Disqus - Latest Comments for ryan

Re: http://www.kansasbob.com/2009/06/new-paperboy.html

ryan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:27:36 -0000

i guess we have to embrace it all :D no use choosing only a single medium of delivering the news... it really is MULTI-media now

Re: Has anyone really been able to cure severe anxiety and panic attacks w/o the use of medicine?

ryan — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:01:59 -0000

No. I used drugs (and therapy, both individual and group). But, now I am off drugs and out of therapy.

Don't be afraid of drugs and therapy; just find the right drugs.

I forget what I was using, but it was an anti-anxiety drug that starts with the letter "H". That probably doesn't help . . .
References :

Re: What OS is downloaded the most?

ryan — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:04:14 -0000

It would seem logical that more people would delete the 3 gig OS(vista) before 600 meg (XP) This would make sense for the six and a half gig leopard as well.

Re: Oasis and LOST

ryan — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 07:43:00 -0000

That's funny you mentioned this. I just started watching this great show only recently and naturally, my family and I started off with season one. After finding out more about Charlie's character, there are tons of similarities between DriveSHAFT and Oasis. Even their hit song "You Are Everybody" uses direct riffs from "Rock and Roll Star". If you listen to the song, and sing "Rock and Roll Star", you can pretty much hear they are the same except for the melody of course. Pretty cool stuff as it is neat to see my favorite band have overtures into a very cool show.

Re: The unfailing power of prayer - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:02:00 -0000

Most of us are familiar with the spectacle called "faith healing" or a "healing service". This is an emotional, sweaty sideshow, and features this sleazy little fucker with a reputation for miracles. The fucker I personally have seen will whack the diseased person across the forehead, and shout "HEAL".

And so help me xrist, the person passes out. Hits the floor like a sack of shit; comes to after a bit; all healed and everything.

Now here is the big question--you knew this was coming. Have any of you ever seen an amputee get a new limb? Have any of you seen Down's syndrome reversed? Have any of you seen a midget given normal height? No? Really? Could it be that miracles are bullshit?

What we hear is this vague, mysterious shit about tumors vanishing or cancer going into remission, but we have never seen what could obviously be called a miracle. Now just why is it that god wants to take out that tumor growing in your brain, but it is his will that your little girl will have an IQ of 50?

Any of you fundies care to answer this.........or will you tell me that the age of miracles is over?

Re: Ex-Christian finds community in Freethought - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:05:00 -0000

David? Hi, ryan here. I took an interest in your posting, and allow me to inquire of you:

What part of your practice as a christian involves freethought? Do you disbelieve parts of the bible? Do you believe in the bible at all? Can you with any seriousness question the existence of a deity? I am having difficulty putting "freethought" together with "christian".

I have known many christians who thought of themselves as educated and well-read--and indeed many have had splendid intellects. But they used their minds to defend traditional christian doctrines and to prove the inerrancy of the bible. Their position is this: "if we are truly thinking, and if our minds are open, we will arrive at christian belief". What exactly is it that makes such thinking "free"?

I will state my own position as a matter of courtesy. I have a brilliant mind, I am educated and well-read, and the process of thought led me to complete atheism. I anticipate your responding to the effect that I am narrow-minded and prejudiced; not thinking at all.

By way of a little anecdote, I once heard a clergyman say that "the only freedom is found under god's authority". I still shudder inside when I think of that.

Re: Pastor teaches daughters how to have sex - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:07:00 -0000

Steiner, this site is run for the benefit of those newly broken out of the jewzoo, and secondarily for those of us who have been out for awhile and wild mules couldn't drag us back. We all need to hear these things.

Sex in fundie marriages is often--I daresay more often than not--a sleazy, sordid outcome of their warped religion. If you succeed in teaching young people that their normal feelings are sinful; that these needs and desires are from the devil, than it is certain that problems will follow. It is certain. The pastor in the above post has never claimed his sexuality as simply a part of living. It is not a surprize that he could only find some kind of gratification in dominating and humiliating his own daughters.

Repressed fundie men make victims of their wives in crude and uncouth ways, mistaking what they see on their porn sites as normal male sexuality. When their wives go to their pastors with this, they are told that they must submit.

Guys, get out of church now. You'll not only be good men, you'll be good lovers.

And by the way, Steiner: to "get off" means to have an orgasm. To paraphrase rob, whose mind is in the gutter?

Re: Pastor teaches daughters how to have sex - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:21:00 -0000

Hello allee

The story of the concubine being carved up like prime rib is from judges 19, which is an "eerie echo" (from The God Delusion)of genesis 19. These are my two favorite stories about god's chosen people.

See you in hell.

Re: The opium of the atheists - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 08:52:00 -0000

I love being the first to post. There is something so.......virginal about it.

I know that xians and muslims and jews all have done great things. I found just recently that hindus operate soup kitchens in India. But I would not be a xian, a muslim, a jew or a hindu.

About the violence attributed to atheists; that atheists are more evil than any xian, muslim, jew or hindu could ever be. I do not care if atheists got together and killed everyone else on earth, I would still be an atheist.

And atheism is a religion? That is a cheap tu quoque. I used to do the same thing; I used to say "everybody has a god". It just means "I'm not crazy, I'm just doing what you're doing".

The fallacy being indulged is called Appeal to the Consequences of Belief. In other words, we should believe in god because it makes the world better. We must not disbelieve because we will all become nazis. I have made an intelligent choice, and goddamn the consequences.

Re: The opium of the atheists - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:38:00 -0000

Thanx brock, I wish I had said that last line. Atheism is not my life, nor the greatest part of it. Atheism just sets me free to live that life. xians may go around thinking about jesus every minute, but I do not go around thinking "there is no god, there is no god". I ditched the faith and got on with my life.

About my atheism: to me,it is just another philosophical term. If you wanted to pin me down, I would say that I do not give a goddamn if there is a god or not. If there is a creator, fine. Let him go and create something and leave me the fuck alone.

Anyway, it is one thing to argue for the existence of a deity, and quite another to argue that your particular religion is the correct religion. xians sound so much like scientists when they argue for ID or for the flood, at the same time they make an impossible leap to the absurdities of the mosaic law and the atrocities of their deity's chosen people; original sin; the atonement; eternal damnation, and for every imaginable superstition. The best a creationist can hope for is some kind of deism.

Thanx again brock.

Re: The opium of the atheists - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:40:00 -0000

To anonymous and twincats:

About the crusades......I have read descriptions of what combat was like in the days of swords, axes and maces. Don't anyone tell me that Hitler and Stalin were somehow worse.And that brings me to the inquisition. Again, xians were not as bad as Hitler? My point, of course, is that if xians are capable of such cruelty, it is pointless to say that fascism is worse. If I kill ten people, and you kill twenty, are you "worse" than me? If my analogy is faulty, let me know, but it appears that, comparing you to me, "better" or "worse" ceases to mean anything.

And cats, I would be delighted if you would use my line. No, I would be flattered.

I am aware of what xian-inspired artists and authors have given us.I have just finished reading Marlowe's "Dr Faustus". But their art and literature does not compel me to worship their god. Maybe when the next fundie shows up, we should all thank him for his contributions to Western culture and let it go at that.

Hello to all here. Hope this thread gets lots of posters.

Re: Army specialist harassed for being an atheist - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:46:00 -0000

I am surprized at what I have read. When I was in Vietnam I saw no sign of religion; nothing. And while I am on the subject, I was incensed, many years ago, to read that dubya's father, the senior bush, declared that atheists cannot really be citizens. I carried an M-16 for a year, waiting to get a new asshole,and I am not a citizen?

The US military is best exemplified by General Ethan Allen, who, according to legend, demanded the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga "in the name of jehova and the Continental Congress". He did no such thing. General Allen was an atheist who wrote the first anti-christian book published in this country: Reason, The Only Oracle of Man

And jiggs......too bad that you are shit on at work by atheists. Just what sort of dumb speech or actions has brought this on? Most atheists do not care what you do, as long as you stay in your church and play with your rattlesnacks and do not bother anyone. And let me remind you that your ilk has spent centuries tormenting and persecuting all those who do not believe as you. How does it feel?

And by the way, it's "big fucking deal".

Re: Army specialist harassed for being an atheist - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:07:00 -0000

Brett and Rick, I was just surprized. Now I'm disturbed. I spent three years as Regular Army, and did a tour in Vietnam. While there was some chapel attendance,both stateside and overseas, I can honestly say that outside of chapel I never saw a bible and never saw or heard anyone pray. The US Army was godless, period.

And now I read that even the Marines are giving their lives to jesus??? What's next, a born-again CIA???

Re: Prayer guidlines published for Muslim astronauts - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:27:00 -0000

So if a jewish baby was born aboard the space station, how would anyone know when to circumcise him?

Re: Christians declare war on those evil athiests - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:15:00 -0000

Well, here the fuck we go again. We have these interchanges pretty regularly here, don't we? This happened recently at "The Violent Heritage of Christianity" now in the archives.

I do not know who the author of this piece is, or what TownHall is, and I do not care. And I would like to meet the xian who can shut me up.

The xian needs to tell us how great xianity has been, and has been responsible for the world's good. As I often tire of pointing out, the "good xians" are those who have been modified by secular influence. That is why they did such lovely things as abolishing the slave trade. Also mentioned by TownHall is the credit given to xianity for democracy, specifically mentioned were freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

TownHall--whoever the fuck you are--the bible does not teach democracy. The bible does not teach freedom. The bible does not teach rights. The bible teaches that we are sinners and that we deserve to burn in hell for eternity. Modern xians (if that is not a contradiction in terms) have tried to get away from their shameful past and at least try to sound like civilized people. Read about Michael Servetus and tell me that xianity teaches freedom.

We constantly hear that atheistic systems are far more evil than xianity, that communism was far more evil than the church. That is missing the fucking point. I am not interested in participating in some body-count mentality. The point is that, considering xianity's bloody past, they have eagerly and successfully disqualified themselves from any claim to being god's people.

Study, if you please, the persecution of jews; heretics; witches (oh right, the xians are such great scientists. Witches, indeed)the wars against the muslims; the subjugation of the Irish; the slaughter of Native Americans. The xian church is not god's people, and it is a red herring to endlessly bring up Marx; Nietzsche; Darwin; Freud; Lenin; Hitler; Stalin and Pol Pot. I do not care if all the evil in the world can be traced back to atheists. The fact remains that xians are not god's people.

And study, if you will, the centuries of warfare in Europe, xian verses xian. This shit alone disqualifies the churches. Read about Joan of Arc and tell me how great the xians were. The Thirty Year's War. Saint Bartholomew's Day.

Now try to shut me up.

Re: Christians declare war on those evil athiests - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:50:00 -0000

Some of you history buffs out there may need to help me with this, but I want to bring up a few details about any pissing contest between communists and xians.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, life for the common man stunk. Had I lived in such a place, at such a time, I daresay I would have been a Red myself.

The most miserable form of life was the serfs. They were slaves; bought and sold like cattle. Their owners, the landowners--called the boyars--could do as they pleased with their serfs. They could rape their wives and daughters; they could kill them. And all this was sanctioned by the orthodox church.

Pogroms swept through Russia, again and again, with the priesthood standing by with their thumbs up their asses.

Have you ever debated a Marxist? Try telling him about the governments of the Soviet Union, China, Nort Korea et al, and he'll tell you just as quickly about the horrors found in xian/capitalist countries: slavery; child labor; poverty. I never won a debate against a Marxist.

Re: Christians declare war on those evil athiests - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:18:00 -0000

Thanx Monk. I really would like to see photographs of those salutes. I plan to get to the library.

And I forgot to bring up the KKK. I live in what used to be the heart of klan country (Indiana)and these people maintained a xristian testimony that was downright touching. They loved their savior. Loved god with all their heart.

Re: Christians declare war on those evil athiests - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:13:00 -0000

Thanx again, Monk. That photo at the very beginning was just the juicy perversity I was looking for.

Re: Westboro Baptists ordered to pay $11 million to family of Marine - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:02:00 -0000

Good Morning, Webmaster. If possible, could you keep us current with this? I would love to know if this "will be appealed in five minutes".

Re: Westboro Baptists ordered to pay $11 million to family of Marine - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:03:00 -0000

noname is back. How nice.

Did you know that every theocracy in history has been murderous and oppressive?

Listen, xian, why don't you goggle up to a place called "jesusneverexisted". From there, click "hell on earth". From there, click "missionaries or murderers". You will see a graphic representation of the torture devices that were used under theocratic governments in Europe. The men who were in charge of these governments were good men; they loved jesus; they gave their lives to god; they wept bitter tears of contrition over their many sins; they prayed without ceasing; they went to heaven when they died, and all who oppossed them went to hell to burn forever. They were, in summary, good xians. It is just too fucking bad that secular governments in civilized countries have put a stop to all this. Aint that just awful? You can't hurt anybody in the name of jesus. How I wish those days could come back. Ah well, we live in a godless society, where we exercise an evil individuality; free speech; freedom of choice; freedom of conscience; freedom of thought. My god, we have fags and niggers and witches just running fucking wild. Surely a just god will rain down his righteous wrath.

Re: Westboro Baptists ordered to pay $11 million to family of Marine - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:50:00 -0000

This is noname from the "Unconvincing Arguments" essay.

In a strange way I feel sorry for the poor slob. I have encountered his kind before in formal classroom settings. People of otherwise normal intelligence, or even superior intelligence, find it impossible to participate in question/answer exercises. They fail to understand what an "answer" is. Ask them a question and they babble off into left field. They cannot be brought back to the issue.

I have tried a few times to help these people with their papers and they can't seem to "track". Look, here is your assignment; here are the questions and the issues; deal with them; what you are writing are not answers. Such people, I suspect, are victims of autism or Asberger's syndrome, off in their own world and unable to respond.

Re: Pope blames atheism for world's woes - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:54:00 -0000

The pope talks about justice. Is it just to burn people in hell forever?

And then, let us remind his holiness that his church spent centuries torturing and killing heretics, jews, witches, and whoever else wouldn't bend their knee.

Re: Pope blames atheism for world's woes - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:09:00 -0000

I was expecting fundies to be on this place like brown on shit, but I am disappointed.

Good posts, all. Proud to be here.

Just a few more notes.......the pope thinks that the church did a great job of running Europe,and as secularism gained, things went sour. And evil. Okay, haul out your textbooks and tell me when was the golden age of xrianity that you miss so much.

Just for openers, the dark age was a time when illiterate and unwashed warlords slaughtered each other off while the church sat back and watched and played with its peter (pun intended)

Spare me from xristian justice.

Re: The price of battling the Christian Taliban - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:53:00 -0000

This sort of thing is almost impossible for me to believe. 25th Division; Cu Chi; Vietnam, and we were the most godless pack of mutts you ever saw. We never said jesus except when the shells came in.

Re: Creationists 'peddle lies about fossil record' - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:22:00 -0000

I call myself an atheist for the sake of an argumentative convenience. Actually, I am indifferent on the question of any deity's existence. I don't give a shit if a god exists or not.

About the universe being intelligently designed: think about that when you see a Down's syndrome child, or a child horribly deformed. Some designer, huh? Shit.

And if you could prove creation, you would still have to prove that your creator is indeed the judeo-christian god. Good luck and keep the faith.

Alexandra "Lexy" Ryan

Re: Pastor charged in Web chat with teen - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:01:00 -0000

The entire concept of god is a mistake.

Re: Ben Stein's Selective Quoting of Darwin - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:16:00 -0000

I wanted to make a few random comments. I have been reading this shit about evangelistic xristians taking over the military. I spent a year in vietnam waiting to take an AK bullet up my ass, and not once did I ever hear religion; not once; not fucking once; no protestant; no catholic; no buddhist; no muslim; no nothing. And now I am on the fucking net and it is all I hear.This is going to be death to the US military, because no decent man or woman is going to re-up. We are going to be left with the sugar creek gang to defend this republic, and good fucking luck. I am going to buy a one-way ticket to Sweden.

I wish to connect the foregoing with Darwin. Some of this may not be welcome, but so be it. I believe in no objective morals. The so called "new atheists" are keen to establish morals on the foundations of evolution. This won't happen. Be consistent, and follow through. We are sophisticated animals up on our hind legs. There aint no morals. Face it.

We had better, by all that is unholy, not be sitting around talking to jesus, and not trying to substitute philosophy when jesus dies. The name of the game is survival. Survival does not mean prayer; hymns; holy books; doctrines; dogmas, and slicing off part of your son's dick.

What will be happening--and it sounds like justice--is that weak, pussy americans are going to be replaced by a more deserving breed.
Or perhaps, with another 200 years, we might just wise up.

Re: Ben Stein's Selective Quoting of Darwin - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:35:00 -0000

walrus, I had enormous difficulty following your reasoning. I do not know if you agree with me or not, nor do I care. My reply is out of simple curiousity.

I understand what you are saying about the ideals of safety and privacy. I should imagine that you have the sense to know that it is my kind that has defended those ideals, and will continue to do so, while your kind can moralize.

And yes, we are sophisticated animals. The top dogs are the ones who design the best weapons, who can field the most troops, and who can train the best officers. The losers eat shit.

And let me remind you.........if we hadn't won at Midway, you and I would be speaking japanese. And we likely would have neither safety nor privacy.

Re: Ben Stein's Selective Quoting of Darwin - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:13:00 -0000

Look, I have no problem with the vision of life that you present. I like Norman Rockwell and Glen Miller the same as ya'll.

But before we can sit around and watch re-runs of Father Knows Best, we first need to learn how to kill without remorse. First comes the killing, then the morals. In that order. Is there something about this that I am missing?

Re: Ben Stein's Selective Quoting of Darwin - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:39:00 -0000

Let me just take a few moments to comment. I have had these talks before and they lead nowhere. Since I believe that existence is without point, that is fine.

One of you said that morality comes before killing, because there must be a recognition of a "cause" in the first place. That was the walrus, I recall. Read my jaws.......SURVIVAL. That is the cause. To live your own life; on your own soil; to think as you wish; to do as you wish; to strike down those who would take it from you. What the damned hell does this have to do with morals? What cause? I am the cause.

Someone else talked about cooperation. As a soldier, I can tell you all things about cooperation that you can't dream of.

And about evolution: I do not give a rabbit's ass about evolution. Evolution does not dictate terms to me. I am not the slave or tool of evolution. I am who I am, not the distant cousin of a ring-tailed lemur.

See ya'll on the morrow.

Re: Minister caught in sex sting resigns - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:13:00 -0000

click prestonwood baptist church at the top of the story. The founding pastor, Bill Weber, resigned after an extramarital affair.

I guess these guys figure the family that lays together stays together.

Re: Top 10 Attacking Mistakes

ryan — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:40:02 -0000

RE Tailwind. It depends on the level you're racing at. You don't see too many breaks get away at the open A grade level (or Cat 1/2) in a tailwind section. Possibly at the B/D/D (cat 3/4/5) levels though...

Re: Hutchinson Fusion 2 Tubless Tires Verdict

ryan — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:47:49 -0000

I have been using these tires for about a year now. I really like them. But I am wondering how they compare to tubular tires. Better, worse or the same?

Re: Rollers or Trainer?

ryan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:49:18 -0000

You balance on rollers the same way you balance on the road, by steering the bike under you. When you lean to the side you gotta steer the bike back underneath you to stay upright. The gyroscopic balancing is minimal both on the road and rollers. I think its easier to balance on rollers when going faster because your steer inputs move the back side to side more quickly when the drums are turning faster.

Re: Rollers or Trainer?

ryan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:45:40 -0000

One thing I do to increase resistance on rollers is to run a low tire pressure, around 40 psi. I find the resistance to be similar to riding on a flat road.

Re: What's the best way to leave fundamentalism? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 11:38:00 -0000

One of jim earl's fine comments.

Mike, jim is right; there is help here, and lots of it. I believe I can offer a bit.

I was not secure after I walked away--it was as though I needed to make excuses. Before I did anything, said anything, or even thought anything, I had to have the reasons; the arguments; the logic. No more. It is my right as a sentient being to think for myself, and to choose the course of my life to the extent that choice is possible. I need make an apology to no man. Mike, just do it. I am not trivializing your experience--I am not dealing in simplism. I know it is hard.

And I know that we can hang on for years, trying to appeal to non-existent gods. The worst part was enduring the horrors of "christian councelling". No matter how confusing or painful your experience has been, your pastor will twist everything around to make it your fault: "you lack faith; you lack committment; you are holding on to sin; you need more prayer; you are too involved with the world; you need fellowship; you need bible study" and bullshitbullshitbullshit. Your mind has been tampered with, and no one will take the responsibility.

What I found as an exchristian has been just about as bad. Your accusers will come up with ad hoc definitions of christianity to again put you in the wrong. I was debating this sorry excuse for a woman here at exchristian, and I told her that her religion gave me no help for my problems. She replied: "christianity is not about your problems, it is about the truth".

See Mike, fundies have nothing to offer but disrespect. You have no worth; you have no mind; you have no feelings. You dance to their god's tune, and it doesn't matter how you want to dance, or if you want to dance at all. If there is a god--which I doubt--then we as the crown of creation were made to be more than puppets on strings.

Ayn Rand said "I will never live my life for another, nor compel another to live his life for me"

Take care, and write us back.

Ryan from Indiana

Re: What's the best way to leave fundamentalism? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 10:13:00 -0000

Rebecca, about your fascination with Daniel......the author called Daniel lived and wrote during the Greek period, under the reign of Antiochus; the book of Daniel dates between the years 167 and 164 BCE. He was writing about the events of his day, but by putting his time during the Babylonian exile, he can be made to look like a "prophet". People who want to make him into a fortune-teller have done a lot of tampering. Example: the statue of gold, silver, bronze and iron. (ch. 2)The metals represent the empires of Babylon, Medea, Persia and Greece, but by combining the Medes and Persians as one empire, the bronze can become Greece, and the iron can become Rome; thus, a futuristic prophecy. It is all phony, like the rest of your religion.

About the supposed prophecy of jesus in ch. 9: this is about the high priest, Onias III, whom Antiochus had murdered.

The old testament is full of shit that you christians think is soothsaying, such as isaiah 7 and micah 5. These passages are not about your jesus. Try to get it through your head that the jews were writing about what concerned them--the jews were not writing christian prophecy.

If you want to believe in a deity of some kind, no one is stopping you. You can bay at the moon for all we care, but please do not try to tell us that some guy with his crystal ball has foretold your savior.

Re: Waking up from the nightmare - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:57:00 -0000

Gretchen, hi. A funeral is a great place to begin getting a grip.

The church I was born into has its roots in the anabaptist milieu of the post-reformation. I can't tell you what it is, because my past continues to be an embarrassment. Maybe someday I shall--hell, you might have heard of it.

This church was agrarian until just recently, but the past generation has been attending college and many even have computers. The core of their crazed religion is still back in the 16th century.

They condemned birth control. It follows that a pack of ignorant shitkickers, spending their lives raising cows and pigs, is going to see birth control as ungodly. A godly woman had lots of children, like a sow having a litter.

At my mother's mother's funeral, the minister had warm praise for this god-fearing woman who had farrowed 8 children. Her reward for her fertility was all these children who looked after her in her old age, never mind the fact that they all grew up poor, tattered, and hungry.

That sermon was one of my big reasons for walking away--that common bumkin who used a funeral to preach his barnyard sex education. I'm glad to be out.

xrayman: My experience is very much like yours. The funeral I am talking about took place after years of trying to be saved; trying to believe as they did; trying to think as they did, even trying to talk as they did. Didn't work. Still doesn't. The funeral was just one of several things that forced me to become who I was.

Have a great life, everyone.

Ryan from Indiana

Re: Waking up from the nightmare - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 09:14:00 -0000

I must say, anonymous, you have a refreshing approach. Most christians come in here, whimpering and wringing their hands because we have given up on the jewzoo, telling us that their bible stories are documented fact, how much they care about us, and then saying jewsus loves us. After all that whimpering and sobbing, they consign us all to perdition.

But you take a short-cut. You ditch all the extraneous "jewsus is calling" bullshit and go straight to damnation. A calvinist is efficient, like the god he believes in. Your god is an efficient god; a remorseless killing machine; what Thomas Jefferson called "a capricious, bloodthirsty monster".

You told Gretchen to "enjoy her life without god". You sadistic bastard, are you gloating over her unsaved condition? Why do you not find a girlfriend and experience some normal human feelings? And then you have the nuts to tell her "best wishes". If she is damned, then what do your wishes mean?

Has it occurred to you that, if your god is the whimsical tyrannt that you say he is, saving who he pleases, damning who he pleases, then you are not safe either? god could put the whole fucking human race into hell, every man, woman, and child who ever lived, and he would still be operating within calvinistic sovereignty.

Enjoy your existence devoid of human decency. I wish you all the worst.

Re: Waking up from the nightmare - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 12:38:00 -0000

There is not going to be any "white throne judgement", you imbecile. That is an image planted in your mind by your hick preachers who no doubt graduated from calvin seminary; stunted excuses for men who were driven mad by reading the bible.

If all are predestined, then of what use is "judgement"? If it is all settled ahead of time, what is there to judge? For that matter, if it is all settled ahead of time, what difference will it make if we hate christ or love christ? You are terminally confused, like the rest of your backward subspecies. I have a suggestion for you: I am going to heaven, while you are going to hell. If calvin's god is sovereign, it can happen just that way. If god is sovereign, our conceptions of equity would mean nothing to him. He would make no promises; no deals.

So we will see YOU at the throne, hmmmmm? And by the way, "go down" is a euphemism for oral sex. Get your mind out of the gutter, you totally depraved little whacker.

Re: Waking up from the nightmare - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 15:46:00 -0000

No, hateful calvinist, I am not a frog. I am a handsome prince. I was turned into a frog by the wicked jewzoo, but a fair princess rescued me. She was the Damsel of Reason, as beautiful as the dawn, with a kiss as soft as the dew on the roses. I then took my place among the intellectual aristocracy of this world: proud, free, and fearless.

You have made a comlete and utter fool of yourself, as I could have predicted. You are the one who is arrogant and self-righteous. You have come in here like the low-caste miscreant that you really are, reeking of your superstitious nonsense, and reacting with infantile rage when confronted with superior intelligence. Well, if I had my ass kicked in an argument, I would be angry too;but angry with myself for being so stupid and poorly-read.

Listen toad, hop back into your gutter and come out when you have either the wits or the courage to answer just one of the challenges against you.

Just one more thing: a disciple of calvin is no way to go through life. Grow up.

Re: The paradigm shift - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:32:00 -0000

Hello, don't-know.

You do not sound as though you need my advice, but I just wanted to say that it is just fine if you have no beliefs. I have none and I am getting along just fine. The last thing any of needs is a creed to live up to.

And that is why the single most aggravating statement on this site is "atheism is a religion too." As nearly as I can figure, such people have had their minds taken over by doctrines, and they cannot conceive of anyone who lacks them. I suppose that, to them, life is a set of ideas.

The greatest "blessing" for me, as an atheist, is that I can read a book and not have to decide if what I read is right or wrong; good or bad; true or false. I just enjoy the book.

So enjoy your books, and your life.

Re: The paradigm shift - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 12:07:00 -0000

sherry, I used to approach anything, not just people, in terms of whether it was "christian" or "not christian". Even harmless inanimate objects had to be judged. When I think back on those miserable days, I come as close to self-hatred as I ever get.

There is a funny side to this....I like to read authors like Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. I like Sartre but I do not quite "get" him sometimes. I am presently reading "The Secret Life of a Satanist" by Blanche Barton--this is the biography of Anton Szandor Lavey. There was a time that I would have turned pale at the very sight of that book.

How the righteous have fallen.

Re: The paradigm shift - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 14:35:00 -0000

hey south, I'm older and wiser.

Re: The price is worth it - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:07:00 -0000

Good day Cad; you have given us such a fine posting. Thanx.

I loved your Tillich quote--that is a new one for me. An otherwise intelligent person has to spend years in college and seminary before he can blither that way. As the years pass, I find that my reaction to xianity is neither anger nor mockery, but rather a baffled silence.

nvrqoinqbk, I have had a thousand arguments about "god is all good; god is all powerful; evil exists" and, as a rule, the xian can only muster some excuse about free will. He thus misses the point. When we say "the problem of evil" we are talking about the suffering of the innocent. A just god would not allow the innocent to suffer. Murderers and rapists, perhaps, but not the innocent.There is no way around this. The xian religion asserts--as the bible teaches--that god punishes the wicked. He also punishes women, children, babies, and livestock, e.g. 1st samuel 22, and that is but one reference. To rephrase my tillich remark, it takes years of xian training and indoctrination to grant such horrors our assent. I withdrew my assent years ago.

Re: Why I despise religion - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 06:15:00 -0000

I don't believe I actually mentioned anything about Atheists in my little tale. Though yes some atheists are complete arseholes, and you know what? I've met many a nice and wonderful person who has a form of religion. Some of my best friends are christian (and we actually have fun having a good natured rant at each other how each other are wrong), and some people I can't stand are atheists. Crimes and atrocities have been perpetrated throughout history by both secular and non-secular communities. All throughout history we’ve been clawing our way forward over the bodies of the dead; hell I’ve done things in my life that I am certainly not proud of, but I never blamed anyone but me for my actions.
But my point is this; everyone must make their own choices and follow their own path (another reason I do not like religion, for it is never your own path), for Emanuel Goldstein actively choosing to give up his free will and attempting shout down others who do not take his path may work for him, it doesn’t work for me. I posted on this website because I wanted to share something with some complete strangers who seem to have possibly taken a similar path to myself. I would never have posted this on a Christian or Muslim website, nor would I have attempted to shout them down on their websites no matter how wrong I felt their views were, it just seems rude to me.
I would however be interested to hear Mr Goldstein’s tale if he has one. Why he hates atheists so much, and if he has a rational reason for why he chose religion (and what religion) when he was raised by atheists.
Also I’d actually have to say whist I do not believe in a god per say, I do not discount the possibility that I am wrong and if one day god cracked the sky open and showed itself to me I’d believe and I’d respect but I wouldn’t worship. Subservience isn’t love in my book.

Re: An ex-Felon and ex-Christian speaks out - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 13:56:00 -0000

I am pleased to be among your first responses. My name is Ryan and I am from Indiana. I feel just a bit speechless--I cannot relate to the prison experience--but I have been set free from the bonds of religion.

It is amusing, but the same rhetoric fits: I have been saved; I have been redeemed; I live a new life; I have been born again. Thank whatever gods may be.

Good luck. And say hi to the little birdie.

Re: An ex-Felon and ex-Christian speaks out - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 16:32:00 -0000

No, the bible does not specifically address the notion of playing with it. That is not the point.

xians always bring this sort of shit up........"oh no no no, the bible doesn't say that; that is just false xianity; that is just man's traditions."

Look here, xian.......we are going to judge your kind by twenty centuries of that hideous monstrosity you call the body of christ, that slimy, reeking spawn of hell, which festered and stank until the reformation, and then, in the fullness of time, shit forth the devil's own abortion. Since the reformation, the sewage has flowed and flowed, and decent men covered their faces.

Look here, xian, and take responsibility for the disease you have loosed upon us; the infantile guilt and fear. We did not start this nonsense that touching ourselves is wrong; you did. Such a notion has come from the corrupt and depraved minds of the xian.

It is not wrong to feel pleasure. It is not wrong to feel pleasure with the woman we love; to acquire wealth and status; to read and question and grow; to become bigger and better; to be strong and free. These are the things your stunted kind have condemned. Take responsibility for it, if you have the manhood, which we doubt.

Re: Anxiety To Self Esteem - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:36:00 -0000

That was the best anti testimony I have ever read. My stomach is in knots. We need to read this sort of thing every day.

No matter how we have tried, or what we have been through, the enemy will always define his religion to put us in the wrong. "xian counseling" is an oxymoron; you do not get help, you get blame. There are a thousand excuses for their non existent god.

The worst I ever heard was here at ex xian. I had ditched religion because it failed to provide help for my problems, and this little bitch told me that jesus is not about your problems, he is about truth. I was angry enough to chew nails.

We do not have a god who gets things done. We have religions to explain why he doesn't.

Now 'scuse me,Madame.....I need a little glass of wine.

Re: Isn't Christ's love wondrous? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:26:00 -0000

Hello SG

I grew up in the Apostolic Christian church, Francesville. My name is Ryan Pelsy. I am amazed that there are not more of us here. Shit, we should have our own site.

When I was 18, I tried that "repentance" shit. To this day, the memory of that ordeal makes me hang my head. I, a bright but troubled young man, who could quote everyone from Thoreau to Ayn Rand, went around trying to sound like a dumbass pig farmer. You know how they talk, and I tried to talk like them; act like them; think like them. Well, of course, it didn't work. They filled my head with their shit about what the lord was going to do for me, and I slowly went crazy.

You are so lucky, you son of a bitch. You never fell for it. jesus, I envy you.

I persist in thinking that there are more like us in that looney bin. People who are faking it because they are too ashamed to admit spiritual failure. We should have our own site? Hell, we should have our own bar.

Happy to read your post. Write me a few lines.....I am a hard-core atheist and proud of it.

Re: This is my first attempt to explain my brain, so, bear with me? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:14:00 -0000

I wanted to make a comment about the waitress. I have worked for many years in restaurants, here and there, and I have a soft spot for a waitress. They put up with a lot of shit, and much of it comes from xristians.

xristian women are the worst. I have seem them treat a waitress like a whore.

You know, their religion teaches them that women are lower than men. That is for goddamned sure.

Re: I never chose to lose my religion - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:52:00 -0000

When we read the apologists that unblinded suggests, we see quickly and easily that these things are written for those who have already believed, without question, the tenets of xianity. To provide an example:

The slaughter of whole ethnic groups in the ot is revolting, at least it is for those with their frontal lobe intact. But pat robertson, and I think, lee strobel, have an explaination. You see, god was being merciful. The descendents of those heathen idolators would have gone to hell, so god kills off the present generation, sends them to hell, and spares future generations.

By now, most of you are ready to hurl your BLT and chips. The difference between us and you, unblinded, is that we are able to question your jewgod; his bloodthirsty vengeance and his hell. xian apology makes no sense because you god makes no sense IN THE FIRST PLACE. We have questioned the source, and I, for my part, have little interest in quibbling over details and isssues.

And by the way, gk chesterton was a pompous asshole.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:10:00 -0000

You cretin!!!!!! It is not up to us to prove that jesus was wrong!!!!!! Idiot!! He's your god, you prove him. I have no god and nothing to prove!!!!

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:12:00 -0000

I have a great idea.....why don't you prove he was RIGHT

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:13:00 -0000

What test are you talking about, shithead? I am not taking any test, nor do I need to. I think you need to be tested.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:15:00 -0000

I am here because it is fun, and for no other reason. I love to listen to you trashy little jesus-lovers come in here to preach. There is no other reason

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:17:00 -0000

Why do you hide behind the name anonymous? Ashamed? I was ashamed when I was a xian.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:22:00 -0000

Well goddamnit, I do not blame him. He has more patience than I would ever have. You fuckers hang around here like jehovah's witnesses.

Re: Star Wars Episode III Trailer

ryan — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:49:42 -0000

Thinking about ep 2 dialogue, and how bad it was... I always thought it was too melodramatic, but recently I have been thinking that it was intentionally so. Anakin is a Jedi, but he is also 18. Teenagers tend to be a little melodramatic, so the dialogue might be appropriate even if it is trite and lame.

Re: Atheists coming out of the closet - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:30:00 -0000

Just a short reply to anonymous of 9:33AM......

I am not an atheist with just my mouth. Most xians are "mouth xians" and I was one myself. I prayed and praised and went through the motions, and inside I was hurting and wondering why this loving god would not come to the aid of some dumb kid who was doing the best he could. No, I was neither a saint nor a theologian. I was on my knees before this god who was my last hope. And as the bible says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Look it up)

Well anonymous, I am pushing 60 now, got a few aches and pains, but life aint too bad. I am off my knees. It has been tough and I have the occasional relapse, but I can tell you that I am nevertheless a fervent atheist. Yes, I believe in what I am doing and thinking. It is called passion. Make your jokes if you must; call it a "religion" if you must, but I believe in me. I believe in every day I live. I believe in every breath I take.

Just a little joke as I exit: "To call atheism a religion is like calling not collecting stamps a hobby".

Re: 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 13:31:00 -0000

Just two points, paul. The christian liberators you point to--wilberforce, king, et al--were liberators in spite of their religion, not because of it. The xian religion is an enslaver. We have all been there. You are still there.

There is an old joke about the northern abolitionist versus the southern slave holder; that while the northerner could only appeal to the "spirit" and "trajectory" of scripture, the southerner could quote chapter and verse.

But yes, philosophy, archeology, and history do indeed document the horror and stupidity of your ancient superstitions. Among those is something our friend donner omitted from an otherwise thorough post: it was legal to beat your slave to death. Look it up. Perhaps it could be found in your concordance under a number of headings: slave; servant; murder; vengeance; bloodlust; superstition; barbarity; savagry.

Re: 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 17:01:00 -0000

How often it is that we become mired in particular disagreements while ignoring the bigger picture. I blame myself as the bigger offender. I am talking about this issue of slavery we now discuss. The xian is devilishly clever is taking us round and round in linguistic hair splitting, distracting us from what should be our central question. Look at what paul did with this slavery crap, showing us how benign his religion is, and how bad we are. And we do not hesitate to enter into his pissing contest.

To illustrate: how many arguments have we heard about noah's flood? How many xians have rushed forward with eager evidence; the geological evidence, and so on, while going mute about the bigger issue: what sort of god would do a thing like that? Hmmmm? If you xians can verify the flood's historical truth, then none of us are safe, not in this world, nor in the next.

My lovely wife got me a copy of The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. Allow me to quote from the beginning of chapter 2:

"The god of the old testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty,unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomanical, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Those of us schooled from infancy in his ways can become desensitized to his horror."

Dawkins goes on to relate that Winston Churchill's son, Randolph, was introduced to the bible during WW1, by Evelyn Waugh. Churchill laughed all the way through it, exclaiming all the while, "Aint god a shit?"

paul, you have the guts to tell us that your baby jesus somehow cancels all this out, and that he provided us with this great new religion. He didn't. Nope. You, paul, are the moron. Not us. The xian religion has never let go of the jew god.All of us have attended the jew-zoo on sunday, and he is still there.

Just a few personal things. I should not be doing this. About atheism and the meaning of life: paul, what the damned hell does "the meaning of life" mean? My life means as much to me as yours does to you. I do not need to drop to my knees in fear and trembling in order to find meaning in life.

About jesus' resurrection being fact: bunk.

About atheists killing more people than xians: I am not impressed with your body count mentality. You xians have spent 20 centuries showing us that you are willing to spill blood at the drop of a hat. I, for one, would sooner be a member of the Nazi party that a member of any church.

Re: 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:50:00 -0000

scuse me, I meant "than a member of any church". Damn, even I make mistakes.

And paul, in the name of all the gods, will you get your bible straight? The bible supports the killing of slaves (reference your post of 12/26, 2:58) Look it up, damnit. We are getting weary of teaching you people the bible you pretend to read.

Re: Christian help for responding to atheists, evolutionists - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:35:00 -0000

An open response to creationists:

We recognize that the natural world is hideously complex, but to bring in the necessity of a creator is not a solution to the problem of "how we got here." To bring in the necessity of an infinitely complex god is to complicate the problem infinitely.

The next question is "how did god get there?" The creationist's response is that god is eternal!! This is an evasion. The creationist is really saying: "you have no right to challenge me on this; you are trespassing on theological turf." But no.......if the godly want to engage in debate--if they seek to debate as we do; to argue cause-and-effect--then they must follow through. They cannot chicken out at the last minute, when the questions get tough, and fail to hold up their end of the debate.

Do you think that we do not realise the difficulties with evoultion? Of course we do. But do you seriously suggest that you can preach your allknowing, allpowerful jewgod, who poofed the world into existence, and then sit back and chuckle as though you have provided a rebuttal? Tell us what accounts for your jewgod's existence--how can such a perfect being exist--and you will have won. Go ahead. We are listening.

The most comical thing about creationism is that, even if you prove the jewpoof over the bigbang, you still have to show that the creator really is the jewgod you worship, and not some other whacked-up deity. Lots of luck.

Just one more thing: it is insisted that you windbags can prove the bible "historically and archeologically." Okay, where is the tower of babel?

Re: Christian help for responding to atheists, evolutionists - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:40:00 -0000

Oh, this is hilarious. anonymous, let me amend your statements:

Intellect builds up; love puts you on your knees.

Neither gods nor men can do; only I can do.

Atheists will be what they choose to be. You will be what you must be.

Re: How to congratulate a political opponent? - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:48:00 -0000

My respect for the WM's tolerance and forbearance increases with the passing hours. paul (is that your real name, or is it just dramatically effective? I was thinking of calling myself Thomas Jefferson)you come in here every day to preach, preach, preach. You provide no basis for your beliefs and no evidence for their validity. Why the WM puts up with you is a mystery.

Do you have any serious intention of converting or re-converting any of us, or are you just basking in the imaginary glow of your own simple-minded piety? If it is the latter, then grow up. Only a child needs that kind of attention.

If it is the former, then you need to learn to argue; you need to learn what is meant by evidence and facts. We have heard all this jesus drivel before. Now try to get this through your head.......I am free of the demands and constraints of religion, and no, it is not because I want to "sin" and because my acts cannot bear scrutiny. It is because it is my birthright as a sentient being to be free. You xians have this creed that only comes down to this: "we have no right to be free". You know where you can stick it.

Your aforementioned drivel has served one purpose, and that is to solidify our intention to remain free. The purpose of this site is to "encourage exchristians" and by the gods you have done just that. That might be the WM's tactics, after all.

By the way, I have read all that shit by McDowell; Stroebel; et al, and it is trash. All these people can do, if you look at it closely, is simply re-state their religion. Stroebel, in the Case for Faith, "tackles" 10 questions, and all he did was simply tell his readers the christian answers. There was no reason FOR the christian answers. Do you see the difference?

Now I am the one who is preaching. But let me teach you something. You are living in the past, by the ideas of the past, while I am living in the present, thinking for myself, and accountable to myself. You cannot convert a happy man.

Re: How to congratulate a political opponent? - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:53:00 -0000

I guess the key word here is "free", as in "freedom of speech", "freedom of thought" and "freedom of the press". paul, which of these freedoms do you object to, and why?

Re: Pastor sentenced to 7 years for molestation - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:15:00 -0000

Have you heard of preachers molesting young girls? This site has been full of such stories.

The cause of these things, paul, is not being homosexual or hetersexual. Few gays or lesbians molest kids, and few heterosexuals molest kids. I will inform you about the cause of these "abominations".

The cause is the xian religion, which interferes with a person's ability to accept his sexual identity. Teach a child growing up that his sexual feelings are simply a part of who he is, and there will be no trouble. But introduce sick, twisted notions like sin and guilt and god's wrath, and you will produce sick and twisted people. People who become preachers. Teach a man to be ashamed of who he is, and I will guarantee there will be trouble.

By the way, your choice of words "they cannot hold their pants up" is really funny. What secret fantasy made you say that?

Let me amend your statement about "allowing homosexuals into the church". Blame yourselves for allowing hypocrites into the church. Clean up your own act--dont blame gays and lesbians. xianity breeds molesters like a dead pig breeds maggots.

Re: Pastor sentenced to 7 years for molestation - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:17:00 -0000

And paul, these people are going to be on you like brown on shit. I guess you xian beliefs made you a masochist.

Re: Former pastor and youth minister faces sexual assault charges - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:34:00 -0000

paul, you have been noticing my posts. I can tell by your use of the word "hypocrite" that comes from the last molester story.

Thanks to preaching little kooks like you, I have finally been able to admit to amorality. It took years, but praise jewzoo, I at last went around the bend. I feel like a new person; born again, if you will.

About child molesters in the clergy; I do not claim to be godly or xrist-like; I do not aspire to purity or holiness; I am not good, nor do I want to be. Thus I cannot be a hypocrite. What I am talking about is your xian preachers who pose as obedient believers, and then turn around and live exactly as I do. If you still want to talk about goodness, keep in mind that I am the honest one, not these preachers who hide behind their ordination, parading about in jackets and ties on sunday morning. I am out in the open, with no pretense. Proud of myself? You are damned right I am.

Now just a little theology: you said that the most important thing in the xian life is obedience. I thought we were saved by the grace of god, through faith. Better get it straight, you little heretic. If you are trusting your morals instead of the lord, you are headed for a life of debauchery. Uh, if you're not there already.

Re: The Jesus Tree - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:44:00 -0000

Yes, we are soaking in idolatry. We worship a man; we worship a book; we worship buildings; we worship a flag; we worship a country.

And the spectacle of your superstitious latinos makes me want to retch.

Re: The Jesus Tree - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:32:00 -0000

Lest anyone should think I am a racist, I just wanted to add a few more comments.

The last thing that the poor and ignorant of this world needs is religion. I am talking about Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and even white shitkickers like me.

I know what I'm talking about. I grew up saying "crik" instead of creek, and "punkin" instead of pumpkin. I grew up with people who didn't have the brains to pour piss out of a boot.

I rose above them, and their jesus.Thank whatever gods may be.

Re: The Jesus Tree - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:24:00 -0000

There was a story on Indianapolis television several years ago. It seems that a pentecostal preacher and his relatives were doing snapshots in the living room, and in several of the pictures, the light and shadow produced an image of a horned devil on the wall. The story got around and people came by the hundreds to see satan.

Re: Haggard's dark side appears darker - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 09:58:00 -0000

Shit, this is so funny even I don't believe it. Ted is embracing his heterosexual side?

"Hey Ted, you're straight and it's okay. No shit, really, straight is cool. Get in touch with your heterosexuality. Go with it, man, chicks are groovey."

'scuse me I just died laughing

Re: Pastor arrested for online soliciting of 14-year-old girl - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:44:00 -0000

I am glad the Webmaster keeps posting this shit. The stench helps keep the fundies away.

Re: Jesus tomb found?! - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:13:00 -0000

jim earl? Hi, ryan here.

Just purely in conversational mode, but some scholars believe there actually was an historical Robin Hood. Some give his name as Robert Hood, or Robert Hod.

His consort's name was Madelyn Fitzwalter, a Norman woman. After taking up with a Saxon outlaw, she concealed her identity as "Marian" in order to spare her family the shame of her treason.

And no, by god, I am not trying to sneak in some proof of jesus. This business of "you can't prove he wasn't" is childish, if not idiotic.

If there was indeed an empty jesus tomb, it would have been venerated. The standard comeback is that when jesus rose, the empty tomb would have been meaningless, and hence forgotten. Bunk. Those who want me to believe in their empty tomb, show me where it is. Otherwise, clam it up and go back to your beads and rattles and leave this site in peace.

Have a nice day, jim. We are showing 40 degrees here but the weather guy keeps saying rain, of all things.

Re: Pastor held on $500,000 bond for sexual assault - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:42:00 -0000

To Lady Aneatra:

I just love it when xristians quote john 3/16. When did god start loving the world? Have you ever read the old testament? How in the name of whatever deity you suscribe to can you believe that he loves the world?

The ot goes on, verse after verse, chapter after chapter, book after book, detailing god's hatred of all that he has created. The ot god reminds me of those insane brats that we see on Supernanny.

And where oh where did you ever pick up the phrase "christian logic"?

I have taken a special interest in you, much in the same way that a weasel takes an interest in baby chicks. I can provide my email if you would care to converse.

Re: The unfailing power of prayer - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

ryan — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:19:00 -0000

sailerfraud, hi.

I recall my post at "We all know how this works" and I am glad you liked it. I certainly thank you for you comments of April 01. The jewzoo must submit to the test. No test; no jewzoo. We invent faith when the test is failed. All you fundies, come on in here and refute me. Lotsa luck.

And sailer........my wife and I were passing a church just last sunday, a lutheran church as I remember (shit, they all look alike) and the sign out front said

"god's answers are 'yes, no, and wait'"

Again, with a system like that, god doesn't have to exist. We just take whatever happens and call it god's answer. It can be yes, no, wait, or fuck yourself; whatever, it is a good answer.

And to continue to address the fundies out there: our experience is one of disappointed faith. We grew weary of years of trying and praying, only to be told to keep trying and to keep praying. We do not have a god who gets things done; we have a religion that explains why he doesn't.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:37:00 -0000

Blake, you senseless excuse for a man, I was a xian for more years than you have been alive, and I became more miserable with every passing minute. You have the balls to use a word like "reason". Listen, titmouse, I finally saw reason, and I got off my knees.

You actually believe that if I spent time with you that I would somehow "come around". No titmouse, the presence of xians reinforces my resolve; their attempts at reason; their total lack of manhood.

And please do not stay around. This is not the place for you.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:44:00 -0000

Blake, try to get this through the 6 inches of fat that surrounds your reptilian brain...........

We are not going to be friends. Your kind did me more harm than I care to describe. You with your charade of love and friendship and brotherhood. Bullshit. You have only superstition to peddle. I am not your victim. Go and fuck with little teenage minds if that pleases you.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:48:00 -0000

god bless you alan, I can see the light!! praise jewzoo!!

Oh...uh, what church do you attend? I think I ought to sign up really quick.I do hope it is one of those megachurches where you get to donate enough money to break the bank at Monte Carlo.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:55:00 -0000

That is the little trap that got set for a lot of us. We were invited to come to jewzoo "just as we are" with all our doubts and shortcomings. When it didn't work, then we got the shit about how we were hanging on to sin, we lacked faith; we were not sincere. The worst victims were those who experienced a "saving" of some sort, and then it seemed to die out. Then they were told they had a false conversion. Poor fuckers.....they had it worse than I did.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:01:00 -0000

Well, he got the loser part right

Re: Morality and ethics without absolutes, part II - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:15:00 -0000

Good Morning Webmaster,

Most of the screwballs on the so-called religious right are perfectly serious about imposing the law of moses upon this country, and that includes slavery. There is something called "christian reconstruction"......I am not too clear on this but they have given up trying to prove that this was intended to be a xian country--a theocracy--and so they are going to make it one. Here in Indiana, these fuckers are as thick as lice on a goat's ass. I understand that you are from Ohio. I do not suppose it is any better there.

And anonymous, or eik bocere, or whoever the hell you are, go tell your xian brothers about your freedom from the law. They are the ones who should hear it, not us.

Have you read the Torah? No, I am not trying to be funny. Few xians have read the bible--most xians simply parrot what they hear over the pulpit, or what they read in their paperbacks. Read the Torah; the law of moses, and you will see that it was put together by barbarians. Savages. It is without meaning to any civilized man,and why you want to believe that it was from your god is quite beyond me. And you say jesus kept this law? Really? Do you mean that he paid a fine for raping a slave-girl? Do you mean that he helped himself to the right to murder his slaves? These things are in the law. Read it. The jew law is for a herd of ignorant, unwashed towel-heads, killing their innocent animals, shitting in terror, jabbering and chanting.

You are quite right: law is not for mature adults. That is the only smart thing you have said so far. Where you went back to dumb was that shit about xrist making us free from the law.We become free from the laws imposed by jew religion when we grow the fucking hell up and start to think for ourselves. You ought to thank whatever gods you believe in that you live in this country, where jew religion, and its bastard daughter xianity, have no power over us. When you are finished thanking your god, you can thank the likes of Tom Jefferson, Jim Madison, Tom Paine, Ben Franklin, et al.

Read your old testament, and then read Tom Paine's books "The Age of Reason" and "The Rights of Man". It is time you grew up.

Re: Morality and ethics without absolutes, part II - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:16:00 -0000

spirula, what I would like to know is why "righteousness" was such a capricious idea. We have the dark character of king david, fit to rival the most evil bastards in history or fiction, and he was said to be after god's own heart. Then we have onan, who was struck dead because he wouldn't do his sister-in-law. anonymous, you are such a theologian, can you explain all this?

The funny part is where paul says that the law "has become our schoolmaster to lead us to xrist". No shit, really, I have to laugh.

Re: Morality and ethics without absolutes, part II - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:40:00 -0000

So does "godly" government include a monarch? The history of israel, as presented in the ot, provides a list of good kings and bad kings (I forget the wording--"he did that which was evil in god's sight"). So even with divine principles, there is still going to be a flawed government. Does that mean that CR calls for a government by prophets?

THAT is a chilling thought.

Re: Morality and ethics without absolutes, part II - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:11:00 -0000

There is a certain honesty to CR. All churches that I have been to pay a feeble lip-service to "faith" and "grace" while imposing a list of rules that stretches from here to the fucking moon.

Re: 300 million year old rock - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:00:00 -0000

That bit about satan planting fake rocks in the ground made me laugh. I have heard the same thing about fossils--the devil put those bones there to trick us.

The best one I have ever heard is about the light of the stars. There are stars out there that are a hell of a lot farther away than 6000 lightyears, but we can see them. Here is the answer: when god made the earth and the stars, he also made the light between them.

No matter how you challenge fundies, they can always come with something as an explaination. An explaination, not an argument.

Re: 300 million year old rock - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:10:00 -0000

Good Morning, and a special hello to all.

To John Fensworth: friend, I could write a book. I have another one for you: the locusts in Revelation 9 are 4-engine bombers. Their stinging tails in verse 10 are the tail-gunners. My teachers and preachers told me this shit with a straight face.

As we all know, the enemy gets crazy over two things: creation and prophecy. These things function like book-ends, holding up the whole sorry structure of wingnut religion.

The tabloids pander to this shit--the latest thing is that armageddon is starting in iraq. Ever since the year 2000, the tabloids have been specializing in prophecy.

Bently, when it comes to kooks, Indiana has you beat. We have a subculture here that we commonly call "hillbillies". The standard joke is that they are the trash that the South drove out. As a rule, they drink themselves into early graves or at least wind up in jail. But, drunk or sober, they come together in churches--called pentecostal, pilgrim holiness, or something with "tabernacle" in their name--and the show of madness is breathtaking. Shouting; screaming; dropping unconscious; rattlesnakes.

The good part is that "billie gals" become sexually active at an early age. I dated a pentecostal (or was she holiness; hell, I don't remember) and she had the appetite of a muskrat. thank you jesus.

And thanx all for your contributions to this great site.

Re: 300 million year old rock - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:30:00 -0000

paul, you have, as usual, provided comic relief to some otherwise dreary days.

Your reply to the question "what god should we believe in" was nonsense. I do not give two flying fucks into hell what the citizens of this country believe. Let them worship their gods, for all I care. Are you saying that the majority should decide what gods to follow? Let me tell you a thing or two: I am an American and proud to be so. I am a Vietnam veteran, a taxpayer, and a property owner. I am also an atheist. This is my right, not only as an American, but as a sentient being. The majority can take their religion and fuck themselves.

Now this is the tricky part. Your show of scientific erudition does not impress me. It makes me no difference if there is a creator, and I do not care if the earth is 6000 years old or 6 years old or 6 billion years old. If that god exists, he has created me as a free man. It is unthinkable that he made us only so we can worship him and obey him, or be punished by him. It is obvious that he does not care what I do or what I think. I am a sophisticated animal on my hind legs. Perhaps god finds me interesting. I do not know or care.

You wish to talk science? Science is done by observation and testing. Now, look out at the natural world and tell me what sort of god made that world. We see only the strong vs the weak; the lucky vs the unlucky. There are no ethics in nature. Nature does not reveal a judeo-christian god.

Do not take the easy way out by blaming these things on the "fall of creation". That is relgion. If you want to talk science, do not flip flop back and forth between science and religion. And you have the balls to say you are laughing at Lauren.

You final paragraph was sickening. What is your favorite reading, The Sugar Creek Gang? You certainly showed us what a scientist you are by saying we are here for god's glory. By what experiments have you arrived at that conclusion?

Re: Atheist Bullshiters - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:59:00 -0000

Blake, you are trying to sound like a thinker, and doing poorly. You said that the bible was neither the absolute truth nor the word of god. Then you said that the bible said that jesus was the truth. You can't have it both ways.

By what authority do you assert that jesus was divine; that he was the son of god; that he was the truth? The pope? Voices in your head? Dreams and revelations?

Re: Atheist Bullshiters - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:10:00 -0000

Just a few more things. The gullibility that you demonstrated,Blake, is beyond belief. The nt is mostly slander against the jews, obvious to anyone who has studied a little history. jesus was not crucified because he claimed to be the son of god. The jews had not the authority, and the romans would have had no interest. The roman government took no interest in the religions of their citizens. It would have taken a crime like sedition to have gotten him crucified.

Furthermore, any jew who claimed to be divine would have been discredited among his own people; discredited immediately. The stories you read in your gospel were written years after jesus' death, mostly for people who were not aware of either jewish or roman culture.

You talk like a child.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:48:00 -0000

Hello Craig?

This thread is about to go south so there isn't much point in striking up this conversation. However, you seem like a reasonable homo sapiens, quite unlike the fundie trash that wanders in here, resembling drunks looking for an alley to piss in.

Craig, look buddy.......this god shit just doesn't work for everybody. OK? It just doesn't. Not everybody likes broccoli. Not everybody likes oral sex. I know that I am am arguing by analogy, but you get my point.

I do not deny that you have experienced something; I do not know what. That is your affair, and you are welcome to it. You borrow xian expressions, such as seeking god with a whole heart. Many of us here, me included, have sought your god with a whole heart, with all the sincerity we had at our command, and the process failed. That is where we found ourselves in a trap. Then we were told that we were not sincere. See, "you can find god if you seek him with a whole heart, and if you fail, that means you did not seek with a whole heart". At that point life became a living hell, as we tried to somehow conjure up the amount of sincerity that would please god. It soon became obvious to me that god did not exist, and that I took the blame for not finding a god who was not there to begin with. Heads god wins; tails I lose.

Craig, I have nothing against you--really, no shit, really--but I wish you would get the hell out of here. Leave people alone and do not try to fuck with their minds.

And I too hate religion, including yours.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:56:00 -0000

And one more thing that I forgot.

I have no interest in your "proofs" of your god's existence. One can argue for the existence of a god or a creator, but there is no proof that this god can be communicated with or that she even cares about us to begin with. As Voltaire had said "god is the eternal geometrician who cannot love you".

I am pleased that you have these pleasant feelings that come from inside your head. I have my own feelings and they work fine for me. I do not live by your subjective experience.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:31:00 -0000

I should imagine that I am just talking for the sake of it. I do not suppose Craig cares or even notices what I said.

This shit about the "whole heart" is not logical. None of us is whole-hearted about anything; that would mean perfection. None of us is a whole-hearted xian, or republican, or democrat, or truck driver. If god cared about us--if she was a benevolent god--she would meet us in our imperfections; she would meet us in our less-than-whole hearts. She would meet us at the half-way point, or at 3/4, or wherever we were. And she sure as hell would not hand out blame for our failure.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 09:14:00 -0000

Craig, just one more response and this thing will disappear. I lose interest in these things pretty quick.

1st, you said you did not like religion, and yet your whole post was about the xian religion. You people--you religious people--always try to disquise the plain fact that you have a religion.

2nd, you are unable to deny that religion has failed many people. Your only (futile) response was to keep seeking. Craig, we do not whip a dead horse. We do not "keep seeking" year after year. If your god was who you insist he is, there would be no need to beat one's head against a wall. You said god was yearning to communicate. Well, I listened for 15 years. What the hell do you think "yearning" means?

Your insistence that the bible is provable--your appeal to eyewitness accounts--is laughable and I won't even go there.

Finally, you reverse yourself in ways that should be obvious to you. I told you that a whole heart was not possible; that whole heartedness implied a perfection. This was after you insisted that god would respond on the CONDITION of whole heartedness. Well, you ground the gears into reverse pretty quick and then said that god would respond just as we are. Your like, "oh no I didn't say that, I didn't say that" Well Craig, how I wish that your god had responded to me just as I was. If that had happened, I would be a xian. It didn't, and I ain't.

What has happened in your postings is what any fundie can be counted on to do: You re-define the xian religion to suit the direction of the argument. The fundie's inability to stick to a straight answer has never ceased to amaze me.

When this thing goes over the edge I will probable check archive, and I expect to hear yet another version of your religion

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:05:00 -0000

spirula, if I know fundies, his answer is going to be "the spirit gave them the ability to observe, remember, and record accurately"

Religious people love to talk about their proof and their evidence, and then when pressured (as you have done with breathtaking ease) they shift to miracles. There is always a card up their sleeve.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:25:00 -0000

The continuity argument is old, and appears sound at the surface. The books of the bible were chosen because of their similarities. Suppose we have three boxes of beads, red, yellow, and green. I take all the green beads and make a necklace. Would you come along and say "by god, it's a miracle! all the beads match!"

Even then, there is not a real continuity. the jews, from the early stories, were savages. As they progressed they acquired civilization as the conception of their own god changed. There is no match between the bloody war stories of the ot, and its stupid laws, and the gentle words of micah 6:8

Next, even if some discernable pattern could be established, the bible is still bullshit: the angry god throwing people into fire forever. Nonsense. You said you rejected fairy tales. Fine. Tell me you believe in the concept of eternal punishment, and this interchange will have ceased, because I will have been arguing with the Brothers Grimm.

About those manuscripts you are so proud of: that counts against your bible, not for it. In either the ancient or modern world, trash is turned out faster than quality. You can point to all your xian manuscripts because that is the crap they wanted to read. The demand was incredible. It figures.

And of course, there is no compatibility between james and paul.yes, I have read the bible. Have you heard of a literary approach called the New Criticism? It means among other things to read what is on the page, and only what is on the page, without reading in what you have been told it means. Try that with your bible, and your prior misconceptions evaporate.

You have been taught, for years no doubt, what to see when you open your bible. You have been trained by religion, and when you read your bible, religion is what you see.When you stop thinking that the bible is the word of god, it stops being the word of god, and you cease to react as though it is.

I forgot to include the resurrection story. Try to prove it all you wish, it is still bullshit. Why does an all-powerful god need to butcher someone in a roman execution before he can forgive sin? What your kind tries to do is to prove something that is nonsense to begin with.

And you accuse me of illogic?

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:02:00 -0000

I started with a bit of respect for craig, but in his last post he threw his self-respect to the wind (what was left of it)and sounded like big jim in the sugar creek stories.

WM, have you read the sugar creek gang? I have 10 bucks in my billfold and I would lay it down that you read every goddamned book. So did I.

I appreciated the comments from true story of jesus. We love you jesus. But the story I heard was 11, not 12. Not that I give a rat's ass.

At first, there were 3 men who came up and signed a paper, together, that they had actually seen those stone tablets. Mormon theology calls them the THREE WITNESSES. There is a monument to them somewhere in salt lake city. I understand that in every book of mormon, whether hard or soft cover, the inside page contains a reproduction of their affadavit.

Later (this is what I read, jesus) 8 more collaborators come up and likewise lied their asses off.

So much for the concept of the eye witness. craig, if you are listening, you are the most gullible, naive excuse for a man that ever drew a breath. Witnesses. Proofs. Shit.You have been confronted with a tidal wave of challenges and you have been reduced to a slobbering evangelical. But then, slobbering evangelical is a redundancy.

craig, if you are so infatuated with eye witnesses, maybe you should become a mormon. Unless, oh jesus fucking xrist, you ARE a mormon?

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:31:00 -0000

I once was involved in a little dispute with a xian; someone who talked just like craig. I asked him where the tower of babel is. If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead.

Uh....I did not get an answer. I did not expect one.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 14:13:00 -0000

craig, you have a way of ignoring my wider, and, of course, more perplexing questions, and concentrating on those that you can answer. Even then, it amounts to half an answer.

craig, for xrist's sake, I know what a ziggurat is. The tower of babel was not a ziggurat. You really need to start reading your bible. The tower of babel was built to reach to heaven. For their presumption and hubris, god buggered their languages and put a stop to their project. If you claim that the bible records can be demonstrated as true by archeology,than where is that tower. craig, god did not get pissed because people were building ziggurats.

The point of the foregoing is that the tower of babel is just a story and hasn't a grain of truth in it--unless you have one of those witnesses you are so fond of.

You missed the point about the 3 witnesses. Smith's 3 friends were liars and bullshitters. So were the guys who wrote the gospels.The point was that just because someone claims to be a witness means nothing. I do not care if it is joe smith, muhammed, or matthew mark luke and john. We are talking about fiction. Are you suggesting that somebody wrote a story about jesus bringing dead people back to life, and you believe it, because the author saw it, or that he knew someone who saw it, or that he knew someone who knew someone who saw it?

I do not think the authors of the gospels were witnesses--I think the authors of the gospels were story-tellers.

And so are you. You are no scholar, in spite of your prentensions. You are seeing proofs where there are none.

Re: An atheist has values that sound familiar - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 09:36:00 -0000

When I was serving at Ft Hood Texas, I knew a 1st Lt. named Carl Kaun. You might be him.

I appreciated you second point. Empathy is a power I have never been able to quite put away. Even when I am driving and I see road-kill, it hurts my feelings. Thus it is that moral response is located within me, not in some holy book.

But morals have no objective basis.
First, I have not evolved as a flatworm. I have evolved as me. I might be a serial killer.

Second, I have empathic responses,of course, but the death of a human being means no more than the death of a possum. We might have feelings, but without a god we are simply left confronting our feelings.

Third (and this is the hard part)may the gods forbid that I have values acquired from my culture. To this day I quake in terror at the very memory of my upbringing. My culture.......jesusfuckingxrist. I did not know what self-esteem was until I ditched my culture.

Nietzsche said that atheism makes a man innocent. I daresay that most atheists still wish to affirm an ethics of some sort--and that is fine--but there is no final scheme of things that provides a meaning for our actions. We leave the house in the morning, as innocent as a newborn kitten, and we choose what we are going to do. We choose what we are going to be. Whatever those choices may be, we are going to a 6 foot hole in the ground and it does not matter.

Good will, sir. All my respect.

Re: Is Choosing Not to Believe as Safe as Believing? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:45:00 -0000

eel sheperd, about the identity of the habiru:

I am not a historian--shit, I don't rememeber my birthday--but the story of the exodus is pure fiction. The tale has it that there were:

"600 thousand on the march--all men--not counting their families. People of various sorts joined them in great numbers; there were flocks, too, and herds in immense droves". (jerusalem version)

So the bible has it that an unspecified number of people; upwards of 600,000; with animals; spent 40 years in Arabia; shitting; pissing; burning animal sacrifices; burying human and animal carcasses,and there is not the slightest trace of them. Nothing. Not so much as a cinder. Not so much as a turd.

We see that the stories of the ot are legends put together by a beaten and degraded people just to make them all feel better: "We are god's chosen people; we used to be a pack of real ass-whippers, and will be again, just wait until the messiah shows up"

But where they came from is conjecture. A bunch of towel-heads with no culture; no literary tradition; no philosophical system; no works of art; no political theory, just a plundering bully of a deity and 600-plus laws about food, slaves, and concubines.

About the "war stories" of the ot: again, self-aggrandizing legends. There is no record of the jews ganging up and exterminating whole ethnic groups. If such a pugnacious people as the ancient israelites had existed, they would have been encircled and slaughtered. Alliances against them would have formed quickly.

Just happy to exchange ideas.

Re: If There Is A "Loving" God, I Hate Him for His Silence - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:19:00 -0000

anonymous, hi

I also found Fred Nietzsche helpful. Here at St Josephs's I would quote him in my papers, and piss off my catholic professors.

One of my papers was titled "Nicht ist vahr; Alles ist Erlaubt" (Nothing is true; all is permitted)That is from Ascetic Ideals, if I remember correctly. THAT went over like shit in a punchbowl.

I also liked Ayn Rand. It has been said that Atlas Shrugged is the second best seller of all times--we know what is the first. I have met many people who said that that book changed their whole way of thinking. I read just the other day that Atlas Shrugged is being made into a movie with Angelina Jolie as Dagny. Due out in '08.

And to the other anonymous; the one who talked about election. Yes, life is unfair. It is too goddamned bad that your mother was a crack whore and gave birth to a cretin like you.

Re: If There Is A "Loving" God, I Hate Him for His Silence - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:44:00 -0000

joshua, if you think god is talking to you, that's fine. I used to date a girl who thought she was the reincarnation of Bloody Mary.

You are using the bible to make your points about jesus, when it is the bible that is in question. This is called begging the question.

If jesus ever lived (I doubt it) we do not know if he claimed to be divine. Any one claiming divine status among the jews would be immediately discredited. Gentiles would have gone for it--they liked that sort of thing.

You bring up the old argument about the disciples as martyrs--no one would die for a hoax. We do not know how the disciples died. We do not know anything about jesus' disciples, or if he had any.

That legend about peter being crucified upside-down. crucifixion doesn't work that way. It would be like hanging someone with a noose around his ankles.

Someone as sharp as jesus could not have been thought up by uneducated men? We do not know how sharp jesus was, and how educated the disciples were.

I have never heard xianity defended.Any defense must assume that the bible is the word of god. It is the bible that is challenged in the first place.

Re: If There Is A "Loving" God, I Hate Him for His Silence - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:03:00 -0000

The assertion that we have a "relationship" with god came into vogue during the '60's. I came of age in those times--we talked about our lovers as our "relationships"....we would say things like "I have a new relationship" or "My relationship broke up". The so-called jesus movement of those days was a spin-off of the hippie movement and they borrowed the lingo. Long haired jesus freaks would go on about their relationship with jesus.

anonymous, that relationship shit is very recent. I defy you to find a reference dated from before 1965.

Your use of the term "born again" is a religious term. The notion of being "born again" is taken from the xian religion. You have a religion, dickhead.

Your type attempts to disguise the fact that you are following a religion. You have your holy books; you have your holy buildings; you have your priests(call them what you wish)you have your doctrines and dogmas; you have your laws; you have your ceremonies and rituals. You spend your life chanting and praying and singing and repeating your formulas. And you are silly enough to tell us that it is not a religion, it is a relationship. Bovine shit.

Look numbnuts.......we get people coming in here every day who insist that they have a relationship with jesus, and all they do is preach the xian religion. Preaching, that is all it is. Empty, idle preaching. PreachingPreachingPreaching. I am bloody sick of it. Take your religion and sodomize yourself.

Re: If There Is A "Loving" God, I Hate Him for His Silence - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:52:00 -0000

Years ago, I came across something interesting on the 'net. This was a process whereby one could summon Satan.

The idea was to sit naked on the floor of a pitch-dark room, with only a candle for light, and begin to chant this stuff about "Hail, Infernal Majesty" or something or other. As you stared into the flame and chanted, Satan would speak. It was guaranteed. Really, no shit, really, the devil would talk to you.

There is no doubt in my mind that anyone acting out this mad ceremony would hear voices. I am the sanest person I know, and after 15 or 20 minutes I would not only hear Satan, I would see him sitting on my sofa wearing Botany 500 and smoking Bensen and Hedges.

Isn't this what happens to these poor fuckers who have spent their lives reading their bibles; praying for hours at a time; cutting themselves off from normal human contacts; depriving themselves of healthy stimulation? You and I and the rest of us would begin to "hear" god. Lots of things would be taken as omens, or signs. Simple things would be taken as messages from god.

There are a lot of lonely people out there; people with fragile egos; people hurting inside. I know. I used to be one. I was a sitting duck for the first half-assed xian with a bible verse and a prayer.

Here is my sage advice for all the aforementioned poor fuckers: get a grip, fer xrist's sake; stop feeling sorry for yourselves; get some exercise; get laid; get drunk.You do not need gods. You need a life.

Re: The Thinking Christian - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 10:58:00 -0000

I am the one who is offended. First of all, the way you slander those who do not share your religion makes you sound silly. Most atheists have not thrown off self-control and do whatever feels good. On the contrary, having no gods, we must be careful and alert, because there are no gods to correct us. There is great freedom in the rejection of external and binding moral codes; the freedom to make our own decisions, but those decisions involve reason and prudence.

Second, to argue in favor of a deity or a creator is one thing; to argue that this deity is in fact the judeo-xian god is quite something else. I believe in no eternal life; no eternal pain or pleasure. The "offer of eternal life" is what your religion teaches.

Third, you are re-stateing pascal's wager, a cheap and sleazy attempt to frighten non-believers. If that is the best you can manage, then I will keep my unfaith, thanks.

But the most offensive thing of all is your calling yourself a thinker.

Re: Ain't Love Grand - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:10:00 -0000

We do not have a god who gets things done, we have religions that explain why he doesn't.

What we have heard is not the voice of a god. We have heard the voices of xians, a piss-poor substitute.

The churches have existed all this time because they have been propped up by their leaders; their teachers and theologians. The illusion is that god is present.

Check out a document called the westminster confession, a piece of work that Clarence Darrow called "depraved" (see his essay titled "The Sabbath Day Alliance at Infidels) It is a pious piece of shit, as cold as it is pious, and causes one to understand that xianity is just empty dogma with no god behind it.

Re: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:49:00 -0000

This is one of those posts that make us stare at the wall for an hour. Good. Really good.

An' miz lee, you be black as th ace o' spades an yo aint foolin nobody. Come over an talk to me....my frens call me sheree.

Re: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 12:33:00 -0000

There aint no truth. Truth is one of those ideals like chastity. It is an ideal, get it? An ideal.

Re: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:17:00 -0000

There is no truth. And here is what is left: the morning sun on your face; the touch of your beloved at 2 in the night; the laughter of your first-born; the graves of your friends; the grief and pain as you bury your children. That is truth.......that is real.

Re: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:53:00 -0000

I am having trouble posting. It is not "taking". Webmaster, come to my aid.....what the fuck is going wrong?

Re: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:16:00 -0000

And then there is the truth of the WM coming to your aid. Not because he is obeying god. Not because he owes it to me. Because he wants to.

Re: Letters From Leavers - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:35:00 -0000

You are "genuinely interested in hearing my story." That is a first here at x xristian. No shit really, it is. We always get this shit about how we were never xristians to begin with and then what follows is this salvation drivel that is straight from the sugar creek gang.

There are many of us here who did the best we could; we were as sincere as we could manage, faults and everything; we repented as best as we were able. We were told to rely on god's grace. Then, when there was no god, it was our fault. We had no faith; we relied on works; we hung on to sin; we were not sincere; we were too intellectual and blahblahblahfuckingblah.

Let me stop trying to speak for the others. Let them speak for themselves, but I can tell you that I went from one church to another, looking for help, and enduring the humiliation of "christian counselling" No matter how bad I felt, it was my fault. I begged for help--there was no help. Do you not suppose that, if your deity was real, he would have come to help a miserably hurting boy? I was no theologian; I did not greatly understand the bible, but why should that have mattered? Where was god's love and mercy?

As I am wont to repeat now and then, I got off my knees and on my feet. I told myself, "boy, you better get off your knees and get your shit together". By all the gods, I did. I learned self-respect. I learned courage. I learned freethinking. And to borrow your rhetoric, I live a new life. I was re-born.

Do you recall the prodigal son story? The words of the story have it that "when he was a long way off" his father ran to him, and cried on his shoulder, gave him gifts and threw a party for him. Now listen to me..........if your deity was real, he would have come to meet me half-way. Never mind this horseshit about faith and works and grace, he would have met me half-way.

Do you think the prodigal son wanted to go home? Do you think he wanted to swallow his pride? Do you think he wanted to admit he was wrong? Fuck no. Did his father confront him and ask "do you truly repent and accept me as your master"? No, he took him in with open arms. All your churches and bible schools and denominations and doctrines and zonderven paperbacks are all loud and eloquent witness to your god's nonexistence.

Re: Letters From Leavers - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 10:58:00 -0000

I had to stop because I became so angry I couldn't think, let alone type.

Allow me to clear up my last sentence. If your god was real, religion should not be needed. Religion doesn't present god; religion is a substitute for god.

Re: What Does Crime and Religion Have In Common? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:50:00 -0000

One can go from atheism to some form of theism or deism, but one cannot go from atheism to xristianity and call it logic.

Tell me that it is logical for god to pick out an obscure band of sand-rabbits to be his "chosen". He only chose one, and then told them to exterminate the rest? Logic? And dont tell me about god's mysterious will or his mysterious ways. We are talking about logic. If you want to sound mystical, fine, but dont call it logic.

Then god gave his guys savage and barbaric laws: you must cut off part of your son's dick; do not eat certain foods; a menstruating woman is unclean. These laws were not made by god's people; they were made by ignorant and superstitious people. And again, do not tell me about god's ways. Stick to logic, or nothing.

Going back to the "war stories".......when did god start loving the world (john 3:16) He commanded the slaughter of whole ethnic groups, and then he starts to love the world?

Is it logical for god to require that someone be butchered in a Roman execution before he can forgive the smallest of our sins? And is it logical to burn in hell if we dont believe all this? I think not. Mr Lee, I suggest you go to the nearest college library and find out what logic is.

And by the way, your authors--Mcdowell, Lewis and Strobel--are poor choices. If you read them carefully, you will see that they use christianity to prove christianity. This is called circularity. There is no such thing as "apologetics". All you can do is simply quote what your religion says in the first place.

Re: What Does Crime and Religion Have In Common? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:39:00 -0000

billy, I am often startled by the similarity of experience here.

When I was "saved", my head was filled with this shit about "what the lord was going to do for me". I was depressed and pathetically unhappy, and I bought it. Nothing happened.

Then came several years of going from church to church. I have been inside more churches than I care to admit. I am ashamed of it. I endured the humiliation of xristian counseling: "You dont have enough faith; you are hanging on to sin; you are too proud". But here was the big one: "You are too smart; think too much; read too much".

So when did xristianity become logical, as Mr Lee seems to insist? Now god wants me to think? Since when? If the supreme being wants me to think, I would be delighted to comply. Let him go off and haunt a house.

Re: What Does Crime and Religion Have In Common? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:55:00 -0000

We understand logic when we see it put to a real-life situation. Let us look at the Problem of Evil.

The problem is usually badly stated. The problem is not that there are bad things in the world. The problem--the issue--is that the innocent suffer. Children. A just god would not allow the innocent to suffer, not if he had the power to stop.

The objection will be that god uses pain to accomplish his ends; that in god's plan suffering has a meaning. Let it be explained, then, why an all-powerful god cannot reach his goals without inflicting or allowing pain.

If the objection is that god's justice is not our justice, or is beyond our merely human conception of justice, then god becomes incomprehensible and we might as well stop talking about him. If god's justice means nothing that we can grasp, then neither does god's love.

This argument, so far as I can tell, is as tight as a rat's ass.

Hope Mr Lee comes back.

Re: Who wrote the Bible? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:53:00 -0000

I thought I would walk in just briefly.

The subject of bible prophecy becomes amusing.

Matthew 2:23: "He (jesus) shall be called a Nazarene" There is no such prophecy.

John 7:38: the scripture says that whoever believes in jesus "streams of living water shall flow from within him" There is no such scripture.

And then there is the infamous isaiah 7. It is not about jesus. The mysterious child in verse 14 is a sign given to King Ahaz; a sign that his enemies would be defeated.

Micah 5: Bethlehem Ephrathah is a man, not a village. See 1 chronicles 2:50. Ephrathah was his great-grandmother. The prophet though that this prominent family would provide leadership against the Assyrians.

More than once, I have sat down with a xristian and have taken them through these "prophecies" verse by verse, line by line, and they do not get it. Their conditioning is complete.

Re: http://igorandandre.blogspot.com/2008/08/fashion-book-20.html

ryan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:16:00 -0000

yeah buddy. brian wilson. atta boy.

Re: http://www.mybeautifulday.net/2009/05/florida.html

ryan — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:38:00 -0000

Sounds like an awesome trip! Hope we can get together sometime soon. I have relatives coming next week but maybe in June! :)
Katie

Re: http://www.mybeautifulday.net/2009/05/florida.html

ryan — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:38:00 -0000

Sounds like an awesome trip! Hope we can get together sometime soon. I have relatives coming next week but maybe in June! :)
Katie

Re: Getting it Right: Why Blink.com failed | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:03:27 -0000

Amen, brother. Er, wait, not ‘Amen’...how about ‘Hallelujah’? No, no no. How about …thank goodness Judge Jones has a brain! Thank you, Judge Jones, from the heart of conservative West Michigan.

Re: Lindsay Lohan’s unchanging face | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 01:16:27 -0000

Thanks for this tip. I tried it out and it’s sweet. Could this program possibly be any more useful?

Re: You Might be a Generation X-er if | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 23:27:25 -0000

One morning on my drive to work I heard Penn read his “This I Believe” essay on NPR. I’ve always liked their magic, but I gained a new respect for him after hearing his no-bullsh*t sensible talk. I subscribed to this podcast to check it out. Thanks for the link!

Re: Gearhead | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:47:39 -0000

The kid was a freak on the keyboard. Fastest six finger typing and navigation I have ever seen. He also wins the award for ugliest mac screens I have ever seen. I’m used to seeing a co-worker have Photoshop or Flash open. But due to the countless Terminal windows and God knows what else he had open and running on there, he could make an iMac look positively foreign. Good luck to you bro! Here’s to finding a Hat in Beantown!

Re: Headless Rails | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 16:41:42 -0000

I knew it was real! It’s stuck to my fridge. And as for being labeled a ‘smartass’, well, I can’t argue that.

Re: The other Flickr(s) | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Sat, 06 May 2006 05:11:46 -0000

Thanks for that. Works like a charm.

Re: Samsung? | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:27:34 -0000

But the woman does Monkey portraits. Didja see those?

Re: Why Atheist? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:27:00 -0000

I just wanted to let Jeff know that I appreciated the honesty and depth of your post. I am still a Christian and this is my first post, and I won't pretend that I fear coming across as a holier than though ass or recieving a "new one" by other posters. I teach science, embrace evolution, and have wresteled with issues of bipolar myself. In the end I have come to believe that science with all of its power is still limited to explaining the natural world with natural reasons. It can never explain the joy I have at the end of the day watching a sunset, listening to great music (p.s. regardless of its label (should have burned the Sandi Patti)), having sex, and listening to the rain fall. They all seem to me to echo a poetry beyond the empirical world. Perhaps I delude myself to call that God. But it feels more to me and of course science can never truly ever speak to that sense poetry and science never made great partners. I do suggest reading the "New Kind of Christian' trilogy by Brian Mclaren. It addressed many of the concerns I felt were at a dissonance with my Christian faith and belief in science (similar to your thoughts). In the end I eneded up keeping my faith but dumping the sh*t fundmentalists added to it. It also addresses the Mythology of Hell. Another interesting book I have been reading is "Is God Good, Bad, or Irrelevant" which is a friendly conversation with a Christian history professor and Greg Gaffin of Bad Religion who has a doctorate in evolutionary biology. I am struck how both sides arrive at their conclusions because of how it meets a need for them to see the universe. Thanks for opening up with your thoughts and feelings. I hope mine can be treated in kind though I imagine I my post is akin to walking into Northern Yellowstone with raw steak tied around my neck!

Re: Why Atheist? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 01:12:00 -0000

I was simply stating a fact of science. Science is an explanation to the perceived (by the five senses) natural universe. In science natural explanations are the only allowed ones. I actually agree that this makes for a great system of thought and a very powerful one as well. Science has provided the world with many great things. I would assume that you might even argue (and I might be inclined to agree) that the benefits to humanity from science are far greater than the benefits from organized religion. Of course such simple statements gloss over the downsides to those technological advancements such as nuclear war and the ease the Internet has made for the exchanging of child pornagraphy. Anyways, the very nature of science demands that "supernatural" explanations be unallowed and supernatural questions unworthy of study. This is the argument (appropriately) against the inclusion of intelligent design in science curriculum. One can not insert a supernatural explanation i.e. God into a science explanation because by defintion it is unable to be studied by science. I say all that to say again that for me there seems to be times, occurances, moments, that are beyond the simple physical (natural) processes of chemicals and electricity (when working properly!) of my physical brain. You would argue that I need a crutch or they are echos of some long distant evolutionary need. That may be true, but in the end I still like poetry and that can never be fully measured by science. By the way my favorite poem is the Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry. Instead of me belittling you or vise versa how about "Googling" the poem an telling me what you think. It always gives me comfort when I read it.

Re: Why Atheist? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:13:00 -0000

Dan, you did not provide the answer so I am guessing the monkey with the biggest penis? Of course the monkey with the higher fecundity will have the greatest chance of passing on his genes to the future. Of course we do live in a random universe so it is possible that while being distracted by quality monkey butt the first monkey could get snatched by an alligator....

Strongernow: I must admit that my only understanding of Wiccan is the belief that the divine is in all things. Is this even correct? Please tell me more.

Alan H: Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I would argue that particle accelerators and electron microscopes, while yielding information unavailable to the unaided eye, are still observing physical phenomenon (atoms, protons, etc.) Strangely the current edge of particle physics with its string theory and 13 dimensions comes as close to the supernatural as any other area in science. It is odd that they eagerly propose the idea of extra dimensions that are unknowable and immeasurable to satisfy math equations but become adamant that something supernatural like God could not exist. But if there is (for the sake of discussion) something beyond matter and energy, science regardless of its technological advances is powerless to describe it until it interacts in some way with the physical world (such as in the prayer research you cite). I argue (probably poorly) that I "feel" the interaction of the supernatural in my "heart" (something more than the underlying brain synapses and cells) when I sing, laugh, or have religious. Perhaps I am misreading the signals, but perhaps it is something more. If it is, it is immeasurable (but I would argue not unknowable) gifts. Is it not strange that we can even have this conversation? Is it the result of enough neuron connections that make us want to debate the existence of the supernatural? If so we are unique on earth and perhaps the universe. Perhaps one day we can hardwire a computer with enough circuits to ask it, “Do you believe?” If it says “yes” than I suppose I will have to yield my case. This will have to be my last post. I thank the few who took the time to reply to my thoughts with careful thoughts of your own. If you are all indeed ex-Christians, I suppose you have arrived at your conclusions with more thoughtful consideration than those that profess faith of their own but are more likely parroting their parents and/or pastors. As a follower of Christ I hope I have given as much deep thought to arrive at my conclusion as you have for yours. Be encouraged in your journey.
Ryan

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:55:00 -0000

Nice going Chris--you'll do fine.

On the subject of homosexuality, and the OT law in general: these things were put together by an unwashed gang of savages and barbarians. They mean nothing to a civilized mind.

Paul said that the law is our schoolmaster to lead us to christ. Right. Do you remember that the penalty for raping a slave was lower that the penalty for raping a free woman? Do you remember that it was legal to beat your slaves to death? I would not go kicking and screaming to any sort of christ that paul worshipped.

If we read carefully the OT stories--what I call the "war stories"--we see that the concept of the "chosen people" is a gag. I began to laugh when I was able to stop shuddering. To borrow what is becoming a common epithet around here, anyone who believes that is really fucked up.

And bluto.........I do not doubt for a moment that you come from a fucked up family. Atheism is a high calling; the highest. We cannot help it if your wierd relatives have failed to live up to that calling.

And by the way, I was born into a church where you went to hell for smoking, cursing, jerking off and going to movies. How fucked up is that?

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:07:00 -0000

'scuse me, but I wanted to mention that there are several places in the OT where the israelite army goes out under orders to kill men, women and children. There is some place where they are ordered to kill "sucklings" (king james) Did someone say fucked up?

Also, in the paragraph that begins "paul said"......"that" should read "than". Thanx.

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:55:00 -0000

Hello Chris

To respond to your last post: Lots of people believe in a creator; intelligent design and all that sort of thing. But to assert the possibility of a creation is as far as we can go. There is no proof at all that this deity is indeed the deity of our favorite religion. We cannot say that this deity is the jew god, or the muslim god, or any other god. If you profess belief in a creation, the best you could hope for is deism.

From creation, the ID people somehow think that their particular cult is somehow also established: that the jews were god's chosen; that the law was given by god; that jesus was foretold in prophecy; that jesus was the son of god; that jesus had to die in a Roman execution before his father could forgive the smallest of our misdemeanors. AND--here comes the big one--if we fail to believe all this, god will bake us in his hell forever.

Chris, I do not know if some god is out there--the existence of a god is a matter of the most profound indifference. If some god made me, then he made me the way I am, and he likes it that way. Only a low-life comic could believe that this god wants to punish us.What did we ever do to piss off god?

My position, for the sake of convenience, is atheism, but I get along with Unitarians; deists; wiccans; Satanists, and anyone who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions. If anyone can tell me what is more precious than freedom, I am ready to listen.

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:29:00 -0000

Chris, I have examined the "arguments" for xiantity. There are none. Nope. If you will read carefully the so-called arguments for xianity, such as those of Lee Strobel, you will see that all they amount to is simply a re-statement of their religion. It has the sensation of being given reasons.

Example: in his Case for Faith, Strobel thinks he has answered the charge of god's cruelty and bloodthirst in the OT; whole ethnic groups slaughtered. He says that god was really being merciful, because the decendants of these idolators would all have gone to hell. He prevented the damned from being born.

See the simple-minded logic in this? Who the hell said that hell exists, and that god wants to put people there? Who the helll said that god hates people just because they worship some other god? Chris, we call this "circularity", using as proof that which needs to be proven in the first place.

About this business of "not wanting to believe". It is not a matter of wanting to or not wanting to. It is a matter of seeing no reason to believe. I am not a hindu--I see no reason to be a hindu. I do not worship my ancestors--I see no reason to worship my ancestors. If someone tries to tell me that I am not a xian just because I do not want to be a xian, my answer would be no, I am not a xian because I see no reason to be a xian. The next part of my response to that person would be that you do not want to be an atheist because you are stubbornly hanging on to your superstition that should have died out with the fucking dark ages.

Chris, I have to run; I have a class in 20 minutes. Bye

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:28:00 -0000

Atheism Sucks.....first of all, do you know where the word "sucks" comes from? It is a reference to fellatio. When I was growing up, to say that something sucks meant it sucks cocks. Over the years it has been reduced to a casual meaning and we even hear it on TV. You might want to clean up your mouth, xian, unless you are ted haggard.

I now wish to use the word in its original meaning. xianity sucks. jesus sucks. The holy ghost sucks. The bible sucks. Your religion sucks. And you suck. So get on your knees where you belong and go to it. I just had a shower.

And about the cookie cutter: xianity is the most cruel and vicious cookie cutter ever devised by crazed minds.Your religion--whatever it is--reduces us to less than children, mocking our individuality and damning any attempt to think like grown men. It is not a wonder, then, that we sound alike. WE ARE ALIKE. We did not think that we could be saved unless we all had the wits of sheep. We are all doing our damndest to recover that which was taken from us. It may take awhile, but we have the balls to try.

By the way, do you spit or swallow?

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:40:00 -0000

I refer to the use of the word that I knew as a younger man. Perhaps "sucks eggs" enjoyed currency during the '30's or '40's, but during the time frame of my own experience, "sucks" was the most obscene insult at one's disposal.

To suck was to be humiliated. It was a coup to get a girl to suck you; you boasted about it; you dominated the slut; she was yours. For a man to suck was far far worse; queers did that; fags; perverts who were less than men and couldn't get a woman.

Glad to have instructed you. Never fail to ask my advice.

Re: The Infinite Psychopath - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:29:00 -0000

Yes goldilocks, we are pro individual. If you will examine the history of your power-crazy xian asshole buddies, you will see that the history of freethought is a brave attempt to break free of a superstition unworthy of the most ignorant savage; a superstition ruthlessly wielded to keep as many Europeans, and their colonists, in subjection.

You are half-right: we are elitists. You are damned right we are. And I find your attempt at a masculine display of anger to be hilarious.

Re: I can no longer force my heart to follow what my mind cannot justify - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:33:00 -0000

I heartily agree with spacemonk. Chip, get the bloody hell out of there. You are a bright guy and you are casting your pearls before swine. Best of luck.

nvrgoingvk, Galileo is one of my favorite subjects. I read a book titled Galileo's Daughter. (can someone tell me how to italicize with this thing?) Each chapter begins with a letter from Maria Celeste to her father. We encounter through this exchange a warm and generous man, who just happened to be cursed with a blistering intelligence. He was forced to recant, in the end, on his knees. ON HIS KNEES. Tell us, whoever comes trolling in here, that xianity should not go the way of slavery, child labor, and syphilis.

As I never tire of repeating, atheism gets us off our knees and on our feet. Many years ago I saw on a church sign--aren't they always so cute?--the following little motto: "A man on his knees will never stumble". Well no shit. We are safe on our knees. We stumble only when we are on our feet and moving forward.

Good health to all here.

Re: I can no longer force my heart to follow what my mind cannot justify - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:13:00 -0000

kathleen, I am going to ask the obvious question: suppose someone dies without ever having this "relationship". Does that person go to hell? If the answer is yes, then sweetie, you have a religion.

I agree about not putting god into a box. If the supreme being exists--which I doubt-- he is not living in anyone's box. My "relationship" with that god would be one of mutual acceptance and approval. Reward and punishment would amount to the box you mentioned.

So far so good?

The idea of a relationship with god began during the '60's. It was fashionable then to talk about one's lover as a "relationship". Teen-age xians--"jesus freaks"--adopted this and started to talk about their relationship with jesus. You will not find the words "relationship with god" or
"relationship with jesus" in anything written prior to 1960. It is a very new idea.

Anyway, it is a useful idea. It helps to save face, and not sound like a religious nut.

Re: I can no longer force my heart to follow what my mind cannot justify - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:19:00 -0000

Thanks, rickyusvi I am trying this now.

Re: I can no longer force my heart to follow what my mind cannot justify - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:29:00 -0000

Well I'm damned if it doesn't work. Thanks again. I am an intellectual snob and I am keen to do things correctly, like book titles. I am re-reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, This is just after finishing Irving Stone's The Origin,, a somewhat fictionalised biography of Clarence Darrow.

Too bad kathleen didn't drop in again. The collective commentary on that relationship horseshit was superb. Maybe over her head?

Re: I can accept myself again - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:03:00 -0000

Ellytoad, good morning. I just took a notion to comment on something you said. One of the dumber statements christians make is that "we have all crucified christ". We are all guilty of killing the son of god.

Okay, jesus' death on the cross was supposed to gain us god's forgiveness, but if the crucifixion is made into another sin, how do we get forgiveness for it? Are we to say that jesus died for the sin of the crucifixion? Any of you christians passing through, feel free to answer this. And for christ's sake, don't tell me it is a mystery.

Re: I can accept myself again - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:12:00 -0000

Richard, that was good. Those were some of the things that used to drive me to distraction when I was in the churches. Why does an all-powerful god need to butcher someone in a gruesome execution before he can forgive the smallest of our misdeamenors; for breaking laws that he himself made; to save us from the hell that he himself made? And why do we need to accept the "cure" of christianity when it made us sick in the first place? Would you thank someone who poisoned you when he provided the antidote?

Too often we bog ourselves down when we argue with christians over contradictions and phoney prophecy--sometimes we unwittingly play them at their own game--and we forget the big picture; namely, that the bible is hoax and a trap.

Keep up the good posting.

Re: Christianity is a crock - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:04:00 -0000

I hope to xrist that no one confuses me with that asshole. This is embarrassiing.

And Ryan, first of all, you are not a friend, either old or new. That being understood, I will proceed.

Your response is common, and I heard it until I became sick. "We just didn't hear the right religion; we just didn't hear about the right jesus" Look numbnuts, have you read the postings here? Hmmm? We know all about your jesus and he doesn't work.

You pathetic excuse for a man. xrist, I feel sorry for you. Try to get this through that armor plate that you are using for a skull. If your god exists, he would have come to our aid. No, do not blame false churches and false witnesses and false this and false that. A real god would have worked around that, and would have come to the aid of poor hurting people who prayed sincere prayers and held out their hands as best they could. Your kind continues to blame some sort of theological manfunction for our problems. No, dummy, that is an excuse. A real god would have been there for us, theology or no theology. A real god would have been waiting to receive us.

But there was no god, and sure as hell no reception. You haven't heard a word we've said, nor do you care. And that really is the point, isn't it? You don't care about hurting people, you are in here to preach your little jewsus. Go peddle that shit elswhere.

Re: Christianity is a crock - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:47:00 -0000

I want to repeat something that I have said before, many times.

Old Friend Ryan: You are under the delusion, shared by most of the xian nuts here, that our problem is just that we didn't go to the right church, or meet the right xians, or hear the right dogma, or read the right verses, or search hard enough, or trust enough, or practice the right disciplines, and bullshitbullshitbullshit.

Look, dummy, if you had the brains to read the posts here, you would know better. As it happens, you have sat up late and typed long-winded posts, and repeated everything we have heard since we were children. Everything. Every goddamned thing. To the word. To the letter. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseum. Now in the name of all the gods, go away. Leave us in peace.

If you have some new and original thing to say, if you have something new about the jewsus that we have overlooked, please clue us in. We here represent the whole dreary, dismal and futile spectrum of xianity--the whole damned, goddamned process--and if you know anything we don't, let us in on it. Otherwise, haul your born-again ass outa here.

And you sure as the devil are no friend of mine.

Re: If you logically look at Christianity, it just doesn’t add up - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 15:34:00 -0000

I hesitate to post at this time because I sense some hot and sad emotions. Please forgive me.

About this "evolved monkey" idea. The concepts of evolution do not teach that we are "monkeys". The concepts of evolution teach that we share a common ancestry with the animal world, and that includes the "monkeys".

And why we should object is quite beyond me. From our origins in the forest, we know compassion; we know gentle feelings. We also know anger; hate; we know how to strike back when our own our threatened. See those incisors in your jaws? Think about it. Did any jewgod create you with fangs?

I believe in no gods. The sun on my face is just as warm, and my lover's touch is just as sweet.

Re: Make mine a DOUBLE... - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:24:00 -0000

This might be a big mistake, but for some odd reason I have been noticing this "trumpeter". I wish to say a few words.

Are you a musician, trumpeter? I am a Glenn Miller fan myself.

Your attempts at eloquence are amusing. The night is not a fit analogy of despair. The night is beautiful; the insect chorus; the hard light of the moon and stars; a pitch-black room in a faraway hotel; your beloved's touch.

And perhaps on to more serious things........about reason........trumpeter, reason is something that we have to learn. We have to learn to think, just as we had to learn to talk. Thinking comes later in life, much later, and sometimes not at all. But at some point in our lives, we may begin to experiment with our brains; we can think; we can doubt; we can steer our own course; we can drop out of the crowd.

And for "crowd", read "church"; "family"; "school"; "country". Whatever it is that has been jerking your strings. Reason is real. And to answer your question, it sure as the fucking hell is successful. It beats the damned fucking hell out of faith.

If by "old friend" you might mean god or jesus, neither was my friend. I was the victim of a pack of ignorant shitkickers who filled my head with a lot of shit that should have rotted away with the fucking dark ages. I drifted from church to church, for years, until I finally caught on: this is fucking hoax; get off your knees, idiot.

Desperately need him? He can kiss my ass. I desperately need to be my own man and to conduct my own affairs.

I call myself an atheist as a purely social convenience. It starts conversations. But it means nothing to me if gods exist or not. Nothing. Fairies might exist. Bigfoot might exist. I might be the bastard king of France. But who the fuck cares?

I have also noticed that you have made a few enemies. Are you a xian? You talk like a xian. I might advise you that when you ditch the jewzoo, you acquire social skills.

Re: Make mine a DOUBLE... - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:31:00 -0000

Webmaster, hi. My post seems to have disappeared. Something I said?

Re: Make mine a DOUBLE... - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:34:00 -0000

Now it's back. Sorry

Re: Never again am I going to believe anything anybody tells me without hard proof - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:36:00 -0000

billy, I wanted to make a few comments just for the sheer pleasure of it.

I labored for years under the pathetic delusion that there was a "way" and a "higher power". I now understand that the only way is my way, and that there is nothing higher than myself.

Those of you who object, I leave you to your delusions. Have fun.

Re: A Biblical crisis of faith - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:31:00 -0000

About 2 samuel: this is a superstition from that backward and barbaric part of the world. These savages believed that numbering people was numbering their souls, and only god must know how many souls there are.

To this day, countries with a high bedouin have to be very careful with a census. If these shitkickers get wind of it, they go crazy.

The bible simply carries with it the superstition of its origins. It is too bad that people cannot separate fact from bullshit.

Hi to billy.
special hi to otc; your last reply to me was so much garbled gibberish; you cannot understand what I am saying. Not surprized.

Re: I gave God up - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:50:00 -0000

I would like to follow up carl's post.

When I "lost the faith" nothing happened. Nothing. I simply became a perfectly normal adult male. I did not become a criminal; a madman; an addict. I turned into a perfectly mundane fellow who enjoys life as it comes to him.

I do not need to start my day by dropping to my knees and asking jewzoo every move I should make. I decide those moves.

And now to Sean: it takes awhile. Give it time. Posting here helps.

Re: I gave God up - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:45:00 -0000

Well of course it's psychological, you imbecile. The need to involve oneself in religion is a psychological need--religion is purely in one's head. When we break free of these artificial needs, we experience a release that must be called "psychological", as cancer in remission is called "medical".

And andrew, or goldy, or whoever you are.....if you are comfortable being some kind of xristian, go and be one. Here in my part of Indiana we have a variety of rural churches. Most of the members have an IQ score that is below the temperature of this room. They appear to be perfectly happy, as they attend these churches that often have "tabernacle" somewhere in their names.

Go and sing your hymns, bop for jesus, play with your rattlesnakes. Try to get it through your head that some of us do not have these emotional and psychological needs.

And by all means, out that pastor. Keep his sorry ass down the street and maybe he'll learn some courage.

Re: I gave God up - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:42:00 -0000

I thought so. We used to call him "goldy". He also went by some other clever names, like "atheist baiter".

I, for one, would like to know why we never get any intelligent xristians in here.

Re: I consider myself a cultural Christian - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:10:00 -0000

I should not be participating in this exchange, because I feel perplexed.

I am perfectly aware that xristianity has shaped this culture, or warped this culture, take your pick. xristianity has given us Thomas Aquinas; Dante; Palestrina; John Milton. It has also given us adolf hitler; pat robertson; fred phelps.

I do not intend to pick on Angela, or on anyone who supports her, but I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want to come within smelling distance of a church. A church. In the name of all that's unholy......a church. I would sooner wallow in the lowest dive in Bangkok.

Hail Satan

Re: My descent into freethought - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:46:00 -0000

Nice going Jackie. I think exchristian ought to be an international organization. However, freethinkers, by our very nature, find it hard to come together in groups. Christians do it as easily as shitting.

A few random thoughts......you are familiar with the usual xristian response about how you didn't hear the right stuff; you mistook church for jesus; it's not a religion it's a relationship. But I have yet to be told where the cut-off point is--I have yet to be told where relationship ends and religion begins. I far as I am concerned, the new testament authors were church preachers, their books were sermons, and all that they said was religion. Are they seriously telling me that the church canonized 27 more books so we would have a "relationship"?

No, of course not. As the centuries passed, and after all those councils met, a religion had taken shape. You mentioned the "virgin" mary. All this theological crap was debated and then voted on.

The problem was that the church came up with pseudo-intellectual jargon like "incarnation" justification"; sanctification"; "atonement"; "election" "hypostatic union"; "paraclete"; "trinity", and all the garbled nonsense that has been perpetuated for 2000 years. And you can send people to bible school and seminary, and teach them to parrot this shit in latin and greek, and what still comes out is shit like the master's commission.

Religion has never let go of the jewgod. I don't care if we read acquinas or josh mcdowell; I dont care if we weep great big tears about our walk with jesus, behind all that is the angry jewgod, waiting for your damned soul, and that is what is going to bite your ass every time. And that is why we are here.

Lots of the best, my dear. And by the way: people in your situation sometimes do a stretch in the military. I am no fan of the armed services, but nevertheless it is a way to get free and strike out on your own. And the GI Bill doesn't hurt.

Re: Tell me about that hell part again? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:37:00 -0000

I was planning to respond to charles' post, once I had stopped dry-heaving. His post will be deleted, so for those of you who were too late to read it, charles sounded like a preacher on a smalltown station with a learning disability.

charles had, as his "message", the notion that we didn't hear the "right" xristianity. xristians are, understandably, embarrassed by their own religion, and try to make their bronze-age war god sound like Mahatma Gandhi. Now while I have known Unitarians and other liberal types who believe in a rational deity, I have yet to hear if this is the correct religon charles and his ilk and talking about. So far, no one has ever specified exactly what church or denomination offers the true xristianity.

I am all too familiar with the verses that David and others quoted. Every fundie that ever wandered in here has said that no one can be an exxristian, and that we were never saved to begin with. But that is not what the bible says. I got this shit preached at me every sunday in the church where I grew up, with the result that no one experienced any peace of mind at all. Many of them are using tranquilizers. Most of them are too scared to leave--leaving the church gets you damned for sure.

You all know what I am saying. This is nothing new. But as I told billy a while back, I am frequently started by the similarity of the stories here. I wonder just how many of us are really out there.

Re: Tell me about that hell part again? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:57:00 -0000

charles, I can see that I failed to make any kind of a point at all.

1) I do not believe in a right religion or a right xristianity. Religion is bullshit.....all of it. So far as your particular brand of bullshit goes, the biggest batch of crap that was ever preached was that an all-powerful god needs to have someone butchered in a Roman execution before he can forgive the smallest of our misdemeanors. Read that joke at the right margin of the front page. A real close second to this is the folly of needing someone like you to explain our lives to us. I live my own life and think my own thoughts. The very thought of a clergyman's authority makes my skin crawl. That includes people like you who just love to preach.

2) You know perfectly well that the bible teaches "falling from grace". Read the verses in the thread and provide the proper meaning if you think otherwise. And do not give me that context shit. None of the nt writers had thought things out very well and their stuff is chaos. If a student in PHL 101 would turn in that kind of shit, the red ink would flow like the goddamned Suez Canal.

3) About atheists not sticking to their guns. Nice analogy. Try understanding it this way: I believe in freedom; freedom of thought; freedom of speech. I will go to my grace unholding these principles. Understand?

Re: Calvinism Explains Everything...and Nothing - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:40:00 -0000

That was pretty damned good, John. I have argued along those lines many times, trying to get these witnessing christians to consider that their salvation is god's elaborate prank, for his glory or for his amusement, take your pick. No matter what church they attend; no matter what theology they affirm; no matter how they interpret this verse or that verse; no matter what depth of penitence they sink to or the heights of faith they attain; no matter what suffering or sacrifice they have endured........they have no way of knowing that the whole thing is not god's joke, and that the whole miserable human race will not wind up in hell. Their belief or their conviction, even if beyond the faintest trace of doubt, may be part of god's deception.

Almost always, I am met with a mute denial. christianity, like any religion, is based on dumb acceptance of what they wish to believe in the first place. My parting shot is that if your deity is not benevolent, then none of us is safe.

Re: Calvinism Explains Everything...and Nothing - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:25:00 -0000

confused atheist, I wish christians were as confused as you. Such confusion leads to straight thinking.

In ancient times, the god(s) were neither all-knowing nor all-powerful, and that includes the jewish god. The centuries passed, and during the christian era he acquired those titles. The christians borrowed things like Platonic perfection.

The problem is that such a god is pretty much out of a job. Why would a perfect being need or even want glory? Why would he need or want anything: glory; worship; praise; love; penitence; obedience? Why would he give a goddamn if anyone believed in him?

No, ca, wants and needs are imperfectons; we want and need that which we lack, and perfection has no lack.

About divine foreknowledge vs freewill: if we have freedom of will, god cannot know our future actions. If we are considering 2 or more courses of action, god cannot foresee our decision until we actually make that decision. It is simply that god cannot see things that do not exist.

All this reminds me of a little joke:

Does god think?
Does god know the future?
Well then, does god know what he will think before he thinks it?

This posting is generating some good, heated responses. Now all we need is a calvinist.

Re: The eight steps you must take to get to heaven - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:28:00 -0000

avie, we all have our myths, things that work for us but would mean nothing to the next guy. To attempt to force our stuff on others is sheer bullying.

That is why the single most irritating thing xians do is "share". They have no intention of sharing; they intend to transmogrify their victims into something they aren't.

I am fond of Nietzsche and Ayn Rand. I like Satanism--I have just finished reading The Secret Life of a Satanist by Blanche Barton. These things have made me better and stronger, but I could not care less if my neighbor shares these things with me. Imitating others is cheap and vulgar.

xians come in here all the time, distressed out of their wits that there are people who do not share their notions. Who I am and what I think is precious to me, but the word "precious" is not in their vocabulary. Neither is the word "I"

Re: Saying goodbye - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 09:37:00 -0000

No matter what our experience has been, no matter what we did or what we tried, a fundie can always come in here and re define xianity to put us at fault. The accusation "you didn't try hard enough" is common.

john, in most churches I have been to (and I have been to a shitload) they carefully explain to you that salvation is a matter of trusting jesus and having faith. It is not your doing. It is not your morals. It is god's grace. Now what do you guys mean when you say "we didn't try hard enough" Are you saying that salvation is achieved by struggle and hard work? So salvation is a matter of our own efforts being successful?

I have heard the opposite just as often. I have heard "you're trying too hard; let the lord do it". Well, after awhile I wised up and began to see that the doctrines of xianity are so fluid that one can say anything one wishes.

If your god is who he says he is, in the book that you insist is his book, then it should not be a matter of "trying". Why do you not read the bible that you pretend to believe in? Did the prodigal son have to "try"? Did jesus say "knock and it shall be opened, but keep knocking harder and harder"? No. It should be sufficient that we approach the lord just as we are, and he should be there to meet us.

And john, just what are your struggles? Hmmmm? How many years have you gone with prayers not answered, trying in vain to reach your absent god. How many years will you keep trying, pathetically telling yourself to just work harder, try harder, believe harder, pray harder?

Let me tell you what happens when you stop beating your head against a wall. It feel great when it stops hurting.

Re: Saying goodbye - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:46:00 -0000

Just one little detail I neglected to bring up. Is it possible, john, in your brilliant theological opinion, to be converted on one's deathbed? If one is dying--if one expects to live a few hours or a few minutes--there is no time for trying. It has to happen immediately or not at all. This is called god's mercy. No trying is needed. god does it.

The point is, of course, that the salvation process shouldn't be different for a teen-ager who has his life ahead of him, and a victim of a shooting who is quickly bleeding to death. In both cases, it should be a matter of god being happy to respond, and being quick to do so......uh......that is, if god is real.We do not think god is real. We think that your kind makes excuses for your failed god.

Re: A Skeptic's Guide to Bible Study for Christians - Purpose and Approach - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:42:00 -0000

Celestials, you make amusing reading. You wrote about having as many problems as non-believers, and maybe more so. So why do you not ditch that shit and get a life? It has been 40 years? jesus.

The next time you are in a xian bookstore, take note of how many books are written for xians with problems. They should all be sub-titled "How to be happy even though you're a xian". You know all this already. I do not doubt that your bookshelves are loaded with that shit.

40 years......jesusfuckingchrist. I lasted for 10 and then got off my knees. My problems were of my own imagining. I have been an atheist for 30 years and my only problem is one of my cats keeps knocking over the flower vases.

Re: YouTube Child Abuse - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 10:16:00 -0000

Hello, AtheistMommy. You said you did not think your son was gifted. He sounds gifted to me. Stand by him and encourage him. He needs to know that he is superior and that he will be rejected as a freak. He will be figuring this out pretty soon, all by himself.

I have an IQ that goes off the gauge, and growing up was hell. My teachers and even my own parents despised me. At church I might as well have been a leper. I knew by the age of ten that thinking was like being fat or ugly. I was not welcome.

I wish all the best for you and your son. He is going to be set apart from the rest of humanity. He will not be able to join in with the fashionable dipshits. He will not date the pretty girls.

The people who post here have similar experiences.....I have no doubt of that, especially when it comes to religion. We tried to be like everyone else, didn't we? We tried to talk like them and think like them, and it did not work. I honestly hope that your son does what works for him.

Re: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:30:00 -0000

I have not the least fear. The more powerful the religions become, the more the intellect will flower. What? Did we think we were going to dominate the world? No, of course not. Voltaire said that we shall leave the world as wicked and foolish as when we found it. A thousand years from now,
jackasses will still run for office on family-values tickets, wringing their hands over our collective sins and preaching salvation through proper voting. Our kind will still be here, reading Hume, Nietzsche, A J Ayer and Ayn Rand, and listening to the aforementioned jackasses telling us that atheism is a religion. They will always be here. We will always be here. I do not care if this whole sorry world succumbs to another dark age, there will still be a remnant that refuses to put their lights out.

Re: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:28:00 -0000

I am inclined to beg the WM's pardon if my last post was unwelcome. I am not inclined to indulge in a similar courtesy toward the rest of you.

The word "abhorrent" keeps coming up. Let me tell you what I find abhorrent: the Crusades; the Inquisition; witchhunts; persections of jews and heretics; humiliation of scientists and thinkers; extermination of Native Americans; lynchings of Blacks; beating and murdering of homosexuals.

The modern "christian" is but a pale copy of what that religion once was--the modern christian resembles his religious ancestors in the sense that a lizard resembles a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Catholics; Unitarians; Presbyterians; Lutherans; Methodists....all are about as dangerous as Eleanor Roosevelt. The monstrosity that we talked about is still around and very much alive. I live in the heart of Indiana Klan country and those fanatics are organized and armed to the teeth. They are awaiting their time, as they say. If the religious right (the religious reich) gets the power it craves, that time will come.

All over this country, Klansmen or otherwise--not all kooks wear white sheets--there are people who are prepared to deprive us of rights and dignity. They are not all as visible as Fred Phelps. One of you suggested "science and logic" as the remedy. Was that a joke? Among the lunatics I have been describing, science and logic are the tools of the devil. Philosophy is heathen. Tolerance is blasphemy. All of us who want to talk about reason are going to be silenced.

I do not imagine this. I am near these people every day; people who cannot complete a sentence without "nigger" or "queer" or "fag"; people for whom "fuckin'jew" is one word; people for whom abortion is murder. If you thought my comments were harsh, do not forget that the stake is a worse way to die than gas.

Re: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:41:00 -0000

My goodness, mr cabot, your words of gloom and doom sent a chill down to the marrow of my bones. You must have been moved by the holy spirit to speak with such power and authority. Now wait until I stop laughing.

Okay, that took awhile. mr cabot, I do not intend to speak for the rest of the x-xians, but I believe that religion is here to stay. There are lots and lots of meek, servile little cretins who are eager to get on their knees, and lots more who are just as eager to keep them there. I do not believe that is going to change. No, mr cabot, I am not trying to take away whatever darkage fantasy you so desperately cling to. Stay on your knees--you belong on your knees, jabbering your impotent litany.

And just who are those "brilliant and talented men" to whom you refer? I know about the tyrannts of the past and present, and call them john calvin or joe stalin, they have all come straight out of the gutter. Call it mein kampf or the word of god, it is all shit. And as long as there are cowards and weaklings in this sorry world, that shit is going to be around.

About the notion of "failure". No, I will not fail. I am living my life on my feet, as an atheist and a thinker, calling my own shots. My life is a success, in whatever ways success can be measured. My kind will always be in the minority. We are not going to eliminate religion any more than we are going to shovel sand against the tide.

Re: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:23:00 -0000

Thank you religionkills, and bravo to you and to all of us. Thanks again.

And do not be overly concerned about labels. The important thing is that you live your life as you choose. Let the label come later....if it fits, wear it.

And, uh, Merry Xmas

Re: Proof Jesus Christ Never Existed - By Brett Keane - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:23:00 -0000

My response to rubysera:

There is some confusion about just where you stand on the jesus issue. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I take you to be an unbeliever, but expressing open-minded sympathy.

The confusion arises during the following statements:

1st, we know "the first thing about xianity" Hell yes, we do. We know more about xianity than xians......that is why we are here. And yes, we can and do speak "authoritatively". That is also why we are here.

2nd, my eternal destiny does not depend on jesus, his teachings, or any commentary on his teachings. My destiny stops at the grave. I expect no other.

3rd, about the violence fought in jesus' name. Those things are the finest arguements against jesus. I do not care what anyone cares to say about the perversion of his authentic teaching. I look at the actual conduct of those who claimed to be his followers. When I talk about xianity, I refer to the actual churches and doctrines, not some theoretical baby jesus. Only what I see and experience is real.

And finally, I will ridicule xianity, or any other religion, as much and as long as I please. Do not tell me that I have no "right" to ridicule xians. Who started this? Who came up with the idea that we deserve to burn in hell? Who came up with the crackpot notions about original sin? Who persecuted witches and heretics? Respect goes to those who earn it, not to bloodthirsty zealots.

And at the risk of waxing repetitious, tell me if I have somehow misunderstood you.

Re: Proof Jesus Christ Never Existed - By Brett Keane - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:29:00 -0000

Paul, your argument is comically circular. The bible validates itself? Okay, I'm the bastard king of England. I just said so, and I never lie.

Your vietnam analogy fails miserably. I was there and personally saw and experienced it. That is a long shot from a 2000 year old book about miracles and demons and people walking out of their graves.

And about all those manuscripts? That speaks against the bible, not for it. paul, cheap shit sells. That superstitious crap was copied and spread around as fast as lightening.

Look how fast the mormons came into being--some wild story about stone tablets, and the gullible swallowed it like mother's milk. Jim Jones; David Koresh; Muhammed, for christ
sake, any kook can get a following.

About the authors of the nt dying for it. Those are legends. We do not know how they died. You know that story about peter being crucified upside down? That makes no more sense than hanging a man by putting a noose around his ankles.

And I am still laughing about your bible verses. Again, circularity. We reject the bible because we are sinners, and we are sinners because the bible says so.

You are badly in need of formal training.

Re: Proof Jesus Christ Never Existed - By Brett Keane - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:56:00 -0000

Just one more little tidbit, paul: go on the net and google up to something called "The Three Witnesses". Shortly after joseph smith announced his tablets, there were three men who signed a joint statement saying they had actually seen them. This statement is printed in every copy of the book of mormon. There is also a monument to them in salt lake city.

Some time after, they were joined by eight addtional witnesses. All these guys solemnly attested to seeing those tablets.

If you call them liars or charletans, that's fine, because we apply such standards to your bible.we simply claim the right to think for ourselves and make independent judgements. If you have chosen to abjure those rights......enjoy ignorance

Re: Proof Jesus Christ Never Existed - By Brett Keane - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:45:00 -0000

"The bible can be debunked on its theology alone"

Okay paul, still around? Where was Lazarus' soul during the 4 days in the grave? Was it in the afterlife and then returned? Was it kinda hovering around in or near the grave? No matter what answer you come up with, you still have god making some sort of exception.

Talk about special pleading!!

(thanx Monk and Aleee.....this is going to be good)

Re: Closet Atheists - RedTopHat - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 14:44:00 -0000

sarabhi, I thank you for your comments. I aspire to get along with everyone--if Jack the Ripper came to my front door, I would invite him in for a glass of single-malt and a bit of conversation.

By way of a brief introduction, I am an atheist, and I do not believe that the universe has a goal or a purpose. If anyone insists on ID, I would simply point out birth defects and Down's syndrome. No intelligent design there. I shudder to think what kind of "designer" would allow such things.

I am amoral. We are sophisticated animals on our hind legs, and the notion of morals comes from the same talents and imagination that gives us music and poetry.

That assertion is not welcome by humanists, but then I get along with humanists.

I do not get along with anyone who tries to tell me that I am a sinner and justly deserving of divine vengeance. We know from history what happened when these shitheads actually had the political power to enforce their religion. They would like to recover their lost status, and then none of us would be safe.

So if the xian wants to get along with me, fine. It is up to him. He can call off his dogs and his dogma. You have read these nuts like "paul" who come in here and preach their filth. Do you suppose that "paul" wishes to get along with us? He might as well call himself Torquemada.

Thanks again. I would gladly get along with any xian who can keep an open mind. In the meatime I will maintain my membership in the ACLU.

Re: Are Atheists Arrogant? - RabidApe - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:41:00 -0000

sarabhi, I honestly beg your pardon. I refer to our postings down at "red hat". We are very much on the same side and I was never offended by any word you said. We are allies and equals.

Re: And a Little Child Shall Lead Them - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:30:00 -0000

Honest to god, upbringing is everything. My father was a loser; a drunken windbag who spent his life trying to convince people he was educated; quoting phrases he had acquired; putting on an act that became more elaborate as the years passed.

My mother was a xian weakling, dumb as a sack of shit, who sat back with her thumb up her lard ass while her husband screamed insults at her flesh and blood. They had both been raised in the same church, and she wanted to win him back. Toward that end, she didn't want to provoke him.

Now I know that all you representatives of the true god want to come in here and feel sorry for us because we got mixed up in the wrong church and we got hurt and bullshitbullshitbullshit.

Okay, listen, and cram this up and check it for size. My mother turned me against your faith. I saw what it did to that bitch. I saw in my own home what a disease your religion is, turning people into spineless little cretins. You insist that there is such thing as the "true faith"? If I could not see it in my own mother, then where the goddamned hell would you suggest it could be found? What is a man supposed to think when his own mother is the worst xian he ever knew?

For the rest of you good people: raise your children to respect themselves, and they will respect you. Raise them to love themselves, and they will love you. Leave their ego intact, and everything else will follow. Your children need jesus like a horse needs poison.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:18:00 -0000

paul, first of all, do not refer to our words as atheist garbage. Do you want to trade insults? Very well. I am 59 years old and I have been to more churches than I care to admit. The shit kept getting deeper. Shit, paul, not garbage. Shit. Shit about how we are sinners and god is going to burn us in hell. Shit.

Then I went to the liberal churches. There, god was pissed because we are making too much money at the expense of the poor third world and we are supporting the arms trade through taxes. More shit.

So paul, I pulled the chain and all that shit went down the plumbing. Aint seen it since. Or smelled it, until you arrived.

And paul, you keep coming in here to spread more of your xian shit. Shit.

Let me digress briefly and try to educate you. This will be a losing fight.

Your attempt to argue is pathetic. paul, please be careful when you try to argue by analogy. Any first year philosophy student gets his ass kicked by his prof for even attempting this. Look, dummy, there are not 10000 quacks prescribing 10000 cures for diabetes.
Science regulates itself. Follow me so far? Your analogy is childish. There are not 10000 medicines for diabetes.

When we have a broken leg, there are not 10000 quacks who dispute about how to mend the bone.

When we have a decayed tooth, there are not 10000 quacks who dispute about how to fill the tooth.

But in religion, there are 10000 quacks who dispute about how to find the gods. Your silly attempt to argue was a silly attempt to cover that up; to rely on a false analogy. In other words, paul, you are a liar. And you have the balls to use the expression "Logical Fallacy of Atheism". If your religion had any validity, you would not have to rely on philosophical pretense. If your religion had any validity, it would stand up by itself. Why do you keep coming in here to humiliate yourself?

And now something personal. The notion that god has a "plan" of salvation is so damned foolish that I feel foolish for even mentioning it. Why the fucking hell does your kind think that the supreme being needs a "plan" to "save" us? Your deity devised a plan to save us from himself? Now we are supposed to thank god because first he was angry but now he has a plan to make him not angry? paul, I am going to need a good stiff drink after I finish this. I suggest you try a few, as well.

That bottle of Glenfiddich is looking real good. Just a few more things: do not refer to our words, our principles, or our way of life as "garbage". If you want to trade insults, I am more than up for it. Your choice. You simply do not understand the atheist way, as a masturbating adolescent does not understand sex.

Grow up.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:45:00 -0000

Really, my friend, I have been hoping that paul would come out from under his rock and answer someone. I understand his reticence......hell, when I was a xian, the last thing I wanted was a debate.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:00:00 -0000

This is wonderful. My second glass of scotch and anonymous just checked in.

What the bleeding hell do you mean with the word "judged". Who is judging us? Judging us for what?

What sins are you talking about? Why should I be afraid to die? Why should I fear the deity that made me in the first place?

Fear, sin, and judgment come from church; from theologians with too much time on their hands; too much Aristotle and not enough sex.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:03:00 -0000

Look, shit for brains, it is up to you to provide proof. jesus is the proof for what? jesus is the proof for jesus? I'll take a hit of whatever you been smoking--it'll go great with this booze.

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:06:00 -0000

C'mon you born again imbeciles, I got 2 hours 'fore I got to go.

Re: Letters From Leavers - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:28:00 -0000

Hello south.....it is good to hear your voice. I have been a fickle poster for the past many months. I am at the age when I have my own thoughts and I do not give two flying fucks into hell what anybody thinks. I need not defend myself to anyone. I have lost that defensive posture I used to have--an argument means no more now than a good game of ping-pong.

You were always an ally. Thanx. Sweetie.

Steven, hello. I wish with all my heart that paul had never been born. I often indulge in the fantasy of what Europe would have been without the contamination of xristianity; what England would have been--what America would have been.

I hear that xristianity is dying out in Europe. We can hope for the same here.

Re: The Atheist's Dilemma - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:31:00 -0000

Just a brief response, Justin, and thanx for a fine and reasonable posting.

About religion providing a moral framework for any government......I am not a student of comparative religion--so I will refrain from commenting on religion in general--but xristianity is the antithesis of anything we would call democracy. Our Founders made this republic when they ditched xristianity. Any assertion that xristianity is the moral premise of this country makes me shudder.

And sir, I sincerly doubt you meant it that way.

Re: The Atheist's Dilemma - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:08:00 -0000

Justin,after a re reading of your posting, I can see that you meant no such thing.

One more thing: to confront meaninglessness is a dilema we find in the existentialists (I always did like Sartre) but personally, I have never participated in this European angst. When I look out on the suffering of this world, it is a comfort to know that it has no meaning. To think that all this pain has a meaning--or more to the point, to think that some deity has orchestrated the whole bloody mess for his own purpose--would be more than I could bear.

I will now indulge in a bit of self-disclosure. Beyond what is required for debate, self-disclosure is usually bad form. I am a vietnam veteran, and while in that godforsaken country I watched teenage boys shot like so many farm animals, while the voters sat back and jacked off. More than 50000 good troops died for a tribe of stone age savages who didn't even have a word for freedom in their language. To start believing that it "meant" something would be to push my mental health over the deep end.

Re: The Atheist's Dilemma - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:15:00 -0000

Well thanx for reading my post, Alleee. I am flattered. You know a smart man when you meet one, hmmm?

When I use the word "democracy" I do not refer to what we experience in the present day. I refer to the visions of Tom Jefferson and Tom Paine; Franklin; Madison, and all the people we call the Founders.

You know as well as I, my dear, that the rights we enjoy are due to the work of a small group of freethinkers, and not to the will of god, not to his son, and sure as the fuck not to any seminary graduated who pretends to speak for either.

Re: The Atheist's Dilemma - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:16:00 -0000

Excuse me, I meant seminary "graduate"

Re: Logical Proof that God doesn't exist - Prayer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:25:00 -0000

One can take whatever happens and call it god.

Suppose your daughter is out driving through Indianapolis; she returns safely; thank god.

She narrowly misses an accident; thank god.

She is involved in a fender-bender; thank god it wasn't worse.

She totals the car; thank god for sparing her life.

She is injured slightly; thank god she is okay.

She is crippled for life; thank god she is alive.

She is dead; praise god, who giveth and taketh away.

We all know how this works. If everything that happens is the will of god, then how is god ever verifiable?

Re: Logical Proof that God doesn't exist - Prayer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 09:43:00 -0000

I spent some time hanging around with charismatic types. They insisted that god would answer prayers if one believed enough. When a prayer wasn't answered, it simply meant one lacked faith. Heads god wins; tails god wins.

Is there a name for this fallacy.

Re: Logical Proof that God doesn't exist - Prayer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:56:00 -0000

It gives me the world of pleasure to respond to anonymous:

I have encountered your kind. Your approach is that we are childish and petulant and we will not allow god to have his way. We are spoiled children, demanding and peevish.

Alright anonymous, I am going to hand this back to you, and see how you like it.

You are a sorry weakling and a sorry coward. How many years have you spent grovelling on your knees before your sorry jew god, which your sorry xristian religion has kept mummified all these centuries? Hmmmm? How many years? How many years have you spent in your pathetic prayers, and making excuses when no answer came?

I'll tell you something, asshole.......the people you are speaking to simply had the guts to get off their knees. They grew up. Why don't you try it?

And what the fucking hell do you mean by "2 minute rants"? Do you think we are here because we threw a tantrum for 2 minutes and the jew wouldn't wipe our asses? Listen, you adolescent piece of shit, some of us have been xristians since before you were old enough to jerk off, or before you knew you had a dick, or before you knew what to do with it. Look, shit, we just grew up. Now pull your pants up and get out of here.

Re: Logical Proof that God doesn't exist - Prayer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:19:00 -0000

And just one more little thing:

Reference the first 3 lines of your post, do I want to take away someone's faith during a low point in their lives. Yes, I would, without a moment's hesitation. They would have to take adult responsibility for the first time; they would have to grow up, instead of whimpering to the jewzoo.

It would not be a problem if all you jew babies would just stay in your collective nuthouse, but you keep coming out to vote. Voting is a kind of prayer to you. You cannot take responsibility like a citizen, you have to vote for jewzoo. Go back to your nuthouse.

Re: KIERKEGAARD AND SOCRATES - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:18:00 -0000

While in uniform, it was my privilige to serve in Military Intelligence. Now, the US military is the most democratic place on earth (why do we think it was the first place in American society to become integrated)and MI takes only the top IQ's. You do not need college--if you have the brains, you have the job.

So, MI becomes an almost comical mix of college boys and blue-collar boys, all of equal intelligence. But here is the difference: the common observation of the blue-collar boys is that "you college guys complicate everything. You are always taking the long way around."

Yes, yes, I have studied Socrates, Kierkegaard, and everybody in between, and everybody before and since. The only value any of this has is to encourage us to be who we are and to become who we are. Eventually you pull the chain and flush the whole sorry load of shit down the tube.

Please notice Dr Khasaba's (sp)use of the word "individuality". I cherish my individuality more than I cherish my life. I arrived at this exalted position when I pulled the plug on philosophy, and at that point I discovered me. Me. Just me. My intellect; my strength; my weakness; my faults, all working together in glorious unison.

Socrates: a tormented control-freak. Kierkegaard: a European xristian who couldn't have a good time if you pumped him full of cocaine and had him lap-dance with a gypsy. The whole western canon; a pack of over-educated, over-read windbags.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:59:00 -0000

Unblinded,let me begin by saying that I am a student at a catholic college (Rensselaer, IN) and I am familiar with the authors you mentioned. I have majored in philosophy and minored in religion (google up to my name) and I find your innocent devotion to theology to be cute.

About acquinas: if you will return to the summa; question 1; article 1......the doctor is saying that, because reason is faulty, we need revelation in order to get things right, expecially salvation. This is a blunder that I would not excuse in a child. The doctor has tried to bullshit, and failed.The entire summa proceeds from that fallacy.

First, who says that our faulty reason is not all there is? My reason is faulty; okay, I should just go eat shit?

Second, why do we need salvation to begin with? I deny any such need. Where do you get such notions, the pope?

On that subject, I have participated in endless debates on the resurrection, all of them unnecesary, because there is no need for the resurrection, or the atonement, to begin with. The notion of forgiveness and salvation is bunk.

About your infatuation with garabandal: ever notice that these things are always happening among backward peasants? Has any such thing ever happened on a colllege campus? on Wall Street? on a US naval vessel? In London? Paris?

The only smart thing you said was about free will, but you display faulty reason. If god honors my use of my will, then there will be no trouble between us.

I have never heard a defense of the xristian religion. When any apologist begins to speak, all he can do is restate his religion. That is all you have done.

Ryan Pelsy

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 10:53:00 -0000

Unblinded:

I cannot quote your exact words--something to the effect that we cannot come to god with our intelligence, but only through humility.

Any deity worthy of my worship, or even my notice, would respect and honor the brains that he gave me in the first place. Please do not even suggest that the supreme being wants us to be humble little milksops who are too afraid to raise an honest question.

How can you even dare to say that we cannot approach god through intelligence? That STINKS!!!!! What cannot be approached intelligently is your religion. Any god worth his salt would be only too happy to make himself apparant to not only my reason but to my senses. No worthy god would have me grovel on my knees in meek and mindless humility. Maybe you catholics value those things. It hasn't been so long ago that you were burning people like me; people who can and do think. Catholicism hates us. A god would not.

About Garabandal: you continue to report miracles and fantastic occurances which have come from ignorant, backward and superstitious peasants. Where is the "corroboration" you speak of? Did you see it for yourself, or, like any good catholic, are you believing what you have been told to believe? So your religion values these shitkickers more than it values civilized Americans? I am not surprized.

This thread is going to go south probably before the sun rises tomorrow. You need not respond to me, as I have lost interest. I am being petty by even replying to you. I would be curious about just one thing........how does anyone know that he has found the truth if he has shut off his mind to begin with?

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:12:00 -0000

Marc, or unblinded, or whoever the fuck you are, your reply of March 15 is without the faintest doubt the most revolting thing I have ever read on this site. I have begun to see that we do not need to try at all to reject xristianity; we just sit back and let you assholes post your drivel.

Your last post hit the screen like a handful of shit. What in the fucking hell do you use for brains? Who are you calling "intractable"? What you are hearing are ordinary men and women who have the decency to think for themselves and to make their own decisions; men and women who are not living on their knees.It is your problem if you are "astounded". I suppose that, to your kind, our kind is astounding.

And you are "sad". Why don't you just go and cry me a river?

And you pray that his grace will fall on us. I hope that a stray meteorite will fall on you--it might knock some sense into that thick head.

And "truly lucid"? You are following a set of superstitions that should have died out in the dark ages and you think that you are lucid? You are obsessed with miracles that you have heard second and third hand, and you pass yourself off as a thinker?

And do not call me a child. I am not a child. I do not need your jewgod, and I do not need your fucking preaching. Go back and read your sugar creek gang stories and your danny orliss stories. Stay away from grown-ups. You only piss us off.

"he's at your door knocking". Oh xrist almighty, I am going to retch.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:19:00 -0000

Jim Arvo

I was going to answer Blinders post of March 14 but you did so damned good that I didn't want to spoil anything.

Glad to be sharing the same battleship, brother. Beats a lifeboat all to hell.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:54:00 -0000

That's great, Blinders. We have had our fill of your slander.

And you accused dano of being self-righteous and arrogant? I wanted to retch again, but all I could manage was a bit of english muffin.

And the word is "slanderous" not "slanderish". And Blinders, if you cannot engage in good, hot, honest debate without feeling guilty, then you need to grow up. Your religion has made you feel less than a man. You are not a "sinner" if you have the insides to go head-to-head with strong, worthy opponents.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:58:00 -0000

OH shit, Blinders deleted his own comment. For the benefit of the rest of you, he said that he could not continue posting, as he was beginning to sin by participating in our "slanderish" (sic) postings.

We see what religion does to a man's morale.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:17:00 -0000

Well Jim, allow me to say that exchristian would be a colder place without you. To continue the naval analogy, it is my fond wish that we can someday retire and the ship can be decommissioned.

And Blinders, we have not heard the last of you. You are coming back like a moth to a flame. You find something appealing about our approach to life,no? We are people who can speak our minds without feeling sinful and without feeling that we are making baby jesus cry.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:27:00 -0000

At the center of the Salem witch trials was a pack of hysterical adolescent girls, followed up by fanatics who were only too eager to believe them.

Re: Following God’s example? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:57:00 -0000

jim and dano:

Is it possible to retrieve deleted posts? How did you do that?

Re: Procreation Initiative: Funny but Immoral - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:16:00 -0000

reply to testimonies:

Allow me to correct your flimsy attempt at rational thought. When we look to society for rights and freedoms, we will have neither. Our rights--our right to be free--must be taken from society, not given by it.

Do you think that your deity grants our rights? Is that a joke? I know the bible better than most xristians, and there is nothing in that book that has the faintest thing to do with freedom. The xristian hates freedom--they didn't canonize philemon for nothing.

And you,sir, are a pompous windbag. I would bet you are impotent.

Re: Wiping our asses in heaven? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:30:00 -0000

paul, if it is propriety you want, you shouldn't be in here. There are boys and girls in here who are at least 16 or 17 years old who use words like poop and heck. There are even boys and girls who are old enough to drink and they say goshdarn and geewhiz. This place is mormon hell.

pauley..........have you read the bible? No, I am not joking. Most of your ilk wouldn't know the bible if it was stuffed up their asses sideways. Start at genesis, go through the laws, go through the war stories, and try to keep your corn flakes down. I never could.

My favorite jew war story is from 2 kings 15; about a godly man named menachem. Read it. He was so fucking proper; proper enough to please any xristian.

Propriety. Propriety, your ass. Propriety, shit. Fuck propriety.

And let me tell you a few more things, you proper excuse for a man. Let me address your last sentence: "the shamlessness it brought into your life is a classic example of what atheism brings into our lives".

You xristians invented shame. Your kind invented shame, guilt and weakness. And what does atheism "bring into our lives"? Atheism means pride and strength. Atheism means living on our feet, not trembling on our knees. Atheism puts light in your brain and muscle in your gut. Become an atheist and you will cease to slobber about propriety. You might even become shameless.

Re: Wiping our asses in heaven? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:46:00 -0000

I appreciate Telmi and Astreja doing a (vain) attempt to bring paul up to speed. paul's kind delight in pointing out all the great people in history who were believers in the jewzoo. In keeping with the general tenor of this thread, this is shit.

pauley, you have been fed half-truth and have swallowed it whole. Let me give you another example: General Ethan Allen is supposed to have been a "xristian soldier" who took the surrender of Ticonderoga "in the name of jehovah and the Continental Congress". Now, did you know that General Allen (retired) wrote the first anti-xristian book published in this country? It was titled Reason, The Only Oracle of Man.

Go to the 'net, type it in, and educate yourself, for xrist sake. You dislay the mind of a child.

And your appeal to intelligent design is comical. To appeal to a creator is one thing; to prove that this creator is the jew god is quite another. Lots of luck, pauley.

Re: Ali G vs. Kent Hovind - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:04:00 -0000

So people just can't understand how the complex natural world came into being, so they postulate an all-powerful, all-knowing god. In other words, the explaination of nature's complexity lies in an infinitely complex god. Now there's logic for you. I guess only cambridge -educated xristians can come up with that stuff.

pauley, I just posted at Wiping Our Asses. Go and read it. You can read, right? No, I don't mean chick tracts, I mean READ.

As far as all those hovinds around us.........pauley, we have them now. We are surrounded by cretins who worship a book written by a "bloodthirsty, capricious monster" (quoting Tom Jefferson) in which psychopaths like menachem are battlefield heroes and poor slobs like Onan drop dead because they didn't want to fuck their sister-in-law.

And when all your little hovinds come around, looking and acting like those brooms in Fantasia, I will have a welcome sign on my door and my 12-guage in my hand.

Re: Biological Basis of Morality - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:12:00 -0000

preston, do you know what "sucks" means? Originally,it was a referrence to oral sex. In other words, when you said that something sucked, you meant "it sucks cocks." When directed at a person, it was a terrible insult.

Now, preston, you have shown your true colors, as all xristians will given enough time. You are morally no better than the rest of us.

And now preston, you suck. And I mean that in the original sense of the word.

preston, I want you to get down on your knees, which is a good position for sucking, and ask the jewzoo to forgive you for what you said. The jewzoo can overlook theft and murder, but you had better not be talking about cocks. That REALLY pisses him off.

I will be unable to hear your response, or any other insults you have, because my wife and I are off to Indianapolis for the weekend, there to visit my sister, her husband, and their three intelligent and charming children. All five are atheists. And they do not suck, in any sense of the word.

Re: The Jews are God's chosen people - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 09:24:00 -0000

paul, you said that god chose the jews to be "instructors"? What did the jews teach us? Have you read the bible? Yes, I'm sure you have shelves of zondervan paperbacks, but have you read the bible? Read the bible, dummy, and your sorry excuse for a religion will evaporate.

The jews were an ignorant, backward race of towelheads who made up a lot of shit about how they were once great warriors and conquerors.And you call them teachers? Read that foul shit called the word of god. Read it. And those who wrote it are my teachers? Never. I would sooner join the nazi party than follow the bible.

Re: What I believe but cannot prove - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:02:00 -0000

Okay, this is good. So we're saying that there is a limited amount of matter--stars and planets and space junk--but an endless expanse of empty space. That helps. I had assumed that endless space meant endless matter.

I would love to contine this; this is more attractive than the errands I have to run. Later. Maybe tomorrow.

Re: April Fools! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:39:00 -0000

spirula, your use of our lord and savior as a cheap joke is going to land your sorry ass in hot water someday. You have placed yourself quite beyond redemption and have fallen from grace.

I am Louis XVII, the Bastard King of France

Re: Debate – Does God Exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:58:00 -0000

My apology to the WM. We are not supposed to feed the troll, but I cant resist.

About the "atheist lifestyle"......I do not intend to speak for anyone else.

I am an atheist, but that is secondary. My "life style" is standing on my feet like a man; thinking for myself; thinking my own thoughts; doing what I think is best; loving those who earn my love; hating those who earn my hate.

People like andrew often think that atheism is what drives us. It doesn't. Our need to be free is what drives us, and atheism comes in later.

We do not need some ancient bronze age superstition. We need to be men. We do not need to live on our knees. If anyone knows a better way to live, I am listening.

Re: Debate – Does God Exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:58:00 -0000

And hi to billy.

Re: Debate – Does God Exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:07:00 -0000

I do hope that "andrew" begins to smarten up eventually. His use of the term "christian hater" is comical.

In this world, those of us who have the insides to think for ourselves are the ones who are hated. We publish a few books and the xristians howl as though they were being dragged to the Inquisition.

I do not know which they hate more, our courage or our freedom.

Re: Debate – Does God Exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:05:00 -0000

Hi to billy and astreja. astreja, can I meet your killer rabbits?

Mr Braun, I am not sure if I am tracking you. About that book you are writing.......do not forget that there are people like me who do not give a shit if a deity exists or not. I am 60 years old and perhaps what I am about to say either sounds childish or senile.

I live my own life. I am not interested in justifying myself or assuming burden of proof. I need do neither. My life is my own.

If a god exists, let her go and create something and leave me the bloody hell alone.

About unbelief being a belief: knock that shit off. I used to do the same thing. I used to say "everybody has a god". I was ashamed of being a xtistian and my intention was really "you're just as silly as I am".

If you take an interest in my beliefs--I really do not care--here is what I believe: "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees" Emiliano Zapato

Re: Debate – Does God Exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:06:00 -0000

That should read "Zapata" My deepest apology.

Re: The Good For Nothing Type of Christianity - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:40:00 -0000

xristian bashing is nothing new. Among my favorite bashers are Thomas Paine; Thomas Jefferson; Robert Ingersoll; Fredrich Nietzsche, and Ayn Rand.

I do not deal in gratuitous insult. When I deal with a xristian, I do not tell him/her to get fucked. However, when they start to unload their hillcountry theology, they make themselves fair game. How much respect do they deserve when they tell you that you're going to hell without jesus? Yes, that is a rhetorical question.

I support bashing if it keeps them in their place. If our response is disrespect and laughter, they will be less eager to preach.

I have met the occasional xristian who is actually capable of rational argument. I'm willing if he is. But he can put away his bible stories or all bets are off.

Re: The Good For Nothing Type of Christianity - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:19:00 -0000

Worley, why don't YOU give it a rest? You seem to be really miffed because we do not want to discuss "egalitarian concepts" or "egalitarian myths". I do not speak for the others, but my response was to the only thing in your post that was even remotely interesting.

Your post is long, repetitious, and blows more hot gas than an F-16.

You stated that we are "pirating time and space". No we are not. We belong here as well as you. You are upset because we fail to take you seriously.

And as for " a topic worthy of discussion", why don't you suggest one?

Re: Samsung? | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:33:01 -0000

Well, I do like the one called “Big Brother”. It reminds me of the shot of that kid holding the hand grenade in one of my favorite Diane Arbus photographs.

If this was a painting, that would be impressive. And yes, I could do without the political titles.

Re: For the sake of art | Jack Baty says...

ryan — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 05:10:50 -0000

Awesome! Thank you Roeland. Now I can actually read what’s there. Jack, I was able to install on my MacBook Pro without a problem. Did you grab the right download?

Re: Where is the sub-$1,000 MacBook?

ryan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:49:00 -0000

Apple is not trying to topple Microsoft or any PC manufacturer. Apple is trying to dig a fortress foxhole in the Personal Computing market.

Their keys to success are quality in design and manufacturing, cutting edge technology/marketing (iPhone screen or Core 2 Duo push), and high profitability.

Their methods are strict control of software to hardware matching, opening new markets (iPod/iTunes & loud/attractive/modern advertising), concentration on higher dollar segment products.

If Apple relaxed its control over what hardware on which their OS runs, they would loose/degrade their market identity and cultivate similar issues as Windows has - needing to work with everything.

Apple's approach to new product development is centered around high profit items. Why concentrate on selling at low profit, when high profit makes more money? A $1099 MacBook yields a much higher profit margin than a $699 PC notebook, even with slightly lower specs. Certainly, more people can afford a $699 computer, but Apple isn't trying to take over the market. They're trying to get the most out of their current market. They understand that someone that purchases a $699 computer to save money will always purchase a lesser expensive/lesser profit product. Thinking that offering an "intro" computer to "hook" new customers into higher profit lines, in this case, does not compile logically.

Instead, Apple uses products like iTunes, iPods, iPhones, and Apple TV to hook new customers. These products have been the major - if not complete - contributors to Apple's growth in the past 8 years.

One last point, you can purchase lower cost parts for a Mac through companies like MacSales.com.

I hope my note aides the discussion about Apple's markets.

Re: Lettering for 07/08 Premiership Shirts Unveiled

ryan — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 09:49:00 -0000

The numbers are a definite improvement, in fact I can't quite believe it's taken them this long to ditch the old ones. Now the EPL numbers have the same standard of readablity long established by the Scottish Premier and followed by the MLS.

The letters, though, are actually worse than the old ones because they're smaller and wider - can you imagine how messy it'll look if a Premier team sign Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink?

Re: Most Famous Soccer Players on Facebook

ryan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:48:00 -0000

Clint Dempsey has one, but its difficult to tell if its authentic.

http://cccd.facebook.com/profile.php?id=194604210&ref;=ts

Re: Most Famous Soccer Players on Facebook

ryan — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:51:00 -0000

Actually now that I think about it, he couldn't join the Collin College network unless he had a school email address, so it probably is him.

Re: Samir Nasri to Arsenal?

ryan — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:42:54 -0000

i would replace hleb for nasri.
and flamini for aquilani.
both of which agents have reportedly spoken to arsenal already.

Re: Official Premier League Ball For 08/09 Season

ryan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:19:17 -0000

well lehmann is in the bundesliga this season so i don't think he'll care.

Re: New 08/09 Blackburn Rovers Home Shirt Revealed | EPL Talk

ryan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:19:07 -0000

this is photoshopped as hell. the original photo is ince holding a shirt with his name and the number 1 on the back.

Re: New Arsenal Away Shirt Revealed: Photo

ryan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:39:43 -0000

wow, that looks really good....the best away shirt weve had i reckon.

Re: UpsideTrader

ryan — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:58:00 -0000

Great post. Thanks.

Care to comment on how many of the new individual brokerage accounts might be from out-of-work professionals seeking reputable gambling/a way to try to make money during hard times?

http://www.japancorp.net/Article.asp?Art_ID=20659

Re: Chiddy Bang – Kids (feat. MGMT)

ryan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:01:09 -0000

Chiddy Bang soo dopee

Re: Firefox Sidebar + Google IG = Useful on any platform

ryan — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 10:04:00 -0000

girl geeks are cool....'grats on gettin' dugg!
just realized you work at google...so you're a genius too

Re: Blades of Glory Japan Style - A Robot that Skates!

ryan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:29:42 -0000

The japanese is so found of Robot!

Re: Leaving Yahoo - Going Mobile

ryan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:40:09 -0000

Congrats on the new gig...we're gonna miss you!

Re: Its The Freakin’ Weekend – Remixes #3

ryan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:07:29 -0000

love them! thanks. I look forward to your remix picks luis!

Re: The Wine Harvest in Spain has Commenced!

ryan — Fri, 02 Sep 2005 15:04:38 -0000

Terry send me a note with your details and I'll see what I can find. Are you looking for one day with a rental car? Or do you want to see areas like Toro where you would need a night to stay over. Use the email link at the bottom of this page to send me your info...Thanks

Re: TN - Quinta do Noval White Port

ryan — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 01:31:38 -0000

Thanks for reading. I've tried the tonic and white port once, and as long as the port is dry I enjoy it. But sweet with more sweet is a bit much.

Re: Mega Purple - I had to join the debate

ryan — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 04:00:49 -0000

Robert stay tuned, I'm heading up to Montsant the first week of March and I plan I doing a whole regional article, not to mention including more tasting notes. For now all I'll say is that often you can get Priorat quality wines at non Priorat prices. The Capcanes is a personal favorite.

Re: Primer 2005 - Carbonic Maceration

ryan — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:35:39 -0000

Sorry I heard about this wine but never got a chance to try it. Usually Bodegas here don't make much in the way of quanitity of these wines. After a long search I sadly did not find any in any shops around the area. Sorry I couldn't help you more! Thanks for the complement, Ryan

Re: Calling all editors please!

ryan — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 10:30:57 -0000

Emilio - I will be in Alemenataria, will you? If so we should meet up one day. As far as what I've been drinking, lots and lots of Alentejo wines this past week. Stay tuned for a long list of tasting notes.

Re: 2003 Bodegas Luberri Rioja Cepas Viejas

ryan — Sat, 20 May 2006 02:16:12 -0000

Hey Bill here you go: <a href="<a href="http://catavino.net/archives/360/2006/05/16/

http://catavino.net/archives/360/2006/05/16/

/>
"><a href="http://catavino.net/archives/360/2006/05/16/

http://catavino.net/archives/360/2006/05/16/

/>

Though keep in mind the 2003 still has some time before it will be released. On the otherhand I would check out their other wines. Fun stuff!

Re: 2003 Bodegas Luberri Rioja Cepas Viejas

ryan — Sat, 20 May 2006 02:16:12 -0000

Re: 2003 Bodegas Luberri Rioja Cepas Viejas

ryan — Sat, 20 May 2006 02:16:12 -0000

Re: New Site and New Features

ryan — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:41:37 -0000

Thanks for reading Emilio...and I look forward to finally getting down to Alicante one day. for now though I guess we'll share a few sweet wines together in Jerez!

See you there, Ryan

Re: Bodega Luberri

ryan — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:45:40 -0000

Yeah I did meet him and had a chance to talk a bit about his approach though like you said he is a character! I would like to visit them when I find time and see the bodega first hand.

Re: Grape Profile - Touriga Nacional

ryan — Tue, 30 May 2006 02:29:00 -0000

Thanks for the comment ROy...here´s a link to the article on Tempranillo that my wife wrote a few months ago: <a href="http://catavino.net/archives/111/2005/09/20/ ">http://catavino.net/archives/111/2005/09/20/

Re: Grape Profile - Touriga Nacional

ryan — Tue, 30 May 2006 02:29:00 -0000

Re: Grape Profile - Touriga Nacional

ryan — Tue, 30 May 2006 02:29:00 -0000

Re: Catavino’s 1 year old!

ryan — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:02:15 -0000

Thanks for the empathy Steven. I love it when friends come here and bring a bottle or two, makes life good. Some day we'll have to meet up here in Spain and share a bottle or two of imported hops!

Ryan

Re: Regional Profile - D.O. Cava

ryan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 05:04:43 -0000

Yes and no, there is a requirement for the production methods(solera style aging), but unlike Cava they also have a set physical area they must remain within. Hypotheticaly, anyone can argue that Cava can be made in their region. If the Consejo agrees they can be awarded DO status. In Jerez there is a concept of terroir that indicates that the soil(albariza) and the climate are unique to the DO.

Thanks for the history on Cava, I read that once before, I just wonder if they'll ever call a sparkler Cava as a default?

Re: Wine blogs We Like and a Few Others

ryan — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:24:26 -0000

Andrew - thanks for the comments, and we continue to do our best!

Tim - Glad you enjoy us. And eventually our podcast will sound as good as yours too!

Re: XX Salón Internacional del Club Gourmets

ryan — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 01:38:27 -0000

Sue - Thanks for the comment. As to the Jamon, Iberico is made from Pata Negra Pigs. Serrano is altogether another type of ham, and considered by many if not all as highly inferior to the Iberico which is the pinnacle of the Jamon world. As far as getting it in the US, the one producer here who has officially been approved by the US government will start shipping in the next year. In reality to buy a whole ham it incredibly expensive no matter where you buy it. When the deli's and meat shops start to carry it you can buy it then like we do, a few slices at a time.

Thanks for checking out Catavino and I look forward to chatting with you more!

Ryan

Re: World Cup - Go Iberia?

ryan — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:21:38 -0000

Both england and ukraine have growing wine industries.

Check it out: Ukraine wine - <a href="<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_wine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_wine

/>

"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_wine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_wine

/>

and English wine - <a href="<a href="http://www.english-wine.com/

http://www.english-wine.com/

/>

"><a href="http://www.english-wine.com/

http://www.english-wine.com/

/>

Hard to believe but it's true! I would love that match up too, though I am a Brasil and Portugal fan!

Re: World Cup - Go Iberia?

ryan — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:21:38 -0000

Re: World Cup - Go Iberia?

ryan — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:21:38 -0000

Re: Bastardo

ryan — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:41:45 -0000

I'm looked and I can't find anything related to the name, not that there isn't a reason for it. In my opinion it might have come from the fact it's a irregular ripener. Imagine having a plot that only half ripens, I might be prone to call it a Bastard plot if they were my vines! Like the dog strangler or Borrado de Mosca aka Fly droppings. In Portugal there are so many grapes and I have to say some of them have really amazing names.

Re: Bastardo

ryan — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:55:27 -0000

Oops that's a major mistake, considering I was just there. Thanks for pointing it out! Also thanks for the translation, same as English!

Re: LaGitanna and Madrid’s Summer Heat

ryan — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 10:06:37 -0000

No advertising, but maybe I should be. Re-reading this has made me thirsty!

Re: 2001 Linaje Garsea Ribera del Duero Reserva

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:27:11 -0000

Sorry to say but I don't think it's available yet over there. If you use <a href="<a href="http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-select.lml

http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-select.lml

/>
"><a href="http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-select.lml

http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-select.lml

/>

you can look up wines are you are interested to see availability. Though not 100% correct you can at least see if the wine is in the Country. Otherwise when I talked to the owner he mentioned that being a new company they are just getting started and are currently looking for exporters. Let's hope they succeed they have great wines.

Re: 2001 Linaje Garsea Ribera del Duero Reserva

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:27:11 -0000

Re: 2001 Linaje Garsea Ribera del Duero Reserva

ryan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:27:11 -0000

Re: Culinary Podcast Network - Interview on Northern Spain

ryan — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 07:05:27 -0000

Thanks Andrew, I appreciate the comments. I too really love the stones, they are to me very calming.

Re: Iberian Wine News Around the Web

ryan — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:08:11 -0000

Sorry I forgot to mention what I meant was they all went to Linux and away from WIndows for their operating systems. A great move that will save them tons of money and make their computers safer. I think it reflects well their "no fear" attitude when it comes to makeing wine and looking to new ideas!

Re: European Union Reforms

ryan — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 09:39:32 -0000

I don't think she's saying customers don't want to know the producer, but rather that most people don't ask for a wine by producer, but rather varietal or region. When I sold wines, varietal was first, then region and then winemaker, and that's only when I hand sold wine.

Your right putting varietal on the label would help tremendously.

Re: Day Trip to Bodega Torres

ryan — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:57:59 -0000

Thanks Bill for the comment regarding the article. I really enjoyed writing it and stand behind my thoughts that Europe doesn't have the same baggage that the US has regarding wine education. I can only hope that we will eventually move to a more objective view on educating people about winemaking, rather than an emotionally loaded one. And yes, it is really cool to be able to walk out the backdoor of the school directly under a canopy of grapes! Makes life good!

Re: Tasting wine in Spain, on turkey day!

ryan — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 10:33:23 -0000

Thank you and we hope that you enjoy your "stuffing"! We have a turkey for Saturday with friends, so we will get our fair share eventually...

Re: Wine News from Around the Web-o-Sphere

ryan — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:46:11 -0000

Jim I thought that seemed a bit low. I remember being closer to your number when I sold it back in the states.

Re: Heading back - Thoughts on Two Years of Portuguese and Spanish Wine

ryan — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 07:21:27 -0000

No worries we're staying here as long as we can! We love the culture, the food, and of course the wine. Thanks for the thoughts, Tom. Also Bill, let's talk, we have a meal to plan!

Re: Wine Blog Awards

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:11:57 -0000

Thanks for the thoughts Andrew. I agree the American part is a little strange, but I guess I understand. It's where the awards originated.

On the other hand your right this could make our small blogging effort finally something others pay attention to. Being in the US and talking to retailers and importers everyday, I'm surprised by how many have no idea that we exsist!

Re: Wine Blog Awards

ryan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:30:46 -0000

I hope your right Joel. I really want these community sites to work though I think we have a ways to go. Digg works because it has a HUGE base, your site is a great start and I wish it the best, with a bit more time who knows what could happen.

I really do think Tom was smart to do this. Also gutsy, to be the first is hard, but can be very rewarding. I like what the well-fed network has done and I hope that Tom has the same level of success with time!

thanks for the comment

Re: 2001 Miguel Torres S.A. Cabernet Sauvignon Penedès Mas La Plana

ryan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:07:40 -0000

The answer is: taninos

Re: New grapes in Rioja…Who cares!

ryan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:49:53 -0000

I should have addressed this more. These varietals are not falling out of favor, even though some just make bad wine, period. Everywhere I go people are trying to find the next big grape. So many wineries that I visit are full of small areas planted with local varieties. I love to taste through them when I have a chance, and many of the wineries actively work to make test batches so as to see what can come of them. The varieties are not being pushed out or lost. Yes the market, sadly, will not see as many of the odder ones. But with education and some of the more experimental producers looking for the next Mencia or Bobal, I think we will see new varieties enter the market. Or rather old ones re-entering at some point.

Re: Wine Labeling Law

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 04:38:35 -0000

Benjiman, I don't think she was criticizing the idea of a "Country of Laws" but rather the idea that a country of laws needs to balance itself a bit better. Laws make the USA great, but it's when we follow them blindly that we find ourselves in trouble. Also over regulation or excess laws can lead to less freedoms and an overly powerful government where personal responsibility is not acknowledged.

Romi, I have to disagree, the coffee and the food labels do have a lot in common. I sympathize with your son and your efforts to deal with his condition. Your issue is one that needs addressing and there needs to be a way to get people in your situation the right information to deal with the problem. On the other hand everything cannot be labeled, and the minute we say "ok we have all the allergies covered" up will pop a new one. As much as this problem is central to your life, the truth is this issue does not affect very many people. Your doctor should be responsible for advising you of possible problems, and if they are not doing it then maybe a grassroots effort could help. More government labeling will only throw money at the wrong solutions.

Jack, thanks for going on and on...It's a crazy issue and crazy world, where the government has to tell you what you should or should not do.

Re: Wine Labeling Law

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:21:25 -0000

Benjamin, we'll have to agree to disagree. I am familiar with the coffee case, infact I've read what you sent and I still feel like the whole lawsuit was more of a joke than anything. What I heard from a lawyer friend of mine was that the lady who was burned did not sue the company, but rather the children did. Supposedly she argued for not suing, as she admitted that the dumb idea of opening it between her legs was her idea, not McDonalds. Yes they made their coffee too hot, but no one can blame someone for opening and then spilling the coffee on themselves on the people who sold them the coffee. Not sure this is true, but I wouldn't say it's not possible, and it makes me smile to hope it is.

As to the under regulation that you speak of in the food safety world, I can tell you that this is not an issue. I've taken food safety courses as part of the running of a kitchen, and the rules there make the coffee thing look sane. Yes the majority have been put in place for good reason, but over time these rules seem to be extending to some really silly over protections. Currently we are one of, if not the only country, to not allow raw milk cheese for sale. Seems odd that at least here in Europe we enjoy this precious treat daily and seem to be in good shape. Also Jamon Iberico one of if not the greatest cured meat from Spain has just now been granted the right to be sold in the US after the FDA came over and "approved" one facility. We love this stuff, and we don't have deaths, or illness hitting the populations everyday, and they have been eating here for much longer than the FDA has been around.

I want to make one more point though away from food, but to the "responsibility" issue. I remember once being in Brazil with some friends, mixed group of Americans, Brazilians and Austrailians. We were at an outdoor sidewalk cafe when we noticed a person sit down in a chair nearby. As they began to put their whole weight on it the chair suddenly collapsed, sending the person to the ground. Almost in unison, the American's in the group shouted, "Lawsuit", too which the rest of the group gave a smirk. Turning back we asked them what they were thinking, one person explained, "We're confused why you shouted lawsuit, you're joking right?" We then explained that most likely in the States the person could sue the restaurant, or chairmaker for faulty equipment or maybe endangerment of some sort. This was given another smirk to which they replied, "don't you have accidents?"

It made me think. I love the fact we do have laws that helped to wipe out the food horror stories that are retold in books like "<a href="The " target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Uncensored-Original-Upton-Sinclair/dp/1884365302/sr=8-1/qid=1170192038/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7998544-1144744?ie=UTF8&s=books">The Jungle". But even the most well intentioned ideas sometimes go too far, leaving us with more laws than reason.

Re: Wine Labeling Law

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:21:25 -0000

Re: Wine Labeling Law

ryan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 14:21:25 -0000

Re: Top Ten Winery Website Mistakes/Annoyances

ryan — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:51:27 -0000

Dan, El Diablo, well maybe...though I do like flash games!

Brad, head on over to WBA and check out the Contribute page to learn more about getting on the map!

Andrew, so true, the avereage consumer is probably suffering too from some off these silly problems, or rather easily fixable!

Thanks for the feedback, ryan

Re: Saturday Night Wine Tasting

ryan — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:21:08 -0000

Hey steve we bought it from: <a href="<a href="http://www.verema-online.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.verema-online.com "><a href="http://www.verema-online.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.verema-online.com which is located here in Terrassa...Send them a note to find out more...THanks, Ryan

Re: Saturday Night Wine Tasting

ryan — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:21:08 -0000

Re: Saturday Night Wine Tasting

ryan — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 05:21:08 -0000

Re: New Forum!

ryan — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:36:01 -0000

Thanks Dan, I hope people like it and I hope that it leads to better networking. Who knows where this crazy ride will go...Cheers, Ryan

Re: They Say It’s My Birthday!

ryan — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:27:17 -0000

Thanks for the thought! I'll do my best to keep the good work up! ;)

ryan

Re: Podcast #23 - Birthday Cava and a New Grill

ryan — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:05:44 -0000

Nopisto, please tell me more. Are you part of them? Do they meet often?

Re: They Say It’s My Birthday!

ryan — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 05:09:19 -0000

Thanks to all for the B-Day wishes. I had a great one and I hope the next year is filled with more wine and good times! Cheers to all, ryan

Re: Spanish Wine, Portuguese Wine - Attention RSS Subscribers to Catavino

ryan — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:24:28 -0000

Wow I'm soooooo Excited to see so many comments. Both from people I have gotten to know, people I hope to know better and people who are very important parts of our lives. Thanks for the thoughts.

Tony- Your welcome here anytime for an Iberian wine or two.

bbennett - Love your notes, keep them coming, and can't wait till the next bottle we share

James - THanks for the tip on the aggregators. I love the Altos de Luzon

Elly - Hey there girl, good to see you embracing technology! ;) Thanks for the comment

Judy - Great to hear and glad you enjoyed Mememto so much!

DR.Debs -You have become a great cheerleader for us and we love having you participate so much in our site!

Dave - Our rooftop is calling you, thanks for reading and we had fun this past weekend!

OW - Welcome and would love to hear more about your recent tasting of Iberian wines

Kurt - Glad to have you on board! YOu should tell us about your rose in our Virtual tasting on the forum

Tim Elliot - Hey can't wait to share some Iberian treats this summer with you!

Andre Ribeirinho - Hey there Neighbor, we should really try to meet up soon and share some mutual interests over geeky converstions

Paul - Glad to have you as a reader, please let us know more about what you are drinking

Sonadora - Love the NORA great wine and great value...hmm time to pick up some albarino

Michelle - Glad to hear your a big fan of Spanish wines, BTW I like the happy faces!

Dan Cochran - No need for an ipod to listen to a podcast. You can listen right on our site!

Kristin - Welcome and we hope you share other Iberian wines you find!

Cornell - Hey there, thanks for all the support, we wouldn't have made it this far without you. As for what to have with dinner? Go tell Sanni I sent you and ask hime what new Iberian wines have come in!

ViVenio - Thanks, we hope to do more Happy Dances as we get a bit more free time! stay tuned

Big Chorizo - Sounds Great! Wish I was there, the food sounds great!

BEN - Always a pleasure to hear from you. Protos! Barajas! Wine does make travel easier! Cheers,

Thanks to all for the comments, and keep them coming! Boy this blogging thing can be fun!

Re: A Second Spanish Wine Tasting Video - Rosé on a Mountain Top!

ryan — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:57:09 -0000

It was beautful down about 100meters, but damn was it cold up on top! Right now we're in the high 70's and sunny!

Re: Tell me about that hell part again? - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

ryan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:01:00 -0000

charles' last several posts were deleted. Too bad, this was shaping up into a real crap fest.

Re: "A Sabbatical?" or "My Anti-Testimony" - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 01:38:00 -0000

Webmaster, thanks for creating this site and sharing your testimony. I've already spents many hours going through the content on this site. While I know I'm being subjected to all types of incredibly biased opinions, many points have been raised that I have never heard before. They have really helped encourage me to continue on the path I have chosen.

For 20 years I was raised as a non-denominational Christian and believed everything fervently. However, I'm a computer programmer and have a mind that requires all data to be (or appear to be) sound and accurate. I sought to answer my questions about Christianity, but searching for answers and studying the Bible kept leading to more questions than answers. Eventually I realized that I was purely the result of programming from my religious mother, churches, and religious school. I prayed and begged God to speak to me, show me anything, do anything to me, destroy my life, anything to indicate he was really there. I told him he was really close to losing me. Maybe it's wrong to ask and expect my loving heavenly father to give the smallest indication that he actually exists. He didn't give one, so I gave up.

I expected my life to go into shambles. Just the opposite happened. I was always told that there was great freedom in Christianity, and non-Christians are slaves to sin. But when I committed to de-converting, I felt more free than I had ever felt before. I no longer feel the need to judge normal people simply because they don't think like me. And I feel no pressure to push my beliefs on others who are already good people. Also, I still consider myself a very good person. I'm nicer and more considerate than most people I know, thanks to my upbringing. Christianity at least has some merits in that regard. But religion is not necessary for morality.

My concern is what to do now. I've been so thoroughly fooled and disillusioned, that I now believe it is impossible to know completely what is absolutely true, therefore I claim Agnosticism. Christianity brought meaning and purpose to my life, but now it seems more prudent to simply live in the moment (with an eye to the foreseeable future of course). How have others coped with filling this sense of meaninglessnesss? It seems most professing non-Christians here have somewhat negative attitudes, and that bothers me a bit. Does anyone have positive suggestions as to how one might find feelings of meaning or fulfillment in a life of which the sole purpose does NOT seem to be scoring points for an afterlife?

PS. While I was still struggling with my de-conversion, I wrote a short bit about my understanding of Christianity which I find quite entertaining. I encourage Christians and non-Christians alike to check it out.

Re: Easter Facts, Quotes and a Quiz For You! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:15:00 -0000

Father Dan

Permit me to add to your great post.

matthew has peter denying xrist 3 times before the cock crowed.

mark says before the cock crowed twice, there would be 3 denials.

luke agrees with matthew.

john has 2 denials before the crow.

Slight but amusing differences.

Re: Some Tough Questions For Christians - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 11:15:00 -0000

I took a special interest in what "anonymous" had written (there seems to be more than one; I refer to a7/23, 9:02)

Anonymous, do not tell us that we cannot question the diety. If a deity, or deities, exist, it is nonsense that they should be offended by those of us who exercise the wits that they gave us to begin with. Perhaps you are suggesting that these deities are so weak and petty that they cannot bear questions.

Anyway, you have missed the point. If the deity exists--which I doubt--I would not question it. I do question those who presume to speak in its name. This is my birthright as a sentient being. And "those" refers to "those" who wrote the bible.

So far as eternal punishment goes, that was dreamed up by sick minds. I do not deserve such punishment. I deserve to be free and to live my life as I choose, in so far as choice is possible.

And anonymous, Pascal's wager is very bad form. It is based on fear.

Re: Dominio Dostares, 2006 Tombú

ryan — Sat, 05 May 2007 14:21:36 -0000

Thanks Sobre Vino, two mistakes that I didn't edit out...Fortunately Bierzo is the border of Galicia, so we're at least in the right ball park! Thanks for the URL correction...

Re: Story Map

ryan — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:07:05 -0000

Your welcome and I hope people use it and learn from it....

Re: Chapter 1: The Spanish Wine Scene

ryan — Mon, 14 May 2007 03:12:54 -0000

Good job and glad to see your getting through the book and dare I say learning something along the way! You CAN DO IT!

Re: Podcast #29 - Spanish Wine, Food, and Travel Writer Gerry Dawes (pt1)

ryan — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:02:06 -0000

Thanks Richard...It's fixed now!

Re: 2000 Abadia Retuerta Vino de la Tierra Castilla y León Pago Abades

ryan — Thu, 17 May 2007 16:02:37 -0000

Drink up! Nice wine but it really does not need any more time. When you get done, let me know what you think! Cheers, Ryan

Re: Iberian Wines News From Around the Web

ryan — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:15:13 -0000

No problem, always next time, or maybe I'll even ask for some winebar guidance when I'm in London next. Otherwise, as far as the photos go, I usually end up with too many photos of one thing and forget the shot of the person I'm interviewing. You never know, though my photos folder on my laptop is overflowing with crappy pics I just can't seem to delete!

Re: Anatomy of a 100 point wine

ryan — Thu, 24 May 2007 03:22:27 -0000

Very true Richard, but I really want to make it clear, this is a 100pt wine independent of "situation". It is a perfect essay. This wine does all that it is supposed to do and is perfect for it's category.

Wine's should be reviewed in their own peer groups and this wine is a 100pt Moscatel young wine. Situation does nothing to change that.

A wine need not be powerful to gain 100pts. To be able to judge anything there has to be a goal or idea of perfection. In my opinion this means that all wines deserve to have a benchmark that is the best they can be.

Re: Community Tasting Notes and The Wineries Who Need them?

ryan — Sun, 27 May 2007 10:23:15 -0000

Joel I like your points, as to your questions, I don't think it would take the fun out of it per se. I do think that for community to build, there needs to be more individual contact among people.

Andrew - I totally agree right now these sites are for geeks. The average customer at my store back in the states would always say, "Wow, great idea" then leave the store drink the wine and try to let me know what it was the next time they came back in.

Debs- You seem to be doing what people need to be doing to make this system work. I haven't really done the checking that you do. But I'm pretty sure I would if I still had my old shop or was an above average wine drinker. I do wish CT was a bit more community like. I would love to be able to get to know some of the raters there. Also I would love a profile page to let people know who I am, and to allow me to explore some of the more prolific note takers.

Re: Community Tasting Notes and The Wineries Who Need them?

ryan — Sun, 27 May 2007 10:39:52 -0000

Thanks for clarifying Alder! I agree it's going to be awhile for it too catch on. But do you think wineries should start being proactive in these communities? Should they care about what is being said?

Re: Iberian Wines News From Around the Web

ryan — Sun, 27 May 2007 23:54:36 -0000

I agree andrew, I know he is hoping that this will have a more international flair, but I can barely keep up with the other events out there. Like your combinations and have wanted to participate for awhile now. Once gabriella is home full time I think we might have more of a chance of doing it!

Re: Community Tasting Notes and The Wineries Who Need them?

ryan — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:00:30 -0000

El Jefe it's good to see you being so active. I think your the exception, and sadly not the rule. I had a client of mine's wines appear in the infamous eRobertParker Forums. When I mentioned it, they panicked and begin crafting a response, eventually no response was the result. The sad thing is all they needed to say was, hey thanks for trying our wines.

Alder I didn't mean for Wineries to adjust/twist the message, but rather I wonder if more wineries shouldn't be proactive like ElJefe is being. Knowing where they are exposed on the web, and joining conversations when they have the chance or time.

Thanks for an interesting discussion so far...

Re: Iberian Wines News From Around the Web

ryan — Wed, 30 May 2007 05:46:42 -0000

Well it sounds like we should join in then. Unfortunatly I will be out of town, but hopefully Gabriella can post something interesting on Parellada or Xarel.lo...Maybe Granacha? We'll see what happens, and maybe we'll try to do it in Spanish as well, as we begin to move towards a new project..secrets, secrets...

Re: June’s Virtual Wine Tasting: DO Bierzo

ryan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:42:14 -0000

Great theme. I think the only grape I’ve tried is Malvasia, so this will be great fun and a great learning experience, too. Thanks for the map and all the additional information.

Well I'm pretty sure you've had Granacha tintorrera, Also known as Alicante Bouschet, it is the base for so many California jug wines. Hearty Burgundy, Rosso, and many more! Dark skinned grape that adds color to many california reds where they are only required to have between 75-85% of the primary grape to call it a "monovarietal". Thus your inky cabernets, often find a bit in them. Just don't tell anyone! ;)

Re: Notas Basalmicos? It’s not what you think…

ryan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:17:27 -0000

Not sure Richard, but I've been told this time and time again. I don't think it's limited to food and wine either though I really don't talk about much else! ;) I'll see if I can find someone to answer that for you...

Re: Notas Basalmicos? It’s not what you think…

ryan — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 03:38:50 -0000

Ok so now for the BIG annoucement. CATAROCKS.Com is coming to a place near you... We'll host blind tasting of the worlds most famous minerals. Topics to look for in the future:

*How to deal with calluses on the tongue!

*Learn to lick, and to tell agate from slate.

*When not to lick!

*Dining with Stone

We look forward to helping you in the near future!

Re: Rooftop Virtual Tasting - Mencia from the Spanish Wine Region of Bierzo!

ryan — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 13:31:57 -0000

Thanks for the poems...I might need to start a special section for Verse Style Tasting Notes...Ideas, Ideas, Ideas....

Re: Tapas at El Xampanyet

ryan — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:18:53 -0000

Jennifer, send us some recommendations, or maybe one night we can all head out and explore them together! Nothing like strolling for tapas!

Re: 2003 Fino en Rama - Bodegas Alvear

ryan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:47:17 -0000

Ok, start with this link: <a href="<a href="http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-101-basics-of-this-noble-wine/

http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-101-basics-...
/>
"><a href="http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-10...

and then this one: <a href="<a href="http://catavino.net/2006/09/02/iberian-wine-myth-busters-pedro-ximenz/

http://catavino.net/2006/09/02/iberian-wine-myth-.../>

"><a href="http://catavino.net/2006/09/02/iberian-w...

both can be found in the Iberian Wine Toolbox, just below here....Then ask away if you still have questions!

Re: 2003 Fino en Rama - Bodegas Alvear

ryan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:47:17 -0000

Re: 2003 Fino en Rama - Bodegas Alvear

ryan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:47:17 -0000

Re: 2003 Fino en Rama - Bodegas Alvear

ryan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:17:57 -0000

Pedro Ximenez is a Grape, sometimes used in sherry production. But often in many other regions as well.

Sherry wine are wines made in the DO of Jerez, like Champange is only sparkling wine from Champange, France. Cava is Sparkling wine from Spain.

All sherry is made using a system called the Solera system. This system of wine making, is used in many other regions as well, one of which is DO Montilla Moriles - where the Alvear wine is from. Just because you use this system has no bearing on what you call your wine.

Is that a little more clear? EIther way try the wine when you have a chance, great stuff!

Re: Twitter/Jaiku - Does the wine world need them?

ryan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:52:23 -0000

Thanks I was waiting for that! DONE: <a href="http://jaiku.com/channel/Wine ">http://jaiku.com/channel/Wine Please everyone join in and jaiku away about wine! I'll be adding a badge to Catavino soon, replacing my twitter badge at the bottom.

Re: Twitter/Jaiku - Does the wine world need them?

ryan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:52:23 -0000

Re: Twitter/Jaiku - Does the wine world need them?

ryan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:52:23 -0000

Re: Participate in a Wine Tasting

ryan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:58:37 -0000

Thanks guys, we feel pretty lucky to be trying this, and support like you've shared with us, has made it much more fun!

Re: We had five grapes before there were grapes! What’s the Point?

ryan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:07:51 -0000

DRDebs, on my scale a 2 dollar sweet sparkling wine can get 5 stars, becasue it fits it's style perfectly. It's exactly what that wine should be. My scale would not work if you didn't give 5 stars to perfect wines, that are of all ranges and styles. "Special, unique in its perfection. Pushes the boundaries, in a good way, of what this style of wine can be. Depending on style, high ability to age" I never say it needs to be expensive, age a long time, or needs to fit any other categories. Only that it needs to be perfect for it's style. I've had many wines like this.

To the 1pt rating problem, Yours may not be corked but if we use this, then over time when a bad batch of corks or oxidized wine hits the market, we can see it in the ratings. Sometimes flawed wine in one bottle is indicative of a problem in a whole tank/barrel/or shipment. There needs to be a way to note this. If we keep 1pt wines for flawed bottles we can then possibly see trends. They need to be acknowledged and not ignored, since a head in the sand doesn't make the problem go away.

As to falling victim to the same problems as wine rags, I have to say, it's the attitude, and the way you use it that will be the main difference. As I say don't emphasize the points, use them as the final punctuation on your tasting note sentence. 1/2 points are not evil, just nuance! ;)

Re: We had five grapes before there were grapes! What’s the Point?

ryan — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 04:31:12 -0000

Debs, I disagree with the no return policy on oxidized wine. That can be the fault of the wine shop, importer, and winery...it could also be your own fault, but I hope you would notice that you did something wrong and have enough sense not to return the wine.

On the other hand we need "1" to average out in the score, because if one or two bottles are corked a "1" won't hurt the average that much, but if there is a trend towards bad bottles from this producer, vintage or bottling, then that wine becomes a "risky" wine to buy. I would hope that a wine who used a bad batch of corks, was given too much sulfites, a brett infection, reduction problems, or showed oxidizedation on a large scale(all faults that deserve a 1 score)would see it's overall score drop.

Going back to my car analogy, if you know a type of car has had a bad reputation with brakes, with one in 3 cars needing new brakes just after purchase, that would be a flaw that should show in the "ratings". Now if one new car of this type had a bad set of breaks, but it was not a regular thing with this model...well the law of averages would smooth out that one bump.

I took back as a merchant MANY bottles of 1996, Burgundy, and my distributor, who was working with the importer and winery, gave me money back. YOU SHOULD return wine that is has a large scale problem, or is heat damaged or oxidized badly, if you just bought it. These are flaws, abuse or otherwise. Wine makers and their wines need to be held accountable if they choose not to take precautions to make sure the wine arrives in good shape to the consumers.

Re: Twitter/Jaiku - Does the wine world need them?

ryan — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:14:42 -0000

Oh well, I'm not sure what's happening with your account, I get everything on one page, including stuff people post in twitter...once again though I'm not sure if they are worth it either.

Maybe in certain situations, or when your group of friends reaches a certain critical mass...Oh well, I"ll still follow the twittering you do...

Re: Tim Elliot of Winecast on the Catavino Roof!

ryan — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:55:50 -0000

Steve we never leave it! Your free to join us whenever. All you need is a cheap ticket from London to BCN! I promise to have the sherry cold and the Jamon Iberico at room temperature!

Re: Sherry Questions - Answers - Ideas

ryan — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:02:36 -0000

Sherry lasts depending on what type it is. A Manzanilla is not going to last very long for two reasons, one it is delicate and it loses it's primary flavors quickly once oxygen touches the wine, nad two because I can't stop drinking it! ;)

A old PX on the other hand if refrigerated can last for a long time, up to a month, though I do find that it's best aromas are lost in the first week or so.

Sherry of the fino and manzanilla varieties begin to go down hill the minute the wine is bottled. These should not be consumed after 6-8months in bottle. The qualities that make them so ethereal are the ones that make drinking them right after bottling so wonderful!

As far as telling how old a bottle is, well, with Osborne and Gonzalez Byass, you can tell by this code on the back. You'll see a Letter followed by 5 numbers, for example this: L08707

In the example above the wine was bottled on the 87th day of the year 2007 or the end of March 2007.

Other producers have other codes, so I'm not guaranteeing this works for all of them. I'll see if Lustau has a special code that they will share...more soon

Re: Do what you like - I don’t really care!

ryan — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:59:44 -0000

Good question. I might be in favor of this, I do add it to some wines, but am not consistent. I think that the Social TN sites should consider it though...

Re: Do what you like - I don’t really care!

ryan — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:36:15 -0000

I'm not saying he is dumb, just that the comment is. He's saying that low alcohol is preferable. For me low alcohol is prefereable too, but I don't want to tell winemakers that they need to make low alcohol wines. Tastes change, morph and evolve, to say that winemakers need to start making lower alcohol wines when people enjoy what they are making seems silly. If you don't, as I don't,enjoy the big monster red wines, great! Then don't buy them. This is the exact quote that I think is dumb: "It may not be bad. But it's not good." saying that wines that are high alcohol, even if you like, them are BAD? What does that mean. Sherry, a light aperitif, consumed before the meal, white and usually between 15-18% alcohol is, according to this statement, "not good". Sorry that is a silly statement at the very least.

Also Monastrell from Alicante is regularly over 15% and is often quite balanced, if he gives an exception for Zinfandel, then he should give an exemption for other wines too.

Re: Do what you like - I don’t really care!

ryan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 02:23:47 -0000

Yeah I guess I don't want to tell them to change, because their wines are not enjoyable to me. In this world there a thousands, if not hundred of thousands of wines to enjoy, and a few over alcohol wines isn't going to hurt my enjoyment of wine in general.

Re: Do what you like - I don’t really care!

ryan — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 05:13:22 -0000

Tim the reason I bring up Sherry a fortified wine, is to show that alcohol levels have nothing to do with not paring well with food. Sherry is a Great food wine, and it has high alcohol. If the wine fits with the fare, it really doesn't matter the alcohol level. Also for those that like low alcohol reds, head to Portugal, while many can be big, I tasted so many INCREDIBLE wines that were around 12.5%....HOW SCHMOLEY!

Re: Top Ten Winery Website Mistakes/Annoyances

ryan — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 09:53:58 -0000

Wine Lover...I'm confused did you read my article? I never said anything about video. I use Youtube in fact on this site and it's FLASH based player. Oh and slow internet connections don't really make Flash any slower in the end, at least in the 21st century they don't.

And as far as removing you from the "boring flat page concepts" well AJAX seems to have fixed that and creative CSS...All I'm talking about above is the need to communicate...and Flash intro and funny graphics do not do this very well.

Re: Grape Profile - Touriga Nacional

ryan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:32:01 -0000

Some of each! Really depends on how you make it. I personally think that grill meats are a great pairing for these wines. Especially herb marinated meats...can you say fat lamb chops on the grill? I still have dreams of those we had in France

Re: Grape Profile - Touriga Nacional

ryan — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:17:04 -0000

Actually the Twin Cities has a fabulous selelction. You need to go to Solovino in St.Paul to find a HUGE selection of Portuguese wines. Really worth the long trip(just avoid the bridges)

Re: Me and My Love/Hate Relationship with Cork

ryan — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:15:40 -0000

el jefe, wait till you see the video!

Re: Iberian Wine News for the First Week of August 2007

ryan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:34:44 -0000

Sounds great and we wish your project much luck...please let us know how we can help you in any way with info on the wines of Spain and Portugal! We'd love to share our knowledge!

Re: Lancers and Mateus - Representing a Nation of Wine

ryan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:11:43 -0000

Great stories everyone, Thanks Andrew for the vaseline lens... Oh and dad, $4 is still big money to spend on a wine! ;) or wait I remember your up to $5?

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:17:49 -0000

Thanks Richard for the new def...If we get more than 5 proposals we'll vote on the one everyone likes and the winner will get a shirt!

Tom-Good point, should say "Struggle to post daily!" ;)

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 08:19:18 -0000

I responded to Jay's comment by email and we ended up with a nice back and forth, that I ask him if I could republish. Below is the exchange...let me know what you think...

Great to hear Jay! I'm happy to hear wineries are listening, but do you think that people new to wine make up a big part of your listeners, or are they mainly already wine converts?

-Ryan

--------

Now that is a question! I am convinced the majority are in the former group. Take a look at the comments on our site. The majority make a reference that they are just starting their wine journey. BTW, this touches on a point that I think many seem to miss. Just because a person is new to wine, it does not mean they are not interested in wine geeky stuff. The very fact that the person is using a blog/podcast/etc indicates that they may have a geeky streak to them. It you are geeky in one are, you are probably geeky in others.

I did not mention that the reason we have been able to score some celebrity interviews is because there is good word of mouth within the industry. Trust me, they check us out before they get involved. They call their winemaker buddies and ask.

-Jay

-----------

Great point on the geekiness! Maybe the ones we're attracting right now are the tech geeks(or psuedo geeks) who are interested in the world of wine. I just look at my friends and family, all professionals, and they really haven't fullyembraced the Web2.0 ideas, that my friends who lean towards geek have.

I guess this next year or two will be a big coming out of sorts...

-Ryan Opaz

----------

Lack of wine knowledge does not translate to level of interest in (or ability to understand) the world of wine. Here is something else to consider. Magazine and newspaper revenues are down. Even radio is finding it hard to compete. For those that have teenagers, how much time do they spend reading magazines or newspapers? Are they tuned into the radio or are they listening to their iPod? The answer to those questions will tell us where is the power to influence the market located.

-Jay

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:33:22 -0000

Wow thanks everyone for the feed back and comments. I think we'll try to put some of the suggestions together to get the defintion more, well, defined! Then resubmitt it. So far the Facebook group is growing fast and Joel Vincent is looking at an easy way to include a calender in the group page so that we can arrange some meet ups.

Also any wine blogger can now get added to the map at WineBlogAtlas.com just go there and fill out the form that's linked to at the bottom of the page. IN about a month we hope to offer some cool features for all that at listed.

Please let's keep the discussion going. I would really like to see in the next year a voice of "the wine blogger" that could be used to promote all of us in someway.

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:26:40 -0000

Here's the form, sorry about that, it's on the "contribute" page: <a href="http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html ">http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:26:40 -0000

Here's the form, sorry about that, it's on the "contribute" page: <a href="http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html ">http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:26:40 -0000

Here's the form, sorry about that, it's on the "contribute" page: <a href="http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html ">http://www.wineblogatlas.com/form.html

Re: Wine Bloggers Unite? or at least Discuss!

ryan — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:07:24 -0000

Andy thank's for chiming in with your thoughts. A quick question for you, when you were in Spain judging, how did people react to the fact that you are part of the blogging community?

Robert - I hope we're happy, but I see your point. I do hope though that we can all be happy in the end. Blogs are interactive and without this we are really nothing special. It drives me nuts when I see a blogger with comments turned off!

As far as influencing sales, we maybe in a non-directional way. Like you say raising awareness about wine in general. But how does this affect wineries who might want to pay attention to us? Can they really expect that accessing the blogging community is a good marketing strategy?

Another post is on the way...

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:55:16 -0000

feel free to direct people here for a full run down on sherry! <a href="<a href="http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-101-basics-of-this-noble-wine/

http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-101-basics-...
/>
"><a href="http://catavino.net/2005/09/10/sherry-10...

Looking forward to the big annoucement!

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:55:16 -0000

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:55:16 -0000

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:10:44 -0000

Good question, sometimes it could be a flaw, or a lack of air getting to the wine. My opinion is that often you get some slight petrol notes on the higher alcohol and darker sherries. In the past this has morphed into more caramel and burnt sugar aromas...The cause, high alcohol, and deep oxidization....

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:21:36 -0000

Auther it totally could be reduction! You never know, but I've found that at times that very deep rich caramel and burnt sugar smell burns off with time. Could be the reduction burning off! Cheers!

Re: Gary takes on two Sherry’s in his Sherry Episode!

ryan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:39:31 -0000

Jill we're here to help! Anything you need let us know!

Tim Yeah, I really don't think he likes it that much. Also he still has the wines listed in his onsite notes as "spanish sherry" - Changing the wine world by educating people on the wines that interest you, and skimming the ones that don't

as to the announcement...eh! exclusive CA cab, for people who can afford to buy some, and who live near SF or can travel there...eh!!

Re: Pimp My Wine Blog

ryan — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 11:50:39 -0000

I'm with you Deb, not sure about the writing being second or tertiary. For me and others I assume this is not true. But I would say that no matter what we do in life we can always do better. I'm involved in a bunch of photo critique groups, because I hope to get better.

When I was in art school, our professors, many of whom were professional artists in gallery's around the nation, would make us critique their work, just to show us that you never are finished. In the end I think we hope that people might use this to address not only grammar concerns, but article style choices. One for us, is a what makes a compelling, not encyclopedic, grape profile post?

Also this might be a good place to better make Tasting notes more descriptive and useful...I guess we'll see what happens....Cheers,

Re: Catavino gets 60,000 Unique Visitors a Month - Oh, and We have a Bridge for Sale!

ryan — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:57:22 -0000

Jack - This is why I wrote the post...What are your numbers? What is a reason for NOT sharing them? Also do you like stat-counter I left them a while ago. Also left bloglines a year ago, never liked their set up!

Oh and obviously forget Webalizer...it's a joke! But I know people who are still looking at them like they are gold! UGH!

Re: Catavino gets 60,000 Unique Visitors a Month - Oh, and We have a Bridge for Sale!

ryan — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:43:51 -0000

I like using Feedburner. Now that google owns it all the premium services are free! I can track a variety of stats and I also know how people are subscribing.

Re: Salmos - Our Excitement and Our Disappointment

ryan — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:43:23 -0000

Never drank the stuff until I got to Spain. I remember Parents and friends much older than me talking about them. But I never went near the stuff. Other than maybe sticking a candle in the top of an empty bottle I would find...

Re: August Wrap-up of Portuguese Wines

ryan — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:10:05 -0000

Good to hear from you Bill and we are holding you to your notes. Would love to hear what you thought of the wines you tried! Cheers, Ryan

Re: Grape Profile - Baga - The Saliva Sucker

ryan — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:03:36 -0000

Just had the higher end wine from Quinta do Encontro...Much nicer baga and great nose:

<ul type='square'><li>2003 Quinta do Encontro Bairrada Preto Branco - Portugal, Beiras, Bairrada (9/12/2007)

I always complained about people judging a wine by it's color. I used to say things like, "You can't taste red", therefore I now feel silly wishing to describe the nose of this wine as blue. That's right blue. Don't know why, but that's what pops in my mind, the aromas and ideas that follow that are diverse and intriguing. Blueberries, cassia, violets(pure and almost volitile), dusty cinnamon topped with shavings of allspice, then mix this all with the gravel from middle of a country road. WOW. I really want to keep my nose it in and everytime I go back I get reminded of something, this time a whiff of my mothers homemade chokecherry syrup. In the mouth this is a lush and sensual wine. Great acidty that sparkles almost combined with fine silky tannins, that leave your mouth receptive to myriad flavors. Blueberries, chokecherries, bitter chocolate and steely gravel. Just opened, I'm excited to see it evolve. Full of flavors that have yet to show themselves, this is a wine I would gladly buy and even cellar for 4-8 more years, if not longer. 4.5/5</li></ul>

Re: Announcing Wine Blog Wednesday 38 – Portuguese Table Wines with Caveats!

ryan — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:55:20 -0000

Maarten! Table wines, in this sense mean "non-dessert" wines. Glad to have you join in the fun!

Re: Marketing in a Web 2.0 world and the power of Google

ryan — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:53:28 -0000

Lena, yes the Enchufe, is a powerful idea that can lead to many strange situations. It's amazing how an enchufe, can have more power than credentials.

The hardest part as in this case, is when you ask a question about who they are and they still don't say.

Re: Catavino Makes a Quick Jaunt to Southeastern Spain’s Wine Country

ryan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 07:41:44 -0000

None of the above....other guesses?

Re: Catavino Makes a Quick Jaunt to Southeastern Spain’s Wine Country

ryan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:51:48 -0000

Jill maybe you just need to call it Alicante Bouschet? Same grape but better known. Look for more info on it in the coming days...Cheers, r

Re: Wine Blogging question - Do you have to charge to be considered “professional”?

ryan — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 03:08:56 -0000

I understand money is tied to "professional". And while influence and power are other discussions, I do feel that many people feel "professionals" are the only one's worth taking serious.

That said, I think professional, correctly or not, is also tied to professionalism. Being professional in your writing, and behavior is a very important matter for any serious amateur. Therefore a non-paid blogger, who acts professionally, is a professional amateur? Wow there's a circle!

Maybe wine professional, if only tied to money, is a useless term now a days. Should amateur bloggers, ask for a change in the terminology or simply create their own.

BTW Steve DO contact Penin, while I don't personally like his review style, he does taste a ton of wines, and here in Spain has far more influence than Parker.

Re: WBW #38 - Portuguese Table Wines Wrap-Up!!!

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:07:32 -0000

Thanks everyone! Most of the credit goes to Gabriella for picking out the addresses from obscure and confusing flash websites! Hope people can use the map to learn more! Cheers to all

Re: We’re Sherry Educators

ryan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:02:18 -0000

In truth i asked all 23 or so individuals about their preferences to sherry before we started, and all said they liked it. No surprise, the DO probably planned this, but I did find that as time went on more and more people started to fall in love with it. REALLY fall in love with it.

One thing I just thought of is that I wonder if people don't put sherry in a category with real wine. In fact I assumed this, but the one thing they stressed is that sherry is a WINE, not a "special" wine, doomed to short bus status for eternity. It should be drunk with meals, and it's alcohol levels are not that outlandish when compared with other wines found in today's markets.

Finally, what is the next article you want us to write on sherry? We have other stuff to jab on about, but I want to know, for real. What is the next article on sherry going to be titled. A challenge, please give us your ideas. The best title(s) will have articles written on the titles subject...Who's first?

Re: We’re Sherry Educators

ryan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:03:04 -0000

Great to hear Debs! Glad you found a way to enjoy!

Richard, great Title's, now to think about what we want to use...hmmm...research needs to be done...

Re: The Fear of Sherry

ryan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:34:00 -0000

Some wineries have moved the the bottled on model but not in all markets. Tio Pepe here is now labeled with a bottled on date, but I would love to hear if it's made it to the states. Lustau does a similar code to the others: L6345 would be bottled on 2006, on the 345 day...so Since they are one of the biggest producers to export to the US, it's good to know this.

Re: Wine Blogging question - Do you have to charge to be considered “professional”?

ryan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:40:20 -0000

One final question - Since most agree that making a living off one's writing/reviews would qualify you as a Professional. Then what is a person who charges for their writing but does not make a living off of it?

Either way this was a good discussion and I appreciate all the answers and subsequent articles...

Re: How do we rate wine?

ryan — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:15:11 -0000

Thanks Bill for the comment. I'm glad to see I had some effect on at least one person! ;-)

You've hit the nail on the head as to my philosophy that conversation and relationships are the most important part of wine. Maybe the reason we still have a "non-wine-culture" is because people still think they need to "understand" wine to enjoy it. While this can add to an experience, it's not the whole experience.

I look forward to many more bottles shared in the near future!

Re: We’re Sherry Educators

ryan — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 04:44:49 -0000

Frank, it's a once a year event. One class in English and One in Spanish

Re: Wine Gadget Meme - We’ll go first

ryan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:26:59 -0000

this is fun, I hope some enterprising young/chemist/winegeek tries to make some of these a reality!

Re: We’re Sherry Educators

ryan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:33:24 -0000

Two points Mark, "good sherry like good wine improves a dish when used in cooking" Sherry is Wine. This is a point the DO stressed during the whole seminar. Sherry is a wine like any other.

Also Madeira is a wine that really doesn't age. It lasts a long time, but from what I've read an the people I've talked to it doesn't really change once it's in bottle. You can have a 200 year old bottle that tastes the same as the day it was put in bottle. Truely amazing stuff!

Thanks for the comment!

Cheers,

Re: Iberian Links around the Web

ryan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:44:17 -0000

Gabriella always write stories about couples and forget the womens name...I wonder what this means?

Re: Bloggerview #9 @ Fermentation

ryan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:08:01 -0000

Hey there John, thanks for the comment. I have not been to the Ecole de Montpelier, but I will say that Catalunya is full of wineries who are trying to explore more grape varieties. Albet i Noya and Torres, both have a ton of plantings of "lost" varietals. Both are also in the biz of offering help to farmers who want to reinstate vareitals that are not as well known.

As far as terroir sensitive agriculture it's rampant here. Micro climates are the new buzzword and people are starting to slowly realize that the word "different" is a good thing.

Thanks for joining us at Catavino and we hope to hear from you more!

Re: Iberian Links around the Web

ryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 04:10:27 -0000

Andrew, once they implement the RSS for groups, I say get in on it! There are some great conversations being had, and some very interesting ideas. The main barrier right now is the lack of RSS so that I can follow a groups discussions on a regular basis. This though is said to be changing soon. Oh and I've also connected with a lot of wine people I wouldn't have otherwise because of this.

As to the sherry seminar, maybe I can recommend you next year? If your really interested.

Re: November is Dedicated to Port Wine

ryan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:56:47 -0000

Troy, thanks for making me a teenager again! White port is a marvelous aperitif and one of our favorite ways to start a meal. Taylor's Chip Dry is a fav, but we like many of them. Make sure to revisit these, you may be missing out!

As to Ruby's, there are good one's but the best value by far in my opinion is the LBV's, vintage port with a bit friendly time frame for drinking them.

Cheers,

Ryan

Re: November is Dedicated to Port Wine

ryan — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:50:55 -0000

Troy - The best white ports are pretty darn dry! Infact the Lagrima's which are the sweet white ports from what I understand are their own category. Dry white port is like fine sherry, pair it with olives, sardines and enjoy!

Re: November is Dedicated to Port Wine

ryan — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:56:12 -0000

Well I think good white port can be next to heaven. Not in the same world as Red and yes we are all allowed to have our own opinions. Therefore my opinion is that White Port is a Nectar from the Gods! Especially as an apertif...as to the song, I've sold a lot of what they are talking about(cheap cali knockoffs) and I will tell you it's a shame they still do it. Nothing in common with the good stuff.

Cheers and now to head to the wine shop!

Re: Iberian Wine Tidbits

ryan — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:57:49 -0000

I think there should be a contest for best looking Iberian wine writing couple. I love a contest with the odds stacked in our favor!

Re: Iberian Wine Tidbits

ryan — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:31:51 -0000

Thanks Jeff for the complement, I'm trying to get better every day...Hope someone enjoys them!

Re: Wanted: Ruby Port Wine

ryan — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 03:45:49 -0000

Deb I used to enjoy Warrior quite a bit along with Grahams 6 Grapes. Both nice Ruby's with extra character. I really need to get some of that cheese though. It wounds wonderful!

Re: Housekeeping and New Toys!

ryan — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:46:49 -0000

Ok the newsletter sign up is live, I forgot to put it up in my foggy state of mind. Look right below the domaine547 ad in the sidebar on the front page!

Second the book is hopefully something we get enough interest in to make it possible to send some to all of you. It is in English, though if anyone wants it in Spanish we can get it in Spanish too.

Re: Port Wine and Chocolate

ryan — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:11:42 -0000

Thanks debs for the idea! Also I agree with both of you Brachetto is great for chocolate. Though I'm sad we didn't get more ideas from our readers! Oh well, now we're thinking of what will be good with Cava...

Re: Freixenet - Money Wasted or Money Well Spent?

ryan — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:44:35 -0000

Then again we're talking about it! That shows something. Is anyone seeing this anywhere outside of the net? Is it showing up on the web in non-conventional places? Hmmmm

Re: What’s that “Customer Service” Thing you Speak of?

ryan — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:00:10 -0000

Miguel you seem to be missing the point. We have no problem with the answer "no, we are not interested" this is not an issue. We get this a lot and do not care if you don't want to talk to us. What we don't understand is ignoring someone. We are a customer. We buy wine everyday, by you not even taking the time to say "sorry we are not interested" you are in effect saying that we are not important to you, as a possible press contact or as a wine buying customer.

"By the way, I’m afraid that speaking about all Spain according to a single anecdote is not too brilliant. Do you think you can go all over world calling to wine companies saying, “hey I’ve got a website, show me your winery”"

Actually we do go all over Spain asking to talk with them, it's what we do for a living, and when someone does talk to us, they get free press. Having done this for 3 years now, it is a problem that I'm sure other countries share, but in Spain, it seems to be exaggerated.

In the end, companies that are polite (this one was not) and who take the time to answer requests instead of ignoring them, no matter what their answer may be, are companies that will have better results.

One thing we do have after doing this for 3 years is TONS of humility, but sometimes, the company needs to be called out.

A return question, when is it okay, in your mind, to complain about customer service?

Re: It’s Done, Finished, Set to Go and Ready for Download! Catavino’s 1st Newletter!

ryan — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:12:37 -0000

Now it works, sorry about that! My fault!

Re: Wines From Spain - News from the past TODAY!

ryan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:26:51 -0000

Boyce you are correct Cesar is doing a great job and we're proud to have had the chance to take his Sherry Seminar and spend some time with him. Thanks to people like him, Spanish wine is growing in importance.

Looks like you had a fun tasting! Cheers,

Re: Wine Blogging in 2007, How Far have We Come?

ryan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 02:58:22 -0000

@Joel we should still have that chat by skype or phone sometime soon. I would love to collaborate on some ideas that might help us both. Kudos to the new design, I love the new layout on WLT and I hope it works to draw more attention to our cause.

Cheers,

Re: Brut vs Brut Nature, where ignorance is the only winner

ryan — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:54:45 -0000

I've had the Gran Reserva de la Finca, and I think it might be nice with some Oysters or such. But to be clear, Brut Nature has No Sugar added but will at times have up to 2grms naturally occuring sugars. Extra brut sometimes mistaken for Brut Nature can have up to 6grams and Brut up to 15grams.

The main point though that I wanted to make was this, Drier is not better! Just different. I did like both the top end Gran Reservas, but in the end by itself I'll take the standard one and "...de la finca" with some food!

Cheers,

Re: Link Bait or Ignorance? A Reporter Gets Spanish Wine Wrong

ryan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:21:09 -0000

Joe, thanks for the comments. One thing though Constellation does not make "bad" wines. The wine in question is a very good wine but not one that I would hold up as the pinnacle of Spanish wine terrior. I'm in the business, and have been for a while and I do not concur on this point.

Actually the 3 bodegas that you all mention have with much effort moved from old techiniques to new ones. THey are all wineries that have made the change, but there are many, many more who are already making new exciting wineries through out Spain, starting modern and staying that way.

As to vines, we do still have too many and many of the old ones(producing crappy grapes) do need to go! Not all vines produce good grapes the older they get.

Thanks for commenting!

Re: Sameness in Wine - Quit Whining and Start Exploring

ryan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:28:34 -0000

You made my point. Wines that taste similar should be punished. The funny part is that I agree about the press driving sales, not by points unless you follow parker, but just by talking about wine. Therefore this article is written for the segment of the press that I see whining. If you are the mainstream press or a blog, quit whining and start talking about the wines that are different. Whining does no good, be proactive go find those wines that are different and let us know about them.

By the way you forgot to mention this blog, or Vinography, Dr.Vino, and many more. See: <a href="http://www.wineblogger.info ">www.wineblogger.info for more. In the end the more opinions we have the better, but to say that whining is going to solve something I think fails to see the power of positive thought...

Cheers, BTW I'm adding you to the list....ryan

Re: Sameness in Wine - Quit Whining and Start Exploring

ryan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:28:34 -0000

Re: Sameness in Wine - Quit Whining and Start Exploring

ryan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 02:28:34 -0000

Re: Link Bait or Ignorance? A Reporter Gets Spanish Wine Wrong

ryan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:14:35 -0000

Red guitar, Hogue, Escudo Rojo, Ravenswood, Kim Crawford and others not bad, maybe boring for you but in reality they fill a niche very well. I sold wine in the states for many years and I'll say the that while a Parker score could sell out a stack of wine quick it never made me the money or got as many people as internested in wine as the solid stack of quality middle of the road wine did!

Without COnstellation brands and other like them there would be a very small market, and it would be an elistist one(more than it already is). They helped convert a lot of people I know to wine that didn't drink it before, I'm glad I moved on but they aren't goinig to destroy the little guys like so many predict.

BTW, I could give you a list of wineries here in Spain that use new oak, micro-ox and other techniques you might shun and I think you might be surprised with the names on it. Oh and the ones that are lauded as the old gaurd with "classic Wines" that use mechanical harvesters, that list is long!! But I ty to not gossip, it's their image and I just like hearing people say "They would never use....x...y...or .....Z!" ....

All is not what it seems...the old gaurd often falls victim to the new ways

Re: Happy Holidays to all

ryan — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:52:33 -0000

Troy your wrong, we LOVE lutefisk, fishwith bacon, peas, and potatos with Aquavit and Beer, what could be better! Thanks to all for the good wishes!

Re: Link Bait or Ignorance? A Reporter Gets Spanish Wine Wrong

ryan — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:04:03 -0000

David Joe please we both love wine, civil discussion gets us much farther and lies and falsehoods don't. 3 to point out, then I'm done:

David our "dozens of readers" equaled 10,000 last month! If working in the wine industry 10 yrs with 3 years of it specializing in Spanish wine is "still a beginner" as you say, so be it. Finally I have taken on the "titans" as you say many times in other articles, not only that but I have spoke with, met with and consider some friends such as important Spanish wine minds, like Gerry Dawes, John Radford, and Victor de la Serna...

So David there is still a glass to share if you do make it to BCN any time in the near future. I'm happy to talk, but don't take out your frustration here.

Cheers to both!

BTW I was wrong on the Crianca/Crianza sort of, yes it was on a bottle of Cava where it's meaning has nothing to do with wood aging and the spelling is in Catalan not Spanish. As to the wines you tasted, they need no comment.

Re: Porto.Punto.

ryan — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:19:22 -0000

Tony off the top of my head no. Our trip up there to get to know the region keeps getting postponed though we do have it on the list. What I will do is ask around for you though and see what I can come up with. Visiting wineries will be hard up there unless your in the biz. Martin Codax, I know does some tourism stuff, though as far as smaller and more intimate stuff I'll need to search my minds archives.

Thanks for checking us out and I hope to hear more about your trip when you do take it. Where are you headed other than Galicia?

Cheers, Ryan

Re: Letter XI - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:57:00 -0000

oh no no no, god really is just. Look at the story of onan (genesis 38) who was struck dead by god because he wouldn't fuck his sister-in-law. Now there's justice for you. You have it all wrong--you're letting a little rape and plunder get in the way of the big picture. You have to understand the midianites within the context of onan.

Sound familiar?

Re: Tenets of your unbelief - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:28:00 -0000

I wish to respond to anonymous at April 16.

Anonymous, my contempt for you and your statements go beyond the limits of human imagination. I have never heard a defense of xristianity. I have heard preaching; I have heard mindless raving; I have heard racial and national bigotry; I have heard childish nonsense; I have heard sentimental weeping and hand-wringing, but I have yet to hear a defense of xristianity.

I have been in the presence of learned men and women; I have heard speakers who read Aquinas in Latin; I have heard speakers who could quote Suarez in seven languanges; I have heard speakers who could recite hundreds of pages of Paradise Lost by memory; I have heared speakers whose IQ's went off the fucking gauge, and I have never heard a defense of xristianity.

Because there is none.

You advise us to test what the bible says. Do you think we need this advise?

And then you assert that we are not forced to believe in anything. That is fer damn sure.

And speaking of testing..........why don't you test what you just said about god making up his mind about me? If your god exists--which I fucking doubt--he aint made up his mind about nothing. If he created me--a notion I laid aside with my sugar creek gang stories--then he is pleased with me and watching to see what great things I can do.

And I do not need his son to die for me. Fuck jesus. Let the little bastard bleed. And I do not need his love; I need the love of my wife, my sisters, and my friends, the students and faculty here at St Joe, which by the gods, I have earned.

Now sign off, asshole. Get lost.

Re: Vaginal fluids are sacred too - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:29:00 -0000

stronger now:

I was sickened by your mention of the woman and her childlike faith. I was raised to not think and it took me years of my adult life to learn to do it.

I have just finished reading Terrorist by John Updike. It is about this very devout young muslim named ahmed--ahmed is so devout that you can't help but despise him. He is just too stupid for his own good. His innocence makes him a natural victim and a pawn of political forces beyond his comprehension. This book should be on every freethinker's reading list.

The point is, of course, that if one is not thinking, anything looks good: xristianity; islam; new age; communism; fascism; scientology; witchcraft, you name it.

I have been told by dozens of xristians that I am the one who is not thinking. We have all heard it, but that doesn't work. I have been to both places; I know the terror of those secret questions; of those honest doubts, and I know the sweet relief of reason. Religion means not thinking; atheism means thinking.

martin luther said somewhere that reason in the enemy of faith. Once we learn to reason, faith is swept away like a fart in a typhoon.

Glad to have made your acquaintance. I post here now and then. Hope to see you around.

Re: Vaginal fluids are sacred too - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:39:00 -0000

Steve, I took an interest in what you wrote. As a philosphy major, I take a keen interest in bullshit.

So you think that xristians are thinkers?

How about the profound xristian idea of predestination? My goodness, john calvin must have been a fucking genius, huh? Only a superior mind could have come up with that one.(that notion, of course, starts with paul and goes through augustine and then jansen. shit rolls downhill)

How about the atonement? Only if someone dies in a bloody Roman execution can god pardon the smallest of our sins. jesus, that IS profound!!!!

And now how about original sin? god holds us responsible for what two people did 6000 years ago. Good heavens, the light of intellect is dazzling!!!!

Let me see if I got this straight: because of the taint of sin from our first parents, we must accept the sacrifice of this jew condemned under Roman law, to get a salvation that is predestined. Oh mercy, my poor atheist noggin just can't take it in. Got to hand it to you, steve......you and your xristian brothers can just out-think us heathens anytime.

Okay, now that I've stopped laughing, let me tell you something. I graduated magna cum laude from a tough catholic school, St Joseph's in Rennselaer IN. I majored in philosophy and minored in religion, and steve, it's all bullshit. I have studied the "great" minds of the past and present, and it is bullshit, century after century.

The thing to do--try to follow this--is to simplify; to apprehend reality directly, instead of consulting centuries of bullshit for the answer. No, as an atheist I do not have any grand ideas, nor do I seek any. I am a man whose IQ goes off the fucking gauge,but I have no elaborate interpretations of reality. Existence is not so complex that we need to be philosophers or theologians to understand it. What we see and experience is just there--there is no "meaning" behind it.

steve, do not pose as a thinker. You can't bullshit a bullshitter.

Re: Vaginal fluids are sacred too - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:13:00 -0000

Thanx jim

steve is amusing, but I must admit to being a little miffed about his parting shot, that atheism makes no demands, intellectual or otherwise.

If he ever reads this, he needs to consider what life is like when you get off your knees. You have to learn courage fast; we both know this, and you have to learn to be yourself. And if steve or anyone else thinks this is easy.......try it.

Re: I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 08:39:00 -0000

nvrgoingbk, good morning.

I appreciated what you said about living in fear. None of us wants to admit we are fightened--least of all me--but it is important that we do so. We need to open up and say that religion is based on fear.

I grew up in a church that taught that one could lose one's salvation. If you sinned enough, god would turn his back on you and you would go to hell, so most of the members lived in terror of "backsliding". This seems to be an exception; most xristians who come in here are the "once saved, always saved" variety.

It is an exception, I suppose, because most people can not live under that kind of pressure. Nervous breakdowns were not uncommon. Many people were on tranquilizers. Married couples broke up-it is hard to live with a nut. Two nuts is impossible.

We see how fucking crazy this becomes. They regarded divorce as a terrible sin, and yet their religion drove them into divorce. I am so glad to be out of that mess. When I think that I could have married one of those whacked-out women.........oh jesus.

Glad to have read your post.

Re: On Being Sane in Insane Places - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 04 May 2007 10:30:00 -0000

Hello, fucking show? I do not know if you are for real. That was the wildest tirade I have ever heard. If you were acting, you ought to win an Oscar for The Best Impersonation of a Lunatic.

About Aramaic: I have had 3 semesters of Hebrew. The two languages are similar and I would know Aramaic if I heard it. Some people do not think of them as two different languages.

We need to see, or hear, a little evidence. Your posting indicates a methedrine-induced psychosis.

Re: “Take two Phrases and Call me in the Morning.” - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 09:29:00 -0000

Okay, I simply must chime in here and express my contempt for joel.

joel (is that your real name? You can call me isaiah) you are operating at the level of a bumper sticker. You are a silly xristian, but then, that is a redundancy. You are like every other born-again horse's ass that wanders in here--you think that all we need is to hear the right kind of preaching, and you think that you have something we have yet to hear. You are an arrogant little adolescent. Go and dry your ears and grow the bleeding hell up.

And about not ever hearing about the crucifixion.........is that your sorry attempt at a joke? I am not amused. Your stupidity is appalling.

Since you seem to be open to the idea of preaching, I will share my deepest convictions with you. I believe in no gods; I believe that jesus "the christ" never lived; I believe that the bible is history's most elaborate hoax; I believe that the gospels are a forgery. And if you believe in gods, and bibles, and baby jesus, and people walking out of their graves, then you have a few stray kangaroos in your upper paddock.

Awfully unhappy to have met you. Have a bad day.

Re: Jesus is AWESOME! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:52:00 -0000

Brother Jeff, Hi

if they still could Right.

We can be assured that they still want to.

But so what......I will make a summary of a few of my recent posts: I do not care if all xians are saints, angels, and PhD's, I still would not be a xian. I do not care if all atheists got together and murdered everyone else on earth, I would still be an atheist.

The fallacy that blair team member is indulging in is called Appeal to the Consequences of Belief. My atheism is the result of intelligent thought and debate, it is freely chosen, without regret, and I do not give a fuck what the consequences are.

Re: Wisdom, comfort, and direction from the Word of God? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:34:00 -0000

anonymous, I am up to my ass with this sort of ignorant crap. There are many "proofs" of the existence of a creator of some kind, and they are no more than intellectual entertainment.

If one could prove beyond any trace of doubt that a creator existed, one would still need to prove that this creator is the one and only judeo-xian god. If you see order and design in nature, that is fine with me, because the observation of nature tells us that the creator must be a bloodthirsty predator.

Have you ever seen a Down's syndrome child? Have you ever seen children born with terrible and incurable diseases? Have you ever seen hideous deformities? Do you call any of these things "intelligent design"?

And do not try to tell me that god must have some secret purpose that we cannot be privy to. An all-powerful god need not harm innocent children in order to accomplish his goals.

Okay, I will acknowledge your deity, as he is revealed in nature; I will glorify power above all else, and trample the weak under my feet. Praise god.

Fair enough?

Re: Wisdom, comfort, and direction from the Word of God? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:45:00 -0000

One of the "anonymous" (there are so many of them)has asked us why we spend our time fighting xians. I have heard that sort of thing before: "If xians are simply deluded fools, why get involved in any fuss over them?" The words are to that effect.

anonymous, I do not speak for the others, but I will explain a few of my own motivations.

First, I am still angry at being so taken in by this trash calling itself "the body of xrist"; a pack of rats who took a poor hurting boy and filled his head with a lot of nonsense about what the lord was going to do for him. I feel violated.

Second, the military analogy does not follow all the way through.This is not a fight with winners and losers, but there is a chance--a good chance--that some xian may read our stuff and will be encouraged to defect; to cross over to the enemy, as it were. There are lots and lots of xians who get fed up with that charade that they act out, and one whiff of the sweet breeze of freedom and they're outa there. We are not soldiers. We are like the Scarlet Pimpernel, saving a few aristocrats from the guillotine.

And third, it is hard to resist these imbeciles who come in here wearing a sign that says "Kick me". That rodent who thinks that the natural world "testifies" to some "higher power". I do not really think that there is anything above nature, but I shudder at the very thought of some monster actually creating it.

Perhaps this might clarify matters for you, anonymous.

Re: How to quit worrying about global warming and be happy - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:05:00 -0000

So how does the god that you believe in differ from no god at all? I do not give a bugger about global warming; hunger; disease; legalized prostitution in Amsterdam or whether or not the pope is a catholic. I do not give two flying buggers into perdition if god exists. The world you describe is exactly the same world as I would describe, and exactly the same world that I accept.
How does belief in a deity make some kind of difference? If you were an atheist, like me, how would your reality change?

Re: How to quit worrying about global warming and be happy - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 09:53:00 -0000

You are probably right. dano has made a good joke and caught a few of us off guard. I'll bet he isn't an agnostic. He isn't 71 either.

Re: How to quit worrying about global warming and be happy - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:15:00 -0000

I do not understand why half the people who post here call themselves "anonymous". My parents named me anonymous but I had it changed to clarence calhoun and became a country singer. My latest album is titled "I Moved To Bakersfield Because Mississippi Girls Are Ugly"

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:46:00 -0000

I thought, after that fine post, that I could add something. This is from a site called Truth Be Known, maintained by Archarya S. At the bottom of the front page, click on "Victims of the Christian Faith". It makes edifying reading, if you can keep your corn flakes down.

And I just finished her book titled The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold . The section about the christ fable derived from pre-existent myth is just hilarious.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:43:00 -0000

First of all, the xians that you are referring to are, by comparison, a mild bunch of moderates, modified and tempered by secular influences. The other side are the fruitcakes who blame Katrina on gay rights, pornography and abortion. Historically speaking, xians have been an ignorant and bloodthirsty gang of zealots.Without that secular influence, nothing would have changed.

I have known good Unitarians, Quakers, Catholics,Jews,Socialists, and members of the NRA. I have nothing against anyone following some creed or set of convictions. That is their business.

However.........if all xians were as meek as lambs and as pretty as the blessed virgin, I would not be a xian. If all atheists were as cruel as Bugsy Segal and as ugly as scorpions, I would still be an atheist.

And in response to your last line: show me a theocracy to be proud of

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:53:00 -0000

I wish to follow up on the Webmaster's fine post.

In many countries in Europe, abortion is freely available, likewise porn and prostitution, and gays and lesbians enjoy equal rights. And in these countries, there is less crime; less violence; less heart attacks; less ulcers; less suicide; less mental illnes; longer life spans and lower infant morality. The stats are available. Contact the World Health Organization or UNESCO. Your congressman can give the the addresses, email and phone numbers.

anonymous, try to get it through your head that an "atheist" is not merely someone with jackboots and an armband. We are ordinary people living ordinary lives. It is your ilk that has been led to think that anyone who fails to love jesus must be a sociopath.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:58:00 -0000

And do not forget that there are a shitload of fundies who want a nuclear war so bad they can smell it. They want to start Armageddon to hasten the second coming of jesus.

You have said that shit here before, and my reply was almost word for word what you see above.

And let me remind you that the aforementioned fundies are the ones who claim to be following a loving god........something like Hitler claimed. What is the difference between a xian and a nazi?

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:46:00 -0000

Sorry, that name should be ryan, not run. Running is what I must do.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:08:00 -0000

anonymous has been avoiding me, and I do not blame him. Any xian would not want to come within 100 meters of me.

anonymous, I dislike repeating myself, but when dealing with mindless fanatics like you, it is impossible not to. Let me ask you a question: when did god start loving the world? (see john 3:16) Starting with the flood, we see that jewgod hated the world. We read up through the "war stories" and we see a hatred beyond imagining; whole ethic groups wiped out; men; women; children; babies; the jewgod's followers driven by blind rage to exterminate anyone who had their own point of view.

And do not tell me that jewgod destroyed those people because they were "wicked". They were no more "wicked" than any other ancient culture. The half-assed notion that the jews were righteous people out to destroy wickedness is comical. There has never been anything more wicked than the jews and their law.

I do not believe the ot stories. These tales were concocted by the jews, who, having had their collective ass kicked by better people, sat around and imagined for themselves a glorious past. But the point remains: in their perversity, the jews adored their bloodthirsty god. It is to their credit that modern jews repudiated such tales.

Back to the original question: when did god start loving the world? xianity was started by people who had learned the ideas of the Mediterranean world; the ideas of the poets and philosophers. See Plato's Republic . He would have banned the myths about cruel and capricious gods. Under these influences, all of a sudden, jewgod becomes a nice god.

Do not try to give your religion any credit for the civilized countries of Europe. Before the Enlightenment, these assholes were killing off jews, witches, heretics, muslims, and whoever pissed them off. The best thing to happen to Europe was the reformation. xians began to kill each other.

I am proud to be an atheist; one who does not share in the ugly bigotry, vengeance and superstition of the xian. People like me will make the world better.

And by the way. Your disrespect toward the Webmaster is despicable. But then, you're a xian.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:45:00 -0000

Allow me to follow that up:

anonymous, find me one verse in either the old or new testament that tells us to be tolerant of the beliefs of others. One verse.

The "tolerance" you talk about is a secular value, not a xian value.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:15:00 -0000

I am not an anti-semite. It is jew religion I despise, not jews. I know many good, smart jews who have left their religion and wouldn't be caught dead in a synagogue. These people grew up and put away the myths and superstitions of their barbarous past. Why don't you try it, xian? Why don't you try getting off your knees and living like a man for 12 hours?

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:48:00 -0000

That made me fucking sick. You pitiful loser. The stench of sanctity is turning my stomach.

And for your info, numbnuts, I graduated from a catholic college, class of '03 (Saint Joseph's) with a major in philosophy and a minor in religion, and the catholic church is bullshit. Superstition straight out of the fucking dark ages, which is where you belong.

Do not give me that trilling and cooing. It's silly and effeminate.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:20:00 -0000

As for the bible verses I asked you for, anonymous, you have failed to provide them. You xians have an enormous difficulty trying to understand your own bible. Please re-read those verses. Your grasp of scripture is flimsy at best.

About the rain and sun on the just and the unjust: that does not mean that your jewgod tolerates those who do not obey him, or tolerates those who think for themselves. The rain and sun fell on all those who were slaughtered off by the jews, but did your jew god tolerate them?

About the other verses: you can love me and pray for me all you like--the idea disgusts me, but I can't stop you--but in so doing, do you accept me and my atheism?

Now try again. Let me make this more clear. Find a verse that says all ways of life, including atheism , are to be accepted as equally valid. I repeat: tolerance is a secular value, not a xian value. Your kind believes my kind should go to hell. This you call tolerance? Why don't you go to hell, you dirty little bigot?

And as for you jason, let me try to explain manhood to you. A masculine approach to existence involves a certain amount of hate and anger. You need those things to stand up to the shit that other people want to give you. The cruelty and dishonesty of this world can be overwhelming; the stupidity; the ignorance; jesus, boy, you better be able to get pissed and strike back or you're going to get trampled under.

Keep in mind who called who an anti-semite. I know men who would have knocked you flat for that remark. My reaction was kind by comparison.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:40:00 -0000

Thank you anonymous for expressing the intolerance that you really practice. I knew I could get it out of you eventually. xian intolerance is terrifying.

Still waiting for that verse.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:35:00 -0000

I have been away from the keyboard for going on 10 hours or more, and have lost track of this thread. I will attempt to respond as best I can.

First, I ask my fellow infidels pardon. I lost my temper when dealing with the sanctified half-wits that wandered in here, and I became so angry that I could hardly think. That isn't really like me, but I confess to a few moments of weakness. I do not need to defend my position. Now and then, I feel I must. That is weakness.

Some of us have gone back and forth defining atheism and agnosticism and so on. That is fine. Having been trained by the theologians of the Society of the Precious Blood, I can bullshit with the best of them. As the saying goes, you can't bullshit the bullshitter.

Whether or not a deity exists is not my concern. If anyone here thinks that there is a god who is going to punish them for some real or fantasy sins, that is their problem. Perhaps they get some masochistic thrill from imagining themselves in hell (see the Webmaster's xian art, and then examine your poor twisted minds.)

My primary difficulty, as best I can remember it, is the assertion that xianity promoted tolerance. That, again, as best as I remember, is when I saw red. I honest to fucking xrist do not see that the religion of the jews, and the religion of their bastard spawn, the xians, has actually promoted tolerance. Tolerance of who? Tolerance for what? I am an athiest, bent on thinking for myself and living my life based on those thoughts. Tell me about any xian principle that supports me in this enterprise, and I will shut up.

And just as an afterthought: count the number of times that paul used the words "liberty" and "freedom". People...........you don't need to canonize 27 more books of the bible to grant people freedom. If you want to free people, shut up.

To anonymous and jason: I have heard your shit before, and let me assure you that my resolve hardens every time. When one smells shit, one covers one's nose. And one of you is a papist; I forget which. Check your history and see how the English church treated the Irish church. xians persecuting xians. Warms my heart.

And to my comrades: again, my apology. My emotions come up like the tide. No excuse.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:02:00 -0000

And here I was so proud of myself for anger management. Shit.

computer, WE have to reconcile with the irreconcilable? Have you ever heard of logic? When we encounter two statements which cannot be reconciled, we either give up a statement, or alter it. You are dealing in theological bullshit.

anonymous and jason, I think you just found a friend and ally.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:39:00 -0000

computer, it amuses me that you are taking on the name "computer". Will you soon be calling yourself Mr Spock?

About this nonsense about the blood: Here at St Joseph's, every goddamned room has a crucifix. Every single fucking room on this whole fucking campus, except for the restrooms. I guess that is so we can shit in peace.

Some of these things are close to 100 years old and are quite detailed: the blood drips from the thorns; the hands; the side; the feet. The damned things measure 2 feet by a foot and a half.

There are others, more modern, that show a sanitized little pewter jesus hanging placidly from polished plywood. And then there are the really modern ones that show jesus sort of floating off the cross, arms raised in triumph. Modern catholics are ashamed of their butcher-shop religion and try to act like.......uh......modern catholics.

computer (and I dislike using that word to describe you) have you ever heard a description of crucifixion? It is the worst possible way to die. The worst. Whoever thought up crucifixion was a genius--a bit wierd, maybe--but a genius. The condemned man hung for hours, and sometimes days, before dying, and after death his body was left hanging for the buzzards. And no, he did not wear a little pair of gym shorts.

According to your gospel, your jesus died quickly and was afterward given a civilized burial. Your jesus got off easy. Why didn't your god let him go the whole nine yards? If he really was supposed to be the sacrifice for our sins, it would have made a more fitting spectacle to let him dangle there, ants and flies feeding on his putrid flesh, and buzzards pecking out his eyes. His belly would have burst open, his guts and the contents of his stomach would have splattered to the ground, and eventually his rotting corpse would have slipped off the cross.

But nooooooo.........your jesus died in just a few hours and was given an aristocrat's burial. Any appeal to your suffering jesus falls flat. The little fucker didn't suffer all that much.

The story, of course, is fiction. Whether or not your jesus existed in the first place is a matter of humorous conjecture. We can take that up later. But the story about how jesus and the two thieves hung up there and carried on a converstation is pure fantasy. People enduring crucifixion did not chat with each other.

And now, to the real point of this posting. Excuse me, but I just like to talk. The idea that your all-powerful god had to torture someone in a Roman execution is bullshit. An all-powerful god could not forgive the slightest of our misdemeanors without inflicting torment on someone? How the fuck does that make any sense? So your jesus had to suffer, so god could forgive us, because of breaking a law he made himself, to save us from a hell he made himself? How smart is this?

computer (please think up a new mechanical name for yourself; how about "toaster" or "urinal") I do not believe in god or gods. A god may exist, but I do not give a goddamn. There may be a fortune in gold under this floor. I may be the bastard king of France. Why anyone wants or needs to believe in gods is beyond me. The need to "love" a god is insane. I can put up with stupidity or delusion, but I have no truck with babbling, slobbering, childish nonsense.

The jew law was written up by savages and barbarians. The modern jew, bless his little heart, has spent centuries overcoming his past. Give him a few more centuries and he just might do it. But modern jews do not observe the laws of their primitive ancestors. It is only the xians who continue to take such things seriously. What does that tell us about xians?

jew law is not binding on us. We have not offended some god because we violated jew law, or because some jew ate an apple or two, or because some jew wouldn't bang his sister-in-law, or because some jew married a gentile. Grow the bloody hell up.

computer, you and your kind would do well to outgrow your childish fears and learn to think and conduct yourselves as men. You first need to get off your knees and put away your bibles. Hanging around this place would help a great deal--you would hear the sound of intelligence. Oh yes, intelligence has a definite sound.

And now, having talked too much, I need to run.

Re: The Violent Heritage of Christianty - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:57:00 -0000

Dave, that is one of my all-time favorite quotes. I made my own little joke out of it: "See, I belong to this new religion. There was this jewish guy who died in the gas chamber at San Quentin, see? He was the son of god, and he died for our sins". It's nonsense, but of course that is exactly what the xian religion teaches.

I have pulled my little gag on xians now and then, and their faces go blank and they say nothing. I think they are hearing their bullshit for what it is, probably for the first time in their lives.

Re: GOD IN A BOX - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:37:00 -0000

goldie, none of us deny that god has a sense of humor. When I pass a church on sunday morning, and see dozens and sometimes hundreds of cars parked outside, then I figure god must be a comic; a real Milton Berle. The singing; the praying; the preaching, the fucker falls off his throne and rolls on the floor.

goldie, I have been reading your asinine posts for quite awhile now, and you are quite a humorist yourself. That explains why the Webmaster doesn't delete your childish drivel: he keeps you around for laughs.

Really, I find myself feeling sorry for you. You are some little jerk-off with no social life, except at some youth group, and even there you would be sidelined. You damned sure have no sex life.

I am proud to be an atheist, and I am sure that I speak for the others. I live in dignity, beholden to neither gods nor their spokesmen. But you know, you can't help being the way you are. I was a xian once, and really, I could not help being a little pipsqueak.

Religion is comedy, but you are slapstick.

Re: The Sacred Book of Kush - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:41:00 -0000

This is too good to be true. jason,marc,computer,anonymous.......did I get them all? Let the xian talk long enough and he will damn himself out of his own mouth. So faith outweighs logic, fact and evidence? And does it also outweigh reason, intellect and education?

So you are saying that you have closed your eyes and ears, as well as your mind? Are you saying that a good xian is one who has stopped thinking or questioning? Okay, fine with me.

And about the bible being such a great book: no it aint. That book has turned you into a silly child who comes in here and consistently makes a pathetic fool of himself.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:05:00 -0000

Just a few observations, anonymous. What exactly you pursue in the way of religion is not clear. I think you are a garden-variety kook, but if you have the time, tell us about yourself. I could use a good laugh.

On the off chance that you adhere to a creed of some sort, and are not just being a pain in the ass, let me advise you that the proof you mentioned is your job, not ours. We here are called "freethinkers" and we live pretty much without creeds or doctrines. I myself deny any meaning at all in life. If you want me to abandon this way of thinking--which by the way pleases me to no end--then come up with proofs for your side.

About the author being shallow: Let me hear you rebut anything he said.

And no, the author was not simply being personal. He drew up a good and comprehensive list of objections. These are the same things that all deconverted people have faced. They are not merely "personal". The authors objections are sound, well-reasoned and impersonal.

Now try again. And by way of warning: do not debate jim arvo, unless you just enjoy humiliation.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:00:00 -0000

Okay, anonymous, I just sat down here in the library and I have not had time to read in detail any of the postings. However, I see the need to make myself clear.

As the Webmaster said, morality is a human affair. What was that you said......"be sure that the basis of morality is not found in man". Sorry, but the basis of morality is found in man--morality is made by man, for man, and man can change it as he wishes, whenever he wishes, for the reasons that he wishes. To rephrase your statement, I am sure that the basis of morality is found in man--in his needs; in his prejudices; in his caprices--and I do not have the responsibility of being sure of any other source.

I do not believe in your god, or your gods. I do not believe in your god, or Hammurabi's god, or any other god or gods. If you are insecure; if you must go crawling to your gods for comfort or guidance, than do so and leave us in peace.

And by the way, you are actually displaying a flicker of intelligence. You surprize me, you do, really. But you have not gotten past the same old shit about how we need to go outside ourselves to find a basis for our thinking and conduct, and for our laws. Look in the fucking mirror. There is your basis. It is all you have.

And I can safely predict that you will bring up Hitler. Go ahead. Oh my goodness, we have to have our gods, otherwise we will have Hitler. Some choice. My position enjoys, at least, the advantage of consistency. If atheism means the occasional Hitler, so be it.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:23:00 -0000

I also want to thank the WM for his quote from our Gettysburg Address, a government "by the people, for the people, of the people." Not "the father, son and holy ghost", and not "the god of abraham isaac and jacob".

In the past, many people got together and attempted self-regulation and self-determination. They were driven by self-interest as much as anything else, and were often full of shit. But if you know of any religion that provides an alternative, let me know. Let us all know. We as sentient beings need to get off our knees. god means servility.

And for your edification:

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of London

The Declaration of Paris

The Declaration of Rights

The Declaration of Rights and Grievances

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen

The Declaration of Arbroath

See any good encyclopedia. If anyone is going to establish his own liberty, personal as well as political, he cannot chicken out and appeal to the gods. That will get him nowhere. Either take the responsibility on yourself, or go back to your church.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:49:00 -0000

About the Declaration of Independence: this document was put together by deists and unitarians, and formalized by Tom Jefferson. They trusted him to articulate their thoughts and feelings. If you will examine the life and work of Jefferson, you will find no evidence that he intended to write god's will into our laws. Ditto for any of the other founders. Except, of course, that it is god's will that we be free.

That is what this shit is about. You can believe what you bloody well please about your gods. Whether one god exists, or twenty million gods, is a matter of only the most profound indifference. But do not talk to me about your imaginary principles which come from the mind of your imaginary gods. I care nothing for your principles.

About the Gettysburg Address: Lincoln was indifferent about religion--any religion. He had no intention of saying that a nation under god could possibly mean under the authority of a deity or under the authority of any set of formal religious principles.

My favorite Jefferson quote: "I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

To set you straight: I do not share Jim's belief in a universal morality, as you seem to think. We are sophisticated animals on our hind legs, nothing more. I regret to say that I do not have any agreement with my fellow atheists who attempt to argue morality in the abscence of purpose or goal in the universe. Read my posts a little more carefully.I am being consistent.

About documents being my standards of morality: I said no such thing. You are not accustomed to debating people like me and you can't seem to understand what I am saying. You have been given a smatering of training, but not adequate. The documents simply represent our best attempts to govern ourselves. They are not binding. They are not "morals" or "truth". The Constitution itself is not sacred; it can be amended or even re-written any time. Are you suggesting that if the speed limit is 55MPH, that I am immoral for going 60? Laws are made by people; just people; that's all.

Okay, now, what deity is it that you believe in? What is his will? Do you want the will of your deity codified into law? Reinforced by what punishments? It does no goddamned good to sit there and preach about your objective moral principles unless you are actually serious about imposing them by force. Otherwise, what objectivity do they have? Does it make sense to say that your principles are objective, and then turn around and support freedom of conscience, freedom of choice, and freedom of thought? I think not.

Try again.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:00:00 -0000

I wanted to add a bit more to my last paragraph. Is your religion some variety of xianity? If so, what is your defense of the witch trials? the pograms? the torture and burning of heretics? Do you claim these things as part of your objective morality? There was a time when xians did just that. You should be glad that these things can be changed and that they are not carved into stone and revered.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:59:00 -0000

I am presently reading "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. This play is about the Salem witch trials. It follows the known facts of history pretty well. I just wanted to point out that hanging a witch on the testimony of one witness was the practice of church and state. It was the moral thing to do. It was the godly thing to do. No-name, you have been very vague so far, dealing in generalities. Let me repeat from my last postings: who is this god you speak of, and what is his will? What are these principles you are upholding? I have told you pretty much what I believe. Your turn.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:55:00 -0000

for Jim Arvo:

No Sir,we are not so far apart. And do excuse me if I wax conversational.

I believe, as you do, that there is no god. The universe has neither design, nor purpose, nor goal; the universe and whatever it is that we recognize as reality does not have a meaning. As I am fond of repeating, we are sophisticated animals on our hind legs.

As to any assertion that our evolutionary heritage provides the foundation for civilized morals: I will not argue the point. Evolution has given me opposable thumbs,eyes pointed forward, and a ridiculously large brain. That same evolution has given me certain soft and gentle feelings (I take in stray cats--we have four). But I also have a hot temper and I am not above violence; again, the work of my animal ancestors. It is a mistake to say that evolution takes over the job of god.

I can never say that I am a moral person in any way that would make sense. I am not. I simply recognize that I am going to go to my death as any animal would, and that nothing I have done will have any cosmic significance. I will face neither reward nor punishment.

Be assured, Dr Arvo, that I grieve over the sufferings of my fellow man, as I grieve over a road-killed raccoon or 'possum. It's just that there is no moral indignation behind it. We are capable of making deals between ourselves--Mafiosi make deals--but that is as far as we can go. There is no moral imperative. It is like that sign at my neighbor's swimming pool: "I don't swim in your toilet, please don't piss in my pool". Whatever we agree to as a law or guideline is purely human. It is not holy or binding in any way.

Our "adversary" anonymous, or no-name, or whoever the hell he is, believes that there is a moral code, or a moral system, that is divine in origin. I asked him to specify exactly who his deity is and what it is that he wants. What are these moral principles? It was once moral to hang a witch; it was once moral to drive jews out of your country; it was once moral to torture and burn heretics; it was once moral to lynch niggers. All these things were uphold by godly people as god's will. What does that tell us about god's will?

I once asked one of my professors: "would you rather have your daughter arrested by the KGB or tried for witchcraft?" I did not get an answer. If no-name cares to attempt an answer, fine. In one of his postings yesterday, he wrote that we are obligated to do good and to avoid evil. What is this good, and what is this evil? Where are the objective standards? Who enforces this obligation? He furthermore said that the religious view is correct. What religion? Islamic? Norse? Aztec?

Well, I have had my rant. I become weary of this. I do not need to justify my way of life or thought. I do not need to defend myself. Defend myself against what?

If anyone wants me to seriously attempt a moral statement, I will follow up dave8's paragraph on Ayn Rand" "I will not live my life for another, nor compel another to live his live for me." I am not her disciple, but she was my first love.

I bid you well, Sir. Oh, and I am about to finish The Crucible this morning. Turns my knuckles white.

Re: 21 Unconvincing Arguments for God - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:17:00 -0000

Jim, hi.

noname has posted again and his second paragraph is garbled. He seems to be putting a lot of store in the concept of "innate".

I am prepared to agree that many things about us are innate. Mozart was composing at the age of 6. There is a philosopher named Saul Kripke who was teaching himself Hebrew and Algebra at the same age. But the point is that composing music or learning languages and mathematics are not moral responsibilities.

In the same way, the emotions of love and pity can be called innate, coming into being through a highly evolved interplay of body chemistry. But there is no imperative to act on these feelings. I can--and will--just as quickly act on feelings of anger, hate, and lust, also put there by the same process. There is simply nothing that stops me, if that is the way I choose to go.

I believe that as a sentient being, I am motivated by ego and self-interest. I am ready to get along with people and to live in peace, but I come first.

I hope you have found this pleasant reading--my respect for you knows no limits.

Re: Happy Friday! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:15:00 -0000

Hey, this IS a fun game. Okay, now I got one: why don't we go to Tehran and pick up a few chicks. I hear those muslim girls are dyin' for it.

Re: Happy Friday! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:04:00 -0000

Are you out of your rabbit-ass mind? YOUR CHURCH? Talk about bad taste,jesus, your kind invented bad taste. Sitting there with a bunch of cretins singing jesus songs and listening to some bible-school graduate telling me how to think? I wouldn't come within a thousand meters of your church.

Astreja, hi. My wife got me my hammer just recently. I am taking classes at a little catholic school and lots of students wear a cross of some kind. So here I come with my golden hammer. Hell, I always did stand out.

You know, it is always the women who ask me what it is. It's as though they can sense the power of this symbol.

Classes are over for the day and I gotta get home and feed my cats.

ryan

Re: Happy Friday! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:06:00 -0000

astreja, your post came in right with mine and I just saw it. Good work.

Re: Happy Friday! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:12:00 -0000

I was not going to continue posting here, for fear that I would offend the WM. I have been on the best terms with Mr VanAllen and will endeavor to remain so.

David, you have experienced the worst kind of verbal abuse, and you have asked for every word of it. This shit (so sorry, does "shit" offend you?)started with that self-righteous little prick andrew (so sorry, does "prick" offend you?)trying to tell us that atheists take the collective responsibility for the possibility of nuclear war. If you will check the history of the 20th century, you will see that atheists, agnostics, and humanists have opposed war, while christians have been behind it with all their hearts.

You have heard this from me and several posters, and have avoided it. Perhaps this is what was offensive to you, not my obscenities. Understandable. If I was a christian, I would be ashamed, too.

You chose to divert attention away from andrew and toward yourself. And by god (so sorry, is the word "god" offensive?) you got it. You conduct yourself like a christian: ignoring moral issues and obsessing over "fuck" (so sorry, there's that word again. christians do get upset about sex. so sorry, does the word "sex" offend you?)

I will now tell you what I find offensive, and I will do it without reference to reproduction. What is most ugly in this world is pale excuses for men like you, having handed over your mind, your heart, and your conscience to a bizarre mysticism that should have died out during the dark ages. The ugliness continues as you childishly demand respect for your superstition, and whine when you are denied it.

All you could talk about was the word "fuck" (damn there's that word again. so sorry, does the word "damn" offend you? On this point we are going to agree. The christian idea of damnation is offensive to me)

David, get out of here and go back to your sugar creek gang books and leave us the hell alone (so sorry, does the word "hell" offend you? It offends the fucking hell out of me)

This will be my last post on this thread. Hi to all here, and especially to astreja. I have taken a liking to you.

Re: We don't exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:08:00 -0000

brother john, what you are indulging in is not argument. It is called rhetoric, which, properly trained, is the beginning of argument.

Let me try to demonstrate what I mean.

First, you appeal to your outpouring of conviction: "the answer is plain and simple." BJ (I could make a crude joke here, and I aint above it) life is not plain and simple. Only plain and simple people assert such things.

Next, you appeal to belief."I believe that none of you has experienced god" BJ, none of us gives a rabbit's-ass what you believe. Believe what you want. Take your beliefs, and your convictions, and ram them and jam them.

And now, a little rhetoric of my own: "None of you christians have the slightest notion of what it means to be free. You have never known self-respect; you have never known the exhilaration of ego; you have never understood a guilt-free conscience."

That is why many of you so-called christians have never fallen away.

Re: We don't exist? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:27:00 -0000

The couple wanted to hear from us. Very well.I have been around lots of silly,childish christians, but I have never seen such a spectacle. That half-wit blubbering his lips and tongue made me stare in disbelief.

Re: What I believe but cannot prove - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:58:00 -0000

Good morning to Dr Shermer, and to Dr Earl, to whom I have spoken on several glad occasions. I apologize for what may seem to be a lack of organization.

We must take reality for what it appears to be. It is not a question of belief, and not a question of proof. What we see and experience around us is what really is. Leave proofs to the mystics.

About evolution; determinism; morality. If there is no god, we are sophisticated animals on our hind legs. That's it. It stops there. I can no more help being what I am, or stop being what I am, than a jackal can help or stop eating carrion.

To return to my second paragraph: my favorite story is about the philosopher Sartre and his friends having a few drinks in a hotel bar. Their new friend, Raymond Aron, had joined them. Aron was a phenomenologist, and was trying to explain this approach to Sartre, who was either resisting or not comprehending to begin with. Finally, Aron picked up his drink and said "Look, old fellow......when you become a phenomenologist, you'll make philosophy out of this cocktail".

Sitting beside him, de Beauvoir said he went dumb and turned pale.What more did Aron say, except that what we see--what we touch or hold in our hand--is all there is, and there is no meaning behind it? Philosophy cannot go beyond that.

Happy to be a comment here.

Re: What I believe but cannot prove - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:09:00 -0000

Well, thank you, free thinker.

Now and then I encounter disbelief, mockery and outright hostility towards my philosophy of "despair" and "hopelessness"; how can you live without meaning; how can you be a defeatist; so on and on.

I try to explain that the pleasure in my life is just as real as theirs is to them. I simply don't need some sort of transcendent meaning from one day to the next.

And I was raised to believe that the meaning of life was the salvation of my soul from hell. Glad to be rid of that.

Have fun.

Re: What I believe but cannot prove - ExChristian.Net - Articles

ryan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:21:00 -0000

Good morning, stephen. I love the feeling of my head spinning, although this is too early in the morning.

I once had a roman catholic roommate who would ask me the goddamnest questions. He once asked me if I thought the universe was infinite in both directions.....is it infinitely
large, and infinitely small. At this point I felt like Nomad on Star Trek TOS: "Error; Error".

I think the universe is infinite. It is an intellectual convenience--I cannot imagine what the "end" of the universe would be: a wall? a force field? It would be impossible to speak in terms of "beyond" the end of the universe. It would be nothingness, and philosophically, I cannot grasp the idea of nothingness.

To be consistent, of course, I would have to deny that the universe is either expanding or contracting, and that there is no big bang.

And telmi, yes, the universe is determined. I believe that we, in this universe, have all the free will of an amoeba. To re-state my post of yesterday, I have been accused of being dismal and defeatist. But again, to re-state, the birdsong outside my window is just as sweet.

Re: Wanted: Vintage Port Wine

ryan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:17:04 -0000

Mark I asked my favorite port expert Roy Hersh and he came up with nothing! Bummer, but he did mention that if you went to his forum at <a href="<a href="http://www.fortheloveofport.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.fortheloveofport.com "><a href="http://www.fortheloveofport.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.fortheloveofport.com and posted there his network of port lovers would be able to help you out asap! I think that might be the best course of action! Sorry we couldn't help directly but please let us know if you find your answer there....Cheers,

Re: Wanted: Vintage Port Wine

ryan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:17:04 -0000

Re: Wanted: Vintage Port Wine

ryan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:17:04 -0000

Re: Birth Year Wines

ryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:32:00 -0000

Dave - Sounds amazing! I'll keep my eye's open for a bottle of that!

Marco - Knowing how the younger generations are more savy about the internet than us, your post here might give your secret away one day! ;) Either way make sure your there to share the bottle with herr

Duarte - I have a 1970 back in the states waiting to be opened, What house is yours from?

Re: Birth Year Wines

ryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:56:47 -0000

No I don't though I do hear it's a good year for Port. Might look around <a href="<a href="http://www.fortheloveofport.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.fortheloveofport.com "><a href="http://www.fortheloveofport.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.fortheloveofport.com to see if they have any other suggestions!

Re: Birth Year Wines

ryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:56:47 -0000

Re: Birth Year Wines

ryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:56:47 -0000

Re: Birth Year Wines

ryan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:56:47 -0000

Re: European Wine Blogger Conference 2008

ryan — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 04:23:51 -0000

Thanks to all for the support so far! I think this will be a success, all we need now is to nail down some dates. PLEASE send this to everyone you know who may be interested. I'm going to put up a poll and have all of you vote on the best dates for you. We are a bit limited, but I think we can find something that works for the majority of the people.

Stay tuned for more info!

Re: European Wine Blogger Conference 2008

ryan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:41:57 -0000

David, no I don't know his wines as of yet, though I love Terra Alta...Joan and me have been talking and he is a prolific wine lover and blogger!

Much more of a response on everyone's posts soon!

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:10:05 -0000

Good point, though your note on credentials is not something I agree with because many of our best wine writers, only credentials are that people subscribe to their magazine. Robert Parker being a great one. His resume would read, "starting wrting about wine, tasted a lot".

ANyways, what I want to say is that I do not mean to suggest that we'll be taken seriously if we publish, just that it might add a nice sheen to our image, and it could, help to draw in some people who are not so "web-centric".

Either way, what we are doing right now but writing every day and doing it well, is what will lead to our rise in power, this mag/book/journal is only some nice eye candy, and could be fun!

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:26:59 -0000

We'll get to all of you questions soon...but one thing I do need to mention. I've been called a "hack" before and I'm sure I'll be called one again. I have 10yrs experience in the wine world and a small amount of training at a Sommelier school. I think these credentials are pretty good, but often the idea that I use these to blog is seen as something other than professional...Strange...Anyways back to the post:

1)Yes and no one feeds the other look at the JPG example

2)Original articles based on general themes - Some photos, maybe some reviews too, who knows

3)Good question - I'll let others decide/contribute ideas

4)Look at <a href="<a href="http://www.jpgmag.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.jpgmag.com "><a href="http://www.jpgmag.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.jpgmag.com see what they do, you get an idea from there. But in the end it's about collating ideas with different takes on those ideas. As to what will be acceptable, good writing, as determined by the future editorial board. Maybe it should have reviews, maybe just articles, maybe both...a Blogger Wine review journal coudl be interesting too...hmmmm...Lastly it would be different because we'd work to make it different...

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:26:59 -0000

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:26:59 -0000

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:26:59 -0000

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 03:40:06 -0000

Becky - I think that your points are good, but the idea I'm thinking of is to take on topics that are more timeless, and to allow our writing to shine. A chance to do something a bit different.

1Winedude - I agree with the eliteism issue, but I would look to make this a situation where we have a magazine/book/review that is the best of the best. Kinda like the Wine Blog Awards. As to your third point if wine books are in Demand, and not wine mags are not, maybe we should publish a book or two.

Justin - Your right and the amount of work to do a full scale publication would be daunting, but what I would like to see is people building an idea with web 2.0 ideas like LULU.com first and then if the demand is there, looking to different ideas/ methods.

Jill - I thnk we can find a way to get retailers and industry types into this, just a matter of disclosure and discussion as to how we do it.

Lot's to think about. One thing though I would love to hear comments from possible readers of a such a book, not just people who want to be published in it! Any non-bloggers have an opinion about what they would like to buy?

Re: European Wine Bloggers Conference 2008 - Planning

ryan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:56:39 -0000

Ok 5 votes so far, many less than the amount of interest shown on the original Post. If we don't get a few more ideas, than I guess the original dates will stand and we'll deal with it what comes of it.

Re: Hey Wine Bloggers, Wanna Publish Something in Print?

ryan — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:59:18 -0000

Thanks Bill for your insight, anything we do do is going to need that personal touch since that is what I think draws people to blogging., I agree lifestyle pieces make sense...and the avoidance of dry antiseptic notes....

Re: Catavino’s Newsletter on Spanish Cava has Arrived!

ryan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:09:48 -0000

Elly you rock, some of the best comments so far. Maybe a small index on one page that people could print out and take with them to the store would fit the bill! Hmmmmmmm.....ideas...Thanks for the great tips, now make sure all your friends and wine shops are signed up to receive it too!

Re: Catavino is Attending the II International Conference on Climate Change and Wine

ryan — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:53:41 -0000

WOW no comments or ideas? I know I'm ecstatic to be going and I can't wait to see what comes of it. It should make for a very long weekened!