[Tyche]

I don't think you should have to call them holiday trees but don't make it 8 hours of fucking news that a state house has decided to do so. Flying in the face of Christianity =\= flying in the face of freedom of religion.

I think most people are upset the lady is using religion to justify her wrecklesness more than just the religion itself.

[Ksandra]

I don't think you should have to call them holiday trees but don't make it 8 hours of fucking news that a state house has decided to do so. Flying in the face of Christianity =\= flying in the face of freedom of religion.

What's not important to you may still be something important to others, and that doesn't make it wrong.

I think most people are upset the lady is using religion to justify her wrecklesness more than just the religion itself.

As someone stated, it doesn't sound like she's mad trying to have 30 kids or something, just that they don't believe in contraception, which is not exactly an uncommon belief (fwiw even though I'm catholic I totally agree and have used contraceptions). If they don't feel comfortable using it, then I don't think they should be forced to as long as they can provide for their kids which they do.

[Priran]

Assuming that a rational, reasonable person is atheist is just as prejudiced as assuming atheists are bad people. I'd like to assume Obama is atheist but he's probably just as religious as GW (but, as noted, more rational). The bottom line is that atheism really is a very small minority. Ksandra just seems to know a lot of people who believe in a god but not in worship.

[BaneTheBrawler]

You guys seriously have no idea how precisely you're mimicking the religious nuts right now. It's fascinating. None of us are talking about irl, none of us are saying religious people are persecuted more than atheists, none of us are suggesting it isn't difficult to be an atheist in a religious community. We're saying that acting like your beliefs make you a superior human being is annoying no matter what your beliefs happen to be.

And yet you react as if we have assaulted the very foundation of your beliefs, say we can't handle criticism, and tell us that our complaints are trivial. Sound familiar? It should. Because pepper spray is a food product, essentially.

edit: Also, bunch of people posted faster than me, so if my post doesn't make sense if it's directed at you, that's because it wasn't. Or you're dumb. Probably it wasn't, though. BGers are generally smarter than the average bear.

[Ksandra]

Assuming that a rational, reasonable person is atheist is just as prejudiced as assuming atheists are bad people. I'd like to assume Obama is atheist but he's probably just as religious as GW (but, as noted, more rational). The bottom line is that atheism really is a very small minority. Ksandra just seems to know a lot of people who believe in a god but not in worship.

You're on the money as to my point. I'm not trying to push "oh woe is me a poor christian" or anything. I'm well aware that religious people are a huge majority compared to atheists. I don't want people thinking that.

More just that I don't like persecution of any type, and I don't feel it makes it ok to do so just because one is a majority.

You are right however, I guess since I never lived in the bible belt I didn't have to deal with it as others did, but you'll find there are a fuckton of religious people out there who generally keep their mouths shut, or don't push their agendas at least. You'd be surprised as to the amount of "rational" co-workers you may have that happen to also be religious and just don't mention it.

I think the bad stand out more so people don't realize for ever religious nut out there there's hundreds of the quiet kind.

[Ashmada]

I must've missed the posts that said all christians were idiots. Not being sarcastic, I skimmed a bit, so it's very possible I missed the cause of the outrage/leaky vag of the last 2-3 pages.

Oh, and:


Kerb: redde caesari quae sunt caesaris: Nyarlothotep is no creator of life on earth.
It was the elder ones/starfishheads.

[greenhills]

“I wasn’t expecting that,” the 20-year-old said. “But it’s been nine months [since the birth of the last baby], so yeah.”

i know this was probably pointed out already, but it made me chuckle.
and seriously, they are fighting the good fight to make sure the white man doesn't get bred out! good for them!

ps i didnt read the thread once i saw the last couple posts were religion stuff.

[Bethany]

Forgive me if I ramble, I'm tired and had a glass of wine. I love BG. I've had an account here for years. I know that after a long day I can unwind here for a good laugh or smile. I can catch up on some current topics. Even jump into a thread about a woman popping out children like she's single vaginally responsible for saving humanity from extinction.

Growing up in the southern midwest I learned very quickly that if you question the religious status quo you get labeled as a trouble maker. Where I live, it's mostly good white republican Christians as far as the eye can see. In these parts, If you don't fit those three requirements then you are a troubled lost soul.

In everyday life as an atheist I very rarely if ever comment in public. As Tyche said, we pretty much keep to ourselves. Nor do I ever really talk about it to some of my family and friends because it inevitably leads to some sort of soul saving intervention. I grew up, moved away to a big city for many years and married someone who wasn't white. I later moved home and now I get to sit by and listen to the things that make me cringe and it's all I can do to bite my tongue sometimes.

I honestly could care less what religion people want to practice. You want to worship God? Go right ahead. You want to worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Knock yourself out. There are some things though that you can't remain silent on. Not in person, and not on the internet. The Duggars are one of them.

The issues I take with the Duggars are several. The biggest of them mainly being that they knowingly jeopardize not only the mother's life but the life of her unborn children to further their cause. I believe it started out purely religious in nature, but ever increasingly it's also been for the financial gain from their lucrative television and media appearances.

Their children are born into what is basically religious indentured servitude. They are deprived of free thought and while it's true they are clothed and fed and "loved", they are growing up to think their way of life is the only way to live, which it's obviously not. The children are being deprived of the chance to explore what's out there and decide for themselves if this is the life they want to continue to be a part of and support. "Mommy, why are there no dinosaurs?" Well Jess err, Joesi, err number 14.. "They ignored Gods message and woke up late and missed Noah's Arc then drowned! So let this be a lesson for you to get up early and always obey god or you too may drown."

The parents and their continued denial of sound medical advice goes to show they don't have the best interest of their children at heart. The parents even have trouble remembering their children's names at times. There is no way those children are getting enough one on one time with their parents. When they do, it's in passing or being told to take their issue to their assigned sibling so it can be dealt with by them up through their ladder of discipline.

In the end some of you are going to cry foul and that there should be no religious bashing for this poor woman who had a miscarriage. I don't consider this as religious bashing. I do however consider it bringing focus on what can be argued as child abuse and endangerment under the veil of religion. She deserves the jokes and lack of sympathy.

Most Christians out there do enough bashing on their own. You can retort with those are mostly extremists who are doing the bashing. I beg to differ though. The President of the United States omits thanking God at the end of his youtube Thanksgiving address. Fox News immediately launches an all out assault on him. They rally the tea baggers and their mainstream Christian viewers with claims that it proves he is against God and that they should be outraged and afraid that he really must be muslim.

TLC launches a new reality show to help provide americans with the opportunity to gain tolerance towards muslim culture. All American Muslims is spotted by the Florida Family Christian Councils to be putting Muslims in too positive a light. So they start a campaign attacking the show for trying to convert America and lying about the true Muslim. They feel that true Muslims don't have cookouts and drink beer and go dancing. They must all stone their women for driving a car. They must all hijack planes in a jihad rage and crash them into buildings. The Christian Family Council even goes so far as to get Lowes Home Improvement to pull it's ads from the show rather than deal with their attacks and boycotts.

Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Perry launches a new commercial. In the commercial, Rick points out that apparently Children can't have Christmas or say their prayers because Obama is attacking our Christian religion and putting gays in the military. If we elect him, he will end this war on religion and restore our country to it's former glory.

I know these views are not shared by every religious person on BG. From my point of view, the majority of religious america seems to agree with them though. If it's true and they are agreeing then I'm sorry but these are very hypochristian things to begin with. Instead of preaching tolerance understanding and forgiveness, they seem hell bent on spreading hate, fear and intolerance. Maybe it's just an american thing though.

"The irony of religion is that because of its power to divert man to destructive courses, the world could actually come to an end." Some how, some way, humanity is going to fuck itself over and I can almost bet some religious whacko is going to be at the root of it all.

Oh and Ksandra, I don't think anyone here is going to cheer you having a miscarriage because your catholic. I think it's a safe bet you are not going yo be using your womb as Jim Bob Duggar puts it: "a portal from God to bring forth worthy children unto our world".

And lastly Tyche, there are a lot of people who think Theodore Roosevelt was a closet atheist. He shit kittens when they wanted to print "In God We Trust" on the U.S. currency. He believed that it had no business what so ever being used by the government and that we should stick to the original founding fathers motto of "E pluribus unim" (Out of many, one). It's rumored he said at the time: "Federal endorsement of a deity or religion violates the United States Constitution." I for one agree with him.

[Aksannyi]

None of us are talking about irl, none of us are saying religious people are persecuted more than atheists, none of us are suggesting it isn't difficult to be an atheist in a religious community. We're saying that acting like your beliefs make you a superior human being is annoying no matter what your beliefs happen to be.

And yet you react as if we have assaulted the very foundation of your beliefs, say we can't handle criticism, and tell us that our complaints are trivial. Sound familiar? It should. Because pepper spray is a food product, essentially.

^

[Lucienne]

Of course people are welcome to argue about it, but it gets a little old on the forums. Too many people here are happy this woman miscarried her child only because she's religious.

So it's nice to know if I ever have that misfortune you guys would be cheering because my future children would go to church so therefore shouldn't be born.

Don't be dumb. First of, her miscarriage is not a positive enough event to evoke any emotions.

The reason why people do not feel compassion with her is not based on religion. She could be a rabbit-like breeding ignorant atheist and it would be just as bad. She miscarried because she did not follow the recommendations of her doctors. The reasons for it are irrelevant. If you're told the oven's hot and you consciously stick your hand in there, blame yourself for getting burned. It doesn't make you a terrible person, but it sure makes you an idiot. I have no pity for idiots, religious or not.

Her behavior is irresponsible on several levels. On personal level, she jeopardizes her own health and life and the health and life of her unborn child, which directly effects her 19 other children. Seen from a bigger perspective, she's selfishly contributing to overpopulating the planet. It doesn't matter if she does it for a sake of religion or not.

[Lordender]

I don't care what or how you want to justify 18 kids, that is fucking retarded, health issues and risks aside. How the hell do you provide for 18 kids in this economy anyway? Doesn't sound like a nice way to live even if you do it as cheaply as possible.