Thank GOD I'm alive!

Religion is not the topic at hand. Your attitude toward others feelings is. Again, religion does not affect this discussion in the slightest. He may as well have said "Thank the meter reader!" Doesn't matter. Narcissism when applied psychoanalytically to a group carries a connotation of elitism with it. I was merely pointing out that chastising "god" for being a narcissist while in the same paragraph having your post betraying an air of disgust with regard to another persons belief (presumably because you believe yourself to be smarter or at least a better critical thinker than this gentleman) due to your own feelings is a tad......ironic.

Correct. I said I was working my attitude of letting people be.

I wasn't chastising god for being a narcissist, I was chastising people who think that "god" cares what they do.

Also, please stop being interesting.....I'm trying to study.
 
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Also....not that this changes anything.....or maybe it does.....I've been sitting across from this guy for about two hours now, and he's full on "Hidely Howdely Doodely" Ned Flanders. :)

Yes, that does change things. Check and see if he's left handed too and if so, I think you know what needs to be done.......


Machete + Blowtorch
 
I don't know quite what to say...maybe something about hubris?

Geez......
 
I actually do find it quite offensive that my individual beliefs are being referred to as a 'flaw' or 'coping mechanism'. Who are we to judge anyone especially our patients for their beliefs? Do I fault you for not believing? No. So please do not insult me for mine.
 
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As an atheist I find it really distasteful when other atheists (i call them angry atheists) slam and insult other religions by insinuating there is something wrong or bad about them.

People ask me to pray, I roll with it. Bow my head, close my eyes and be respectful.

People say "god bless you" or tell me they will pray for my safety or that I succeed in my goals, I tell them thank you, that is very kind.

Its what gives them comfort and makes them feel better. Who am I to disagree with that? Who am I to tell them they're wrong or silly? I would be offended if they told me I'm wrong or silly, so why do it to them?

Emergency brings out the religion in people. Get used to it.
 
I actually do find it quite offensive that my individual beliefs are being referred to as a 'flaw' or 'coping mechanism'. Who are we to judge anyone especially our patients for their beliefs? Do I fault you for not believing? No. So please do not insult me for mine.

I sincerely meant no offense by using the word "flaw" to describe it. Perhaps I should've been more specific to what I was referencing. I meant it more in the sense that emotionally human beings have a glaring design flaw in that fear can drive a rational, logical mind to think, believe, and do irrational and illogical things. I believe many emotions such as jealousy, etc can produce the same effects. Faith is faith and is by its very nature not predicated upon rational thought or logic.

I should've had stated that I was merely hypothesizing that the need for deities dating back to polytheistic religions of ancient Greece to the current popular belief in a Jesus or a God, stem from humanity's innate fear of death and the unknown that we are all subject to. I meant the "flaw" resides in all of us and we all deal with it in different ways, some with religion. And if you'll look at my posts I mention that there is nothing at all wrong with the gentleman in the story giving thanks to what he feels allowed his life to be saved.

Again, no offense was intended.
 
As an atheist I find it really distasteful when other atheists (i call them angry atheists) slam and insult other religions by insinuating there is something wrong or bad about them.

I'm not insinuating, and atheism isn't a religion.

It's easy to say that religion isn't harmful and what's the big deal when you live in the first world and going to church means a lovely community with good caring people. I'm not a moron, I get the appeal.

Its what gives them comfort and makes them feel better. Who am I to disagree with that? Who am I to tell them they're wrong or silly? I would be offended if they told me I'm wrong or silly, so why do it to them?

I would not be offended if someone told me I was wrong or silly and had some pretty powerful evidence to back it up or at least give me strong pause to rethink my position. I would probably feel bruised and sheepish, but ultimately, that person would be doing me a favor.

If your best friend had cancer and was going to cure it homeopathically because they didn't believe in Chemo....what's the harm? Who are you to disagree. You believe one thing. They believe another. Who are you to say that a magic vial of water isn't as powerful as a cancer drug? Who gave you the audacity to think that you're right?

Emergency brings out the religion in people. Get used to it.

Everything brings out the religion in people. This is not some new thing that I've just encountered. It's not like I said anything to the guy. It's not like I wasn't polite. I found parts of his story interesting and parts of it not. I listened to him, made conversation and drank some coffee.
 
Its non of your business what people believe or how the choose to cope with things.

They wanna believe the llama on the great farm in the sky saved them, then ok.

I am a christian. When people say thank whatever you are here. I dont bite my tongue and wanna tell them to thank GOD.

Believe what you want. But dont :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: that Christians cram their religion down your throat when you want to confront every christian you come across and tell them how wrong they are for expressing what gives them comfort and a peice of mind. I hope you have enough sense in the future to keep biting your tongue.
 
Cindigo,

You and your patients would be better served if you learned right now none of this is really about you.

Nobody gives two flips about your "personal problems with religion" career wise. It's rather self-centered to believe they do.

I'm more agnostic than anything, but playing the "I'm an atheist and I'm better than you" card to a patient is weak sauce sir.
 
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Believe what you want. But dont :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: that Christians cram their religion down your throat when you want to confront every christian you come across and tell them how wrong they are for expressing what gives them comfort and a peice of mind. I hope you have enough sense in the future to keep biting your tongue.

I don't want confront every Christian I come across and tell them how wrong they are. There's a whole bunch of other religions I want to tell also.

I'm non denominational.
 
Cindigo,

You and your patients would be better served if you learned right now none of this is really about you.

Nobody gives two flips about your "personal problems with religion" career wise. It's rather self-centered to believe they do.

I'm more agnostic than anything, but playing the "I'm an atheist and I'm better than you" card to a patient is weak sauce sir.

I just thought it was a good story. My bad. It wasn't my patient. It was just some guy at a Starbucks telling me a story.
 
Honestly people like you are who gives atheism and agnosticism a bad name and I have more respect to those with a strong faith than I have for people like you.
 
Lets change the scenario a bit.

What if the person had said "Thank the heroes in the fire department I'm alive!" and the OP knows that the FD in the area is BLS only and doesn't transport. The OP smiles, nods, walks away and rolls his eyes.

Not really THAT big of a deal.
 
To expand on what I said now that I'm awake, I don't think it is that out of line to think credit should be due elsewhere. Many people have complained about the FD getting all the credit. Heck, this is a huge source of irritation for most police officers I know. Some newsworthy thing happens and the FD gets all the attention and PD is mentioned as a side note, if at all. We had a big fire here in an apartment building, and most of the PD units beat the FD on scene and they evacuated/rescued more people than the FD did. The only mentions of them in 4-5 paragraph news article was "the police department and ambulance also responded with multiple units".

Just because the person gave credit to god instead of the random guy in the gym with the AED, the FD or the flying spaghetti monster doesn't make this any different than any of the other times people have complained about credit being misplaced.
 
As an atheist I find it really distasteful when other atheists (i call them angry atheists) slam and insult other religions by insinuating there is something wrong or bad about them.

People ask me to pray, I roll with it. Bow my head, close my eyes and be respectful.

People say "god bless you" or tell me they will pray for my safety or that I succeed in my goals, I tell them thank you, that is very kind.

Its what gives them comfort and makes them feel better. Who am I to disagree with that? Who am I to tell them they're wrong or silly? I would be offended if they told me I'm wrong or silly, so why do it to them?

Emergency brings out the religion in people. Get used to it.

Well said Sasha...you will find all types of religions and beliefs when in the field, as has been said, take it on the chin. I am a firm beleiver of NOT telling people they are right or wrong, just go with the flow and agree with them then move on to the next call. Good luck with your studying.
 
I'm not insinuating, and atheism isn't a religion.

It's easy to say that religion isn't harmful and what's the big deal when you live in the first world and going to church means a lovely community with good caring people. I'm not a moron, I get the appeal.



I would not be offended if someone told me I was wrong or silly and had some pretty powerful evidence to back it up or at least give me strong pause to rethink my position. I would probably feel bruised and sheepish, but ultimately, that person would be doing me a favor.

If your best friend had cancer and was going to cure it homeopathically because they didn't believe in Chemo....what's the harm? Who are you to disagree. You believe one thing. They believe another. Who are you to say that a magic vial of water isn't as powerful as a cancer drug? Who gave you the audacity to think that you're right?

Where is your evidence that God does NOT exist? You have evidence of evolution, yes, and disprove the bible but where is your evidence that there isn't a superpowerful omnipresent being in the sky who is guiding evolution or coordinating everything?

So you throwing scientific evidence in their face only proves evolution but does not disprove the existence of God. So again, how do you know it wasn't God? You don't. You take a chance, you believe one thing, and you are either right or wrong when you die.

I'm an atheist. I will reiterate that. But I am not going to be so smug to think that there is no chance I'm wrong, because again, no one has disproven the existence of a God. Therefore I will be happy to let others believe as they will without calling them flawed or insinuating they're stupid.

And homeopathic methods exist because some have gotten results. Not my cup of tea, honestly. But if someone doesn't believe in chemotherapy and radiation, its not going to be as effective. The human mind is a beautiful thing. If you believe something won't work, it probably won't.
 
Just food for thought here...to say Where is your evidence to prove something DOES NOT exist is flawed logic.

The burden of proof is always on the person making the claim that something exists, never on the person who says NO it does NOT exist.

The above is why science is beautiful. We never take anything on faith or feel good emotions. If someone makes a claim, we will scrutinize and shred every little aspect of it, retest it to ensure same results, and then continue to reevaluate over the years looking for changes or to see if it holds up to original standards. I love this process--this is why medicine is improving, this is why old practices are rapidly falling to the wayside. If we expect and demand this type of testing/scrutiny for almost every thing in our life, then why does religion think it deserves a free pass from the same?

But again to reiterate...no one should ever have to produce proof on non existence of something.

Otherwise, who are you to say Leprechauns and unicorns do not exist. Show me the proof they do not exist. You can't. Therefore, they do. See? Doesn't exactly gel does it?

All those years with the monsters under my bed and in my closet...who knew? I was right!
 
Where is your evidence that God does NOT exist? You have evidence of evolution, yes, and disprove the bible but where is your evidence that there isn't a superpowerful omnipresent being in the sky who is guiding evolution or coordinating everything?

So you throwing scientific evidence in their face only proves evolution but does not disprove the existence of God. So again, how do you know it wasn't God? You don't. You take a chance, you believe one thing, and you are either right or wrong when you die.

I'm an atheist. I will reiterate that. But I am not going to be so smug to think that there is no chance I'm wrong, because again, no one has disproven the existence of a God. Therefore I will be happy to let others believe as they will without calling them flawed or insinuating they're stupid.

And homeopathic methods exist because some have gotten results. Not my cup of tea, honestly. But if someone doesn't believe in chemotherapy and radiation, its not going to be as effective. The human mind is a beautiful thing. If you believe something won't work, it probably won't.

Flawed logic, there is no reason to prove something does not exist. The onus of proof is on the person making the claim of existence. As far as homeopathic medicine, the two are much different. There is some empirical evidence that some forms of homeopathic medicine works as opposed to just anecdotal "evidence" that a deity exists.


****nevermind, person above me beat me to it
 
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Flawed logic, there is no reason to prove something does not exist. The onus of proof is on the person making the claim of existence. As far as homeopathic medicine, the two are much different. There is some empirical evidence that some forms of homeopathic medicine works as opposed to just anecdotal "evidence" that a deity exists.


****nevermind, person above me beat me to it

He is the one who brought up homeopathic medicine.

It doesn't matter if it's "flawed" logic. This isn't a court of law so there is no burden of proof, we are talking about people's feelings and faith.

So I stand by what I said.
 
unicorns do not exist.

That would probably explain why I never catch the ones I chase ;)

All those years with the monsters under my bed and in my closet...who knew? I was right!

You're walking the line there boss. That is dangerously close to saying Santa, the tooth fairy, and the easter bunny don't exist :):P
 
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