anonemouse

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.

Bull. The difference between saying that homosexuals, blacks, Mexicans, what-have-you are more likely to do whatever and saying that conservative, fundamentalists of any religious creed are more likely to be religious terrorists is that it's true that conservative fundamentalists of any religious creed are more likely to become religious terrorists. It's like saying that married black women are more likely to contract HIV than any other demographic. It's TRUE. It's a FACT. Does that mean that all married black women are going to catch HIV and should automatically have a "HIV infected" label slapped on their foreheads? No, and everyone knows that. Being a conservative, fundamentalist Christian is the same. Does it mean that you are going to become a terrorist? No. But a conservative, fundamentalist Christian is more likely to kill in the name of God than a liberal Christian that thinks everyone should be left alone to live their own lives. Do you understand what I am trying to get at?

Wait, so people killing in the name of God aren't Christians? If they weren't Christians, why would they be killing in his name? I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be the liberal Christian that believes in a woman's right to choose that blows up an abortion clinic. What do you think? Do you think a liberal Christian that thinks a woman has a right to control her own reproduction would blow up an abortion clinic? Could you please read my ENTIRE remark before trying to make it sound like I said something THAT I DID NOT SAY.

I don't see "you are a terrorist" or "you are a terrorist sypathizer" anywhere in that statement. Could it have been phrased better? Yes. Was it calling you a terrorist? No. You'll have to ask the original author of the statement, but I read it as "you have beliefs similar to some terrorists'". You are extremely anti-abortion, even protesting in front of clinics. You believe that the man is the absolute head of the household, and that his preferences should be followed. You think that other belief systems are inferior (or at least, it comes across as that way). Etc., etc. So yeah, I would say that you DO have certain beliefs that are similar to those of some Christian fundamentalist terrorists. Again, does that make you one? No, which was made quite obvious in that thread and in this one. No one thinks you are a terrorist, for Pete's sake.

I admitted to deliberately baiting Ron, and only Ron. I have been involved in serious debate with everyone else, and I think you know that. Let's not play "blame the atheist" for all the religious spats on the board, okay? Please, I'd like you to be honest about the crap that Ron has spewed and admit that his comments have played a huge role in the conflict.

As I remember, all they stated was that you carried some of the same beliefs that the terrorists do. And as a conservative, fundamentalist Christian, you do. A liberal Christian isn't going to go around and kill people because he thinks that is what God would want him to do. It's the conservative, fundamentalist Christians that kill people in the name of God. It is exactly the same with other religions. A liberal Muslim isn't going to kill people in the name of Allah, or because they think their victims offended Allah. The Muslim terrorists are the conservative, fundamentalist Muslims, not the liberal ones. I don't believe anyone said that you, yourself, were a terrorist. I think being PC has gone a little too far when we can't be honest about the people that are religious terrorists. Liberal members of any religion aren't the ones going around and killing others in the name of their deity. So yeah, the conservative, fundamentalists are going to be more likely to be religious terrorists. Does that mean that we think that all conservative, fundamentalists are terrorists? Obviously not.

See you in the morning, TOM.

There is definitely a double standard here, among many of the conservative Christians on this board. They think it is A-OK to make remarks that denigrate other beliefs or imply certain things about people of other belief systems, but the minute someone says something that they don't like about conservative, fundamentalist Christianity, it's bashing and hatred all around. It's bullcrap. If they are going to serve it, they should be prepared to take it.

And he still hasn't started any threads with the point of bashing conservative Christians. The threads that I recall only turned against conservative Christians after some made remarks that brought it on.

What threads have been Christian-bashing? Can you post the links? I am honestly asking, here, because I haven't seen any.

No kidding. At other boards I used to be at, we would laugh about the "goodbye cruel world!" posts, because invariably the poster would be back. A lot of the time, they came back as "sock puppets" under another screen name and pretended to be completely different people.

Just watch the fat. Taco Bell makes the pintos nice and creamy by adding pure lard, so you may wind up with way more fat than you think, in some cases.

And by the way, TOM's signature was a statement by Adolf Hitler in 1933.

No, you don't. No one has to believe your opinions, because they are YOUR opinions and not anyone else's. You don't have to justify your OPINIONS. Facts? Yes. Claims? Yes. Opinions? Nope.

Ron, that's what a message board is for, to share our OPINIONS with each other.

Then I guess it isn't any different than any other entertaining television show out there, either, is it? Did you ever watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Garfield? Vampires and talking cats don't exist, but they're still entertaining to watch. If we limit our telivision watching to strictly educational programs, we miss a lot of fun.

They aren't producing the evidence, they are just detailing the evidence that is out there. I wouldn't necessarily believe them if the authors of the article I posted a portion of said that they had come up with some new evidence that Jesus never existed. They didn't do that, however. They just said what evidence is out there and gave sources to their claims. I guess I should have said that no one has proven that the Shroud is real. There is a lot of doubt as to its authenticity.

I was about to say, "Oh, for Christ's sake! Here we go again!" :drama:

Actually, they found that the Shroud of Turin was a fake. From Did a Historical Jesus Exist?:

That's what we all hope. Then the damn thing draws you back in again.

Ditto! Be sure to take it easy, though!

I have to say that I don't understand why people make threads stating that they are leaving, and then never fail to show up later in the thread. It comes across as very "goodbye cruel world!" to me. It really shows that the entire thread was nothing more than a cry for attention, which is probably mimicking the same behavior that originally got her "flamed" (or so she says; we have no evidence beyond her claim that she got nasty PMs). Threads like this one really are pointless. You can PM or email the people you like and let them know you are leaving. The rest of the people on the board don't matter. If they don't like you, they aren't really going to care that you're leaving. Like I said earlier, this board will provide support if you really want it. That support isn't necessarily going to come in the "Yes, Dear. Anything you say, Dear." variety, though. People will tell you if they think what you are doing or saying is dangerous to yourself or if they think you are throwing a pity party for yourself. No matter what you are going through, I am sure that there are people here that have also been through it. They CAN help you, you just have to ask for it.

Liquid diets vary by surgeon. Some surgeons require them, some do not. I will (hopefully) be having my surgery done by Dr. McGrath-Weaver at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis. I have heard lots of good things about her. Medicare requires that you be banded at a Center of Excellence.

Don't forget that you can actually gain weight and lose a size, also. Working out increases muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. You can lose inches and gain weight.