All I know for sure is that the universe was created somehow and I didn't do it. I believe this was posted sometime ago in this thread, but not by me. I could be wrong, however, I have not been proved wrong thus far.

Halx, you asked me to recount a time where I had my faith fulfilled. How about when I met a demon with my brother? My brother has seen (when I have felt) the presence of what most people call a "demon". We both were there, the wind felt, wrong somehow, and i could tell that there was something not right about the whole area, I could see this area like the absence of anything, hard to describe, but like there was no light or darkness, it was more or less like an empty hole; and it was stalking down the street. He told me to back up and go inside, much as you would slowly walk away from a wild animal. We both did so and once inside I asked him what he saw, all he would say was that I was lucky I could only see emptiness. He said he would not tell me what it looked like because he knew it would give him nightmares that night. And he said to me, "That, is what a demon feels like". I'll tell you, it felt like everything inside me rejected whatever that thing was.

Or how about being fulfilled in a good way, a time no one was there to experience it with me? The first time I talked, actually exchanged words with 'God', I asked, "Wassup?". Funniest thing is when he answered with, "I'd rather not make your head pop. Let's just say I'm doing stuff." I asked, "Stuff? What kind of all powerful being uses the word stuff?" To which he said, "Fine, how about things, does the word 'things' work for you?" I just laughed and said, "So the all powerful god is doing stuff and things, huh?" He answered, "Look, I could give you a whole listing of the myriad amount of things I am currently occupied with, and the part of you that is truly you would be able to take it; your physical body however, your mind in particular, would not be able to contain that amount of info. It would explode and everyone would say you'd have had a hemmorage in your brain. So shall we just stick with stuff and thing?" I was fine with that. Can I back this up? My mother has said that's what she gets from him when she asks what he's doing, though not in the same words. The words he uses with her are more like "important things".

The funniest thing is, both my brother and my brother are not what you would call religious. Neither go to curch, my brother doubts the existence of the things he sees, and my mother thinks that any of her ideas relating to a god are more on level with spiritualism than christianity.

That's it for now, I must go take (i.e. fail) a final on the Icelandic Sagas.

Atheism doesn't mean hedonism. Intelligence and experience will create more charity and humanity than religion in a truer sense because it doesn't judge. Don't assume we all become selfish boors because we don't subscribe to a "God". The arguments of "godliness in morality" are simplistic and avoid the issue. Most of the posters seem to distance themselves from scripture as "religion". So, you make up what feels right for you? Why not let the proven properties of science help answer your questions instead of your need for an easy story to give you comfort. Sometimes it is more important to understand what we don't know...

When did I state I was atheist?

At the point where i start comparing not having a diety to the liquidation of the farmers of russia, you might realize that i'm saying stuff for effect.

the moral of the story is that strawmen = bad.

Fred Phelps is a strawman. Even when compared to most of those who theologically reject homosexuality, he is extreme.

as a queer Christian, i get it enough from the conservatives "you're not one of us." I don't take it from them, and i'm not going to take it from anyone else either. Sorry, but it's my faith too.

In all honesty, I had no idea who Phelps was before reading the article I linked to. So strawman he may be, but not an intentional one.

I understand that Christianity is not a monolithic entity. But please understand that when viewed from the outside, it's not so easy to see that sometimes.

i know...and it pains me that a guy like Phelps can present himself as a credible voice. i've said many times before...Christianity has an *incredible* PR problem.

the new UCC ads are a step in the right direction...but there's not a lot of money in the progressive wing of the church...but we do what we can.