Wow, the cognitive dissonance is astounding.

[cleanhippie]

So much NTS..... It's sad.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3802775

[Arugula Latte]

1. Most "mainstream" Christians believe a dead guy is returning to Earth at some point

and so the difference between them and batshit nutbag Michelle is ... what? The specificity of the timeline?

[RebelOne]

2. She must be a member of the Rapture Ready group.

They are all batshit crazy also.

[Taverner]

4. A dead man who never existed

http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm

[Arugula Latte]

5. That is interesting and would make some sense -- push the meek-and-mild thing

and keep those masses at bay.

[dimbear]

3. Practically every week the 20% or so of Christians that go to church pray "Thy kingdom come."

Percent that actually want that to happen: small. Similar to the percentage that realize what the phrase means.

[Act_of_Reparation]

6. Such denialism

They really have themselves convinced the New Testament is all gumdrops and rainbows, that all the "bad" stuff is in the Old Testament.

Never mind that the whole "Christ died for your sins and will return to oversee mankind's final judgment" is entirely a New Testament narrative, and the driving message behind virtually every mainstream Christian denomination I can think of.

[Arugula Latte]

8. It's the very basis of their own religion.

[Lordquinton]

7. Christ said that he wasn't overturning any of the old laws

so the OT still applies to Christians, unless thy choose to ignore that bit that the prophet said.

[Rob H.]

9. Happens all the time

Just mention Falwell, Robertson, Phelps, etc., and watch 'em break out the scare quotes and call them "Christians." The thing they seem to forget/are willfully bind to/outright ignore is that the right-wingers believe in same god and read the same bible liberal believers do; right-wing fundagelicals' interpretations and their actions based on those interpretations may be different, but their beliefs seem to be just as sincerely and deeply held.

It'd be like atheists referring to Hitchens as an "Atheist" because he was deeply, tragically wrong about the Iraq war and never changed his mind even after we invaded and thousands of people were killed. Seriously, for someone who was otherwise so fiercely intelligent, that was a massive, massive blind spot for him. It doesn't mean he secretly believed we were doing God's will by bombing the ever-loving fuck out of a country that didn't have anything to do with 9/11 any more than it makes GW Bush not a Christian because he was the one who dragged this country into a war. (FTR, I've seen people right here on DU claim that Dubya wasn't a Christian because a Real Christian™ wouldn't have done that.)

In the words of Sam Harris, &quot Religion) allows perfectly decent and sane people to believe by the billions what only lunatics could believe on their own."

Edited for clarity.

[PassingFair]

12. Hitchens didn't find out he was Jewish until he was 38.

It made him blind to reason regarding the Middle East.

[Taverner]

10. Fundamentalism is a MENTAL ILLNESS

I am convinced of that

[LostOne4Ever]

11. Some of those comments

Sometimes I wonder if they ever preview their own posts before they submit them. No true scotsman over and over.

They are so convinced that their religion is nothing but ponies and rainbows that they can't even concieve someone reading the same thing and coming to a different opinion.

Though I do wish more people would read it and say "Okay, I just read an account that says the world is flat, the sun and moon revolve around the earth, that there is dome of water above the earth separating it from heaven, and donkey's can talk. That is enough fairy tales for me."

[LiberalAndProud]

13. I admire your tenacity.

I used to believe just as many in that thread, that if you only understood my interpretation of the Truth, you too would come to share my belief. The mistaken notion that unbelievers simply haven't enough proper religious instruction seems to be prevalent for believers. I think many would be very shocked to come to know the depth of understanding of belief and the nature of faith that so many of us in this group share.

I don't entirely despair that there is no point in arguing the point. It took me a half century of life and an extremely long and sometimes intense period of anti-indoctrination to come to a new and more rational perspective. It's rather vexing that when I share that perspective, I'm accused of arrogance. Oh, the irony!

C'est la vie.