You seem to give an impression of a victim and the victim mentality. I have no doubt you are hurt, but I see no good reason you'd post your bad experience of a particular forum on the debate section, unless you're looking to defend your victimised mentality. Perhaps because you were hurt by someone who is an atheist, you'd want to get some sort of vendetta by converting other atheists to your cause and argue against them all the while blaming atheism in some way.
Maybe I posted the OP in the wrong section, as I was not looking for a debate.
If you read the OP who might think it sounds as if I felt hurt, but that was not the purpose of posting what I did. I wanted feedback from other atheists and believers.I have no cause and I take no issue with atheism. I only take issue with people who are unfair and unjust. They could be a believer or an atheist.
I have no victim mentality because I am nobody’s victim. I am just a person standing up for justice and equity, because these are the most important principles of my religion. Sure I felt a little hurt right after it happened, because I was misrepresented and insulted by someone I thought wanted me on his forum, because he was the one who invited me back after I had left for a year. But obviously he only wanted me there if he could control what I posted.
It was my mistake to think it would be any different than it has been in the past, but that is just the way I am, always looking for new possibilities. I am an incurable optimist. I once let a tenant get behind $11,000 on his rent, trusting he would eventually pay me back... Everyone thought I was a fool, but he finally did pay me almost all of that money and now he keeps up on the rent every month. He is still living in my house and we are on very amiable terms. He still has some rent debt, but I trust he will pay it back eventually. My point is that I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt but when I do and they stab me in the back that hurts.
If you really wanted closure or healing, I'd think a good thing to do is stop going on forums, speak to loved ones or speak on sections here more devoted to supporting others.
I have spoken about it with friends and family. I did not even think of posting this in a section devoted to supporting others because I did not know there was such a section. But this is not primarily about me being hurt, so it is not about closure and healing. It is about religious discrimination, justice and equity, or doesn’t that matter to anyone?
This does not seem to be the case. You seem to blame those that have harmed you, but there's no way we can examine their side or if you really did the things they said. In my experience, it's never a good idea to side with one person over another without at least hearing their side first. Even then, sometimes it's best to stay neutral. This lack of evidence has been expressed by others in this thread as well.
This is not a jury trial. This is not about blaming the other side, so I don’t know why some people want to make it be about me vs. him. I very much dislike having bad feelings towards anyone,so a week after I left that forum I posted a private message to him trying to explain my position, because I did not want him to think I feel badly about him.
It is an important teaching of my religion to beware lest we offend the feelings of anyone, or sadden the heart of any person. However, kindness must be tempered by justice. The fact remains he did do what he did and I did not do what he accused me of doing, and I have evidence in the posts that I posted.
This is about injustice and religious discrimination. Perhaps what I should have done is present it that way without mentioning the forum or its owner. Perhaps I should have posted it in another section, but now that we are here let’s try to make the best of it......
So what exactly is your goal if you aren't generalising and want answers from atheists?
I brought up some points and in my OP in an effort to understand how atheists might think and feel. Now let me restate my points as questions.
- I wonder why people think and do what they think and do. Can you think of any reason why atheists are hostile towards believers other than that they feel threatened in some way?
- Why would atheists act out that way unless they are afraid of what I have to say about God or my religion?
- Why can’t “some atheists” be friends with believers, as opposed to only telling them they are wrong about what they believe and even brainwashed? Why do you think that atheists are compelled to keep telling me I am wrong about what I believe?I do not tell atheists they are wrong about what they disbelieve. I have been noted for saying that atheism is just as logical as belief, given there is no proof that God exists. But there is no proof that God does not exist, so belief is just as logical. There are reasons to think that God does not exist and reasons to think that God exists.
- Why do you think “some atheists” become hostile and even insulting when I say I believe in God, a soul and an afterlife? It seems to me that if atheists are so sure these do not exist they would be able to just blow me off instead of getting antagonistic. I would not get angry if someone who talked about a pink unicorn in my garage because I know there is no pink unicorn in my garage.
- Along these lines, I do not think it is not right for a believer to threaten an atheist with hell, but if they did, why would an atheist get upset about that if they are so sure there is no hell?
