To be fair, he is a good guy
And he's a good laugh to boot. I think he's just going through the phase of flexing his intellectual muscles for all to see, and having it come off as pretentious. We'll wait and see how it plays out
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:05, 2 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

why don't you go along having boned up (he he) on something like the Ontological argument
and the Cosmological argument and see how they get on.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:09, Reply)

I've actually got my own opinions on religion
Though they're best explained while heavily stoned, or on some form of halucinogenic. It makes them sound far more profound than they actually are
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:14, Reply)

You sound like my kind of person. If I'm honest with myself I would label myself as a hopeful agnostic.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:17, Reply)

I'd label myself as someone who doesn't think about it very often
because it has no bearing on my life
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:18, Reply)

I get jealous of people who have faith in something like that because I just can't do it myself. I think it's an attractive quality.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:20, Reply)

really?
it depends on just what they believe.

I was at a wedding the other weekend where the vicar was suggesting in no uncertain terms that without God our actions and achievements are meaningless, and that our purpose is to worship God.

If there is a God like that, then he is an insecure and selfish cunt.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:22, Reply)

I think that's part of the fun. Man's interpretation of 'God'. It's not what the person has faith in so much but that they have made the conscious choice to accept that there is a higher power and to live their live to a moral code. I know that's a huge sweeping statement but B3ta isn't the place for religious debate. I don't mean people who have been pretty much brainwashed by parents etc but people who had a need and filled it with faith.

I don't have that capacity and sometimes it can be a bit shit being a nihilist.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:27, Reply)

That's part of the gist of my belief
If there is some kind of 'creator' being (not even necessarily a creator - let's say a 'higher power'), it will be, by necessity, so much more complex than ourselves that we could never truly understand it. It would be like giving an ameba consciousness, and asking it to imagine us. It would just think of a giant ameba, possibly with a beard, who would care about ameba issues and think ameba-like thoughts.

It really does sound better on halucinogenics - throw in a couple of 'mans' and long pauses to stare at your hands for the full effect
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:32, Reply)

I think I might just be lonely.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:34, Reply)

I like this amoeba description
probably because I'm also a horrible stoner
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:46, Reply)

"I get jealous of people who have faith in something like that because I just can't do it myself"
I don't mean to be quite so rude, but if you pick that argument apart you are left with:
- Some people have it in them to believe in something physically implausible and unsupported by evidence as the the answer to most of life's difficult questions
- I do not have it in me to believe this (presumably due to the lack of evidence, etc?)
- I envy these people's blind faith.

Unless your argument is basically that "ignorance is bliss"?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:26, Reply)

it is

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:29, Reply)

I wouldn't say ignorance is bliss but apart from that pretty much spot on. I would like to be able to believe in a higher power so that when life was shitty I could take comfort in it. I would say I was definitely jealous of that.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:29, Reply)

But the rational part of your brain tells you that these people are, in all probability, deluded
and that in those times of dire need, there isn't actually anyone or anything listening to them or watching over them, let alone waiting to intervene.

Are you really that jealous?
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:34, Reply)

True,
But the thought that there is someone there can have powerful effects. It's like the placebo effect - it can give someone a reason to go on, to beat a disease that would otherwise have claimed them. Our minds are powerful things - deluding ourselves is not always necessarily a bad thing
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:37, Reply)

Not necessarily
But if it starts to affect your whole life, makes you waste time on silly weekly rituals and turns you into a self-righteous dick, then one could argue the effects are adverse.

This is, of course, a huge, sweeping generalisation, and the placebo effect can have peculiar and far-reaching benefits in the right contexts. You've got to draw the line carefully though.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:54, Reply)

Most people who believe in God aren't like that
Most just get on with it.
A lot don't even go to church.
Don't tar them all with the same brush as that prick next door to your folks.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

Haha, yes, you can probably spot the chip on my shoulder from where you are
As you can probably guess, he's not the first one to have riled me.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 15:01, Reply)

It must be ACE
Look, if I don't know my husband is fucking the nanny, then he's not fucking the nanny. You dig?
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:37, Reply)

my husband DJ the nanny Al the nanny Al
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:43, Reply)

I thought I'd hidden it well
*sadboatrace*
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:49, Reply)

I honestly honestly am
I think I am smart enough to realise that they probably are deluded but I am not arrogant enough to think I have all the answers and that I haven't been conditioned by my life experience and surroundings. So I could be massively wrong. And to be honest I hope I am.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:37, Reply)

I hope so too
Not sure there's a god, but I can deffo do magic.
I made Ioan Gruffudd come to my street.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:40, Reply)

I am convinced at some point my Sith powers will unveil themselves them to me

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:41, Reply)

Horatio Hornblower? on land?

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:42, Reply)

EGGZACKLY

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:43, Reply)

Oh, I would never presume to suppose that I did have all the answers. That would, indeed, be deeply arrogant
But I choose to accept the gaps in my knowledge rather than trying to fill them with a fairytale explanation.

I also won't deny that it would be lovely to find myself in some sort of idyllic afterlife once I pop my clogs in about 25 years' time. However, given there is not a shred of evidence to support this figment of someone's imagination, I find it much more soothing to pragmatically assume that death is the end of it, and, to paraphrase the side of the number 156, to stop worrying about it and enjoy* the life I have.

*_{Well, I should probably stop being such a cantankerous git, but I've time to work on that...}
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:43, Reply)

Yeah
It made my great grandma really happy and nothing freaked her out because she had God and her Pope Idol. JP2 was her favourite evah of all the popes. I think she'd have bought Pope Pannini stickers if they'd been available.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:35, Reply)

Pope swapsies! class
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:38, Reply)

"got... got...NEED!.. got..."

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:38, Reply)

in Benedict's case
don't you mean

'Gott, Gott, nein.. Gott' ?
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:41, Reply)

^ class

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:42, Reply)

I'm going for gold

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:47, Reply)

what with my estranged father
Henry Kelly?
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:50, Reply)

My Nana wants him dead

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:43, Reply)

That may count against her in the long run? Wanting Gods' representative on earth dead.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:46, Reply)

She said there's been a mistake
and she can tell God doesn't like him
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:48, Reply)

I reckon your nana is right

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:49, Reply)

^what she said
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:50, Reply)

dead naked and in her bed
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:47, Reply)

I'm sure they are available
amongst the kind of tat they sell outside novena masses.
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:44, Reply)

This reminds me of the time
my father forgot my mother's birthday (it fell on a Sunday) and he bought her a missal. He has a) never been allowed to forget it and b) paid for it for a long long time, possibly in diamonds
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:45, Reply)

I had this boss book called My Guardian Angel and I

( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:51, Reply)

I think I lived your childhood

( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:56, Reply)

People are just looking for an answer to the question.....why are we here.
We are here to MTFU and then enjoy the sweet release of oblivion.
( girlinthehole, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:30, Reply)

And you can prove that can you?
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:31, Reply)

Well I can after your dead.
All this 'well you can't prove there isn't a God' is just a pile of wank.
( girlinthehole, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:34, Reply)

haha
you knew what I meant though I hope. I agree with you I think I don't think anything happens after you die. But wouldn;t it be comforting to be on your deathbed thinking, 'I did alright, I was a decent human being, I practised my religion well and now I will get the reward.'

rather than 'shit I'm dying, what was it all for?'
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:36, Reply)

No.
I am looking forward to not existing. I can't think of anything less stressful.
( girlinthehole, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:38, Reply)

go in peace

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:38, Reply)

I intend to.

( girlinthehole, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:40, Reply)

only to other people who are stoned.
To the sober you're most likely saying "you know, man, you know? You know"
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:30, Reply)

Yeah, man, totally
But it's like...you know? Man, totally man
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:33, Reply)

dude, totally. That's deep.

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:35, Reply)

He sounds like a guy who was on my sister's course
Who thought that because he was studying English Lit, this meant any and all attempts to write essays and poetry would be profoundly brilliant, and he shared his outpourings through his own little navel-gazing blog.

They were, as you might expect, utter shit and he just looked like a pretentious bellend, but I'm sure some kindly soul will take pity upon him, shove his Byron Anthology firmly up his arse, and that will bring him back down to Earth a little.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:20, Reply)

It bugs me in QOTW
when people try and write intelligently and it comes across as forced. I hate when people write "he proceeded to do this. So I proceeded to do that". Why bother with the proceeded, why?!
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:31, Reply)

I like to use 'proceeded' sometimes. It makes it more storyish.
Some things can't be explained but they belong in certain places.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:36, Reply)

Obviously I'm not advocating a blanket ban on the word proceeded
it's just something I've noticed, people who use it more than once in a story are usually verbose and pretentious bellends. Just do a word search for proceeded on QOTW and you'll probably find what I'm talking about.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:39, Reply)

/qotw is full of pricks shocker

(PsychoChomp, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:43, Reply)

they're not all pricks
my story got populared a couple of weeks back. Are you saying I'm a prick PC? Are you?
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:45, Reply)

Yes

(PsychoChomp, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:48, Reply)

Why don't you say what you really feel!

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:51, Reply)

Because just saying "my testicles" all the time
Isn't a great basis for conversation.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 15:11, Reply)

Got to check for cancer dude.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 15:12, Reply)

Yeah, but it's not going to suddenly creep up on you if you leave them unattended for ten minutes.
It's an illness, not a traffic warden.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 15:21, Reply)

hahaha

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 15:35, Reply)

I wonder how it fares against 'needless to say'?
You could be onto something here, Kitzo.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:45, Reply)

QOTW most used bollocks word tallying
I like it
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:46, Reply)

or 'cue' or some typo of it

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:47, Reply)

oh that well annoys me.
I'm surprised Monty hasn't shouted at me for saying 'well' all the time yet.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:49, Reply)

I'm surprised I don't get beat-downs for how much I say awesome.
in real life as well.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:51, Reply)

Hmm. I do worry that my own writing style makes me look a bit up myself.
(Although in my defence, it's a long time since I tried to say anything vaguely profound on QOTW...)
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:36, Reply)

It's difficult to be objective about one's own writing
(how pretentious did that sound?) but you can tell when someone is just sticking words in to make themselves sound more eloquent, like when people unnecessarily use 'myself' instead of 'me'.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:41, Reply)

True, and the same goes for the bad habit of including a bad sexual metaphor or simile in every other sentence.

(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:44, Reply)

I complained about Pooflake doing that
but PC shot me down with an irony burn.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:46, Reply)

Gaypond used to be good at them. In fact, I must admit I found Spanky funny when he first started.
But there are numerous dead horses in that genre that have been flogged even longer and harder than one of my old "Bumder Alerts."

Edit: And then just look at the great big throbbing metaphors in that! I'm such a fucking hypocrite.
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:49, Reply)

Yeah I quite liked Spanky's first few
and really, his stories would still be quite entertaining if he didn't lace them with all the inneundos. I know everyone got fed up with Legless' wild stories, but I always thought they were entertaining and really that's all I'm looking for on a Thursday lunchtime.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:50, Reply)

I would have liked his stories better
If it didn't feel like he was using some kind of specially designed formula to produce them

Embarrassing position to be found in + explicit mention of sex/masturbation + overwrought metaphors = Best Of page. You could probably programme a bot to do it for you - Spankybot 2.0
(Godwin's Lawyer is more evil than Hitler, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:55, Reply)

Or a phallic paperclip that pops up as you type
"Hello. It looks as though you're trying to write a surefire hit for QOTW. Would you like help?
- Yes please, I would benefit from a template and a host of dodgy metaphors and euphemisms
- No thanks, I have enough depraved sexual fantasies lurking in the back of my mind for a lengthy, lengthy run of these. (Apologies for length!)"
(LongJohnBaldry, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

effectively they were just a very complicated way of telling people
that he has sex sometimes.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

I used it twice!
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:44, Reply)

A future Pulitzer prize winner such as yourself? I won't believe it.

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:47, Reply)

That's the nicest thing you've ever written to me

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:53, Reply)

I really hate that myself and yourself thing

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:45, Reply)

I hate yourself.

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:49, Reply)

no you don't, you love myself

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:51, Reply)

it's true
I can't fight it any longer. Wait, maybe that's the problem, I haven't been fighting it at all.
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:53, Reply)

why would you?
it's so pure and right
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:55, Reply)

I bet that's what priests say to little boys.

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:57, Reply)

*shrugs*
it works for them
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

My friend's aunt, when she heard him letting himself into the house
would always call out "Is it yourself?".
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:52, Reply)

is she Irish?

( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:54, Reply)

Yup
from Coleraine or somewhere up there.
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:57, Reply)

Thought so my relatives do the same.
I love it.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

Really, any one who answers that will be telling the truth

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:54, Reply)

Unless they're mental

(Zoz prayed for twink on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:56, Reply)

officelol

( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:56, Reply)

Or they're Rogerthestarfish
or Ed
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:59, Reply)

unless they said no?
fuck I'm confused.
( SteveFrench Cardio is for homo's. do you even lift bro?, Wed 1 Sep 2010, 14:56, Reply)