anonemouse

You're welcome! Yeah, that one is a lot of rehashing old comments. It's starting to get old, especially when you-know-who doesn't seem to understand any of the points anyone else is making.

I would, too! Congrats! Here's to another year's weight loss!

That sounds interesting. What's in it? Sex on the Beach is about as wild as I get. Yummy, especially when made with lots of peach schnapps.

Yup. Seems like it will be a pleasant thread. Here's the link, BJean: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/bandster-support-us-t30306.html?t=30306

So Ron, why don't you become a "completed Christian", and accept Allah as the highest power?

Maybe I'm your long-lost daughter!:heh:

Well, I'm sorry for not being as careful with my words as usual. I was kind-of doing two things at once when I answered you, and didn't take the time to re-read what I wrote to see how it would come across.

Hi, all! You have no idea how refreshing it is to see this post! I generally spend most of my time over in the Rants and Raves forum, going head to head with some of the fundamentalist Christians. It's nice to have our own thread. I'm an atheist, by the way. I went to church every Sunday until I was 18, but what they were teaching never seemed right to me. I guess I like to ask "Why?" and "How?" too much and I am too analytical for religion as a whole.

I used the wrong terminology, then. I don't hate it, I just don't like the practice. We say we "hate" things all the time, when we just don't like them. It really isn't more than a phrase. For example, I say I "hate" pears, but I don't. I just don't like raw pears.

You can delete them, you know, to keep your box from filling up. Even your sent PMs add too that total, but you can delete those, also, after sending them.

I hate it because I think there should be a better method. I think unwanted pregnancies should be prevented before they happen. I think there should be a way to prevent a pregnancy (other than abstinence) that is 100%. By the way, not liking a practice doesn't mean I think it is morally repugnant. I don't like the euthanasia of homeless animals in shelters, but I understand that it's necessary. It's not morally repugnant.

It's very similar to what a lot of people feel about evolution. For example, Ron basically said that he knows nothing about evolution, but he believes that it doesn't happen because some scientists have said that it doesn't. If people can feel that way about evolution, they can feel that way about religion. They believe something because it sounds good and other people tell them that they should believe it, not because they actually know anything about it.

The reason I object to "pro-abortion" is that it carries a message that all pro-choicers are out there saying, "Go have an abortion, it's fun!" We aren't.

Well, apparently you have time to post on LBT. I think that if you have time to talk on a message board, you have time to sacrifice a couple of minutes to write a PM.

You've defended the hateful words of others. No, we're not. I am pro-choice because I believe a woman has a right to control her own body. I am NOT pro-abortion. I hate the practice, I wish it was never needed. But I still think safe, legal abortions should be given to women who want them.

By the way, I was "yelling" because the message apparently wasn't getting across in smaller print.

I did not make that statement saying that you were, for Pete's sake!

By the way, I was discussing this fact with a friend on our way back from Lexington, Kentucky this afternoon. I told her that I was in an online discussion about how religious fundamentalists are more likely to become religious terrorists than other members of that religion. Her response? "Well, duh."

Actually, there is an option C) I don't care and I think everyone should be able to believe what they want to believe.

I am going to post this once more, because you apparently still aren't getting it, even after our PMs last night, Gadgetlady. No one here is saying anything about other terrorists. Of course, other people can be terrorists. We are not saying that only conservative fundamentalists are terrorists. We are saying that conservative fundamentalists are more likely to become religious terrorists than people who aren't conservative fundamentalists. Being religious should not make you blind to that point. People making that point are not attacking you or any other religious person. It is a fact. I am getting sick and tired of people telling me that I am attacking them when I am not and screaming that we are all Christian-haters. Look in the mirror, I say. You guys aren't innocent, so stop pretending you are. You talk about hate, like everyone else is doing the hating and you are the hated. You are doing some hating yourself, Gadgetlady. You want everyone else to admit that they are bashing the Christians, but you never want to admit to doing some bashing yourself. I would like a reply to the PM I sent last night, please. To me, not replying basically proves my point. You want to accuse others of hate and bashing without taking acceptance for your own actions and the actions of the others in your group. By the way, what's this about pro-abortion? That's a inaccurate term intended to stir up controversy. Do you want me to call pro-lifers pro-rape-babyists? Pro-choice does not equal pro-abortion, it equals pro-choice.

I agree with you, Lisah25. I think that comment was the ultimate in bad taste. Joking about sex is taboo, but joking about treason (basically a death sentence) is A-OK? Somethings smells rotten.

Thank you. That is one claim that I won't step down from, because I know with 100% certainty that I am right. A religious terrorist isn't a person that believes that there is more than one path to heaven (or whatever their paradise is called). They aren't people that think everyone should be left alone to believe whatever they want to believe. They aren't people that think there might be more than one right answer out there. They are the people that think that their way is the only right way. They are the people that think everyone but the people that believe EXACTLY like they do are going to burn in hell. They are the ones that think everyone should live by their rules and their holy book. And I think anyone can see that those people are going to be the strict, ultra-conservative, fundamentalists, not the liberal members of a religion. So while neither one is really likely to become a religious terrorist, you can say with certainty which one is more likely. That statement isn't bashing anyone's beliefs, it's stating a fact. And we shouldn't be barred from stating facts just because other people don't like their implications.

PB = Productive Burp WLS = Weight Loss Surgery WW = Weight Watchers MGB = Mini Gastic Bypass

Try drinking a warm drink, like tea or coffee. I can't give any other advice than that, sorry.

TYou and I agree that they're wack-jobs. Unfortunately, the majority are also wack-jobs that identified themselves as conservative, fundamentalist Christians. And yet we still label Muslim terrorists that are killing in the name of Allah as "Muslim extremists" instead of just plain "wack jobs." All I can say with certainty is that I am not going to go kill a bunch of people in the name of God or Allah. Why would that be? Because I don't believe in God or Allah. The only people that truly kill in the name of a deity (and actually believe the deity would approve) are the people that believe in that deity. I can say with confidence that no atheist is going to become a religious terrorist. Environmental terrorists? Maybe. Religious terrorists? Nope. The bottom line is that there really aren't that many people out there that are likely to become religious terrorists. But people that think that their religion is the only true religion and that everyone else who believes in other religions (or even the more liberal sects of their own religion) is going to Hell (or wherever) and that every single person's lives should be regulated by their holy book are a heck of a lot more likely to become religious terrorists than the folks that just want everyone to like each other and live in harmony.