FARK.com: (7583561) Old and busted: atheist visits Jesus Camp. New Hotness: Christian visits Atheist Church

If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.

(Christian Post .com)		Old and busted: atheist visits Jesus Camp. New Hotness: Christian visits Atheist Church ( blogs.christianpost.com)		403
		More: Interesting, Jesus Camp, Islington, Angels & Demons

• • •

8435 clicks; posted to Main » on 09 Feb 2013 at 4:47 PM (5 years ago) | Favorite | share:

Share this link:

URL:

https://fark.com/go/7583561

Bookmark:

Article Comments close

403 Comments (+0 »)

View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest

Oldest | « | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | » | Newest | Show all

Dead for Tax Reasons

2013-02-09 12:16:59 PM

A (perhaps first-ever) atheistic church band leading the congregation in hits from Queen, Stevie Wonder, and Nina Simone.

It seemed that most people were there for those very reasons - community and singing. Or, what we Christians like to call, fellowship and worship.

singing is worship now? i guess they were worshipping freddie murcury by singing queen

It doesn't matter how many songs you sing or how many people you hang out with - if it's not centered around Jesus (the true reason for church in the first place) it's never going to be enough.

yes, it could. not everyone needs god and jesus, just their fellow man

it seems like he just went there to point and laugh at how wrong the people there were, not to actually think or see the other side.

Peter von Nostrand

2013-02-09 12:27:25 PM

This shiat is getting old. Fundies, please stop trying to force your religion on everyone. Atheists, please quit trolling the fundies

Lorelle

2013-02-09 12:29:38 PM

They are missing the point entirely.

Church isn't about music, it isn't about making people feel happy, and it isn't about instilling wonder. Church isn't even about getting together in community to get your felt needs met.

Church is about Jesus.

Nah. Dude missed the point AND the joke.

FloydA

2013-02-09 12:31:04 PM

Dead for Tax Reasons:

it seems like he just went there to point and laugh at how wrong the people there were, not to actually think or see the other side.

Yep.

Two people see something that they don't completely understand. The atheist will usually say "I don't know," and if s/he is motivated to do so, will go on to try to find an explanation. The theist will usually say "must be God" and cease all further speculation, because s/he has already come to an answer that satisfies him/her.

If just slapping the name "God" on the mysteries of the universe is enough of an answer for you, then religion is probably satisfying. If not, it's not. If you want to actually understand things, simply calling them "supernatural" and ceasing any further research just isn't good enough.

Aar1012

2013-02-09 12:39:57 PM

Atheists have camps?

Lsherm

2013-02-09 12:52:05 PM

FloydA: Dead for Tax Reasons:

it seems like he just went there to point and laugh at how wrong the people there were, not to actually think or see the other side.

Yep.

Two people see something that they don't completely understand. The atheist will usually say "I don't know," and if s/he is motivated to do so, will go on to try to find an explanation. The theist will usually say "must be God" and cease all further speculation, because s/he has already come to an answer that satisfies him/her.

I find this stereotypical summation, typical of liberal bigotry, amusingly ironic.

Please, you two, tell us more about how "those people" think. Make sure to fluff yourselves up as the enlightened class at the same time. Extra bonus points for ridiculous generalizations and/or complete ignorance baout the people you are criticizing.

Lionel Mandrake

2013-02-09 12:56:24 PM

"So," I thought to myself, "at the creation of the universe from nothing there was an inconceivable amount of light followed by the most improbable conditions that allowed for the entire universe to exist."

I couldn't hold back a huge smile.

Why? Because Cliff's talk sounded an awful lot like this:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form and void...

and God said, 'Let there be light.'"

It also sounds a lot like Ovid's Metamorphoses, and the Stoic conception of everything initially coming from fire. And a bunch of other old stuff, too.

What's your point, God boy?

Lionel Mandrake

2013-02-09 12:58:01 PM

Lsherm: FloydA: Dead for Tax Reasons:

it seems like he just went there to point and laugh at how wrong the people there were, not to actually think or see the other side.

Yep.

Two people see something that they don't completely understand. The atheist will usually say "I don't know," and if s/he is motivated to do so, will go on to try to find an explanation. The theist will usually say "must be God" and cease all further speculation, because s/he has already come to an answer that satisfies him/her.

I find this stereotypical summation, typical of liberal bigotry, amusingly ironic.

Please, you two, tell us more about how "those people" think. Make sure to fluff yourselves up as the enlightened class at the same time. Extra bonus points for ridiculous generalizations and/or complete ignorance baout the people you are criticizing.

Well, it's a good thing you know better than to stereotype.

GAT_00

2013-02-09 01:16:09 PM

Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

Only ones we put Christians in. Uhh...I mean, they're re-education camps. No, wait, I'm not supposed to say that either. Uhh...knowledge camps! That's it.

dahmers love zombie

2013-02-09 01:17:33 PM

Bzzzt. Appeal to ignorance fallacy. "We don't know, therefore God".

Please try again.

Nina_Hartley's_Ass

2013-02-09 01:29:18 PM

Allow people their own relationship with God as they perceive him without insisting they profess belief in the supernatural. Otherwise your Special Magic Club is doomed.

ajgeek

2013-02-09 01:32:45 PM

"Atheist Church" is an oxymoron. Also stupid, but I repeat myself.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 01:37:03 PM

Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

Ask Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao about those.

Lionel Mandrake

2013-02-09 01:37:51 PM

muck4doo: Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

Ask Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao about those.

how clever

muck4doo

2013-02-09 01:39:14 PM

GAT_00: Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

Only ones we put Christians in. Uhh...I mean, they're re-education camps. No, wait, I'm not supposed to say that either. Uhh...knowledge camps! That's it.

They're the ones they put those who didn't have full faith in the government in. You would have loved them.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 01:39:51 PM

Lionel Mandrake: muck4doo: Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

Ask Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao about those.

how clever

Yes, they thought that too.

The My Little Pony Killer

2013-02-09 01:42:04 PM

The press was there catching interviews. (They also recorded the entire service along with the attendees to a point that it made it uncomfortable).

Aww, the poor widdle baby didn't want people to mistake him for being a big bad atheist.

/and atheists don't have churches, silly christians

The My Little Pony Killer

2013-02-09 01:43:00 PM

Peter von Nostrand: Atheists, please quit trolling the fundies

Not until they stop trying to force their religions.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 01:43:55 PM

The My Little Pony Killer: /and atheists don't have churches, silly christians

Just camps for re-education.

The My Little Pony Killer

2013-02-09 01:44:06 PM

Lsherm: FloydA: Dead for Tax Reasons:

it seems like he just went there to point and laugh at how wrong the people there were, not to actually think or see the other side.

Yep.

Two people see something that they don't completely understand. The atheist will usually say "I don't know," and if s/he is motivated to do so, will go on to try to find an explanation. The theist will usually say "must be God" and cease all further speculation, because s/he has already come to an answer that satisfies him/her.

I find this stereotypical summation, typical of liberal bigotry, amusingly ironic.

Please, you two, tell us more about how "those people" think. Make sure to fluff yourselves up as the enlightened class at the same time. Extra bonus points for ridiculous generalizations and/or complete ignorance baout the people you are criticizing.

You should try RTFA if you want answers to those questions.

alwaysjaded

2013-02-09 01:56:15 PM

That article was total farking bullshiat. Where were the baby bbq's? The gay orgies? The ritualistic virgin sacrifices to Hitchens? And he wasn't even forced to shoot heroin in his eyeballs once? That must have been some weenie junior camp.The atheist camp I went to, we were raping bald eagles and smoking the mary-juana before the hell wagon left the slaughterhouse! Kids these days....tsk, tsk.....

FloydA

2013-02-09 01:58:07 PM

Lionel Mandrake:

muck4doo

2013-02-09 01:58:24 PM

alwaysjaded: That article was total farking bullshiat. Where were the baby bbq's? The gay orgies? The ritualistic virgin sacrifices to Hitchens? And he wasn't even forced to shoot heroin in his eyeballs once? That must have been some weenie junior camp.The atheist camp I went to, we were raping bald eagles and smoking the mary-juana before the hell wagon left the slaughterhouse! Kids these days....tsk, tsk.....

All churches are just like Jesus camp too

Lionel Mandrake

2013-02-09 02:00:51 PM

FloydA: Lionel Mandrake:

[i105.photobucket.com image 327x154]

Oh, I have no intention of going any further into the mud than that single, derisively sarcastic remark. I know better than that.

thamike

2013-02-09 02:16:32 PM

Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

FloydA

2013-02-09 02:19:28 PM

thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

What an atheist church might look like.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 02:23:00 PM

FloydA: thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

[i105.photobucket.com image 500x375]
What an atheist church might look like.

I know Atheists who don't drink. Don't try to paint them all as alcoholics.

Darth_Lukecash

2013-02-09 02:24:42 PM

Nina_Hartley's_Ass: Allow people their own relationship with God as they perceive him without insisting they profess belief in the supernatural. Otherwise your Special Magic Club is doomed.

No, it can't be done.

We are tribal monkeys. Only one tribe can be right.

xanadian

2013-02-09 02:28:34 PM

FTFA: After his introduction, we sang a Queen song as the service moved along.

"Who Wants to Live Forever"?

/there can be only one

xanadian

2013-02-09 02:31:53 PM

Also, FTFA: Here we were at an atheistic church service being delivered evidences of both God's existence (the improbability of asymmetry at the Big Bang) and the Bible's trustwwdow*whistling screeching dial-tuning noise*...

Yeah. :/

At best, Genesis is allegorical. I was half-expecting the author of TFA to suddenly say how the CERN scientist "proved" that the Earth is only 6000 years old, but I stopped reading at this point.

OnceMoreWithFeeling

2013-02-09 02:32:28 PM

FloydA: thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

[i105.photobucket.com image 500x375]
What an atheist church might look like.

Mmmm. Great and yummy comfort food -- love the 5 Point Cafe! My kind of church!

xanadian

2013-02-09 02:36:10 PM

thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

I once went to a UU church that had a smattering of everything: "recovering" Catholics, agnostics, atheists, etc...I think a Buddhist even showed up once. It seems to be mostly about fellowship than worshiping a cloudy sky wizard.

YMMV. That place may have been an anomaly. *shrug* I know the *local* UU church where I live has a freakin' Pride flag out front. Yes. In The County (tm). I'm surprised the place hasn't been burned down. For extra fun goodness, they're right across the street from some screaming fundies. These fundies are moving, though. They're building a megachurch up the street on top of the hill.

:/

/csb

Cerebral Knievel

2013-02-09 02:40:08 PM

xanadian: thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

I once went to a UU church that had a smattering of everything: "recovering" Catholics, agnostics, atheists, etc...I think a Buddhist even showed up once. It seems to be mostly about fellowship than worshiping a cloudy sky wizard.

YMMV. That place may have been an anomaly. *shrug* I know the *local* UU church where I live has a freakin' Pride flag out front. Yes. In The County (tm). I'm surprised the place hasn't been burned down. For extra fun goodness, they're right across the street from some screaming fundies. These fundies are moving, though. They're building a megachurch up the street on top of the hill.

:/

/csb

Ah yes, so they can have their little private enclave, and let the money changers in the house.

Good for them!

FloydA

2013-02-09 02:41:02 PM

OnceMoreWithFeeling: FloydA: thamike: Atheist Church? What, like Brazzers?

[i105.photobucket.com image 500x375]
What an atheist church might look like.

Mmmm. Great and yummy comfort food -- love the 5 Point Cafe! My kind of church!

Dude, we should hang out! ;-)

heap

2013-02-09 02:42:20 PM

i think atheist churches are idiotic, but at the same time, the fact that the non-religious aren't as a group a civic or political force is to their detriment - and that will only change with some semblance of community organizing.

just be frigged if i can convince myself that church services are the answer, tho.

Weaver95

2013-02-09 02:42:50 PM

Atheists have church? um...doesn't that kind of defeat the point of being an atheist?

heap

2013-02-09 02:48:33 PM

depends on where you look, but seeing 'non religious' at around 20% of the population in america is a fair enough average.

for comparisons sake, catholic is at about the same range. same with evangelical. same with 'vanilla' protestant.

the bassackwardness of attempting to coagulate a group based on what they don't think is just too much of a hurdle, tho.

FloydA

2013-02-09 02:49:34 PM

Aar1012: Atheists have camps?

There's one spot out in the forest on the Olympic Peninsula where there are some natural volcanic hot springs. I've sometimes hiked out with a tent and backpack and stayed a few days. Does that count?

Weaver95: Atheists have church? um...doesn't that kind of defeat the point of being an atheist?

Yeah, calling it a "church" is kind of silly. Gathering with like-minded individuals can be informative, entertaining, and enjoyable, and it's just as useful for non-believers as for believers. I was under the impression that "church" was supposed to be something more than just a casual get together.

thamike

2013-02-09 02:52:19 PM

Weaver95: Atheists have church? um...doesn't that kind of defeat the point of being an atheist?

Everything about organized atheism defeats the purpose of being an atheist. Now I have to go around with some sort of absurd hyphenated clarification because of these bozos.

Darth_Lukecash

2013-02-09 02:56:14 PM

Weaver95: Atheists have church? um...doesn't that kind of defeat the point of being an atheist?

I think that atheists are getting organized as a group. More political power that way. Once crowds firms with a voice , the leaders have to notice.

heap

2013-02-09 02:57:44 PM

thamike: Everything about organized atheism defeats the purpose of being an atheist.

it does, but at the same time, organized group representation is how things work.

it's not like any other group has issue with 'hey, we think alike, let's group together in our own specific civic and political interests.'

that the commonality is in something they don't think is what turns things down an absurd cul-de-sac, but at the same time....i can't say we wouldn't be better off if that 20% slice of the country had as much political clout as other similarly large groupings.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 03:02:46 PM

Darth_Lukecash: Weaver95: Atheists have church? um...doesn't that kind of defeat the point of being an atheist?

I think that atheists are getting organized as a group. More political power that way. Once crowds firms with a voice , the leaders have to notice.

Organized non-stamp collectors?

cameroncrazy1984

2013-02-09 03:03:06 PM

thamike: Everything about organized atheism defeats the purpose of being an atheist.

I think you have atheism confused with anarchism. People can get together and talk about science while still being atheists.

hubiestubert

2013-02-09 03:03:56 PM

I guess they'd get a kick out of Unitarians' Atheist vs Theists softball games then...

Somacandra

2013-02-09 03:04:18 PM

FloydA: Two people see something that they don't completely understand. The atheist will usually say "I don't know," and if s/he is motivated to do so, will go on to try to find an explanation. The theist will usually say "must be God" and cease all further speculation

==

"As in the other sciences, astronomers in the Muslim lands built upon and greatly expanded earlier traditions. At the House of Knowledge founded in Baghdad by the Abbasid caliph Mamun, scientists translated many texts from Sanskrit, Pahlavi or Old Persian, Greek and Syriac into Arabic, notably the great Sanskrit astronomical tables and Ptolemy's astronomical treatise, the Almagest. Muslim astronomers accepted the geometrical structure of the universe expounded by Ptolemy, in which the earth rests motionless near the center of a series of eight spheres, which encompass it, but then faced the problem of reconciling the theoretical model with Aristotelian physics and physical realities derived from observation. Some of the most impressive efforts to modify Ptolemaic theory were made at the observatory founded by Nasir al-Din Tusi in 1257 at Maragha in northwestern Iran and continued by his successors at Tabriz and Damascus. With the assistance of Chinese colleagues, Muslim astronomers worked out planetary models that depended solely on combinations of uniform circular motions. The astronomical tables compiled at Maragha served as a model for later Muslim astronomical efforts. The most famous imitator was the observatory founded in 1420 by the Timurid prince Ulughbeg at Samarkand in Central Asia, where the astronomer Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid al-Kashi worked out his own set of astronomical tables, with sections on diverse computations and eras, the knowledge of time, the course of the stars, and the position of the fixed stars. Essentially Ptolemaic, these tables have improved parameters and structure as well as additional material on the Chinese Uighur-calendar. They were widely admired and translated even as far away as England, where John Greaves, professor at Oxford, called attention to them in 1665."

===
Wow. If only your incredibly stupid generalization had any relevance to the actual history of science, and wasn't thus easily shown to be bullshiat, then it might be meaningful. People of varying religious commitments have made (and continue to make) remarkable contributions to science, medicine, engineering, economics and many forms of related knowledge. But I'm sure you'll apologize right away, right?

heap

2013-02-09 03:06:03 PM

muck4doo:
Organized non-stamp collectors?

if philatelist groups were advocating mandatory and tax payer funded stamp activities, why wouldn't it make sense for those who weren't into stamps to have a voice in the conversation?

again, i fully recognize that organization based on something people don't think is well into absurdville. but being a resident of absurdville doesn't stop any other group from having a voice or collective will, why should this be different?

muck4doo

2013-02-09 03:06:42 PM

cameroncrazy1984: thamike: Everything about organized atheism defeats the purpose of being an atheist.

I think you have atheism confused with anarchism. People can get together and talk about science while still being atheists.

No. One is a political belief, the other is a religious belief, and the other is a science belief. Certain politicians in the past have believed the they are mutual though. You don't want to dig there.

FloydA

2013-02-09 03:09:13 PM

Somacandra:

Wow. If only your incredibly stupid

Well that was helpful. Thank you for advancing the conversation in a useful and effective way.

muck4doo

2013-02-09 03:10:50 PM

heap: muck4doo:
Organized non-stamp collectors?

if philatelist groups were advocating mandatory and tax payer funded stamp activities, why wouldn't it make sense for those who weren't into stamps to have a voice in the conversation?

again, i fully recognize that organization based on something people don't think is well into absurdville. but being a resident of absurdville doesn't stop any other group from having a voice or collective will, why should this be different?

Because anti-absurdville tends to go in their own absurdville directions as well. Remember when that cross got stolen off the cemetery on some obscure California mountain?

Somacandra

2013-02-09 03:12:09 PM

thamike: Everything about organized atheism defeats the purpose of being an atheist.

Being an "atheist" has no purpose by definition. Modern Western Atheism has no content--its a concept entirely founded on negating a complete strawman of a Protestant concept of religion. If instead you're going to talk about Humanism or an actual ethos of some kind, then social and ethical organizations have long been part of this tradition in Europe and the United States. Atheism does not mean non-religious: many Buddhists and Jains are 'atheists' but are nonetheless quite religious people.

Displayed 50 of 403 comments

Oldest | « | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | » | Newest | Show all

View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest

Redisplay/refresh comments

This thread is archived, and closed to new comments.

If you like these links, you'll love

All the submissions, none of the calories.

learn more | sign up

Report

Advertise on Fark

learn more

Like Fark!

Follow @Fark On Twitter

Headlines of the Week
Fark NotNewsletter

Report

Fark.com

Top Commented

Top Commented ▼

Top Commented
Top Clicked
Top Voted
My Recent Commented
Recent Mentions

Javascript is required to view headlines in widget.

Links are submitted by members of the Fark community.
When community members submit a link, they also write a custom headline for the story.
Other Farkers comment on the links. This is the number of comments. Click here to read them.
You need to create an account to submit links or post comments.
Click here to submit a link.