Gurdur

Thanks, Michael !

Veil of Fire

Yeah, why Catholicism? Since it's busy tearing itself apart faster than a confused tasmanian devil on methamphetamines, and all. How anyone can follow an organization that punishes cohabitation more harshly than pedophilia is completely beyond me.

Trekkie With a Phaser

Theistgal,

Why exactly did you reconvert? You say September 11th started you back towards Catholicism and that it was the Christian firefighters who inspired you, but you don't explain why it made you start believing in a super being with unlimited powers. I have the greatest respect for the firefighters who went into those buildings, knowing that they'd probably never come out again, but the fact that many of them were Christians gives me no reason at all to reconvert to Christianity. Why was it enough to make you go back to it? Furthermore, why do you only mention the Christian firefighters? What about the ones who gave up their lives and didn't believe in your god? Why did you not convert to their religions instead? Do you have less respect for them because they were not Christians?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, out of all of the people who were heroes on September 11th, why did you latch onto the Christians specifically and decide to change your entire ideology as a result?

Cretinist

One importance difference between the children in the McMartin trial and those involved in the hundreds of priest sexual abuse cases is that the children in the McMartin trial had to be interrogated. None of the dozens of priest sexual molestation cases I’ve read involved children being interrogated by psychologists. In fact, a great deal of them involve adults reporting the incident years later. The majority of the priests end up admitting to it, and quite a few kill themselves.

windsofchange

Hi, everyone - -

Thanks very much for the messages of support. I really appreciate them, and will make a point of letting my theist cronies in our next Top-Secret Conspiracy meeting know that you're not *all* sheer evil personified.

The reasons for my reconversion to Catholicism - the religion which I practiced for 7 years before the mid-life crisis which resulted in being an atheist for 2 years - are many and varied. I had gotten involved with a man who was very hostile to religion, and my desire for his approval was more important to me, for a while, than following what I really believed.

Finally I found the guts to dump him, and started thinking for myself again. Then 9/11 happened, which was a jolt, and got me to thinking, "If I were to die today, am I really living the way I'd want to live on the last day of my life?" The answer I found deep in my heart was "No." And I realized that what I really wanted to do was return to the Church and the faith that I loved so much.

Yes, I did say kind of facetiously that one of the reasons I'd returned was because theists are nicer than atheists. Of course that's not true; however, at the time, I was being attacked by a lot of atheists, and praised by a lot of theists. So give me a break, I'm human. Obviously there are plenty of nice atheists and plenty of mean theists, and you can't decide for or against the existence of God based on how other people treat you.

So, that's my story, and I'm sure some of you wil continue to attack me. That's okay - you are completely entitled to your opinions, as am I. The only thing I want to add is that even now, believing what I believe, please note that on my website I do NOT say, "This is what YOU should believe" - - only, "This is what *I* believe."

Love,
Theist Gal (formerly you know who)

P.S. someone told me the e-mail address in SecWeb is incorrect; I'll change it but meantime here's the correct one: christinelehman@hotmail.com

Mad Kally

Now I understand.

Marduk

Whatever floats your boat. Theists never bothered me anyway (except for the really annoying ones <cough Theophilus cough&gt I drift between Deism and agnosticism all the time. No big thing.

Gurdur

Indeed, and thanks, Marduck !

(Another of my favourite people, along with Sephiroth and Toto)

Regards,
The Non-Drifting-But-Friendly Gurdur

_________

Toto, I think I disagree with a fe things; but I'll write a long post tomorrow.

windsofchange

Thanks! (Theophilus? Isn't he the one Luke addressed his gospel & Acts to? I'll have to check that one! )

One more point - the only reason I came in here is that someone e-mailed me the thread, in case I wanted to respond. The last thing I had in mind was coming back to my old atheist haunts and trying to convert everyone! (Of course, if you're interested ... )

Love,
TG

Gurdur

Oh come on, Theist Gal; your conversations were always good; can't you come back for a few more ?

You were always one of the best people here, in a very understated way.