[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Actually, no. Clarksville in '03 had none of that. My city in Iowa is chock full of that. I say it because being anything other than a White Southern Baptist in Clarksville was hell. I'll take your word on the rest of it.

[rooster]

Actually, no. Clarksville in '03 had none of that. My city in Iowa is chock full of that. I say it because being anything other than a White Southern Baptist in Clarksville was hell. I'll take your word on the rest of it.

lol Clarksville. There's your problem.

[Blanko]

Good, we're still not disagreeing on anything. Good essay, B+ keep up the good work

Conversation is not your strong point is it?  No worries...

You said that you are concerned with Dawkin's influence, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree.  I say you should be concerned with fucktards.  Regardless, the atheist ranters are not really a problem in society.  It's not like they are picketing funerals of HIV victims.

Good defense, I'm taking notes.

[Rama Set]

Good, we're still not disagreeing on anything. Good essay, B+ keep up the good work

Conversation is not your strong point is it?  No worries...

You said that you are concerned with Dawkin's influence, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree.  I say you should be concerned with fucktards.  Regardless, the atheist ranters are not really a problem in society.  It's not like they are picketing funerals of HIV victims.

Good defense, I'm taking notes.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

*GRIN* Nashville was great, I admit. 4 synagogues, a neighbourhood about 85% Jewish (small, but there), & when you wanted it, the non-Jewish world just 10 minutes away by car. I wish I had lived there. I won't argue w/ you about Clarksville. What a shithole. Damned inbred hell-pit!

[fappenhosen]

I won't argue w/ you about Clarksville. What a shithole. Damned inbred hell-pit!

Sounds like they need an influx of fresh DNA.

[rooster]

I won't argue w/ you about Clarksville. What a shithole. Damned inbred hell-pit!

Sounds like they need an influx of fresh DNA.

When I worked at Molly Maid for a total of one month, most of the redneck white trash cleaners came from Clarksville.

They all had kids, even the older teens. The first question that they all asked me was if I had kids. They thought I was a genius with my college degree. One woman that I cleaned with for a week looked to be in her 50s but I found out she was in her late 30s. Her daughter worked at Molly Maid. This daughter also had a child. This older woman guzzled Mountain Dew with Goody's Powder, smoked cigarettes like a chimney, drove with her elbow on the steering wheel while texting and eating and following too closely. And her damn hip hurt whenever it rained. My mind was blown by the whole experience.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Sounds like Clarksville, alright! Its even worse over the border in Southern Kentucky.

[DuckDodgers]

I live in Clarksville and am not a southern Baptist and have no issues.  There are a lot of trashy parts of the city but that is true of most rural areas in TN.  And Clarksville is a medium city with the feel of a small town rural community.  I've met a lot of intelligent, sensible people in the almost 20 years I've been here.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

Present company excepted, of course. I did know a few people in Clarksville that broke the mold. You are doubtless one. Although I might add that unless you are 20 yrs old, you obviously are not from there. Perhaps that has something to do w/ it. But, to be fair, every place, however horrid, has its good points, I suppose. I have to jet. Be back in a few hours. Got a date w/ Columbus (research for my dissertation).

[Saddam Hussein]

This thread is not about how shitty the South is, please shut up.

I think you people misunderstood my point. Finding his speeches rational and following his footsteps are two entirely different things. Just look at what Rama Set said, he denies having lectured people on the absurdity of their beliefs, implying that's something undesirable, yet he listens to Dawkins who does exactly that. I mean, of course an atheist would think what Dawkins is saying is rational, but that's only because everything he says is something a rational atheist would figure out on their own. But when you actually start following his footsteps and start lecturing people, that's when you turn into /r/atheism.

And obviously I'm not saying that applies to everybody. Just think of his effect on people in general.

Dawkins is a public figure with a public forum.  When he lectures people or rails against religion, he is able to do so to a large population.  However, the hypothetical straw-atheist that Thork and Roundy complain about, most likely not having a public forum, would probably be reduced to targeting very small groups or individuals.  That's a dick move precisely because it goes after specific individuals, putting on the spot people who most likely don't want to hear about it.  There's a world of difference between what they do and what public figures like Dawkins do.

That's pretty much what I'm saying, but I can't help but think you're still missing my point.

Again, I'm not concerned with Dawkins himself, but the influence he has on people. Yes, there is a world of difference here, but I don't think you need to explain that to me when I'm the one trying to get that point across.

Are you saying that Dawkins influences people to go around harassing the religious on an individual basis?

[Blanko]

Yes.

[beardo]

Good.

[rooster]

It's not just about Dawkins either. I was just curious about the lifespan in TN. I wonder whether people die from greasy fried food before the benefit of church can kick in.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

& I still want to know who did the study that purports to prove that theists live longer than atheists. Again, could that not be ascribed to simply having a network of loving friends (ie, a faith community)? What about an atheist who has such a network v. a Jew who lives 100 miles away from another Jew? I'm betting money the atheist in that example will be happier, & may live longer. Was this study peer-reviewed? Who did the study? Did they have an axe to grind?

[Vindictus]

& I still want to know who did the study that purports to prove that theists live longer than atheists. Again, could that not be ascribed to simply having a network of loving friends (ie, a faith community)? What about an atheist who has such a network v. a Jew who lives 100 miles away from another Jew? I'm betting money the atheist in that example will be happier, & may live longer. Was this study peer-reviewed? Who did the study? Did they have an axe to grind?

I know this is commonly held, but I cannot find any sources for it beyond believers rattling on about it on the internet (and they don't provide any sources either).

[Rama Set]

& I still want to know who did the study that purports to prove that theists live longer than atheists. Again, could that not be ascribed to simply having a network of loving friends (ie, a faith community)? What about an atheist who has such a network v. a Jew who lives 100 miles away from another Jew? I'm betting money the atheist in that example will be happier, & may live longer. Was this study peer-reviewed? Who did the study? Did they have an axe to grind?

I know this is commonly held, but I cannot find any sources for it beyond believers rattling on about it on the internet (and they don't provide any sources either).

This is surprising.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

I'm as much a believer as the next religious Jew, but I'm not a schmuck. Before someone starts flapping their lips about who lives longer than whom, I'd like to see some actual proof.

[fappenhosen]

In the U.S. some health researchers are fond of giving religion the credit for boosting life expectancy. Yet, despite being a nation with a large religious majority, Americans have much lower life expectancy than is enjoyed by secular countries at a similar level of economic development such as Japan and Sweden. Evidently, the lower quality of life here both provides a market for religion and reduces life expectancy.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201302/do-religious-people-live-longer

[Blanko]

I believe this can be written off as Roundy being Roundy, as per usual.