I apologize to all the Christians on the board, sincerely.

[randys1]

I didn't come here to talk religion, my personal opinions of many NOT ALL religious people is very harsh usually so I best keep that to myself as long as I am posting here.

So I apologize for calling christians piles of shit or whatever it was I said.

I am here to discuss mainly
a. climate change is going to kill all of us if we dont do something

b. teaparty and republicans are terrorists who are attacking America

I will make more enemies here than friends if I keep shooting my mouth off about religion and I shouldnt have focused solely on Christians either when I did make those harsh and regrettable comments.

Sorry..

[TexasProgresive]

1. Accepted k&r

[stone space]

2. I'm atheist myself, but my wife is catholic, and on her behalf, I accept your apology.

Good form!

It doesn't help for us to be at each others' throats.

We can work together on many issues of common concern, regardless of religion (or lack thereof).



I tip my hat to you!

[cbayer]

3. I think that the religious believers on this site share your goals

for the most part.

Which is why it is important to distinguish the religious right from the religious left.

It takes a big person to back down and apologize. You are clearly a big person.

Thanks and welcome. There are lots of great people who post in this group, and I hope you will be one of them.

[roguevalley]

14. everything is emotional now because so much is at stake

everyone makes mistakes and has regrets. what makes us a good species is our ability to ask for and receive amends. I am a spiritual person who is as aghast about some of the things about religion as it is practiced by some nowadays but I still love God, Jesus and Mankind. I will always try and practice gratitude, forgiveness and love. I fail a lot but I will always try. Thank you, OP. It takes a good heart and a strong sense of good to apologize.

[randys1]

4. And now I have to go to the dentist, which will be more painful than writing that post.

unfortunately

if I was an ass I would say going to the dentist would be less painful, but your acceptance of my apology is awesome, I really do tend to permanently piss of some folks so this feels good, and new

thanks...

[Scuba]

5. Done with class. Thanks.

[TM99]

6. While your apology

does not apply to me as an Ignostic, I truly applaud your post.

It takes courage to express such an apology and to own your own feelings on the subject.

Well done.

[Starboard Tack]

7. Good for you! And a belated welcome to DU

I am an atheist, but I must say that the Christians and other believers who post here tend to be more progressive and liberal than some of our atheist brethren. I haven't encountered any bible thumpers or bigots among religious DUers.
I'm with you on the "climate change" thing too. Without a planet it all becomes irrelevant.
Your honesty and humility is refreshing.

[hrmjustin]

8. Apology accepted and I wish you the best.

I know you didn't mean it the way you said it. I think you were trying to make a point and it came out wrong.

That is why I posted my thoughts instead of alerting.

[okasha]

9. Those are issues that deeply concern us all.

I appreciate your willingness to make amends and look forward to your contributions here.

Good luck with the dentist.

[randys1]

10. I hope he doesnt tickle me cuz I react to tickling like Louie CK

anybody see that episode?

hysterical

and how about him having Charles Grodin on his show, love the Grodin

[cbayer]

11. I love Louie CK and I am also extraordinarily ticklish.

Just someone threatening to tickle me sends me into a hysterical tizzy.

I will have to look for that episode.

I've never had a dentist tickle me, but there is always a first time, I guess.

Best of luck to you at the dentist. I would rather write an apology letter than do that.

[zeemike]

12. While I don't consider myself a Christian

I still thank you for the apology.

It has always distressed me that liberals embrace the atheist POV and attack Christians or believers because they are our natural friends.
If they are truly liberal Christians they want the same thing that liberals or progressives want because Jesus was the most liberal and progressive person on the planet.
It will come to no good to divide us up like that...just because some that label themselves Christians are right wingers and who hate everything Jesus said...and doing so will only lessen our numbers.

[cbayer]

13. I don't think the "atheist POV" is the problem at all, but the attack on believers

from that perspective is clearly a problem.

The inability to distinguish between those on your side and those that are not based solely on religiosity is indeed distressing.

FTR, most atheists are completely able to make those distinctions. It is anti-theists that do not.

[zeemike]

17. That is what I meant.

We preach tolerance and rightfully so...but that should also include people of faith and too often the anti-theist act in a manner that is contrary to that...and it does us no good.
It only reinforces the right wing meme of the "Godless left"

[cbayer]

18. I fully agree with you that it is divisive and counter-productive

and I would like to see it stop.

There are good and just reasons for challenging and even attack specific religious doctrine, political positions and institutions that work against civil rights and social justice. I am 100% behind taking them to task at every opportunity.

But generalizing the behavior or position of some to all is destructive.

DU is a place where we can address this, and the OP has gone a long way in doing so.

My hat is off to him.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. There are some areas of the country where it's understandable to feel that way....

Smug, self righteous types who actually credit their adherence to dogma for their success and in some cases they CAN having made their business connections through their church.

They could have done the same thing through the local Elks Club.

[On the Road]

16. Thank You

That is a very nice thing to post. I haven't been a Christian for a while, but the general tenor of comments on Christianity has been a little hard to bear recently. I guess you can't blame people, because the only Christians in the public eye these seem to be the yahoos. But they do not represent Christianity as a whole. Most seriously religious people don't broadcast their beliefs. Individual faith always trumps public doctrine.

[randys1]

19. Lastly, I knew a monk once, a Catholic monk..

He would spend weeks at a time in a remote cabin in the woods praying, he was the closest I have ever seen or met to what I consider Jesus was meant to be, whether he existed or not etc.

I spent 12 yrs in catholic school with nuns telling me what to believe and I didnt actually meet this real "man of god" until I was older.

I also told Mark Thompson or Mapfumo Matsimela of Sirius Radio that while I am an atheist I consider him a "man of god", check his show out if you can...it is called "Make It Plain" channel 127 ... 6-9 eastern time weekdays

peace out

oh yeah, and vote and follow my twitter


https://twitter.com/DidTheyLetUVote

and post anything you see or experience about voter suppression

[mmonk]

20. You might like to know the Franciscans are fighting the climate change deniers.

http://www.hnp.org/jpic/climatechange/

[randys1]

22. How awesome is that, my monk friend Dunston was a Franciscan as I recall

thank you so much for this

[mmonk]

23. You're welcome.

We need allies against the deniers anywhere and everywhere we can find them. I sometimes worry we won't last much past 2 more generations if that if not addressed now.

[mmonk]

24. I'm also happy with the support from First Nations.

[pinto]

25. +1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Thank you.

I don't spend much time on DU anymore, so I haven't been to the Religion Forum for a while, but anything that improves the atmosphere is welcome!

[PumpkinAle]

26. Thank you that was nice. n/t