On 7/22/2010 11:23 AM, Warp wrote:
> Patrick Elliott<sel### [at] npgcablecom>  wrote:
>> The funny thing on that is, the average "believer" I know has maybe read
>> 20% of the Bible, almost **nothing** on the history tied to the time
>> periods described in it (with possible exception of texts designed to
>> ignore things that don't fit in with the "official" dogma), where as
>> most atheists have read more than half of it, or the entire thing, more
>> than once, and at least 1-2 books on the history of some of the periods,
>> *and* more than a few books on other religions. The other thing is, like
>> 95% of atheists used to be believers, probably 20% of them where
>> Evangelical, before concluding it was all gibberish, and another 2% or
>> so where ***actually priests*** at one point in time.
>
>    I'm wondering if you are talking about Americans there.
>
Bingo.

>    Here the majority of people are atheists, and from them, the vast majority
> have always been. And only a very, very small percentage have ever even
> opened the Bible. (Yes, while in the US people are by default christians,
> atheism being the rare exception, here people are by default secular,
> religion being the exception. It might be hard for an American to fathom,
> but it is really a bit surprising if someone claims being a believer, as
> the assumed status quo is being secular. I suppose some American atheists
> could call this a paradise of sorts.)
>
Yes, well.. Doesn't stop Europeans and others from getting the same 
class of wackos, often US funded, trying to push the same BS too. 
Scarily, it seems to work in some places, to a degree. But, no. Probably 
most Americans are fed up with it, and just as, generally, secular as 
Europeans. What we have is a whole mass of false national pride, a near 
total refusal to deal with anything that involves religion, an a larger 
than acceptable percentage of people who ignore the fact that 99% of the 
world, think they are nuts, in favor of crying "persecution", every time 
someone tells them they can't demand people do something, in the name of 
God, and have everyone cry, "Hallelujah!"

To these people, merely having a slightly different opinion about 
Christianity is blasphemy and grounds for possible deportation (and they 
have babbled so, once or twice, to Faux News), never mind actually doing 
something serious, like telling them that the Bible belongs in, maybe, a 
history course, or literature, not science, math, or even their 
distorted and badly warped, revisionist, version of civics.

BTW. Good humor at the latest "Fred Phelp" protest. He had 4 people, the 
Comic Con people have like 30, ranging from a guy with a blank sign, to 
one saying, "Is this thing on", to a guy in a Bender costume, holding a, 
"Kill all humans", sign, and even a shout of, "What do we want? Gay Sex! 
When do we want it? Now!". Would love to see some of the, "Making fun of 
these people is hurting the cause!", types explain why this isn't a 
proper ration to hate mongering.

If everyone was the confused, semi-nice, cherry pick for the cause of 
spreading a peace the Bible sort of only has in the later bit, (as long 
as you ignore the, "I am going to show up and kill you all anyway, even 
if you try to be nice to each other.", bits in the NT...), types, no one 
would care, for the most part, including atheist. Well, no more so than 
I care that some people hate Star Wars, or Star Trek, badly enough that 
both sides would throw things at me, if I showed up at a convention, in 
the wrong costume. lol Otherwise, who gives a frack?

-- 
void main () {

     if version = "Vista" {
       call slow_by_half();
       call DRM_everything();
     }
     call functional_code();
   }
   else
     call crash_windows();
}

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