i get the feeling the DCers in question can't (or really, won't) see any difference Catholics and fundamentalist baptist types. newman's epistomology and pascal's anthropology are genuine intellectual challenges, so just take potshots at pastors from your childhood and move on...
sorry to patronize the atheists, but these stories mostly serve to illustrate a particular crisis in american protestantism-- and that's pretty much it. if y'all want to weigh in on apparent contradictions in magisterial teaching or something... that could be a good time.
dave: might be worth trying your luck with those pro-life buddhists or something... they might be less bitter.
ps: am i the only former atheist who ended up being unconsciously drawn to Christianity in the process of reading polemics against it?
an odd statement, i know. anyone else?
i get the feeling the DCers in question can't (or really, won't) see any difference Catholics and fundamentalist baptist types.
I've had encountered with a "fundamentalist atheist" who saw no essential or substantial difference between my pre-Catholic heretical sectarian beliefs and the Catholic beliefs that I hold today. To him it all boiled down to whether or not you believe in God -- any and all believers in God or gods are one homogeneous group to him. I think such unintellectual, unthoughtful mindsets are probably pretty common among atheists.
More gems of wisdom form Dave Van Allen. The poor man just doesn't get it:
DA, I refer to people who go to other peoples' websites itching for a fight, trolls. Regardless of your narrowly selected Wikipedian snippets, jumping around the Internet looking for arguments such as you have been doing the past few years can rightly be defined as trolling. The root idea behind the Internet trolling is from fishing. It has nothing to do with children's fables.
* "Trolling for fish" is a form of angling where lines with hook-rigged lures are dragged behind a boat to entice fish to bite. Compare the term "Trawling for fish," which involves dragging a net behind a boat to catch large numbers of fish.
* Internet trolling involves a user making comments intended to provoke an angry response. -- Wikipedia
http://exchristian.net/2/2007/
09...769625665695516
You may not approve, appreciate, or comprehend this Dave, but the purpose of this site is not to provide a pulpit for agressive, self-appointed, arrogant, pseudo-evangelists. There are literally thousands of websites out there that cater to that crowd.
This site is a sanctuary of sorts for former Christians to rant, rave, and try to heal from the mind crippling lunacy of the cult of Christianity, regardless of which flavor one once preferred.
Those of us who wasted decades faithfully following that insanity sometimes lack patience when an angry fundamentalist fanatic shows up to loudly bang his or her drum.
Dave, you may be telling yourself that you've left the fundamentalist mindset far behind, but your methods of communication seem to indicate otherwise.
Dave, this wasn't a personal attack. This was meant as explanation and constructive criticism.
Peace.
http://exchristian.net/2/2007/
09...427636891263491
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