Copping out (i.e. Coming out of another closet)

[Brianna]

Dear Nikki,

I could not agree with your post more. I think generally speaking, that the threads on this forum lean heavily twords the endorsement of religion, and Christianity especially. And I sometimes feel like views that question Christian propeganda, ie "Christians generally love," are met with anger and hostility.

HOWEVER...

The most wondorous thing about estrogen, in my opinion, is that it makes you understand that even when you don't agree with someone - you should respect them. I also think, generally speaking, most transsexual M2F posters here share this value. I think most of us come from the same basic point of agreement - Christian mysticism should be allowed as private expression, but the social dangers are very real.

In any case. This is a great forum, and in my opinion, one of the great things about the Susan's staff is the diversity of our viewpoint. Do you need a Christian ->-bleeped-<-? We've got them. Do you need a F2M with worldly wisdom? Do you need an agnostic, M2F, snarkalicious IRCop Babe? I'm your gal friday.

Welcome to Susans.
Bri

[VeryGnawty]

Religion is like blind men trying to describe an elephant.  The blind engineer feels the elephant's trunk and says the elephant is long and strong.  The blind philosopher feels the elephant's leg and claims the elephant is big and wide.  The blind scientist feels the elephant's tail and says the elephant is thin and hairy.

Everyone has a small piece of the truth.  Will we bicker and argue over whose interpretation is the best?  Or will we combine our knowledge to reach true enlightenment?

[beatrix]

Uhh, sorry I started all of this.  I go away for a few days and come back and there's a lot of stuff being thrown about, and, it's kind of hard to read all of it in the 15-20 minutes I have alone in the morning during the week to really read Susan's, but I read the first couple pages and I appreciate the advise people have given.  I have a feeling that there is nothing relevant to my post further on.

I didn't get a chance to have lunch with them last week because of a meeting and some money problems for me. 

It's not so much the music as the tacit assumption that everyone is the same.  And, even in this community. where we share at least something (being transgender or a supporter thereof or whatever we want to call ourselves), we can see how divisive our opinions can be.

On to the argument and back again.

It was not the goal to start some religious battle here.  Chances are, none of us are going to convince any of us to change our minds about the subject.  There are apologetics boards all over the 'net for that specifically.  I frequent one or two on rare occasions; maybe I'll see you there.

Like some other minorities, there is a lot of anxiety and nervousness about being an atheist; this is really something that no one knows unless you tell them.  Atheists like myself do not even have behavior patterns that belie that I don't believe.  I just stay in on Sunday, and I vote accordingly, too (Guns & Dope Party '08!). 

My complete lack of respect for theistic beliefs does not translate to a lack of respect for theistic believers.  Despite that I think religion harms a world as connected as we are, I can no more say that all theists are _______ than I can say all ________ are ________.  Get it? 

Stereotypes are stupid (forgive that irony, there) which do not really lead to more knowledge.  Which leads us back to the "we're all christians here" statement.

I just felt kind of alone and was looking for a variety of support here that I know I would not get on an apologetics board.  They would just join in the religion bashing, which is fun sometimes, but not really what I'm looking for now.

Anyway, thanks.

d/b

[Nero]

Granted I'm new but if this thread is typical of religious views on this site it's very skewed to intolerance of atheists.

Exactly, you are new to this site, so you have no way of knowing that the views here tend to lean the other way. I have as much right to defend my beliefs as anyone, mod or no. If someone makes a statement attacking the core of my beliefs, I challenge that statement. I never attack other's beliefs, or make statements about aspects of their religion, claiming to 'know' that the core of their beliefs is wrong.
And yes, it is prudent when stating any opinion, concerning religion or anything else, to use words such as 'opinion' or 'belief', and not simply state something is so.
All religions are welcome here, (yes, including atheism ), so stick around.

[Suzy]

Nero is right.  The topics are more often skewed the other way.  But that's OK, it doesn't deter me.

Look forward to more of your posts.

Kristi

[chunk]

We all got to in the missionary's car for an off-the-clock and off-site lunch and he had some Christian "rock" playing.  Someone else in the group, not the missionary person, said, "Well, we're all Christians in this car, right."

I zoned out.  Instantly.  Before I knew what I was even doing I was gone.  Not even there.  You could have poked me and I would have maybe, just maybe, grunted.  Pure fear and cowardice.  You figure: I drive a car with a Darwin fish on it . . . but I still freeze.

I guess I have to agree with you on the fear and cowardice. I see it as you were being asked if you were Christian in the vehicle. There could have been many reasons why that was asked. Perhaps it was to make sure everyone was comfortable with the music. Or future conversation.

You could have said no. Your silence was read as a yes. You could have said no, and I prefer to keep my religious beliefs private. But you stayed silent.

There's a wide range of responses between no and yes. There is potential for peace even within disagreements. They may be shocked to learn that your not Christian, but I doubt it.

I always politely tell people I am not Christian, I do not celebrate Christmas, I do not believe Jesus was the son of God. I do not bring it up. I merely honestly answer and then politely request they move on. I never ask someone about their spirituality, but I will not let them assume something about me that isn't true. Feels better that way. 

Chunk.