Give me a good reason for not leaving RF

[F1fan]

As most if not all already know, i do not have anything against Atheists who want to discuss,but to be brutally honest, all the negativity toward God or other deities that are spoken about in RF, It has come to a point where i no longer feel a need to defend my own belief, and when this is spoken about in threads, this become seen as negative. Maybe it is no fun for people to not discuss the same topic about God vs No God anymore when the believer stop defending their belief.?

First, I think you are confusing criticism of belief in gods with negativity towards God, as if God is something atheists think exist. Is it even the God you believe in?

I think illustrates how you are taking a lot of this engagement personally and not seeing debate as about ideas.

 

[We Never Know]

That's kind of how Debates usually work though - trying to require the best proof from the other side, and also sometimes challenging it.

There is no evidence showing a god does or does not exist. Demanding evidence that doesn't exist isn't logical.

At best one can say my belief is based on faith and by that I believe a god does exist.
The other can say I don't have a belief based on faith and by that I don't accept a god does exist.

Neither is wrong.

 

[Brickjectivity]

honest reason

I cannot justify any of us being here. I can't justify my visits, however I will attempt an argument for you.

My argument is this: we take up space and have mass, so we must to be somewhere at all times. Since we must be somewhere and RF is a place to be it satisfies the need to be somewhere.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Right now i am in a time of pondering what RF really mean to me, of course all the good discussion with friendly outcome is a pleasant excange, and i have some very good friends in here, And this is keeping me in RF right now.

As most if not all already know, i do not have anything against Atheists who want to discuss,but to be brutally honest, all the negativity toward God or other deities that are spoken about in RF, It has come to a point where i no longer feel a need to defend my own belief, and when this is spoken about in threads, this become seen as negative. Maybe it is no fun for people to not discuss the same topic about God vs No God anymore when the believer stop defending their belief.?

To me RF has been a free area where i can speak openly and with no worries, but this is no longer how i see it.
It is more of a pain to come in to RF this days. and RF has become more and more boring place to be.

So please give me a honest reason why I should stay.

My suggestion would be to take time off from RF. I have done so on a few occasions (currently doing so now for the most part) because I often question the purpose it has in my life, and I am on the opposite side of the religious spectrum to you (non-religious in fact).

I would say that the biggest problem I have on RF is the repetitiveness of posts. It is as if people don't listen to each other. I mean how many times must we have a post about the validity of the Trinity, the various generic topics about atheism etc.? I guess though that those repetitive topics are a part of different people's spiritual journeys. But, I also realize that I could contribute to fixing that problem by posting my own threads and following through with them, but that also feels like a chore, so I rarely do it.

Sometimes one needs to take a step back, reflect over some stuff, overcome the negativity, and then make a conclusive decision.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm planning a lengthy series of long winded threads on the correct maintenacnce of toenails. You really don't want to miss that. Could be generation-defining literature.

Also, I've just (as in right this second) elected myself as King of the Atheists. If any atheists step out of line send them to me. I'll put them on toilet cleaning duties for the next decade.

Just don't let them unclog the toilets.
That's my job!

 

[We Never Know]

I'm planning a lengthy series of long winded threads on the correct maintenacnce of toenails. You really don't want to miss that. Could be generation-defining literature.

Also, I've just (as in right this second) elected myself as King of the Atheists. If any atheists step out of line send them to me. I'll put them on toilet cleaning duties for the next decade.

 

[metis]

So please give me a honest reason why I should stay.

Consider it your role to be speaking the Truth as you see it and then let others react the way they want to react without you taking it personally. Unfortunately, I don't always do that myself as I'm quite an emotional person, which is just one of many character flaws.

 

[Brian2]

I'm planning a lengthy series of long winded threads on the correct maintenacnce of toenails. You really don't want to miss that. Could be generation-defining literature.

Also, I've just (as in right this second) elected myself as King of the Atheists. If any atheists step out of line send them to me. I'll put them on toilet cleaning duties for the next decade.

I can't wait to see how to correctly maintain my toenails.

When my daughter was young and I was cutting her nails she thought it was magic when the piece of nail that was cut off flew away and seemed to disappear.

 

[SigurdReginson]

There have been times in the past where I have taken breaks. There have even been times when I've quit, forgotten what username I was using, and just created a new one altogether (especially since who I was as a person had changed so much). If this place is becoming a realm of negativity for you, taking a step back isn't a bad idea.

That said, as everyone here has already stated, your presence would be missed! I suggest checking out RF's Discord server. That's one way you could stay connected to RF while still taking a step back, if that's what you wanted.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I'm not sure if this is helpful advice, but I noticed that RF has a theist-only Private Forum to discuss things as well:

Did You Know We Have Private Forums?

I don't know anything about it. Just that if you decide you want to join one of the Private Boards, it takes an admin to let you in.

 

[Brian2]

First, I think you are confusing criticism of belief in gods with negativity towards God, as if God is something atheists think exist. Is it even the God you believe in?

I think illustrates how you are taking a lot of this engagement personally and not seeing debate as about ideas.

All the people who have replied to your question should be a positive reason to stay but I know it can seem very negative at times and even if it may not be meant as an attack on you faith, it can have the a negative effect and that can build up over time.
It is interesting that the main way that atheists can justify their position (if that is what they want to do) is to attack the beliefs of theists. That is all they have since, as they say, it is impossible to show the non existence of God.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

You'll miss out on @Geoff-Allen cool threads

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I felt it useful to show the definition of a Debate in case Conscious Thought's problems are mostly in the Debate boards:

View attachment 53594

Most of us tend to argue and call it debate

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Most of us tend to argue and call it debate

That's what debate is, to me. Debate is argue. However formal debate, is arguing with rules. Informal debate on the other hand, is just arguing.

 

[PureX]

There is a version of atheism that acts as a kind of intellectual trap. Just as there is a version of theism that does the same thing. When people fall into this self-assumed trap, they cannot see that they have done so. They can only see that they must be right, and every other viewpoint must therefor be wrong. They no longer discuss to teach, or to learn, but instead, only to be 'right'. And such a discussion isn't really even a discussion because this kind of intellectual trap closes the mind. And such a person only listens to others with the intent to dismiss and discredit any observation or reasoning they offer. There is no sharing of information, or ideas. There is only constant negation.

I think what you might want to do is to try and learn to spot this sort of negating non-conversation when it occurs, and to simply disengage when it does. It might feel a little rude, but it's certainly no more rude than what the other person is trying to do to you. And anyway, you aren't going to change a closed mind, or be changed by one. So what's the point in continuing?

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

That's what debate is, to me. Debate is argue. However formal debate, is arguing with rules.

Naw. Formal debate a topic is presented and both sides present credible arguments to support their idea or fact. The other states his to disprove the validity. It's not emotionally charged. So, if CT wanted to debate in this case he would present his proof to address the other person's argument.

An argument is emotionally charged. Both parties throw their opinion but they don't always support their views. It's usually an attack on the person not the idea.

So if CT were to debate he'd formally address the other person's ideas by supporting it with his own. It's a challenge that I think is healthy but depends on the person. But in an argument he would focus on the person "nonbelievers do X"...maybe he has a different idea of what the two means since they seem to overlap.

Just a thought, not a sermon.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Naw. Formal debate a topic is presented and both sides present credible arguments to support their idea or fact. The other states his to disprove the validity. It's not emotionally charged. So, if CT wanted to debate in this case he would present his proof to address the other person's argument.

An argument is emotionally charged. Both parties throw their opinion but they don't always support their views. It's usually an attack on the person not the idea.

So if CT were to debate he'd formally address the other person's ideas by supporting it with his own. It's a challenge that I think is healthy but depends on the person. But in am argument he would focus on the person "nonbelievers do X"...maybe he has a different idea of what the two means since they seem to overlap.

Just a thought, not a sermon.

That's interesting. You may be onto something.

 

[sun rise]

@Conscious thoughts , I can't give you a reason why you should stay. But I can say why I stay: humor threads.

There are days when I hardly post or read anything else. There's also times I get riled up and want to rant about politics. And occasionally there's an interesting thread about religion where a few people will actually engage in discussion rather than the proselytize their viewpoint.

Often, though, I see a thread OP and a few posts and know basically what everyone will post because the thread is a rerun of earlier threads.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

You'll miss out on @Geoff-Allen cool threads

I am pleased someone calls me "cool"

I would echo most of the sentiments in this thread - I enjoy reading Conscious Thoughts posts and I think he adds to the "feel'" of the place so why not hang around and just focus on the positives rather than any negativity there might be from time-to-time! Hard to get away from it even here at the forum.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

 

[JustGeorge]

Don't leave! You should stay because I enjoy your presence and your posts! I know that's not much of a reason... but still... it would make me sad.

There has been a time or two where I thought of leaving, for pretty much the exact same reason. Instead, I got pickier about what I clicked on or where I posted. If something's going to be a food fight, leave me out. That's not what I'm here for; I get enough of that offline.

Most of the time, I create posts in non-debate areas. If I make a post in an open area(like journals), I specify that I don't want to debate my point. It isn't that I have a problem with debate, I just don't have the energy or desire to defend or argue about every last thought I share. There's nothing wrong with debate, I'm just not interested. I came to a religious forum to share and learn about religion, not bicker and fight. So I try to stick as closely to that as I can.

Edit: Oh, and there are a few posters that I find so negative, simply ignoring will not do.... However, I don't want to engage with them... So I mentally fling poo at them. They don't know, but it makes me smile.