Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Koyaanisqatsi · 09-04-2002, 12:40 PM

Diana--

I forbid you from coming over to my apartment dressed as the Cat Woman!

I forbid it!

I, of course, shall be modestly attired....

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Koyaanisqatsi ]

09-04-2002, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bible Humper/ SCoW:


What country did you come from, Amos?

Southern part of Holland, Tilburg to be exact.

We did have a Jewish Church in the city centre and I still remember my dad having a good time with two JW females that came around but never came back.

Talulah · 09-04-2002, 01:49 PM

Quote:

That's pretty rough. I was raised RC and went to an RC school until I went off to universty, so perhaps it wasn't the same for me. I do remember, however, the issue of being scorned and mocked as sort of a blessing - "and if wicked men insult and hate you all because of me, blessed are you." I sang those lines in a choir more times than I can recall in my RC days.

I think that this is a integral part of Christianity, which is why I thought it bore discussing. Just singing songs that express the ideas that most Christian hymns do teaches children lessons about the beliefs they are supposed to hold.

Quote:

I was born and raised in Catholic country where the pasture was soo large that the sheep were allowed to play because with no protestant church in sight they could not get lost. And play we did till our hearts' content and so I am here now telling you this because I have arrived at the same place you did.

Amos, I admit to having to read this statement 3 times before fully grasping it's implications (and I think I have it now) but that is a wonderful way to express it.

Quote:

I remember all too well. My parents took it a step farther though. Good Christians would be martyred. I can remember being 11 years old and having my parents describe in gory detail how we would all die. I didn't even think I would graduate highschool before I was killed by the government for being a Xian.

Frostymama, that is a despicable thing to do to a child. It goes to show how blind adherance to a book as violent and inhumane as the bible can affect people, especially the children that adults force it on in the name of their souls.

Too, I remember it being preached from the pulpit that at any time 'the evil atheists' could take over the world and make Christianity a crime and how we all might be called to die for Christ when they outlawed worship and made it punishable by death. We were so 'lucky' that we had it easy and warned not to think we couldn't suddenly be forced to meet in secret under threat of torture and how we might have to teach people about Christ while fearing for our lives.

Things do take on a whole new perspective when you leave the craziness behind.

Quote:

Would you believe I only heard the term "mixed swimming" a few months ago? Before I found this forum I thought that some fundamentalists had a problem with dancing 50 years ago or so. It never occured to me that there would be Americans in this day and age who objected to dancing. And I never would have dreamed that anyone outside of the middle east would be opposed to mixed swimming. These people are whacked out.

Ahhh, the people I envy, those who never knew about all the things that were 'evil' in my childhood. Even when I was a kid I thought they must live free and happy lives without all that burden of 'sin of the world' on them.

Quote:

On the rare occasion I did agree with them, my mother would say, with obvious distaste, "You always were easily influenced by the crowd," or something similar which managed to suggest that I had no backbone and was incapable of thinking for myself.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA *snort* HAHAHAHAHAHA

The irony.

Quote:

I was even forbidden to square dance in grade school, believe it or not.

My father once went and threw a fit in the prinipal's office for the double depravity of the school trying to make me learn to line dance partnered with a black boy in the sixth grade. The principal said that he could pull me out on religious grounds but not racist ones so I got to sit on the bleachers every day for a month by myself during gym and watch the other kids learn to line dance.

Quote:

(2) even if you could manage number 1, everyone around you would be dressed indecently, anyway, and you don't want to be where you can look at practically naked people.

Ahh, and the issue with me was that being in a pool chock full of girls in swim suits was FAR more pleasurable than being a pool with a few guys in swim suits. How they went wrong, tsk, tsk, tsk.

Quote:

Side note: All of these rules are based on the assumption that nakedness and tight clothing elicits ungodly urges in others. While that assumption is accurate for some, it isn't for all. I personally am far more erotically affected by modest dress than revealing clothing (or none at all). Nakedness doesn't trigger my imagination like modest attire does.

I have to say that while this is mainly true for me, there is something alluring about many attractive women in tight AND wet attire.

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Talulah ]

Bible Humper · 09-04-2002, 01:52 PM

Right on, Amos.

The way you said "sooo large" regarding the "catholic pasture" threw me off.

Starboy · 09-04-2002, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Talulah:
I was thinking yesterday about being a fundamentalist child.

I was taught that everything outside our group was misguided at best if they considered themselves religious, depraved and evil if possessing no religion. 'The world,' was an vague, ominous sounding title that was used to denouce almost anything they didn't believe in. 'Secular' was a common word to me in elementary school.

��

*sigh*

I guess I am done venting now.

Hi Talulah,

I have always been an a-theist. My view of Christianity is that of an outsider looking in. Thanks for sharing your story with me. From what I can tell most of your life as a Christian and that of your parents was spent preparing to meet your maker and very little was spent living life well. I am glad you are beyond all that and I hope you have been able to find the joy in life. Life is grand and I wouldn�t miss it for anything.

Starboy

Tom Sawyer · 09-05-2002, 11:46 AM

I have to say that I've had the opposite experience from all of you. I was raised in a secular family. I have vague recollections of going to Sunday school as a kid (my Mom thought that it was 'the right thing to do' with kids, not because she was really into it) and then my parents got involved with a Unitarian church that they took us to. For those of you unfamiliar with Unitarians, they basically say that you can believe anything you want, just be nice to people. I always used to laugh at them, thinking it was funny to have a church without a God, but now I see that they have a pretty good thing going if you want the spirituality/sense of community thing that you get from a church without any of the less pleasant religious aspects added in.

Religion was never really a major part of my life. I guess that I sort of believed in God, solely for the reason that I'd never given Him much thought and everyone pretty much said that he was there. His existence really didn't affect my life in one way or the other so I had no reason to think about or question His existence.

Then I moved down to the Bible Belt. I'm from Canada and after getting a Computer degree, I got a job down in North Carolina (American wages are a lot better than Canadian wages). I moved around throughout the South on contracts and finally ended up in Atlanta. For those of you unfamiliar with the Bible Belt except as a vague geographical region, it really is an apt name. There a a lot of fundies down here and many of them are quite certain that anyone who doesn't agree with them is going to be roasting in Hell for eternity and has likely already made some sort of pact with Satan. The guy who sits next to me at work is a very intelligent, well-spoken, highly educated computer programmer who also happens to be a Young Earth Creationist. It's a very odd combination.

I'm just glad that by the time I was exposed to all the fundy xian stuff, I was old enough and educated enough to be able mount a coherent argument against them (even though they don't listen) and not to have my life overly affected by their strange philospohy. By reading the accounts of people here, it could have been much worse for me.

Godless Dave · 09-05-2002, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Talulah, replying to diana:
I have to say that while this is mainly true for me, there is something alluring about many attractive women in tight AND wet attire.

Yes, but you like girls. Let's be honest: girls generally look good with their clothes off. Guys generally look goofy with their clothes off.

Queen of Swords · 09-05-2002, 12:58 PM

Tell that to my hot-to-trot gay friend.

09-04-2002, 12:40 PM	#11
Koyaanisqatsi Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Yes, I have dyslexia. Sue me. Posts: 6,508	Diana-- I forbid you from coming over to my apartment dressed as the Cat Woman! I forbid it! I, of course, shall be modestly attired.... [ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Koyaanisqatsi ]</p>

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09-04-2002, 01:52 PM	#14
Bible Humper Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,125	Right on, Amos. The way you said "sooo large" regarding the "catholic pasture" threw me off.

09-05-2002, 11:46 AM	#16
Tom Sawyer Talk Freethought Staff Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto, eh Posts: 42,293	I have to say that I've had the opposite experience from all of you. I was raised in a secular family. I have vague recollections of going to Sunday school as a kid (my Mom thought that it was 'the right thing to do' with kids, not because she was really into it) and then my parents got involved with a Unitarian church that they took us to. For those of you unfamiliar with Unitarians, they basically say that you can believe anything you want, just be nice to people. I always used to laugh at them, thinking it was funny to have a church without a God, but now I see that they have a pretty good thing going if you want the spirituality/sense of community thing that you get from a church without any of the less pleasant religious aspects added in. Religion was never really a major part of my life. I guess that I sort of believed in God, solely for the reason that I'd never given Him much thought and everyone pretty much said that he was there. His existence really didn't affect my life in one way or the other so I had no reason to think about or question His existence. Then I moved down to the Bible Belt. I'm from Canada and after getting a Computer degree, I got a job down in North Carolina (American wages are a lot better than Canadian wages). I moved around throughout the South on contracts and finally ended up in Atlanta. For those of you unfamiliar with the Bible Belt except as a vague geographical region, it really is an apt name. There a a lot of fundies down here and many of them are quite certain that anyone who doesn't agree with them is going to be roasting in Hell for eternity and has likely already made some sort of pact with Satan. The guy who sits next to me at work is a very intelligent, well-spoken, highly educated computer programmer who also happens to be a Young Earth Creationist. It's a very odd combination. I'm just glad that by the time I was exposed to all the fundy xian stuff, I was old enough and educated enough to be able mount a coherent argument against them (even though they don't listen) and not to have my life overly affected by their strange philospohy. By reading the accounts of people here, it could have been much worse for me.

09-05-2002, 12:58 PM	#18
Queen of Swords Contributor Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Canada. Finally. Posts: 10,155	Tell that to my hot-to-trot gay friend.

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