NationStates Jolt Archive

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot?

hey! i no longer smoke pot...

makes sense, I could ditch the foreward :P

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Fair enough, but it doesn't really tell help anyone determine what the 'best' means (and it carries the hidden assumption that some kind of ethical responsibility exists to the world and the self).

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Fair enough, but it doesn't really tell help anyone determine what the 'best' means (and it carries the hidden assumption that some kind of ethical responsibility exists to the world and the self).Best: Whatever makes you and your neighbors/firends/family happiest.

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

What makes you think we don't already?

Best: Whatever makes you and your neighbors/firends/family happiest.

Epicureanism, eh?

This being why I respect the atheist/agnostic stance more than any other. We must deal with the fact every day that there is nothing beyond this life. And we must create our own morals and then make ourselves follow them. It can be hard at times.

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

What if I sincerely believe in burning witches and heretics?
Or child marriage and polygamy?
Or human sacrifice?

I'm afraid your "mum and apple pie" statement is meaningless.

Best: Whatever makes you and your neighbors/firends/family happiest.

Good advice. I think I'll go steal myself a new car. That sure would make me happy. And my friends sure would like a ride in my brand new Dodge Viper.

Why is this message of goodwill only directed at atheists, agnostics, and pagans? Are Christians, Muslims, and Jews not encouraged to be the best person they can be?

Why is this message of goodwill only directed at atheists, agnostics, and pagans? Are Christians, Muslims, and Jews not encouraged to be the best person they can be?God handles that for them by acting as the Big Spanky Monster who beats you if you get out of line.

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

What if I sincerely believe in burning witches and heretics?
Or child marriage and polygamy?
Or human sacrifice?

I'm afraid your "mum and apple pie" statement is meaningless.How on Earth do those things make you the best person you can be to the world?

You are totally misreading my message

Why is this message of goodwill only directed at atheists, agnostics, and pagans? Are Christians, Muslims, and Jews not encouraged to be the best person they can be?Because I would expect their religion already teaches this.

If not, then this message is for them

heck, it's for everyone

Why is this message of goodwill only directed at atheists, agnostics, and pagans? Are Christians, Muslims, and Jews not encouraged to be the best person they can be?God handles that for them by acting as the Big Spanky Monster who beats you if you get out of line.

Oh, so they're all forced to be the best person they can be out of fear of reprisal?

agreed*** best according to your own personal idea and of course you will have what you learned thru living and what your parents imparted upon you.

We should always evaluate ourselves and our beliefs

Sorry CapCorp, but that was probably not the best thought-out statement you could make. First, you fail to define what makes someone the "best" they could be. (Smeagol-Gollum and Sdaeriji addressed this) Second, by singling out Atheists, Agnostics, and Pagans, you imply that we don't already do this (though you kinda fixed that just now). Finally, that's such a fantastically vague statement, it's hardly worth noting. Good try though.

Good thing he pointed that out to me. I was totally ready to just go on a killing spree, but thankfully Raysia pointed out that, as an atheist, I should aspire to be the best person I could be. Thank you for your faith in me, Raysia! I never would have been able to become all that I am today without those kind words.

Actually, I have a message for people of all religions:

You must follow the Invisible Pink Pony and Jeff, the Son of Pony, or you shall forever be tormented in the Pit of the Insignificant White Rabbit, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Come unto the Pony today, and be baptized in the name of the Pony, Jeff Son of Pony, and Some Other Thing.

That's a better message than CapCorp's, IMHO.

Why is this message of goodwill only directed at atheists, agnostics, and pagans? Are Christians, Muslims, and Jews not encouraged to be the best person they can be?God handles that for them by acting as the Big Spanky Monster who beats you if you get out of line.

Oh, so they're all forced to be the best person they can be out of fear of reprisal?Well, the Jewish god has become less vengeful over the last coupleof thousand years, so there's less to worry about with Him, but the other two religions are young by comparison with, say, the Buddhists or the Hindus, so their Gods are still into the "spank you if you're bad" and "we're the only right one" point of view. There are individual sects that are maturing beyond that point of view--the Unitarians come to mind--but the majority of Christian and Muslim sects pretty much follow that motif.

Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

What if I sincerely believe in burning witches and heretics?
Or child marriage and polygamy?
Or human sacrifice?

I'm afraid your "mum and apple pie" statement is meaningless.How on Earth do those things make you the best person you can be to the world?

You are totally misreading my message

I do not consider that to act in such a way would make you the best person in the world.

The point I am intending to make is that those who did so sincerely believed that they were carrying out the will of their God, and that even by killing those opposed to them, they were in fact "saving" them. Religious belief can be a dangerous thing.

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

Insightful. Got any more wisdom you'd like to impart upon us?

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

Insightful. Got any more wisdom you'd like to impart upon us?Got anymore pathetic attempts at sarcasim and wit to give yourself an overinflated sense of worth or knowledge?

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

Insightful. Got any more wisdom you'd like to impart upon us?Got anymore pathetic attempts at sarcasim and wit to give yourself an overinflated sense of worth or knowledge?
Sure.

Would you care to actually like to say why you disagree with what Anathestia said rather than resorting to a 5-year old's method of winning an argument?

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

Insightful. Got any more wisdom you'd like to impart upon us?Got anymore pathetic attempts at sarcasim and wit to give yourself an overinflated sense of worth or knowledge?
Sure.

Would you care to actually like to say why you disagree with what Anathestia said rather than resorting to a 5-year old's method of winning an argument?I refuse to validate his trype with debate and I question the standards of your society if five year olds use the phrase "shut up".

Is it hot in here?

Or is something BURNING?

Is it hot in here?

Or is something BURNING?Nice implication of flmaing there. You truly are the master of the painfully obvious.

I refuse to validate his trype with debate and I question the standards of your society if five year olds use the phrase "shut up".

1. Tripe. Not trype. No point, just being an ass.
2. You asked me if I had "any more[sic] pathetic attempts at sarcasm[sic] and wit", and I obliged.
3. Besides the fact that plenty of 5-year olds use "shut up" (thank the media), the real point was that it was an immature and evasive way of disagreeing with what was said, rather than actually debating the comments made with any merit.

I have a simple message for you all.

If you have a hard time believing God's message, or that there even is a God, then please, just believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world.

Why don't you just generalize your statement and say, "Believe in whatever encourages you to be the best person you can be, to you and the world"? It would seem to be a fairly safe statement if you just generalized it and would even be sort of inspirational. Something you could put on a bumper sticker or use to promote a non-profit charity or a political candidate.

What do you assume of atheists? That we're out late at night tricking your sons into having homosexual relations with Catholic priests while sacrificing babies and smoking pot? I don't think I need to run a psychological or sociological study to show that most non-deviant people tend to follow the generalized form of your statement above.Oh shut up.

Insightful. Got any more wisdom you'd like to impart upon us?Got anymore pathetic attempts at sarcasim and wit to give yourself an overinflated sense of worth or knowledge?
Sure.

Would you care to actually like to say why you disagree with what Anathestia said rather than resorting to a 5-year old's method of winning an argument?I refuse to validate his trype with debate and I question the standards of your society if five year olds use the phrase "shut up".

1. Tripe. Not trype. No point, just being an ass.
2. You asked me if I had "any more[sic] pathetic attempts at sarcasm[sic] and wit", and I obliged.
3. Besides the fact that plenty of 5-year olds use "shut up" (thank the media), the real point was that it was an immature and evasive way of disagreeing with what was said, rather than actually debating the comments made with any merit.
1. I really couldn't care, just think yourself lucky I'm hitting the keys without my glasses.
2 (a) Those spelling mistakes were corrected, but thank you for pointing out the completely irrelivent to your arguement.
(b) You forgot the rest of my quote, I think the people deserve to seeit.
3. Which only furthers Raysia's point, my entire family is either Catholic or Moravian (Lutheran) and not one five year old would dare use it.

Getting away from the giant quote pyramid of insults, I feel that while Capsule Corp.'s message was pleasant and inoccous enough, the fact that the message is directed at Athiests, Agnostics and Pagans in the subject title, is divisive at best. Yes, I did read where this was commented upon and ammended, however, why was it considered necessary to direct a message specifically to these three groups initially? Therein lies the crux of the "religious problem" many non-mainstream faiths face daily.
Pagan has come to encompass a huge number of seperate faiths, that by virtue of being non-Judeo-Christian in origin are either considered "cults" or dismissed as "Pagan". We are constantantly faced with a barrage of well meaning but misinformed people attempting to "improve" us with their advice.

Sorry if I rant... it's late here. (Or extreemly early depending on your point of view), And I've had to deal with a pack of well meaning Jehova's Witnesses trying to "save" me earlier today. I don't need to find God, I never lost her.