Where's Rourke in this? They won't let him use the net while training? lol

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quick request ... er...what does "TL;DR" mean?

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it's not the belief, it's the rhetoric...or the unnecessary application to social, economic, political or ethical discussions which bothers me. people can believe whatever they want and speak of it until blue in the face, and while my perception of them will change, i won't feel insulted (why would i?). i don't have religious friends but i've had many civil and serious discussions with religious people (most notably and strangely a baptist priest, the head of UNC's Humanist group, and me) wherein nobody left insulted. that said, i must be honest when i say that upon hearing things like "You have a choice. Accept his generosity or suffer the consequences" i do not feel offended, but my level of respect for a person dwindles automatically (i mean seriously? do y'all ever listen to yourselves?) as i cannot possibly take a person seriously who believes in what in my opinion amounts to superstition and tall tales. now, once again, that being said--i always try to treat people with the same level of respect whether or not i perceive what they think or believe to be foolish. but i would certainly not choose to spend my time around people who feel so vehemently that they have the answer while the rest of the world is blind. it's tantamount to everything i try not to be, or act, in my own life.

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"too long, didn't read"

welcome to the internets. ::wink:

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Urban Dic ...


Crazy, I've been on the internet and chat forums since '97 and that's the first I recall it being used.

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Hmm...

Too bad one can't just change the verb tense for an acronym.

I could put "TL; DR" at the front of most of my posts as a warning... "too long; don't read." :)

Of course it doesn't take people long to figure that out about my posts, anyway.
:)

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when it comes to non-believers, i hold no hatred or disdain for you at all. i'm saying this in a non-high horse way...i feel sorry for you. not because you're 'going to hell or you'll suffer' but truly because i can't imagine going through life without a belief in a 'higher power' of some sort. during some of the most trying or joyful times in my life, He's been there with me.

Oh, it's about respect. Gotcha. You just have low respect for Christians. That's cool.

But don't dare call out anyone for being bigoted.

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now...i think what you're saying is coming from a good place, but you might want to watch what/how you say things, because you never know who your audience is or how sensitive they are. i'm just here for the lulz, but a good discussion every now and then is fun. ok, to the point: here lies one of the hypocrisies of religion/religious people which really grinds my gears (lol). if i had said "i feel sorry for you because you've been indoctrinated at an early age...etc, etc" even the non-believers would say "geez, dude. what a condescending prick" but when you say it, we're supposed to see jesus bending down to the injured lamb? extending your altruistic nature through pity? hint: saying "i feel sorry for you" is usually never an appropriate thing to say to somebody. it reminds me of that incredibly patronizing song "Do They Know it's Christmas" for the starving children in ethiopia. since less than half of the continent is Christian, no, they probably don't.

anyway, thank you for the sentiment, but my life is full, satisfying and always rewarding. i'm guessing also, if you feel sorry for me, that you either didn't read/see my posts wherein i describe the manner in which i view and live life as through the philosophical lenses of existentialism or humanism--or that you're not familiar with these philosophies. one, believe it or not, does not need an external "higher power" to live a transcendent life.



oh please. and i thought this discussion was going so well! ::lol: here, let's try something a little different. let me paint a scenario for you:

you're at your girlfriend's house. you've just come home from the bars and you both start rambling on about whatever. at some point your girlfriend starts telling you that she thinks that aliens exist and they are going to come down to earth to gather all of the artists, musicians, scientists, geniuses of the world and we're all going to live on a planet where there are no bad or stupid people.

sound far-fetched? yeah, i thought so too. lucky for me i had the back-story knowledge that she had her first trip on mushrooms a few weeks prior. but the seriousness with which she was speaking did make my eyes roll and my opinion of her slightly change. i wouldn't have broken up with her about it, but my respect for her would have changed a little bit because in my opinion, she's believing in made-up nonsense which...while it can't be unproven, it certainly can't be proven.

losing a little respect for somebody because they believe in unfounded stories is not the same as hating somebody for something idiotically arbitrary like their skin color or sexual preference. so, yes, i'll continue on considering myself not a bigot, thank you.

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I am sure an English major would appreciate the definition. :)

Degrading your respect for someone solely upon their beliefs fit this definition, no? Same goes with having pity on someone for their beliefs as well... at least in my opinion.

I give two pinches less.. but just pondering the question.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bigot 

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