Watch the first 45seconds of the Neil deGrasse Tyson video. He talks about how it's wrong to assign baggage based on association (Christians=WBC, for example). If only r/atheism followed the lead of their most favorite person

Rawtashk · 2012-05-24T08:53:44.308656-07:00

religions have taught people to simply accept answers rather than look for the answer.

I have had the exact opposite experience with religion and faith. My whole spiritual walk has been about searching and working out answers. There are multiple times in the gospels where Jesus encourages people to seek answers, and to be persistent if they are not immediately forthcoming, because answers can be found.

We're flawed, sure, but we're mostly good.

I will disagree with this based on my own experiences in the world, but there's no way to really argue about it so I'll just say that left to my own devices, I am personally a very selfish and evil man, and not just by the Christian standard. You would likely be horrified by things I've thought and done, and I know I'm not some corner case of humanity.

Christianity holds people up to a standard of perfection that's unattainable.

Well, the entire point of the gospel is that God's standard of perfection is unattainable, and that is why salvation and grace are such gifts.

Anyway, my disagreements aside, thanks for explaining your position further. For what it's worth I can appreciate the fact that you have conceptual problems with the teachings of Christianity that hold a bit more water than the usual cliches I hear from people who haven't really thought very hard about it. =)

CalebCalebson · 2012-05-24T08:27:17.952684-07:00

Forgive my advice-giving as this may not be the intent, but check out a book called The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. It has a chapter on sleep training that worked miracles for my son almost overnight. Within a couple weeks I went from literally restraining myself from throwing my 4 month old across the room to getting full nights sleep many days in a row.

It essentially provides a much simpler and kinder alternative to crying it out which produces the same ultimate goal: your child learning to soothe herself to sleep rather than relying on you. My son is 22 months now and while he does still cry at times when we put him down, he quickly calms down, even when he wakes up crying in the middle of the night, it only takes a couple minutes for him to happily go back to sleep with no intervention.

keatsandyeats · 2012-05-24T14:27:16.373396+00:00

I will pray for you. I think I may have a lot of things to say on these various subjects, though maybe a phone call would be more productive than trying to gather and type out all my thoughts at work. I have been going through some similar things and learned a lot in the past year so if I can pass some of that along, as well as just be a listening ear, I'd like to.

DrToonz · 2012-05-24T14:24:50.789775+00:00

I don't remember the details, but I think in the timeline where he blows off his arms and legs, he's happy because everyone else is safe, until he sees that the accident caused his mom to smoke so much she got lung cancer, so he's trying to save her from that.

DrToonz · 2012-05-24T14:22:02.419301+00:00

And most importantly for me, it's a twist ending because you've been led to believe he's trying to save Amy Smart the whole movie when he says he wants to "save her" but he's actually talking about his mother.

DrToonz · 2012-05-24T07:03:10.800587-07:00

The reason I prefer that ending is because in the beginning of the movie he says that he has one last chance to "save her". Through the whole movie, you think he means Amy Smart (and the theatrical ending gives you exactly that), but then he kills himself and the twist is that he was trying to save his mother. So I like the more significant and unique emotional impact of someone caring that much about their mother rather than some love interest, and also that it's a great twist.

poopbaaht · 1 day

Well here's hoping that IT and The Shining are on the list. Though IT and many of his other books might be prohibitively long to actually expect students to read in a reasonable time period.

DrToonz · 1 day

He goes back to the day he met Amy Smart's character and is mean to her so she doesn't become his friend, and grows up without ever knowing him so that none of what has happened ever happens. They see each other one day on the street and take a second look but keep walking.

t2150 · 1 day

Personally I plan on continuing to make my car payment indefinitely. Partly because I have 2 cars that will eventually need to be replaced, and partly because it operates as a nice savings for car repairs and whatnot. Eventually, when a car is no longer worth keeping around, I can make a good decision about how much to spend on another one, and only buy what I can pay for in cash. I should have this paid off by the end of the year and my goal is to never have another loan for anything other than my house, ever in my life. We'll see. =)

t2150 · 1 day

This is exactly what he said he was planning on doing in point B. =)

ChicagoMike · 1 day

Me too! My favorite tour buddies.

Rawtashk · 1 day

I far preferred the end, in which he explains his confusion about there even being people who stand around and discuss this thing that they do not believe in. It's one thing to have an argument or an opinion about, for example, some practical way in which religion is encroaching on your rights, or something like that. But atheists getting together to discuss their atheism is like me and a bunch of friends all sitting around talking about how stupid baseball fans are for enjoying baseball. I think sports fandom is one of the stupidest, most pointless things that such a large portion of the population spend their time, energy, and money on, but I don't hang out in "sports are stupid" forums every day. Just seems like a colossal waste of your own time to do so.

Although I guess such a stance makes me an a-atheist and a hypocrite. =)

Rawtashk · 1 day

Even that is a funny thing to say because I know from firsthand experience that the religions practiced by even the small handful of moderators here share a few key points and diverge wildly from there. In fact, the practice of my religion, faith, whatever you want to call it, looks reasonably different from that of many other members of my very own church! Because each of us engages with God and faith in a different way, and while we all may believe the same or very similar things in regards to Jesus Christ, how those beliefs actually play out in our lives can be quite different, because we're human beings, not a bunch of incarnated Bibles or clones of Jesus.

With all that said, I'm interested in hearing what you mean by "It's your religion" that you have a problem with, and how it looks to have a problem with a religion but not the people who practice it, if you would be so kind. I think I could learn something valuable and maybe offer you a fresh perspective on the subject as well.

DrToonz · 1 day

yeah, there are a couple minor scene differences as well which support the alternate ending. I won't tell you why I like the DC ending so much better because I don't want to ruin it for you.

DrToonz · 1 day

Yeah, I LOVED that movie the first time I saw it, but enjoyed it less with each subsequent viewing as the holes started to get to me. Any new viewers should simply watch the director's cut on DVD with the proper, original, way cooler ending, and never watch it again.

brodie268 · 1 day

I made the switch when Firefox started updating version numbers with each release, which broke every single one of my add-ons for a few days at a time. Even the add-on that was supposed to let you use old add-ons didn't work! It was ok when this happened once a year, but when it started happening every couple weeks it was no longer tolerable.

Also, I love the application shortcuts that are built into Chrome, which I had to previously have an obsolete add-on in firefox to do.

These two things mean I will continue to use Chrome until Firefox (or something else) gives me all these things and more.

poopbaaht · 1 day

What books are going to be read for the Stephen King class? I would have LOVED that class.

velentari · 2 days

I'm 33 and I'm only just now learning how OK it is to fail. Not just OK, but important. My whole life I have only had a small tolerance for failure. This worked OK because I tend to pick things up quickly, but it also means that I've given up on nearly everything I've ever tried once it got to the point that required any serious effort to get better. It's something I hope to model better for my own son as he grows up. Good job on doing that for yours!

CheezeBall · 2 days

I know plenty of Christian men who do not struggle with masturbation, and others who have in the past but have overcome the habit. I am in the latter group.

CheezeBall · 2 days

Let me add an extraordinarily crucial point:

Cultivate close relationships based on honesty and accountability with other safe Christians of the same sex.

Confessing your sin and temptations to people you can trust goes a long way to diminishing their power over you. It's an extraordinary experience to stop all the hiding and image management and just be honest about who you are and what you struggle with. And you are likely to find many more people who struggle as well, and who also need that openness and accountability.

EDIT: I should also add that this is what I wish all Christians could be like with each other at all times. No faking righteousness, no hypocrisy, just honest confessions. Every one of us is guilty of plenty and yet we are all prone to judging others when their sin comes out, as if the real sin is being found out. The more I experience this kind of accountability the more I feel bad for the church at large who hasn't seen it themselves yet.

barleycorns · 2 days

I absolutely believe that God is personally concerned with me and active in my life. I have had too many prayers answered in ways that I cannot simply chalk up to coincidence.

This doesn't mean that I don't have struggles with sin or doubts at times. Sometimes, despite these actions in my life, God feels distant. I find myself lacking most of the passion that so many others I know have for God's kingdom and scripture. But despite these apparent shortcomings of my faith, God continues to provide for my needs (though not always my wants), and to bring me through situations that, while often painful, help me grow into a better husband, father, and servant of Christ. If you had told me 5 years ago where I'd be today, I would have found it very hard to believe, and all the things that led me here are, without any doubt (and this coming from an often skeptical man), the result of God's repeated intervention in my life and those around me.

One of the most comforting things I'm learning about all this is that like Moses, Abraham, David, and the Apostles, God is able to take a seriously screwed up, undeserving individual like myself and use me for his glory. This helps me both avoid the shame and guilt of my mistakes and want to live a more Christ-like life from now on. I couldn't have said that 5 years ago either.

keatsandyeats · 2 days

And you weren't sure if you should be a moderator here. =)

I hope the spirit of the dead horse rule continues on long after this week even if the posts themselves are not removed.

keatsandyeats · 2 days

~~cow's.~~

cows.

Sorry, I had to.

IMO94 · 3 days

He has stated more than once that these writing deviations are what keep him fresh to be able to write the sequels, rather than getting burned out under the pressure. And considering the rate at which he writes, I really don't think there's anything to complain about.

Also, have you read the free short fiction he's got posted? They're great. I personally welcome every new thing he writes regardless of whether it's a continuation of one of his existing series or not.

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