Prostitution, Adultry and Christianity

[luckyme]

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how is atheism not a belief system? it may not draw its "doctrines" from a single text, but it is certainly based on a fundamental belief.

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It certainly is not. It is based on an absence of belief.

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That's the ideal though. It's not difficult to notice that there is sort of an "fundamental atheist" collection around these parts.

Ironic, isn't it.

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and a lot of tall guys on a basketball court? This is a SMP forum so it tends to attract the SMP type of atheist. I don't have to leave my office to find some very different atheists and at the coffee shop and when I arrive home. In fact, I can think of only one SMP type atheist in any of the ones I know on a first name basis.

Most atheists credit much more practical reasoning for their lack of belief.

luckyme

[FortunaMaximus]

So they do.

In any event, my last comment wasn't intended to be snarky or dismissive.

The irony for me in observing those religious debates in here, is that the vitriol rarely comes from the theist side. Be like water and all that, I guess.

Apologies if that wasn't clear.

[luckyme]

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So they do.

In any event, my last comment wasn't intended to be snarky or dismissive.

The irony for me in observing those religious debates in here, is that the vitriol rarely comes from the theist side. Be like water and all that, I guess.

Apologies if that wasn't clear.

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On the street atheists aren't confronting theists toe-to-toe on the theism question. They have to battle them on the actual outcomes of theists in power such as oppressive laws or preferential treatment but for the most part they just mow their lawns and file their taxes.

My point was that SMP is a sampling error. Even the fundies are the 'willing to talk about it' type even if they aren't willing to investigate it.

The vitriol is a natural reaction to constant versions of "tis so, say's right here" block to any real discussion ( which does occur at times).

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It's not difficult to notice that there is sort of an "fundamental atheist" collection around these parts.

Ironic, isn't it.

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seemed to imply some 'atheist creed' at work, or what did the 'fundamentalist' reference seeing that it was in response to the 'atheist belief' nonsense that theists try to peddle. I don't see the connection between the vitriol and the fundamentalist comments in that context.

luckyme

[FortunaMaximus]

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The vitriol is a natural reaction to constant versions of "tis so, say's right here" block to any real discussion ( which does occur at times).

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Yeah, and the recent spate of posts/OP's may have influenced the fundamentalist atheist comment. I suppose it wasn't clear to me initially whether this was a natural reaction or not. Thanks.

[MaxWeiss]

As always, luckyme hits the bullseye...

[bandito]

I'll share this with you: I'm a man who used to have sex with prostitutes, and it did NOT contribute to making me happy. It causes serious self-esteem issues that take a good deal of work to overcome. I still fight these issues, and I've willingly walked into a lot of crappy situations - and stayed there - that I know if I'd had normal self-esteem, I would have walked out, and spoke up for myself on the way out the door - I've done neither, just silently endured all kinds of abuse from people.
Low self-esteem is very destructive, and hiring prostitutes for sex cannot make a man feel anything but low self-esteem. Also, the loneliness after they leave is 10 times worse than before they arrived - and it's a loneliness and sadness that will eat your heart out for years if you don't find someone who wants to be with you without you having to pay for it.
It's not the best solution for anyone's life. I wish I could tell everything it's done to wreck mine, but I don't want to write a book here.

[superadvisor]

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I'll share this with you: I'm a man who used to have sex with prostitutes, and it did NOT contribute to making me happy. It causes serious self-esteem issues that take a good deal of work to overcome. I still fight these issues, and I've willingly walked into a lot of crappy situations - and stayed there - that I know if I'd had normal self-esteem, I would have walked out, and spoke up for myself on the way out the door - I've done neither, just silently endured all kinds of abuse from people.
Low self-esteem is very destructive, and hiring prostitutes for sex cannot make a man feel anything but low self-esteem. Also, the loneliness after they leave is 10 times worse than before they arrived - and it's a loneliness and sadness that will eat your heart out for years if you don't find someone who wants to be with you without you having to pay for it.
It's not the best solution for anyone's life. I wish I could tell everything it's done to wreck mine, but I don't want to write a book here.

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I for the most part agree with this.

Using sex as a means to happiness is on par with drug use and alcoholism. I can understand the Christian point of view although I am not a Christian. While I don't agree with the way the bible explains it, I do believe he should search for happiness in spirituality not in superficial physical pleasure but from spiritual enlightenment or real love from a real human being. And while I may be inclined to buy him a prostitute once or twice just as I would accept him drinking on occasion, I would never accept prostitution as "the only thing that makes him happy", I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

[vhawk01]

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I'll share this with you: I'm a man who used to have sex with prostitutes, and it did NOT contribute to making me happy. It causes serious self-esteem issues that take a good deal of work to overcome. I still fight these issues, and I've willingly walked into a lot of crappy situations - and stayed there - that I know if I'd had normal self-esteem, I would have walked out, and spoke up for myself on the way out the door - I've done neither, just silently endured all kinds of abuse from people.
Low self-esteem is very destructive, and hiring prostitutes for sex cannot make a man feel anything but low self-esteem. Also, the loneliness after they leave is 10 times worse than before they arrived - and it's a loneliness and sadness that will eat your heart out for years if you don't find someone who wants to be with you without you having to pay for it.
It's not the best solution for anyone's life. I wish I could tell everything it's done to wreck mine, but I don't want to write a book here.

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I for the most part agree with this.

Using sex as a means to happiness is on par with drug use and alcoholism. I can understand the Christian point of view although I am not a Christian. While I don't agree with the way the bible explains it, I do believe he should search for happiness in spirituality not in superficial physical pleasure but from spiritual enlightenment or real love from a real human being. And while I may be inclined to buy him a prostitute once or twice just as I would accept him drinking on occasion, I would never accept prostitution as "the only thing that makes him happy", I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

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So you don't jerk off, huh? Man, sorry to hear that, but its pretty awesome. Look into it.

[luckyme]

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Using sex as a means to happiness is on par with drug use and alcoholism. I can understand the Christian point of view although I am not a Christian. While I don't agree with the way the bible explains it, I do believe he should search for happiness in spirituality not in superficial physical pleasure but from spiritual enlightenment or real love from a real human being. And while I may be inclined to buy him a prostitute once or twice just as I would accept him drinking on occasion, I would never accept prostitution as "the only thing that makes him happy", I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

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Hey, I like diet pepsi ( artificial sugar).

"real love from a real .." whatever. All the guy can do is blink, so the chit chat required to build a relationship at the neighborhood bowling alley may be a bit much to expect. If it's one of the only pleasures he has left, why should I have guilt by setting it up for him. I'd feel very guilty if I didn't, actually worse than that.
If he wants to snort some white, listen to country music and watch American Idol, I'd have more of a problem :-)
I'll let him tell when he finds it non-fulfilling rather than play guardian nag on the basis of some goof prejudices I may have.

luckyme

[vhawk01]

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Using sex as a means to happiness is on par with drug use and alcoholism. I can understand the Christian point of view although I am not a Christian. While I don't agree with the way the bible explains it, I do believe he should search for happiness in spirituality not in superficial physical pleasure but from spiritual enlightenment or real love from a real human being. And while I may be inclined to buy him a prostitute once or twice just as I would accept him drinking on occasion, I would never accept prostitution as "the only thing that makes him happy", I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.

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Hey, I like diet pepsi ( artificial sugar).

"real love from a real .." whatever. All the guy can do is blink, so the chit chat required to build a relationship at the neighborhood bowling alley may be a bit much to expect. If it's one of the only pleasures he has left, why should I have guilt by setting it up for him. I'd feel very guilty if I didn't, actually worse than that.
If he wants to snort some white, listen to country music and watch American Idol, I'd have more of a problem :-)
I'll let him tell when he finds it non-fulfilling rather than play guardian nag on the basis of some goof prejudices I may have.

luckyme

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Yeah, the point of my previous response was basically: who says the guy is trying to find "ultimate happiness?"