901. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #14204 by Veronique on December 21, 2006 at 1:28 pm

Yorker - sorry about my previous comment directed straight to the mad fool. You are right, he should be ignored. I had only just got up and looked at the posts since last night (my time).

I got cross. Plain and simple.

I rather like the word troll. Your baiting of him certainly did work. Unfortunately his baiting caught me. But hey, there are lots of mad people out, mate.

Where does 'Yorker' come from. Someone suggested that it was maybe your preferred delivery. And now we are losing Shane Warne to the next phase of his life. Good luck to him. Not so good for our cricket though.

902. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #14200 by Veronique on December 21, 2006 at 1:09 pm

Peterg123

I have no idea who you or where you are coming from.

Please understand that The Blasphemy Challenge was hosted by a group of young Americans - RRS on their website and elsewhere. It would appear that many of them are recovering christians and are mounting a space to encourage other recovering christians to be brave and come out of the closet.

The only way that makes sense for anyone to denounce Islam is for a group of equally brave recovering Islamics to do a similar thing as RRS has done but in their own country.

For those of us who have never affirmed a god or prophet any anything else supernatural, it makes no sense whatever for us to deny anything. That is the position of Richard Dawkins, myself and many others.

As Dawkins has said, up until now most declared atheists were old codgers like me. It is so incredibly refreshing to see the youth of an increasingly mad religious right country like America taking a stand against the American Taliban in all its many guises.

Please stop using this forum to display, what appears to me to be, your own very mad views.

The majority of people using this site are discussing and sharing their thoughts with others; some with humour (very necessary) and all with serious undertones. If you look at these 177 posts (so far) you cannot help but see the obvious sharing of ideas, publications and other web sites.

Take your silly glasses off and look clearly and with dignity at what is happening on this post.

903. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #14030 by Veronique on December 20, 2006 at 9:44 pm

I just lost my post when I went to look at a preview and found a spelling error. I couldn't get back to my comments. So, here goes again .

I love an ambivalence of agnostics. A really inspired choice.

I also like an apocalypse of atheists. However it now appears to me that most atheists are recovered christians, born agains, muslims and jews. So how about an apostasy of atheists? Seems appropriate. Yorker and I are in a minority it seems. We were indeed fortunate to have parents who left us free.

You are all wonderful. I am about to join RRS and give them some dosh as I will also to the RD Foundation.

I applaud this growth in understanding. I have listened to the discussion between RD and RRS and it sent shivers down my spine. Marvellous stuff. Never, ever give up. I certainly have never felt less alone since coming across this site.

904. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #13879 by Veronique on December 19, 2006 at 11:53 pm

I am new at this so I hope I don't make an error in posting. This is a first for me.

Comment 88 Yorker

I, too, was fortunate to have been brought up with no religious or poltical indoctrination. My father persuaded my mother to leave the three children free. I have no idea what that did to their relationship and it didn't occur to me thank him for this legacy until I was in my early 30s.

Like you, I have little or no idea of the torment of someone letting go of inculcated concepts instilled since birth. The Blasphemy Challenge must, in some way, be as frightening as it is cathartic. I know few recovering religious people and far more that are religious even if it only be lip service. In Australia, we are quite adept at taking the piss so it's difficult to assess the depth or not of belief in our communities. However the mad religious right is as growing a phenomenon in this country as it appears to be scourging the world.

I am guilty of not speaking up seriously and questioning belief structures. Instead I quip that I am a devout atheist. People laugh and things lighten but it is pretty ineffective. All it does is save me from god botherers and celebrations that are common in the christian world.

I live in Byron Shire on the NE coast where there is a plethora of conventional, charismatic & evangelical 'churches' and 'philosophies' like Buddhism, Osho & etc. Then there are the numerous 'spiritual' healers, DNA changers, Get-in-Touch-with-your-higher self counsellors. I don't distinguish any of these types of pseudo religions.

Take a gecko at the public notices pages at www.echo.net.au
I don't know how to make that site into a link on this page. Maybe someone can help me learn this art. I am 63 years old and haven't taken to the internet like a duck to water yet. I am trying.