New guy from Scotland
Offline Hi folks, my names Mark and I'm from Scotland, I found this via you-tube videos after searching for R. Dawkins videos and was delighted to see there are so many like minded people realizing religion is superstitious nonsense created by primitive minds during primitive times.
I was brought up in a fire n brimstone Pentecostal church till I was about 14-15, called Struthers Memorial, I was apparently baptized in the holy spirit and spoke in what Christianity calls...speaking in tongues, or so I thought or was led to believe. But if ever there was a doubting Thomas, that was me and I could not buy into their brain washing doctrine. When someone tells you you can't test your god, that you are better not watching TV or reading newspapers, better off avoiding pubs & clubs etc; you start realising that a sense of control is being pushed on you. On top of that they made it very clear you will go to hell if you do not follow god's word, word that just happens to have been written and interpreted by a normal man.
Anyway I had so many questions that were never answered to my satisfaction; I think very logically and rationally and religion was not doing anything but making me doubt it even more, I also hated the self loathing it almost created, every day I felt like a sinner and that sort of burden on a young child is terrible. Once I was old enough I left the church and never looked back, so I can empathise with both Christians & non Christians alike.
My way of fighting back is through my bands music and lyrics, the band is called Jack Glass, and for a good reason. If any of you want to read on a true religious fundamentalist then look up Pastor Jack Glass, he was the Pastor of the Zion Baptist Church in Glasgow, Scotland. He firmly believed his throat cancer was the devils way of preventing him preaching the word of god, he was treated at a local hospital by scientific knowledge and machinery; was apparentyl cured. His whole congregation said it was a victory for god over the devil, yet several months later the cancer returned even more vigourous and he died. I sent an email asking does that mean god won the battle but satan won the war, but typically they would not reply...blind faith at it's very worst. They also paraded when Jack Glass was alive outside heavy metal concerts or Pope visits causing disturbances at every event, they would show their banners off to young people just wanting to have a good time and invoking retaliation, then blaming that retaliation on their ignorance of the bible and god...these kids were harming nobody and were simply being taunted by religious fanatics. I then decided to start my first band and write lyrics that helped people to remain open minded, not to be sucked in by gods, ghosts, mediums, demons or angels etc, but to think rationally and ask questions.
Finally, I loved the debates with Kirk Cameron, if ever there was an award for lack of conviction, knowledge or rationality then those two religious guys won an oscar. Not one single argument did they win. They had no evidence or the character to back up their already empty claims that there is a god and here is why. Using words like because I feel and I think is not good enough when strong evidence is required. Most christians always paraphrase from the bible, that's their only defence because most non religious folk can't, take that away from them and they have absolutely nothing, they have nowhere to hide; even with the bible there was no argument anyway. Christians are taught to preach from the bible, the bible is their sword yet they will never admit it's inconsistencies, especially when it comes to the commandments. Always get's me when they say god saved them and now they are happy...considering the bible has so many words like, death, sacrifice, betrayal, war, devil, satan etc it's a wonder they do not end up depressed after reading it. I would like to add that some religious folk from my area believe depression is demonic possession and so is cancer, demonic possession also causes murders, rapes, orgies and other blasphemy...but ask god and he will forgive you, so it's all ok...as if.
PS
Keep up the good work, it's time common sense fought back.
I might believe in a god/goddess if he/she grows an amputee's limb back via prayer or faith healing etc...now that would be a miracle, temporary fixes are no good to us god...we want results.
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Welcome to the hizzle!
Welcome Welcome!
This really stood out. I know what you mean, it gets to a point where you're convinced the worst,most sinful person in the world. Every day ends with you praying feverently for forgivness,because if you die in the night, you're going straight to hell. Only fanatics can withstand that kind of mental torture for a sustained period. I would honestly agonize for hours over wanting to do something and then almost be in tears when I finally broke and did it. Now I don't give these things a second thought.
Do hope you have a good stay
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.
Hey there, welcome to the forums, got any demos or something we can listen to?
jackglass ,
lucky you, you as wise , as ye are god , as all is one, as you know. Welcome to the battle. Teaching anti superstition is not easy. Gnosis is a hard for so many. Put love on the enemy to make a better world, for the kids, for all our legacy written into eternity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosis
Atheism Books.
Welcome to Rational Responders.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
I love Black Sabbath. Do you play Doom Metal by any chance?
Thanks for the welcome folks, really appreciated; Loc, I know exactly how you felt there and often wondered if I was holy enough for heaven, that really is a huge burden on a child, I was like 7 when I started going to church, meaning I can only remember that far back, I may have been younger. My Gran took me, she was a great person and brought me up with good sound morals, she did not believe in all the fire n brimstone stuff too much and that rubbed off on me even more. In fact I learned what I feel are my best morals from my Gran, not the church.
To the guys that asked about my band; I did not wanna come on looking as if all I wanted to do was plug the band, so I tried to keep it kinda subtle. As you know some people get offended or take people the wrong way when band guys just dive into a forum plugging their band...our ex drummer got a torrent of abuse from the CLUTCH forum for exactly that, but I'm glad you asked. The band does have a slight stoner rock feel to it, I think it's best described by a person we met last year - it's music that has a slight southern edge with a sprinkling of darkness, independent of decade.
Our official website is being rebuilt, but once it's ready it will be here - www.jackglass.co.uk
Here's some links that refer to Pastor Jack Glass, he was a very interesting and very tormented man, his beliefs and rants were as fanatical as they come. It's no wonder the hypocrisy of religion is finally being exposed on a global scale.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Glass
http://www.ulster-scots.co.uk/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8
http://www.zionbaptists.org.uk/GeneralInfo/PastorJackGlass.aspx
I might believe in a god/goddess if he/she grows an amputee's limb back via prayer or faith healing etc...now that would be a miracle, temporary fixes are no good to us god...we want results.
www.myspace.com/thejackglass
G'day, and welcome, from the land downunder.
I have some Scottish heritage, at least a great-grandfather, and possibly more. Unfortunately it has left me with a complexion ( ginger hair and freckles) not entirely suitable for the "Sunshine State" (Queensland) also occasionally known as the 'skin cancer capital of the world'...
Never mind, I have escaped so far.
Closest I've got to Scotland is London and surrounds.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
Hey welcome to the forum
Nice to see a fellow Scot on here... are you glaswegian or from somewhere else?
M
Forget Jesus, the stars died so that you could be here
- Lawrence Krauss
Always good to see a fellow Scot, I'm from Port Glasgow, bout a 30 min journey from Glasgow...where you from?
I might believe in a god/goddess if he/she grows an amputee's limb back via prayer or faith healing etc...now that would be a miracle, temporary fixes are no good to us god...we want results.
www.myspace.com/thejackglass
Welcome, I am new here too and so far everyone has been real nice and supportive. I look forward to more posts.
Heathensrule!
I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit!
Ah, The Port eh? I know it well. And by that I mean I know where it is :-D I'm from the glorious carbunkle that is Cumbernauld.
M
Forget Jesus, the stars died so that you could be here
- Lawrence Krauss
Hi Jack -
Welcome to the "fold" ! I was interested to read about your experience because both my mother and oldest sister attend the local Struthers church here in Buckinghamshire England.
Although i never belonged to Struthers, i went to a summer conference once in the eighties during the period i was a happy clappy charismatic belonging to a local fellowship. I have to say - if i were to wish to convert someone to christianity i wouldnt use the "Structhers" Holiness church - my local fellowship was far more reasonable and represented a healthy mix of viewpoints and cultural viewpoints/backgrounds which still basically believing and doing all the standard charismatic stuff. Just more "normal" really. I always got angered by the way my mother and sister seemed to infer that anything other than the puritan uptight "holiness" way was worthy of being a xtian. And at the same time - both my mother and sister are hardly paragons of reason, scepticality or curiosity. In fact the one thing that characterises my sister imo - is FEAR. And for my dear mother who at least does try to think about things - she swallows any claim of miracles or spurious xtian accusation about the evil ways of the secular world at the drop of a hat. Last week she made my blood boil by interrupting a game of Nintendo Wii sports by pointing out that the name Nintendo had some sinister ( read satanic/occult) connection.
My sister months ago caused my youngest sister to turn up at my doorstep in tears after effectively being accused of working for a sinful organisation - which is in fact the local Swan Theatre. She works in marketing and my Struthers sister refused to let my (non xtian) sister take my niece along to a kids play at the theare because theatre was supposedly "evil".
There really is no end to the madness. I franky dont care a damn about the mindless gullible religiosity of my mother and sister, but my sister now has three lovely children which have been put through Struthers style indoctrination from birth - unlike the sister in question who at leas had the benefit of a father who - although maybe a deist - never went to church and preferred reasoned discussion and the pursuit of knowledge. THe first thing my mother did when my father passed away was to get rid of the TV which according to her was naturally full of evils and generally bad stuff.
I would be really interested in your opinion as to how near Struthers comes to being a genuine Cult. I dont think its that far gone yet - but sometimes i wonder..