[Prosthetic Conscience]

Kapanda, neither of your examples were discussions between theists. The first is a thread started by someone identifying as non-religious, and the 2nd was a news item posted without comment, with the very first reply again coming from someone non-religious.

But that's OK, I don't object to theists disrupting discussions between atheists with boring and pointless positivity. Or even negativity, in the case of some theists who waded in with some misogyny on the latter.

[Kapanda]

It was a theistic(?) topic where theists were involved, and the discussion was derailed by boorish and pointless negativity by atheists. It fits your search criteria.

Just because you're okay with destructive dialogue doesn't mean everybody else (or even yourself, for that matter) should be.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

So you're saying that atheists should never say anything anti-religious in this forum, just in case a theist decides to join a thread at a later date?

Screw that. The rules clearly allow us to participate. They say nothing like "stay respectful of religion at all times, in case a theist wants to join the discussion".

[Kapanda]

I don't know how you got that from my post.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

Because you say "theists were involved" when the initial posts in the threads were from non-theists. So you are saying that any future involvement of theists in a thread should stop atheists from posting something the as-yet-invisible theists might regard as disrupting their future conversation.

[Kapanda]

Honestly, my post doesn't exist in a vacuum. Take what I said and put it in the context of this thread. I am not interested in outsmarting you. I was simply clarifying for you a point that was made earlier, of which you weren't aware of supportive examples.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

I don't think those are supportive examples, because neither should be characterised as a 'discussion between theists'. Right from the start, atheists were involved. They didn't disrupt anything.

[Stormsmith]

Kapanda, dear,

There's an easy way to take control. Don't respond to guys like this, just ignore them. He'll grow bored and leave.

[Prosthetic Conscience]

Kapanda, dear,

There's an easy way to take control. Don't respond to guys like this, just ignore them. He'll grow bored and leave.

Why am I a 'guy like this'? Why Should Kapanda 'take control'? I've been on PoFo longer than either of you. You seem to be trying to drive off members who don't agree with you.

Kapanda made a direct reply to me. I think its argument was incorrect, so I'd have been happy for him to have never bothered making it, but I'm not going to ignore someone talking to me.

I now notice you are the person who started the insults in this thread by saying atheists posting here are 'trolling'. There's no way I'm going be driven off by someone making false accusations and trying to subvert the purpose of this forum. Deal with it.

[Ozzie]

Great topic, but sorry, we're here to stay!

If you can't handle an opinion that contradicts your own beliefs, you shouldn't be on a political forum in the first place. Political themed forums can never be expected to be peaceful and have everybody agree. You could go even go on a strictly Christian forum and people amongst your own religion will argue with you.

Besides, isn't atheism considered a "religion" of sorts? Instead of believing in God, we believe in science and materialism. We worship our physical existences by committing the seven deadly sins and never feel guilty about it. You must be envious.

Anyway, as somebody has previously stated, this forum is about religion and how it relates/affects political issues. We have every right to be here. No use crying about it, just deal with it. Find comfort in your loyalty to a god who will punish all of us arrogant atheists to hell when Jesus Christ returns to save you all.

[Angelamerkel]

I'm atheist if it concerns all organized religions. I'm agnostic if it concerns belief in supernatural beings. Supernatural beings may exist, but this is based on our inability to explain some observations. I find it difficult to believe in old Jewish tales like the flood, the parting of the sea, and Jesus walking on water, this makes those religions hard to swallow.

[Ummon]

What about people like me who don't fit as neatly into the boxes? Agnostics, deists, pantheists, etc?

One of the men I respect very much is Tielhard de Chardin. He was a Jesuit priest and a anthropologist and a proponent of evolution in the 1920s. He was definitely a man of faith and believed in I believe he saw Christ as the personal omega point and the moral and spiritual apex of evolution through series of integration and diversification in nature. He saw these two processes as part of a larger process in the evolution of global consciousness. I think of myself as similar in mindset to him except I think that in part this will be achieved over millenia through technology as global altruism, cooperation, and love becomes necessary for the survival of the human species or else we will destroy ourselves either with biogenetic plagues created with synthetic biology, climate change, nanobots, or "soulless" artificial intelligence. I am most attractive to Christianity and Buddhism, because both seemed to evolve to be global networks of kindness, cooperation, and morality (at least compared to the pre-christian/pre-buddhist world!) and I think the efficacy of this can be demonstrated with science. I believe this process must continue, but it must evolve to become something that includes not just the west and asian populations, but the entire world and eventually animals, "soulful" robots, and alien species (should we encounter them). I for some reason feel that God is a personal one (I cannot substantiate this using science) and that reincarnation is true. Perhaps it may be a biproduct of information conservation (this would be similar to the view that mind is not a property of matter and simply manifests in certain kinds of bodies like color not being a property of the matter but of the wavelengths of light reflected off it) however I would consider it a disservice to science to claim that this is fact and to thus encourage the abuse of the ideas of physics by charlatans for the exploitation of the poor and the lack of discipline I see in the New Age movement that seems more concerned with self-gratification of desire than in genuine love and service to all. So I do not fit into any camp neatly, but I view Christ as enlightened and have a deep trust for him (?). Do I get to play in this forum or not?

[cheers100]

It's because I see this in every forum where there's a religion section. Instead of it being a place where religious issues are discussed between people of faith, it gets invaded and even taken over by mean spirited atheists with an agenda.

Very intolerant thought to call for banning atheists.

It is under the hest of God to have atheists. All you need to do is not to ban atheists, but knee down to pray God to convert.

[EuropeanConservative]

It's not because I hate atheists or don't think they have a right to their viewpoints...

It's because I see this in every forum where there's a religion section. Instead of it being a place where religious issues are discussed between people of faith, it gets invaded and even taken over by mean spirited atheists with an agenda.

MODERATORS: Look at the threads in this forum and see if I'm not telling you the truth. It's like this on every forum with a religion section that hasn't specifically banned atheists from participation. No fruitful discussion on religious issue can be had because of their disruptive effect and the same thing has happened here. They've corrupted this section with their hostility, their cynicism, and their ability to turn every discussion into whether or not God exists.

I'm asking you to please ban all atheists from this section so that people of faith can have a placid place to discuss religion without contending with those who hate religion. Maybe they can have their own section to express their viewpoints. I can assure you if they do, they won't be plagued by people of faith the same way they've plagued the religion section.

Thank you for considering this.

I disagree. and I am not an atheist. But I feel that in a forum everybody should be able to express their views.