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@cranky47
cranky47 stated: "Kentucky, which has part of the Appalachians ? Aren't those folks called hillbillies?"
Yes, the boundary of Kentucky encompasses a part of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are very old and heavily weathered. From a socioeconomic perspective, the Appalachian Mountains have a lot of coal deposits. That attracted a lot of Scotch-Irish riffraff. They were coal miners from Scotland and Ireland. They came here and mined coal. Many became bred and born hillbillies. You got to watch them. They drink and fight. Best to keep them on your side or you will end up down a mine shaft. Have you watched Justified? I worked out of Hazard for a while back in 1974 to 1978. I was a coal mine inspector. They chased me out of that country. I made too many enemies. The Office of Surface Mining transferred me to Denver in 1980 to protect me from the mining companies.
" That attracted a lot of Scotch-Irish riffraff."
First , it's Scots Irish you muppet. Not the same people or the same culture. They even speak different forms of the Gaelic . . Scotch is a superior kind of whiskey.
Second, I resemble that remark, and take exception: I am Aussie by birth, and Irish Celt by blood (on both sides)
On dad's side, MY family came to the free settlement of South Australia in 1870. (founded 1836) No convicts in MY family (sniff) The men worked in the copper mines at Kapunda, 50 miles north east of Adelaide. A couple of them are buried there, I've seen the graves. coincidentally, we lived in Kapunda for a couple of years during the 1950's; dad was the BP rep for the Barossa , Clare Valleys and surrounds.
After the mines closed, most moved to Adelaide. My grandfather was your stereotypical Irish-catlic copper. He hated wife beaters, con men, the English, communists, and proddies , in that order.
I was the first member of of dad's family to attend university.
"You got to watch them. They drink and fight. Best to keep them on your side or you will end up down a mine shaft."
Indeed, or arse deep in a blood feud.
There is actually a saying "no one hates like a celt" . Being the ex husband of a woman without ethics or principles, I can attest to the truth of that. I thought my feelings would soften with time, and they have ,over nearly 30 years. These days I probably WOULD piss on her if she was on fire.
@Flathead: Would you hurry up. I have been standing here naked under the full moon, with a severed chicken head in my hand, dripping blood onto the ouigi board for an hour. Can I kill and skin the sheep yet?
And sock fairies. Seriously! I always have missing socks! My boys always have missing socks.
Perhaps you could make the instructions more explicit?
Careful how you go Flatland. Your dreamcatcher seems to be made of white Cockatoo feathers. There's pure Evil right there.
So how does this summoning thing of yours work?
Do you first suggest you have a means of summoning the presence of evil to appear, but then refuse to say anything of it until someone insults or disses you, and then you declare their reaction to your puerile cheek proof of the presence of hostile spirits? Then say something to the effect that man creates evil not your god?
If so I'm not convinced. Its an annoying time waster but it doesn't propagate evil.
It strengthens one of my beliefs alright but not in supernatural deities.
Oh..am I being evil? Cockatoos are naughty, never evil.
edited for clarity and to fix link, damned evil spirits.
Ah bugger,
There I was summoning away and I got a Numpty instead...
Love to meet the Wood Elves tho'.....
I've still got all my old pagan shit, including bones from the roadkill opposum I buried in my backyard (we named him Deadles). So let's go dude, I wanna meet the morning star.
...*break room door suddenly swinging open*.... *stumbling out of breakroom into hallway*... *desperately waving hand back and forth in front of face*... *choking-coughing-gagging-dry-heaving*... *eyes watering profusely*... *dropping down on all-fours*... *panting heavily*.... Oh-dear-lord!... *cough-cough*... Do NOT go in there!... *attempting to regain composure*... So, like, I was trying to summon Satan, right?... *wiping tears from eyes with back of hand*... *blinking rapidly trying to focus*... Had my parallelogram all drawn out in chalk, a sacrificial gerbal all tied down to a tiny altar in the middle of it, candles burning all over the damn place, spooky-evil looking symbols written in fake blood on all the walls, and an Air Supply CD blaring at max volume... *moving to sitting position with back against the wall*... So, you know, then I started my chanting by reading "The Three Little Pigs" backwards. Next thing I know an incredibly loud growling rumble starts repeating in a slow, angry rhythm, overriding the music and causing the walls and floor to shake violently. And then the lights start flickering on and off in a random pattern.... *shuddering*... Scary shit, for sure. The worst part, though, is when a green fog started filling the room and... *gagging*... the smell! Oh, god! The SMELL!!! Sulphur, brimstone, rotten eggs, rotting flesh, death, decay, Old Spice aftershave! It was HORRID!... *whimper*...
I started panicking and looking around wildly, expecting to see the floor opening up to discharge the demons of hell. And that is when I noticed Old Man fast asleep in the recliner, drooling from the corner of his mouth, and snoring like a banshee. Then I looked around toward the closet and noticed the door was open. Looked inside and saw David at the breaker box randomly flipping different breakers off and on for no apparent reason. What the fuck??? But when I turned away from there, that is when I noticed Cog over in the corner just inside the doorway. The sorry bastard had taken off his shoes and was sitting there biting his toenails. (Probably the closest he ever gets to performing personal hygiene.) Fascinating in a way, though. You could almost SEE the smell coming off his feet!
Anyway, not sure how I made it out alive, much less conscious. And whether or not I was able to summon the Dark Prince is unknown. However, if he DID manage to show up, he probably took one look and sniff and said, "Fuck this shit! I'm going back to Hell for some fresh air and the soothing screams of tortured souls!" Regardless, no more calling upon the Devil for me. As it is, my wife is already gonna kill me for using all of her ritual candles... *shaking head defeatedly*...
So. Are we anywhere near getting actual summoning instructions yet?
Or is us asking for summoning instructions supposed to be enough to summon this 'evil'? Because if it is, it ain't working on my end.
@Flatland
Evil is a subjective human concept, it doesn't exist in any objective sense, and even were that not true it would not validated the existence of unevidenced demons from archaic superstitions. Though clearly any being that had limitless power and knowledge, and allowed suffering, let alone that deliberately created a world with ubiquitous suffering, would be evil by any objective human standard.
You're barking up the wrong tree, and you have yet to address your dishonesty in other threads, with claims for rational arguments for a deity's existence.
Lastly no, the existence of superhuman demon would not be evidence for the existence of a deity from an archaic superstition, why would it? But by all means demonstrate what objective evidence you have for the existence of this supernatural demon.
I have upgraded Flaltland from dishonest troll, to barking mad. I shall review that status if it transpires this thread is a puerile joke. I hope for his sake it is though. Evil spirits ffs...dear oh dear...
@Sheldon
You are speculating. Don't be obnoxious. This place would get boring without Users coming in to offer an opposing view. The death of a forum is when it just becomes a big circle jerk where folks congregate just to validate their values, beliefs and philosophy.
I'm not speculating I'm making an informed observation, clearly the remark was not meant literally, however if you think differently that's your call, but don't tell me what to think or say please. FYI this thread is not a debate it's a joke, it started with an asinine speculation about the existence of supernatural demons, and has offered less than fuck all to support that claim. I have not tried to validate any of my own views, beliefs or philosophies, only commented on the absurdly bizarre nature of the completely unevidenced claims by Flatland in this thread, and his trolling elsewhere.
@Bright Raven
"You are speculating. Don't be obnoxious."
Did I miss the election? Who made you forum censor?
We have a pretty decent moderator for that ,if he deems it necessary.. Otherwise ,people may jump to a many conclusions as they like.----- Why I regularly jump to six conclusions before breakfast ( with apologies to Lewis Caroll )
Although I wouldn't categorise Flatland as barking mad, I can certainly understand why Sheldon or other reasonable people might think so.
I just read it was a joke. That works too.
@cranky47: Bright Raven seems to have elected herself to the position of MORAL COMPAS. I think that is just GREAT. Some of you really need your butts put in check! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ......
“Walking” in, saying shit and not expressing an argument isn’t discussion. If I was face to face with drinks in hand, at a party...conversations, joking, opinions, etc would be going on. If some jackass talked shit to me out the gate - no intro- no discussion “just a fuckin opinionated assertion” I’d happily tell him to fuck off.
@Whitefire13
It is discussion. Put it under the bell curve and I will concede, it would fit on the far left. This is only entertainment to me. Maybe I came to the wrong place.
I don't see any benefit in being an asshole only because someone is not entertaining me at the level I demand.
@ Bright Raven
For some atheists in here, the type and level of their response is proportional to the absurdity and/or dishonesty of the theist making claims. If it is worthy of scorn and sarcasm, that is what will happen.
If the theist is respectful and makes an honest attempt at communicating, they are treated with respect.
@David Killens
I don't see the benefit of being obnoxious. It implies insecurity. At least it does to me.
I disagree with Sheldon that Flatland is a "troll" based on what Sheldon defines as an "informed observation". He might be and he might not be. He might simply lack for a better argument.
My point is simple. If you want a forum that reflects maturity, then don't behave like a juvenile. The juice just ain't worth the squeeze.
Having said that, let it be known that I have no authority for anyone's behavior. I just have a nature of expressing my observations.
@Bright Raven
Again you're entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine, I shall leave it to others who have read my posts for a while to determine if that one remark defines me as an "obnoxious Juvenile" as you seem to be implying. In the mean time you might read some of Flatlands trolling, here's a link.
https://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/debate-room/ive-never-felt-so-sha...
@Sheldon
I did not state that you are an "obnoxious juvenile" and thank you for being careful to not word it that way. I can see how you might conclude that I was making that implication. Candidly, it was not meant to be directed at you. I disagreed with you that you have enough data to declare Flatland a troll. Go look at his account. He has only been here long enough to start two threads. In fact, I have read all of his posts. I just don't see the harm you do.
My implication is broader. I don't see any benefit to behavior characterized by insults, crude language, juvenile behavior and arrogance. I have seen that on too many forums and it gets old.
@BR
"I don't see any benefit to behavior characterized by insults, crude language, juvenile behavior and arrogance. "
Fuck, I guess that's it for me then.
@Bright Raven: RE: "I don't see any benefit in being an asshole only because someone is not entertaining me at the level I demand"
I know you think you wrote something quite profound, enlightening, and erudite, but when I look at what you have written all I see is....
"[0o9imqw3tnuiv02938 4bt5]20-94t \1=-349t]-19v9it\mf-1 ,0\rt=- n195itny\10p9m et\ 012qti 12\0=9 01="
Perhaps YOU could be a bit more clear in the future?
@Bright Raven
Well I just gave a link to a thread he started that IMO is trolling, it doesn't have even the pretence of debate or even a topic to debate, what's more Flatland has ignored all cogent and substantive responses to his long tedious list of unevidenced claims. I still think his contribution in this thread is barking mad nonsense, and anyone claiming they would "destroy humanity" based on their religious beliefs being dissed by atheists online, could really expect far worse than that. TBH I thought I'd shown admirable restraint thus far, but I am certainly not shy in calling dishonesty when I see it in the way someone debates on here. I have no problem with the odd juvenile remark, especially if it's funny. However I think declaring he would happily destroy humanity because some atheists have dared reject his religious spiel on an atheist forum, is far more obnoxious than calling someone barking mad when they post a string of utterly bizarre claims to be able to evidence supernatural demons exist, and then produce absolutely nothing, and act as if they have achieved their goal.
@Sheldon
Thanks.
If you respond "in like kind", you are putting yourself at their level and that is where you will be placed.
Information. Information. Information.....that is all that matters. Emotions are wasted effort.
@Bright Raven
I'm not sure I have responded emotively at all, and as for information you might want to read my initial response to the thread OP, as I reserved the barking mad comment until I had read this woeful thread in it's entirety. I think enough people here have seen my contributions enough to know I seldom if ever react in kind, and am reasonably patient in giving posters plenty of latitude to offer something of value. I may be jaded and offer slightly less altitude than usual, but I have given Flatland a deal of my time and patience and all to no avail, as he has been dishonest, evasive, and finally resorted to trolling with his destruction of humanity comments in another pitiful thread he started that as I say, hasn't even the pretence of debate.
The one thing guaranteed to end my patience is theists preaching sermons at me, so I think I have been pretty patient with Flatland all things considered. Even after he has claimed he would happily kill me along with all of humanity, hard to see what information is required in response to such a claim if I'm being honest, as it strikes me as a slightly bonkers things to say at the very least.
@Sheldon
You have been more than generous in your responses to me. I probably over-stepped. You won me as a fan.
Be careful.
Ron
@Bright Raven
Very generous of you.
@Sheldon Re: Obnoxious juvenile
Ummmm.... For what it's worth, I believe BR might have had ME in mind when making that remark... *chuckle*... Can't fault him for that... lol...
@Bright Raven
By the way, howdy there, pardna. My apologies for not welcoming you sooner. Been hectic around the homestead lately with our new pup getting adjusted to her new home. Welcome to the AR, though. Been reading your posts, and it is great having you with us. Hoping to interact a bit more once things settle around here. Gotta get back to the yard work now before the wife whops me with her skillet. See ya more out on the range later.
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