Solstice celebration

[kallend 1,621]

22 hours ago, Coreece said:

Merry Christmas.

. . .and don't spend too much!

I spent hardly anything this year.  I hand-made gifts for almost all of my family. 

[JoeWeber 2,294]

3 hours ago, kallend said:

I spent hardly anything this year.  I hand-made gifts for almost all of my family. 

That's weak. I just gypped them all and went off and spent it on me and T.

[Coreece 189]

4 hours ago, kallend said:

On 12/24/2019 at 11:36 PM, Coreece said:

Merry Christmas.

. . .and don't spend too much!

I spent hardly anything this year.  I hand-made gifts for almost all of my family. 

dessert?

[JerryBaumchen 1,047]

6 hours ago, ryoder said:

In fact, when we looked at all religious groups, atheists and agnostics were the most likely to extend rights to the groups they least liked.

Hi Robert,

This has been my experience as it relates to myself & the the other atheists that I know.

Jerry Baumchen

[TriGirl 268]

On 12/23/2019 at 7:39 AM, gowlerk said:

I would remind you that pagans are not atheists though and they certainly did and do believe in mythical creatures!

True, one does not equal the other.  However, I used to identify as an atheistic Pagan.  

Atheist = no personified deities/no belief in imaginary friends.

Pagan = recognizing how the wheel of the year correlates to the cycle of life, and appreciating (celebrating) those stages throughout the year.  Also how we're all dependent on the planet, and all in this together.  

At some point in my growth "atheist" described me more accurately than "Pagan," so that's how I've self-identified for quite some time.  Interestingly, I'm more accepted in my military clan as an atheist than I ever was as a declared Pagan, though I still do enjoy many of the traditions because of what they stand for.

[kallend 1,621]

6 hours ago, Coreece said:

dessert?

That too.

[timski 80]

On 12/23/2019 at 6:54 AM, nigel99 said:

As athiests and being interested in the universe etc, my partner and I decided we are no longer celebrating Christmas, but rather returning to older pagan based celebrations and dates.

Its been fun and opened our eyes to a few things. We are no longer lying to children about mythical beings, no focus on material goods (toys and presents etc) and teaching them about how the universe works

It's tough being different!  It's also very refreshing to see people embrace CHANGE! Hope you had a most excellent solstice! I was treated to my favorite moon phase on the crisp morning of Dec 24th. The little things in life that most people overlook bring joy to my heart! 

~HAPPY NEW YEAR 

[Coreece 189]

3 hours ago, timski said:

It's tough being different!  It's also very refreshing to see people embrace CHANGE!

But celebrating Archaic/Ancient Roman traditions some of which even date back to neolithic/bronze ages really isn't anything different, nor does it represent change.  Nigel is one of the nastiest haters here when it comes to Christianity.  He wants to celebrate pagan traditions, but only those that aren't typically associated with Christmas - and I suppose that's fine, but it doesn't really say much when you have to start a thread bashing another's beliefs just to make yours seem "cooler" - and then get all uptight when someone starts poking back, giving you a taste of your own medicine.

 

4 hours ago, timski said:

I was treated to my favorite moon phase on the crisp morning of Dec 24th.

Ya, that's an easy one to miss.  Throughout the year we go to the beach and celebrate 4 days of the Waxing/Wanning Gibbous.  As an uneducated and ignorant Christian incapable of grasping rocket science, I always stand in awe of how the Canadians manage to launch such a celestial being over Lake Huron into the night sky.  They also have the best fireworks:

 

[jakee 1,254]

2 hours ago, Coreece said:

Nigel is one of the nastiest haters here when it comes to Christianity.  He wants to celebrate pagan traditions, but only those that aren't typically associated with Christmas - and I suppose that's fine, but it doesn't really say much when you have to start a thread bashing another's beliefs just to make yours seem "cooler" - and then get all uptight when someone starts poking back, giving you a taste of your own medicine.

I don't think you'd have any problem with Nigel if you just stopped being such a snowflake. He's been polite, reasonable and nice in this thread and you, in response to some imagined slight, have been petulant, spiteful and personally insulting. A pretty terrible advert for the spirit of Christmas.

[nigel99 143]

4 hours ago, Coreece said:

But celebrating Archaic/Ancient Roman traditions some of which even date back to neolithic/bronze ages really isn't anything different, nor does it represent change.  Nigel is one of the nastiest haters here when it comes to Christianity.  He wants to celebrate pagan traditions, but only those that aren't typically associated with Christmas - and I suppose that's fine, but it doesn't really say much when you have to start a thread bashing another's beliefs just to make yours seem "cooler" - and then get all uptight when someone starts poking back, giving you a taste of your own medicine.

 

Ya, that's an easy one to miss.  Throughout the year we go to the beach and celebrate 4 days of the Waxing/Wanning Gibbous.  As an uneducated and ignorant Christian incapable of grasping rocket science, I always stand in awe of how the Canadians manage to launch such a celestial being over Lake Huron into the night sky.  They also have the best fireworks:

 

Honestly you’ve missed the point entirely. I  don’t care about the ancient gods, and actually as for Christmas we chose to celebrate it along the lines of the original ‘intent’, so I’m not sure where you get that we don’t celebrate some pagan traditions at Christmas, what we didn’t do was Santa or Jesus.

As someone pointed out it is a great time of year to reconnect with family and friends, that goes back a very long way

[gowlerk 1,903]

4 hours ago, Coreece said:

Nigel is one of the nastiest haters here when it comes to Christianity. 

Huh? Hater? Has he even once advocated burning them at the stake? Has he molested children entrusted in his care? Hate is a strong term. Christianity, founded on a message of love, has been largely corrupted by hate.

[Coreece 189]

4 hours ago, nigel99 said:

As someone pointed out it is a great time of year to reconnect with family and friends, that goes back a very long way

But that too is cause for celebration where people will be traveling rather extensively and drinking or drugging opiates and their psychotropic anti-depression medication, so I'm not sure why you're singling out Christmas.  New Year's Eve is a big one as well, so if you're out traveling around or hosting whatever festivities you choose throughout the year, it's rather hypocritical to blame everyone else for enabling the tragedies that are inherent in any mass celebration.

 

6 hours ago, jakee said:

I don't think you'd have any problem with Nigel if you just stopped being such a snowflake. He's been polite, reasonable and nice

Lol, rubbish.  If by polite you mean passive aggressive, then I might agree with you.  Maybe Nigel has fooled you, but I remember quite clearly his anti-religious sentiment shared throughout this past year that then extended into this thread.  I had him pegged right down to the exact coordinate as shown in subsequent posts where he explicitly admitted his intent was to bash Christmas and then go with with his ignorant and false presumptions of me. 

Here's an idea, if you don't want people poking funof your beliefs, then don't start a thread bashing someone else's.  It's almost as if his beliefs are defined by his hatred for Christianity.  Like I said, if this was solely about how he celebrates the holiday with his family, then we wouldn't be doing this right now.

Look at Ron's thread where he expressed his beliefs without attacking anyone, but then is immediately met with posts about guns and racism and how "everybody's gotta have somebody to look down on who they can feel better than at any time they please" - how ironic.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Coreece
formatting

[jakee 1,254]

10 minutes ago, Coreece said:

Lol, rubbish.  If by polite you mean passive aggressive, then I might agree with you.  Maybe Nigel has fooled you, but I remember quite clearly his anti-religious sentiment shared throughout this past year that then extended into this thread.  I had him pegged right down to the exact coordinate as shown in subsequent posts where he explicitly admitted his intent was to bash Christmas and then go with with his ignorant and false presumptions of me. 

Is that what you think you've achieved? Have you got some kind of raging paranoia going on or what?

 

Quote

Here's an idea, if you don't want people poking fun of your beliefs, then don't start a thread bashing someone else's.  It's almost as if his beliefs are defined by his hatred for Christianity.  Like I said, if this was solely about how he celebrates the holiday with his family, then we wouldn't be doing this right now.

So this is what you really think? This is you being serious?

 

So, if you're completely secure in the truth of wht you are saying right now, why did you have to lie earlier in the thread by saying you were only joking? People don't tend to be that embarrassed by their own posts unless they know they've gone way overboard.

[Coreece 189]

7 minutes ago, jakee said:

Quote

Here's an idea, if you don't want people poking fun of your beliefs, then don't start a thread bashing someone else's.  It's almost as if his beliefs are defined by his hatred for Christianity.  Like I said, if this was solely about how he celebrates the holiday with his family, then we wouldn't be doing this right now.

So this is what you really think? This is you being serious?

 

So, if you're completely secure in the truth of wht you are saying right now, why did you have to lie earlier in the thread by saying you were only joking? People don't tend to be that embarrassed by their own posts unless they know they've gone way overboard.

Poking fun, joking what's the difference?  And I wasn't saying that I was only joking, just that you guys can't handle the taste of your own medicine - especially when given in higher dosage.  Nor am I ashamed to feed it to someone that harbors so much anti-religious hatred.

[gowlerk 1,903]

39 minutes ago, Coreece said:

If by polite you mean passive aggressive, then I might agree with you.  Maybe Nigel has fooled you, but I remember quite clearly his anti-religious sentiment shared throughout this past year that then extended into this thread.  I had him pegged right down to the exact coordinate as shown in subsequent posts where he explicitly admitted his intent was to bash Christmas and then go with with his ignorant and false presumptions of me. 

So, this is the exact and complete text of his OP:

"As athiests and being interested in the universe etc, my partner and I decided we are no longer celebrating Christmas, but rather returning to older pagan based celebrations and dates.

Its been fun and opened our eyes to a few things. We are no longer lying to children about mythical beings, no focus on material goods (toys and presents etc) and teaching them about how the universe works"

 

You have him pegged? After he posted this you immediately attacked him for how he is raising his family. A fact that I pointed out before and you ignored. It is hard to ignore your hypocrisy, but that is a common trait among religious persons that is brought about by the inherent conflict between the high ideals they proclaim and the actual practices they exhibit. You certainly are doing a fine job of confirming that here.

Edited December 27, 2019 by gowlerk

[jakee 1,254]

1 minute ago, Coreece said:

Poking fun, joking what's the difference?  And I wasn't saying that I was only joking, just that you guys can't handle the taste of your own medicine - especially when given in higher dosage.  Nor am I ashamed to feed it to someone that harbors so much anti-religious hatred.

Do you see the contradiction here? You're saying that Nigel is a passive aggressive nasty hater who is bashing your beliefs. You're saying that you're giving that back, and even more so.... but at the same time you're only poking fun? How can that be the case?

 

If you're being intentionally worse than Nigel and yet it's still our fault we're offended by it, how are you so fucking sensitive to be offended by what Nigel said in the first place? 

[Coreece 189]

3 minutes ago, jakee said:

but at the same time you're only poking fun?

Yes, one can be serious in a humorous way.  If you want to take that whole thing about Clark Griswold so seriously, that's on you.  And then you want to call me the materialist because of it, but in reality, you guys don't want anything to do with spirituality, which by definition is a large part of being materialistic.

[Coreece 189]

10 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

After he posted this you immediately attacked him for how he is raising his family.

Well he attacked everyone for how they're raising their family.  My point really was how  it can all end the same no matter what you do or how you celebrate.

[gowlerk 1,903]

5 minutes ago, Coreece said:

Well he attacked everyone for how they're raising their family.  My point really was how  it can all end the same no matter what you do or how you celebrate.

He did not. You just chose to see an attack when what was being opened was a conversation on starting a new tradition.

[jakee 1,254]

6 minutes ago, Coreece said:

Yes, one can be serious in a humorous way.  If you want to take that whole thing about Clark Griswold so seriously, that's on you.  

That was some convenient editing. You said you were giving back Nigel's medicine in a higher dose. If what you said shouldn't bother anyone, then how come Nigel's post got you so uptight in the first place? You've flat out stated that it's less offensive than yours.

 

Quote

And then you want to call me the materialist because of it, but in reality, you guys don't want anything to do with spirituality, which by definition is a large part of being materialistic.

Nonsense. That's just the religious arrogance of thinking that belief is the only way to have a wider appreciation of the world. 

[Coreece 189]

34 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

42 minutes ago, Coreece said:

Well he attacked everyone for how they're raising their family.  My point really was how  it can all end the same no matter what you do or how you celebrate.

He did not. You just chose to see an attack when what was being opened was a conversation on starting a new tradition. 

Again, if this thread was strictly about starting a new tradition then we wouldn't be doing this right now, but nigels history and subsequent posts stating that his intent was to bash Christmas prove otherwise.

 

37 minutes ago, jakee said:

If what you said shouldn't bother anyone

I don't mind if people were bothered by it.  Like I said, nigel and you guys are having your fun in this thread and I'm having mine. 

 

39 minutes ago, jakee said:

Quote

And then you want to call me the materialist because of it, but in reality, you guys don't want anything to do with spirituality, which by definition is a large part of being materialistic.

Nonsense. That's just the religious arrogance of thinking that belief is the only way to have a wider appreciation of the world. 

 

noun: materialism

     1. a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

 

But whatever, it wouldn't be the first time the left changed the meaning of definitions to suit their purpose.

 

 

[jakee 1,254]

5 minutes ago, Coreece said:

I don't mind if people were bothered by it.  Like I said, nigel and you guys are having your fun in this thread and I'm having mine. 

Do you consider being as offended and uptight as you are now 'fun'? Are you getting off on being outraged?

 

That's kinda wierd, dude.

[gowlerk 1,903]

13 minutes ago, jakee said:

Do you consider being as offended and uptight as you are now 'fun'? Are you getting off on being outraged?

 

 

22 minutes ago, Coreece said:

I don't mind if people were bothered by it.  Like I said, nigel and you guys are having your fun in this thread and I'm having mine. 

I hope you are having fun. And seeing and considering new concepts. You often come across as merely angry, but I know there must be more going on than just that. Because if that were all why the hell would you keep coming back here? I have seen a definite change for the better in the tone and content of your posts in the time that we have interacted here. I still find your automatic defense of anything you find offensive toward the Christian religion to be quite reactionary. 

Let me just say that atheists have far more reason to fear the religious than the other way around. Yes, I know that there have been certain ideologies that have suppressed your religion in the world. But history shows that the violence has been mostly in the other direction. Far too many people have decided that killing in God's name is the way to go. Belief encourages extremism.

[billvon 2,384]

2 hours ago, Coreece said:

Lol, rubbish.  If by polite you mean passive aggressive, then I might agree with you.  Maybe Nigel has fooled you, but I remember quite clearly his anti-religious sentiment shared throughout this past year that then extended into this thread. 

And you have a pro-religious sentiment and you express it regularly.  No problems with either point of view.  But when he does it it makes you really, really angry for some reason.  Odd.

Quote

And then you want to call me the materialist because of it, but in reality, you guys don't want anything to do with spirituality, which by definition is a large part of being materialistic

I thought you were materialistic because you were celebrating the trillion dollars spent on Christmas, and mocking Nigel because he didn't take part in it.

 

[Coreece 189]

4 hours ago, billvon said:

7 hours ago, Coreece said:

Lol, rubbish.  If by polite you mean passive aggressive, then I might agree with you.  Maybe Nigel has fooled you, but I remember quite clearly his anti-religious sentiment shared throughout this past year that then extended into this thread.  

And you have a pro-religious sentiment and you express it regularly.  No problems with either point of view.  But when he does it it makes you really, really angry for some reason.

Sometimes it's anger, sometimes it's just frustration, sometimes it's just the way I talk.  Other times objective posts don't really receive much of response so being a bit provocative helps get the thread going.  I'm not really here to talk to myself - I can do that anytime.  Regardless, anger is a natural human response and there's plenty of it in here to go around.

 

4 hours ago, billvon said:

Quote

And then you want to call me the materialist because of it, but in reality, you guys don't want anything to do with spirituality, which by definition is a large part of being materialistic

I thought you were materialistic because you were celebrating the trillion dollars spent on Christmas

I could be wrong, but you and your family most likely received some nice gifts this year that contributed to that trillion dollar figure, but I wouldn't label you as materialistic for it.