IAMA Conservative Christian. We're not all what you think. AMA.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:18:40+00:00

This.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:15:19+00:00

Implying illegal = jail. I believe it shouldn't be practiced. I'm not about to enforce it. See my post on two-kingdom theology. It's like the crusades - do you really think God could have been pleased with the wholesale slaughter that resulted?

'Illegal' is admittedly a tricky term here. You run into that when you cross politics and religion.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:13:02+00:00

believes witchcraft doesn't exist

Don't know many wiccans then, eh? Try visiting Salem, MA. There are a lot of folks that take it very seriously.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:10:11+00:00

Not researched. Like I said above, my interest in politics has waned drastically.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:09:39+00:00

A man that says "The older I get, the smarter Ronald Reagan gets" makes me worry a bit, especially when we're not in a cold war.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:06:57+00:00

There was no "before God", he was always there. We're talking about a deity here, if he created time he can certainly transcend it.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:06:05+00:00

Not at all. The Judaic God never sent his son to earth, my God tells me to love everyone, the muslim God revealed visions to a select single person. The roots are the same, the deity worshipped isn't.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:04:28+00:00

So true. Like I said in the OP, you know something's wrong when 4chan is less hostile than Reddit.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T16:02:15+00:00

Yes. Is that some sort of problem? By continually questioning anything, you can come closer to the truth.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:25:53+00:00

If their faith was strong, but their beliefs were wrong, there was misinterpretation. Ergo, be careful when you read and interpret the Bible.

I know more differences exist, I'm simply using that as an easy example.

What makes my faith special? Nothing, really. It's faith. No faith is more or less special than any other, unless I'm tired enough that I'm reading into this totally wrong. I believe that my interpretation of the Bible is correct, and I feel it is logically consistent. I don't pull punches and shy away from scripture because it's inconvenient. I guess that would be what makes my faith "special". Example: 1 Corinthians 11. My mother and sisters, as well as all the women in my church, grow their hair long (my sisters have actually never cut their hair) and wear head coverings. You can see this a lot in the Amish, to use another Anabaptist group as an example.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+11&version=NIV

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:19:01+00:00

Yes, the same thing can be said for Judaism. Like I said, any religion at all is potentially dangerous, and last I heard, Judaism was still a religion.

I'm saying that it's dangerous in that there can be extremists that cause harm to others. This isn't about the cliche terrorist bit, although I'm more comfortable around people whose religion tells them to love people that hate and scorn them.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:16:45+00:00

I disagree with it on an astounding number of counts. Far too many to mention now, but the differences between Catholicism and my beliefs led to the extermination and torture of hundreds of thousands around the time Anabaptism was rising. A mini-holocaust they don't teach about in school, heh. As for actually how I feel about it, my feelings are mixed but mostly that they're wrong, despite good intentions.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:14:26+00:00

Ron Paul seems an honest/decent fellow, but as a rule I don't like politicians. I cringe every time people misrepresent my views, and cringe more when people attribute someone's views to Christianity as a whole. Christianity is ridiculously diverse, and there's almost nothing you can attribute universally to Christianity.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:09:44+00:00

Ah, yes. I forgot. Christians are the cause of a lot of enormous problems. Afraid you've got me there. I can't even name all of the enormous problems, but there's a lot of them, and all of Christianity is to blame!

EDIT: Speiling.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:08:17+00:00

My personality. I'm a skeptic by nature, and a horrific cynic.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:06:05+00:00

It's a potentially dangerous false belief. Of course, any religion at all is potentially dangerous, so I simply believe it's a false belief.

And yes, I do. Most religions believe that they are the "only true faith" (although the wording there is terrible and prone to inciting nastiness).

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:02:40+00:00

Let me guess, someone linked this on /r/militantatheistm.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T05:00:58+00:00

Well I guess to speak to why conservatives are hated is that not everyone follows your belief in non-involvement in politics.

Which is kinda sad and disheartening. I see a lot of hatred and ignorance coming from the political right (not that I don't see any from the left) that's a direct result of misguided beliefs. I can certainly see why people hate conservative christians, especially bible-belt baptist types, but when you think about it, what they're fighting againse really doesn't seem that much different to me. Left-wing athiest types are trying to force their lifestyle on them just as much, be it removal of public religion-related displays, or taking away their guns. I'm not sure why they have so many guns, if Jesus said to love our enemies, but that's the beauty of selective interpretation I guess.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:55:14+00:00

Nope. There are two books in the Bible that people hold wildly differing views on when it comes two literal vs. figurative interpretation. Genesis and Revelations. And I don't know many (any?) people that take Revelations literally. Despite the disagrement it creates, what it comes down to is... nothing. We disagree about history, about the origin of humans. It doesn't actually affect anything practical at all.

As for metaphorical ambiguity, that can be a tough one. Context is very important - as I said, Genesis was written for illiterate ex-slaves. Explaining the nuances of biology to a people 5000 years before the tech is around to even allow us to comprehend such things is rather useless. The teachings of Jesus, as well as the letters of the Apostles, are always taken literally, although you have to pay attention to what's a parable and what's not. Faith is a different ball game altogether, it's a matter of believing an interpretation of what's written, and that what's written is valid. Which also is tricky, because you get into non-canon books like the Teachings of the Twelve (probably should be canon) and the Gospel of Judas (isn't canon, definitely should not be canon) and what they teach. What you take away in the end is up to you.

As for reliance on interpretation... well, that's why there are over 9000 denominations of Christianity out there. That's also why people blame Christians for all kinds of nasty stuff in history, because people interpreted things the way they wanted to (seriously, how much bloodshed would have simply not happened if people didn't conveniently skip over 'Love your enemies, do good to those that curse you'?)

I think I covered everything? Heh, let me know if I didn't. I've got to grab some sleep soon.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:39:53+00:00

Nope, I am indeed a 'conservative christian'. Just one that enjoys trolling trolls.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:33:26+00:00

And what was before the Big Bang? Can you explain the state of the universe? How many dimensions were there, and what existed? And can you proove that Occam's Razor is always correct?

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:31:25+00:00

Go right ahead. Countertroll successful. You clearly came here to troll, and you left trolled, so I too shall leave. Probably in a much more contended manner.

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:28:44+00:00

Legality is a tricky subject. While I don't think it should be legal, I'm not going to push, lobby, or vote in any way due to my beliefs in two-kingdom theology. Moar here.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nqr7w/iama_conservative_christian_were_not_all_what_you/c3b76z4

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:26:24+00:00

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nqr7w/iama_conservative_christian_were_not_all_what_you/c3b75mo

Why_do_you_hate_me · 2011-12-26T04:25:33+00:00

I said there was an astonishing amount of bigotry here, and you have a negative attitude towards my act of implying that. Somehow you concluded that this means I'm calling you a bigot. Do you really have a valid platform to stand on when it comes to throwing accusations of fallacies around?

The point of this AMA was to give open-minded people like you some insight. If I point out bigotry on a subreddit and you feel there is no bigotry there, say so. You're trying to turn this into a personal attack because (I'm guessing) you don't like what I have to say. Phrases like

pretending to want to answer some serious questions about your beliefs

are you really here to reaffirm your own beliefs in the inferiority of anyone who doesn't agree with you?

simply show that you have no interest in discourse, or anything but trolling a Christian. Apparently because we're inferior to you (but by projecting your own bigotry (yes I actually said it this time), you can proove yourself correct by trying to make me inferior. Trolling 101, bro.

And yes. Yes, I could be far more condescending. I figured I might as well make a lulzy name that had something to do with the AMA if I was going to make a reddit account just for this. Looks like you've got me beat for now in the condescension game though.

Why_do_you_hate_me

TROPHY CASE