"Happy holidays" is bullshit Christian normativity.

[eagerSnake]

"What's truly religious lol"

I'm not even going to grace that with a real response as I think I've explained this twice already.

[Accountant]

But from my experiences, people simply can't be trusted

you think people can't be trusted not to commit murder? or?

People can't be trusted for anything.

Yeah, if I had a million USD in cash, I wouldn't trust anyone NOT to murder me for it. Of course I'm not going to walk around with that much money anyway.

But that's a hyperbole and on the very extreme end of the spectrum. I'm talking more about being lazy, lying, cheating, being lustful, stealing, discriminating, etc. You just can't trust people not to do these things. Religious or not.

i liked your posts but this is textbook cynicism

[eagerSnake]

If by cynicism you mean an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest; you're right. That's very close to how I see it. "Religious" or not, I'd say most people are like that. (Quotes because those who are like that aren't really religious IMO)

I'd say that anyone who sees otherwise is either too optimistic and trusting, or they haven't had enough experience with enough people, or they simply have been much luckier when it comes to the people they've encountered than I have.

Pedit: By the way, what's the difference between Nonreligious, Atheist, and Agnostic. Seems like a useless difference like that between Baptist, Methodist, and Christian.

[-Grey-]

Pedit: By the way, what's the difference between Nonreligious, Atheist, and Agnostic.

Agnostic are neutral in their view. They neither believe nor disbelieve in God.

Atheists actively disbelieve in the existence of God.

Nonreligious isn't even a word.

[eagerSnake]

Pedit: By the way, what's the difference between Nonreligious, Atheist, and Agnostic.

Agnostic are neutral in their view. They neither believe nor disbelieve in God.

Atheists actively disbelieve in the existence of God.

Nonreligious isn't even a word.

Really? I remember a survey where more people chose "nonreligious" than either atheist or agnostic. Lol.

[-Grey-]

Pedit: By the way, what's the difference between Nonreligious, Atheist, and Agnostic.

Agnostic are neutral in their view. They neither believe nor disbelieve in God.

Atheists actively disbelieve in the existence of God.

Nonreligious isn't even a word.

Really? I remember a survey where more people chose "nonreligious" than either atheist or agnostic. Lol.

It's just an ignorant way of saying "not religious".

[Accountant]

Nonreligious means you have no religion but aren't uncertain about supernatural forces or firmly convinced that there aren't. Someone who believed in the Force or universal ki or chakra but didn't practice any religious things would be nonreligious

[Davsto]

It depends how you interpret it - an "atheist" doesn't believe in a deity, so a Buddhist would be an atheist but still religious.

[Accountant]

I think if we had some kind of zen master who's talking about karma and the universal life force and being one with the iris - that kind of person should be distinct from an atheist scientist

[eagerSnake]

Mind = blown.

[-Grey-]

I think if we had some kind of zen master who's talking about karma and the universal life force and being one with the iris - that kind of person should be distinct from an atheist scientist

They are, it's called "spiritual".

[eagerSnake]

If I had to pick one group of people to trust, it'd probably be Tibetan Monks. Even if I don't agree with them on some things, I think they're probably the best bet as far as trust goes. Plus they're harmless. If they don't agree with you, they light THEMSELVES on fire, not you.

[Kublai Khan]

Atheists actively disbelieve in the existence of God.

I actively don't collect stamps.

[Accountant]

If I had to pick one group of people to trust, it'd probably be Tibetan Monks. Even if I don't agree with them on some things, I think they're probably the best bet as far as trust goes. Plus they're harmless. If they don't agree with you, they light THEMSELVES on fire, not you.

Generalization

[eagerSnake]

Yeah it is. I can't exactly go through and interview every one of them and speak to each one individually.

Pedit: Although I wish I could. From what I've heard, they are extremely intelligent people. All that meditating I guess helps them control their brain waves so they can create more Gamma (I think?) waves than the rest of us, on demand.

[Accountant]

But you can interview the people in your life - such as the people you are thinking about promoting to a higher position in your company.

I hear this is a popular practuce

[eagerSnake]

Yeah I'm constantly interviewing those people- whether they realize it or not- and they're constantly failing.

And I just realized over 20 million people claim to be Tibetan Buddhist Monks so let me clarify that I'm talking about the sherpas that live up in the Himalayan Mountains in the monasteries

[implosion]

Pedit: By the way, what's the difference between Nonreligious, Atheist, and Agnostic. Seems like a useless difference like that between Baptist, Methodist, and Christian.

A better answer is that these words don't mean strictly different things all of the time and, like many labels, if someone tells you "I'm an atheist" it could mean a broad variety of things.

Generally

Agnostic means "I don't know/I'm not sure", Atheist means "I don't believe in gods" and nonreligious means "I don't practice religion" and these could be descriptive in various ways (you could have someone who's culturally religious and practices religion because they see value in the tradition but does not hold belief, or someone who believes in a god but not one from any organized religion, etc).

I would say that some atheists do "actively not believe in gods" in the sense that they enjoy putting their lack of beliefs to the test through debate. This is, however, a generalization and still not entirely accurate (as KK alluded to).

Anyway. To me trust is just a matter of how well I've gotten to know someone. I just have friends who I think I've gotten to know well enough that they wouldn't act selfishly to my detriment without good reasons. I could always be wrong of course but -shrug-. I do like to look for the good in people. I don't specifically trust random people on the street to not commit selfish immoral acts but I don't particularly expect them to.

[Accountant]

Yeah I'm constantly interviewing those people- whether they realize it or not- and they're constantly failing.

Maybe the issue is that you're surrounding yourself with horrible people?

[Garmr]

Yeah I'm constantly interviewing those people- whether they realize it or not- and they're constantly failing.

Maybe the issue is that you're surrounding yourself with horrible people?

Or maybe your definition of horrible is to broad and your generalizing some nice people out there?

[eagerSnake]

Or maybe it's just a planet of the apes. "It's a madhouse! A madhouse!"

[T S O]

After my ban for comments in this thread, I would like to reiterate just how sorry I am that I may have implied that TSQ was bullied mercilessly for years because of anything other than his religion. I would also like to profusely apologise for my ruminations on TSQ's mental state and general personality. I am, once again, so sorry.

[Accountant]

Yeah I'm constantly interviewing those people- whether they realize it or not- and they're constantly failing.

Maybe the issue is that you're surrounding yourself with horrible people?

Or maybe your definition of horrible is to broad and your generalizing some nice people out there?

eagerSnake said they were surrounded by untrustworthy people that they wouldn't trust not to stab them in the back if they thought they could get away with it and could gain something from it

[Who]

I would like to use this thread to complain about the word "merry". It's archaic and only used with relation to Christmas. From modern usage, "Merry Christmas" effectively means "Christmassy Christmas". Switch to a better holiday greeting, switch to "Happy Christmas". Or "Happy Holidays". Both are good. But stop using "merry", it's an archaic word and should just be forgotten.

Also Happy Christmas Mafiascum.

[Annadog40]

I find it strange when people change lyrics to Christmas music to make it more inclusive.