"I wouldn't even entertain that question because there's too much proof from the Bible," says Robert Fitzpatrick, who spent $140,000 advertising the coming apocalypse, when asked whether he had any doubts that the world would end today.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/21/us-apocalypse-prediction-idUSTRE74I3KS20110521

Top story on Google News.

This thread was created to make fun of religious people.

5/21/2011 3:15:51 PM

ibtl

5/21/2011 3:25:30 PM

Let's just neglect the fact that 99.9% of "religious people" don't think the world is going to end today.

5/21/2011 3:30:54 PM

But their belief that this occurrence will happen someday is no less deserving of ridicule.

5/21/2011 4:52:54 PM

Quote :

"Let's just neglect the fact that 99.9% of "religious people" don't think the world is going to end today."

Okay we'll focus on the fact that 100% of "religious people" are fucking idiots.

5/21/2011 5:01:29 PM

...on the subject of justifiable belief.

5/21/2011 5:10:36 PM

I am 100% certain this world will end eventually, though possibly not until the sun gobbles it up.

5/21/2011 5:13:46 PM

I was being facetious, obviously. Though I'm not sure why belief in the last book of the New Testament is any sillier than belief in the first four.

5/21/2011 5:14:12 PM

By this occurrence I meant the Rapture, not the inevitable physical restructuring of our planet.

5/21/2011 5:18:36 PM

asshole spent 140 large? whose money is that?

regardless, he is going to burn in hell (he should know about hell) for wasting so much money which could have been spent on poor people and children.

5/21/2011 5:22:14 PM

He got a lot of donations.

Although, if he really believed what he was saying he would have tried to get a loan.

5/21/2011 6:23:35 PM

Getting a loan would require him to lie and promise to re-pay, which if he was in heaven he could not do.

5/21/2011 6:26:10 PM

Not necessarily. If he had stipulated the purpose of the loan then the potential not to repay would be implicit.

Of course, he wouldn't be getting such a loan from any sane bank, so I guess it's a moot point.

5/21/2011 6:28:17 PM

You guys haven't been listening. Today is the RAPTURE. The world doesn't end until October.

Every true believer has been raptured already today. Everyone still here is one of the condemned.

5/21/2011 6:29:03 PM

He owns/runs a multi-million dollar nonprofit organization.

Can you not see the oxymoron presented?$$$?

It doesn't matter if he is wrong or right.

MORE PUBLICITY =
1. MORE LEGACY
2. MORE DONATIONS (free money he gets from stupid fucks)
3. MORE AD REVENUE (he gets to charge higher prices for commercials with high listener/high viewer rates)


It's all about the Benjamins, baby.

[Edited on May 21, 2011 at 10:51 PM. Reason : .]

5/21/2011 10:50:34 PM

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/22/c_13887331.Iceland's most active volcano erupting

5/21/2011 11:15:09 PM

I wouldn't even entertain that question because there's too much little proof from the Bible

Fixed that guy's quote.

5/21/2011 11:52:43 PM

It's not even going to be as bad as the eruption from last year (at least from what I read).

Personally, I like to think God decided to trigger that one just to mess with the heads of some fundies. Make'm think they just didn't make the cut.

5/21/2011 11:54:17 PM

this guy is probably working for the Devil to try and discredit all Xtians.

5/22/2011 1:36:51 AM

Harold Camping Lost the Gospel, Christ, Say Theologian

Quote :

""Choosing a date is foolish in my judgment," Godfrey stated. "But it's not inherently heretical or calamitous by itself. "

- http://www.christianpost.com/news/harold-camping-lost-the-gospel-christ-say-theologian-50348/

0.o

5/22/2011 2:03:04 AM

This time it was Grimsvotn: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/world/2011/05/21/18178301.html

5/22/2011 2:05:23 AM

I suspect showing signs of the imminent apocalypse would defeat the purpose: people would believe because of the evidence building around them, not because they believe, and God has certainly shown that is just not how he roles. As such, evidence of an impending apocalypse is proof their won't be one.

5/22/2011 8:48:51 AM

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36

5/22/2011 10:13:56 AM

Just out of curiosity, do the religion-haters in this thread simply believe that Christianity is full of shit, or that there is simply no "God" or "god" or creator whatsoever?

5/22/2011 10:36:12 AM

some of them think that if there were no religion there would be no bad things like hating homosexuals

5/22/2011 10:43:07 AM

5/22/2011 10:50:07 AM

Quote :

"Just out of curiosity, do the religion-haters in this thread simply believe that Christianity is full of shit, or that there is simply no "God" or "god" or creator whatsoever?"

Yes, yes, and yes.

Quote :

"some of them think that if there were no religion there would be no bad things like hating homosexuals"

Something can exist that has a negative impact on humanity without being the only thing that has a negative impact on humanity.

5/22/2011 11:01:10 AM

Yeah, but some posters on this board have made the claim that religion is the reason there is hate towards homosexuals. Im pretty sure you were one of the posters who attacked me when I pointed out there were other reasons people had problems with it and hate would still exist outside religion.

5/22/2011 11:32:28 AM

What reasons exist to hate homosexual outside of religion?

5/22/2011 11:36:43 AM

Religion is used to make sense of things and I don't think the start of the universe will ever make sense without a creator.

5/22/2011 11:40:28 AM

^^ same reason people have used to hate other people throughout the history of humanity: they're different.

[Edited on May 22, 2011 at 11:43 AM. Reason : .]

5/22/2011 11:43:23 AM

Then how are we to explain the creator? How will the creator make sense without another creator who created the creator?

5/22/2011 11:43:54 AM

Quote :

"^^ same reason people have used to hate other people throughout the history of humanity: they're different."

Please. Not wanting people to have equal rights has nothing to do with "they're different."

Quote :

"Religion is used to make sense of things and I don't think the start of the universe will ever make sense without a creator. "

It's interesting how you use the term "make sense" when adding a creator to the start of the universe raises more questions than before and explains absolutely nothing. ETT touches on this.

5/22/2011 12:08:11 PM

eh… i used to be anti-gay without using religion as my reason. It can happen. Flamboyantly gay people are weird, and being attracted to guys when you’re a guy is weird.

5/22/2011 12:36:01 PM

Disliking someone and feeling you have justification to prevent them for having equal rights as you are two entirely different things.

5/22/2011 12:39:47 PM

So restrictions based on race have always been about religion too?

5/22/2011 1:08:12 PM

and just to be clear, so i understand your position, you are claiming that morality is not dependent on god or religion (which I and most reasonable people agree with) but deciding that something violates your sense of morality is entirely based on religion? is that correct?

and in your position you are completely ignoring non-religious people or people who identify as religious as more of a cultural identifier and don't care much about ideologies who disagree with homosexuality?

and then how do you explain religious people and groups who are outspoken proponents of gay rights? (such as myself, various christian student groups on campus, pullen memorial baptist, various lobbying groups within the presbyterian church, etc...)?

and when looking at polls about support of gay marriage how do you explain stuff like this:

(image extracted from http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1755/poll-gay-marriage-gains-acceptance-gays-in-the-military . Full table at link)

Are the athiests and agnostics opposed to gay marriage just Christians in disguise?

There are no good reasons to oppose equal rights, and yet throughout history people continue to find ways to do it. If you are going to blame it all on religion you are going to have to work through these things.

[Edited on May 22, 2011 at 1:26 PM. Reason : image fail]

5/22/2011 1:26:13 PM

Quote :

"What reasons exist to hate homosexual outside of religion?"

Ask the congressmen who constantly disparage gay parenting rights, gay marraige, gay immigration, discussing homosexuality in schools, etc. They rarely mention religion.

Blaming religion for people being dumb is like blaming the cliff for killing the lemming.

5/22/2011 1:34:50 PM

this thread got kinda gay

5/22/2011 2:08:57 PM

Quote :

"Jesus H Christ"

5/22/2011 9:06:05 PM

Quote :

"Ask the congressmen who constantly disparage gay parenting rights, gay marraige, gay immigration, discussing homosexuality in schools, etc. They rarely mention religion. Blaming religion for people being dumb is like blaming the cliff for killing the lemming."

Because I've never seen anyone try to obfuscate the reasoning for anything negative away from religion before.

5/23/2011 8:57:53 AM

did you skip my posts on purpose?

5/23/2011 12:44:38 PM

No, I didn't.

There could be 5 billion homophobic atheists but nowhere is there an atheist doctrine condemning homosexuality.

Quote :

"but deciding that something violates your sense of morality is entirely based on religion? is that correct?"

No, never have I claimed one's sense of morality is based entirely on religion. In fact, if you've paid attention to my posts on this board I'm convinced that morality pre-dates religion and religious dogma is a reflection of human morality thousands of years ago, not morality itself.

Quote :

"and in your position you are completely ignoring non-religious people or people who identify as religious as more of a cultural identifier and don't care much about ideologies who disagree with homosexuality? and then how do you explain religious people and groups who are outspoken proponents of gay rights? (such as myself, various christian student groups on campus, pullen memorial baptist, various lobbying groups within the presbyterian church, etc...)? "

Well, since that isn't my position I'm not completely ignoring anyone. There are plenty of Christians who aren't mindless fucks and can realize that bigotry is wrong despite what's written in their Bible. That's a beef that atheists have with modern Christians. Cherry-picking to reconcile their beliefs with their morality.

Quote :

"There are no good reasons to oppose equal rights, and yet throughout history people continue to find ways to do it. If you are going to blame it all on religion you are going to have to work through these things."

I'm not a Christian yet I still say "God-bless you" when someone sneezes. Behaviors and prejudices do not just go away when one loses their religion, and behaviors and prejudices are often passed down from parents to children irrespective of what they currently identify themselves as to a poll.

Invariably however, when you research the reasoning behind modern anti-gay legislation it always goes back to a Christian or Jewish group. It's not a stretch by any reasonable definition to suggest that Christianity in America is the main opposing force to equal rights for homosexuals and any number of atheist bigots you can pull up in a poll doesn't invalidate it in the least.

Your problem is that you've concluded that we're speaking in absolutes. That religion is the "only reason anything bad ever happens in this world" is our claim. It simply is not. Religion sucks, and a lot of other things suck too.

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 12:59 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2011 12:59:15 PM

Quote :

"There could be 5 billion homophobic atheists but nowhere is there an atheist doctrine condemning homosexuality."

As long as you acknowledge that hate, and hate towards homosexuals, would exist in society absent religion.

Quote :

"That religion is the "only reason anything bad ever happens in this world" is our claim. It simply is not. Religion sucks, and a lot of other things suck too."

Well about this issue, and other similar issues, there are some people, some people on this board, even in this thread if that wasn't a troll post, who make that claim.

And actually I just re-read your post. You are even making that claim, saying that if you trace it too its roots its because of Christianity. So what is it then, man?

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 1:25 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2011 1:23:45 PM

I think that absent religion, it would be much easier to convince people that it would be unwarranted and that it would be easier to work toward a world in which it no longer exists. I think that anyone who identifies as "atheist" and yet still would agree to anti-homosexual marriage legislature simply hasn't thought about it critically or hasn't been presented with a sound argument.

I don't think the world would magically become utopia overnight if religion were gone. I do think it would be a much better place today if it had never existed. (even acknowledging the formative effects that it has had on Western Civilization, before Grumpy or Duke come in and try to be cute).

Quote :

"And actually I just re-read your post. You are even making that claim, saying that if you trace it too its roots its because of Christianity. So what is it then, man?"

If you actually read my post, I said, in modern America, anti-gay legislation is primarily powered by Christian and Jewish groups.

5/23/2011 1:32:18 PM

so now your claim is that absent religion, people can reason away their hate?

5/23/2011 1:34:58 PM

Present religion, people can reason away their hate! Absent religion, it would be easier.

5/23/2011 1:42:19 PM

do you agree that hate is a non-logical part of the human experience?

5/23/2011 1:55:15 PM

Quote :

"I think that absent religion, it would be much easier to convince people that it would be unwarranted and that it would be easier to work toward a world in which it no longer exists."

Nice little religioun you have there. However, the tenets seem a little too far fetched for non-believers to believe. Seriously, a bunch of made up labels from thousands of years ago are the only reason people consistently hate other people? Such a belief seems more far fetched than a flying spaghetti monster.

^ I'd disagree. Hate can sometimes be quite logical.

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 2:02 PM. Reason : .,.]

5/23/2011 2:00:47 PM

Quote :

"Nice little religioun you have there. However, the tenets seem a little too far fetched for non-believers to believe. Seriously, a bunch of made up labels from thousands of years ago are the only reason people consistently hate other people? Such a belief seems more far fetched than a flying spaghetti monster."

Words in my mouth. "Easier to convince" doesn't mean "only reason people consistently hate".

Quote :

"do you agree that hate is a non-logical part of the human experience?"

No, but I think the desire to have some people have different rights than other people is a non-logical part of human experience.

[Edited on May 23, 2011 at 2:03 PM. Reason : .]

5/23/2011 2:02:56 PM