NEWS: Being Straight Just Isn't Enough Anymore

I did four years in the Marine Corps, I am agnostic, or something close to it. I know I don't believe in god, I got a lot of crap for that. Every three months we would get a sexual harassment and equal oppertunity breif. They would always claim that you will never be discriminated against for age, skin color, sex, or religeous beliefs. I know first hand, and my dear friend who has departed this world, and this Hall kid knows, that is a big line of crap....

Side note, when you get your dog tags made up, they ask for you religeous preference. If you tell them athiest, they refuse to put it, they just write down "no pref".

generally, it's sad to say, atheists don't actually need to construct straw-god arguments, because just about any crazy religious belief you can make up out of thin air is actually held by real people. a very small number of people, but enough that someone can generally point at them and say "see? this is what people of religion X believe, and that's why religion X is bad/wrong/stupid/evil." the church i was raised in believes that it's sinful to play musical instruments because of a verse in the bible that says something about 'the music of your hearts', and hearts can't play musical instruments--or so the argument goes. i really wish i were kidding.

Well, yes, that sort of thing is silly. But what I meant is basic, core beliefs. Like the whole idea that God is simultaneously omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. In this world? C'mon.

the idea that god can't be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent, based on how terrible our world is, hinges on the idea that god thinks humans' souls would be better off if everyone were perpetually happy. drill instructors at boot camp aren't malevolent--far from it, they exhaust themselves caring about their soldiers' welfare. that doesn't mean they coddle their soldiers.

sorry. as i said, i'm agnostic--but being dragged to church for my entire childhood, and then shipped off to a christian college, left me with a pretty solid grasp on theory. i can out-argue most christians i've met on biblical subjects.

actually, though, now that i think about it, painting all adherents of religion X with the brush of that religion's minor sects happens quite frequently even with core beliefs. for instance, a lot of people think--or at least, act as though they think--that all muslims are extremist terrorists. likewise, dickheads like the late Falwell give christianity a bad name despite the large number of christians who would prefer to distance themselves from his hatemongering.

I served 7 years as an atheist, never had any problems, even had it stamped on my dog tags, knew a few others too

My favorite line:

"Are you really an atheist?"

Me: "Swear to God"

I get the notion that trials and tribulations are meant to be "good for us" somehow, but I balk at applying that line of reasoning to, e.g., the Holocaust. To me, a God that thinks something like that builds character or whatever it is is a God that should be resisted with every fiber of one's being, not worshipped.

it's not necessarily that they're 'good for you', it's that they're irrelevant in terms of what you deserve as a reward/punishment for the life you've led or are leading. what happens to you is not of import, only what you do and who you choose to be. you can see this in the story of Job. Job was a good man from the get-go, the example that god himself held up as the best humanity had to offer. god didn't hesitate for a second to let the accuser completely wreck Job's shit for the sole purpose of proving that Job really was as nice a guy as god said he was.

to go by a strict reading of the bible, nobody gets what they deserve in this life--and that includes deserving to not die horribly in a gas chamber with six million other guys who share your faith, after months or years of sadistic, systematic abuse.

And I have a really really fucking hard time reconciling that notion with omnibenevolence.

But, y'know, whatever. It's not like I believe any of it.

haha, yeah. me either.

As long as an individual wants to join the military and fight, then all the power to them. Soldiers should get absolute respect for what they do. The sex, race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and any other personal areas should not matter at all. What should matter more than anything, is the person's willingness to risk their life to fight.
I believe that it is your actions that speak for you, and your own personal beliefs which may help guide said actions.
It makes me sad that this guy was discriminated against in this way, regardless of the fact that he was doing a perfectly fine job before everyone found out that he was an atheist.

Nationality?
Which side they're on?

"And also, I'm the teacher. Welcome to the Land of Fail. F!"

That one I have used (not those words, but that idea) under different circumstances. A different student was arguing with me on something, I think the death penalty. Class was over and he said "Well, I'm right, so I win." And I responded with "I'm the teacher, and I always win."

Not the greatest line, but it got the idea across.

So i suppose if they're a draft, as long as we don't believe in God we're straight?

What?

I mean, by this logic, if there was a draft, i guess you could claim that you didn't qualify since you were an atheist. Kind of like how in the sixties, people tried to get out by pretending to be gay.