'Ever read the Hitchiker's Trilogy? That might explain it.'

Why? What's the explanation?

Saying that, i loathe killing things/seeing things being killed. I have much empathy with animals et al, but when it comes to people i couldn't care any less. It's odd.

'Think on that a while.'

I shall. When i care. Which will be sometime after never.

'Jacob, maybe you have an irrational fear of the unknown/spiritual.'

Surprisingly i don't. I once thought of myself as Agnostic, but then realised i believe in a lot of things. Just not in the conventional way.

'The would certainly explain your weird little fetish of trashing organized religion/God every other freakin' post.'

Duely noted, though it is also worth adding i didn't bring it up. I've had the same signature since July time, and until recently nobody has ever said anything about it. And until now, i haven't made any direct debates towards Religion.

'"And we laughed at the stars while our feet clung tight to the ground. So pleased with ourselves for using so many verbs and nouns. But we were all still just dumber than the dirt in the ground."'

Black Cadillacs?

'You obviously refuse to even entertain the idea that you could have done or said something that wasn't appropriate'

As stated above, i've had the signature since July time. If you have a problem with it, you could have informed me then, if only to amuse me for a while whilst bored on t'internet.

Okay, I just gained a smidge more respect for you. Yes. Black Cadillacs. I happen to be slightly obsessed with Modest Mouse. I didn't like good news as much as Lonesome Crowded West or Moon and Antarctica but it's still a great album.

Believing in things but not in the conventional way. . . isn't that what agnosticism is?

I'm afraid that the draft will be reinstituted and they'll find some way to keep me from sitting it out as a conscientous (sp?) objector. I wouldn't doubt it, those weaselly bastards. My Civics teacher told me that you don't have to be part of a religion that strictly believes in peace to be a conscientous objector, but I still don't know how much power it would carry if I said "I'm agnostic, but I was raised by Quaker parents."

I thought agnostic was undecided...

*Looks it up in WordWeb (Great program, by the way)*
Agnostic:
Noun: A person who doubts truth of religion
Adjective: Uncertain of all claims to knowledge

Yay. I was right.

Agnostic is, to my understanding, someone who doesn't believe, yet doesn't not-believe.

Which reminds me, apparently the Vatican have documentation written by Jesus himself declaring that you don't have to be part of Organised Religion to worship. And that worshipping in your own mind etc is just as good as being in Church.

But if such documentation was leaked, the Vatican as well as other random Churches will quickly lose their funding and their cash flow will gradually deplete to zero.

*resists urge to comment on Vatican and Jesus*

NEW RULE: No more religion talk. Or draft talk. This is a discussion for IRRATIONAL fears. I'd say the draft is a rational fear to most people.

groan

Must I explain every obscure reference I make?

In Life, The Universe and Everything Arthur Dent finds himself in the cavern of a strange bat-like creature with an unpronouncable name. blah blah exposition blah blah plot blah blah giant statue... Basically the bat thing has reincarnated a thousand times as different creatures (man, fly, bowl of petunias...) but in each life has been killed (accidentally) by Arthur. Eg he swatted a fly, hunted a rabbit for food, jumped through an eddie in the time space continuum (good for eddie!) on a couch, lands at Lords during the Ashes test and gives an old man a heart attack; that sort of thing. Thus with his last life he takes his revenge on poor old Arthur.

Read the book to discover how this thrilling roller-coaster ride of tragedy will end.

One of my favorite passages.

Irration fears, you say?

I sometimes find myself under the terrible notion that I shall fall asleep...and, "fail to arise," in the morning.

Yes, we all understand that double posting sucks, but...

I do not at this time have knowledge to such a document, but I do believe that church attendance and related activities are not necessary. If a person is a Christian, and acts and thinks as a Christian, nothing more is required.

But, this may or may not be partly speculation. I shall attempt to discover if there is truth behind my words.

Neph, you have breaken the prime rule and as such will be bent over my knee and spanked.

*whack whack*

Nooooo! This punishment travels bound the bounds of cruelty! The Geneva Convention shall hear of this, you sadistic warmonger! Make the bad man stop!

*Takes a Chill Pill.*

But if my base is not within my sovereign borders, the Geneva Convention rules do not apply.

*Snaps fingers. Minions and Clones appear. Nate_dog_woof is promptly tarred and feathered.*

Nepharski, are you suggesting that Christianity is the only correct path?

Nate, if you attempt to punish me for asking, the consequences will be dire.

So as to validate this post: sometimes when I'm really sick and my nasal passages are all blocked up and I have to breathe through my mouth and I'm trying to sleep, I have this fear that I'm going to just stop breathing and suffocate in my sleep. Hmm this might not be very irrational though, since it's happened to me at least thrice in my life. I woke up having completely ceased breathing, for quite some time as far as I could tell, gasping and choking. That was horrible. Practice nocturnal respiratory safety; wear nasal strips if your nose is blocked.

That does happen to be the general concept, yes.

You are planning to revive your malicious assault on me, yes? Or am I expressing mere paranoia?

okay, how's this for an idea: start "lets bash christianity" and/or "you're all going to burn in hell" threads and leave this thread for what it is meant to be.

Where to start...

Spiders coming out of the shower head. Freakin' spiders... And being under the sea so deep that it is black (If that is humanly possible.). So I guess I have a fear of ignorance. (I make myself sound soo cheesey, don't I?)

I just remembered this morning that I have a fear of looking into peoples eyes. I know, it sounds like I'm a rude bastard, but I can glance into someones eyes, like I do at work when I am on the checkout, but I can't look at them for more than a few seconds. Unless (now this is where it gets ever stranger) they are more than a few metres away from me, where I can look them in the eyes for as long as I wish.
I am trying to figure out why it is... I'm hoping it's some really cool reason like I can see someones inner self through their eyes or something like that.
Maybe I'm a robot and if I look to much I burn holes in things!

Thats actually a fairly common thing. It is sometimes related to a minor case of autism. I heard once that one in ten people have symptoms that point to a minor case of autism.


In the mornings when I get ready to work I need to completely drench my hair and then towel it off to make it managable (otherwise boofarama!). If I'm the only one home or its early enough to be dark and creepy, I get paranoid that someone is going to sneak behind and attack me. My theory is that I've probably seen just a bit too much of the scream movies.

A similar thing is that when I step into the toilet cubicle at work and close the door, I always need to turn around and check that there was no-one hiding behind it - even though there's no room to hide behind when it was fully open.

I used to not make much eye contact with people. Now I do it as much as possible. Sometimes I do it just to entertain myself-- I keep my gaze locked on another person's eyes as I'm talking to them until they get uncomfortable and look away. It's hilarious. There are still some people I can't make eye contact though. . . whenever I do, it feels like they know what I'm thinking, and then because it feels like they know what I'm thinking I start thinking about things about them that I wouldn't want to be thinking if they knew what I was thinking. And stuff.

I really hate it when people think that THEIR religion is the only correct one, and any deviation isn't kosher with God. That really bugs me.

Eye contact can be a big thing with picking people up.

Always smile and make eye contact. Prefarably whilst not carrying a bloodstained axe.

Eye contact also became really hard for me a few years ago, but now it's easy again. I used to be really insecure sometimes, and I think my brain was functioning like that of an ostrich. If I can't see them, they can't see me... or something. Oh, and random fact: It's easier for me to look into someone's eyes that are dark brown compared to someone with light-colored eyes. So strange.

Last time I was notified, you were under the idea that all religions, in any and all of their forms and incarnations, were bogus.

Furthermore, many (if not all) religions declare they are the one path.

The Raiseny man doesn't think that way. He's said one or two things that I was like umm.. hey, that's sort of generalizing Christians, but he's a good guy. Anywho, I think he was talking about individuals who declare their religion is the one and only path for everyone in that arrogant sort of way, not the religion itself. Most religions do say they are the one and only path, but the people don't have to go around shoving that down people's throats. I'm certain he wouldn't have a problem with someone just saying "Hey, this is what I personally believe." because I have done just that in the past and no one attempted to tear me apart. However, when someone goes around announcing "I'm right! You're wrong! You're going to burn in hell! Blah blah!", it can be a bit annoying to anyone. My religion says it's the only right path, I, on the other hand, do not have to go around saying it if someone believes something different.

Correct me, if I faulter, but:

I was providing the solution to his curious quandary . There is no crime or sin in such an activity as that.

It's not like that. I'm not shy or anything, I just can't look in there for more than a few seconds.

'It's not like that. I'm not shy or anything, I just can't look in there for more than a few seconds.'

It's because if you do they'll turn to stone!

Dammit! I'm mofo cool!

I'm also have fear from the deep seas.

Well there is a lot of creepy stuff down there. I heard that every single deep ocean trip that has been made EVER has discovered new species.

The Quakers don't declare that theirs is the only correct path. And I think the fact that so many religions do is what's really fundamentally wrong with organized religion. People should find their own ways to worship or meditate or whatever it is they need to do, or, if they don't believe in anything, that's fine too. But even if you are part of a religion that is declared to be the only correct religion by members of that religion, said members needn't go around forcing it down the throats of others, like Ambi says.

So. Yeah. I just wanted to set the record straight. I don't agree with all aspects of any one religion, particularly that aspect, but I'm not against those religions. Unless your religion is about forcing other people to join your religion. Then I'm against it.

How can you hate the deep sea ? All the mysteries and creatures we don't know about . Then again I'm obssessed with giant squids which makes me love the sea .

Just to clear things up, I wasn't commenting on the post in which you answered his question; it was the one after that.

I get a little nervous when I am below large amounts of water.

Does that happen often?

I am horribly afraid of my own mortallity. It used to bug me a lot, then I got over it for a while. Now it's back, with a vengence even.

It's just that I have no idea what will happen. I want to believe in an afterlife, reincarnation, but those seem like very difficult concepts to accept. But at the same time, I don't just want to rot in the ground.

God, I can feel my heart racing as I type this. I mean, this kind of fear is like "jolt up out of bed in a cold sweat and not being able to sleep again for several hours" material. It seriously freaks me out.

I gotta go get something to take my edge off.

Oh no, this thread is turning into another religious debate. I remember the last time this happened, and it destroyed like three threads.
And the time that me and that spoon MasterChieft did as well.
Ah... Good times.

Speaking of irrational fears.

I'm afraid that thread will turn into another religous debate. God help us all. Or my fear shall murder me.

Alcar...

Below large amounts of water? Like being in a submarine? Or scuba diving? Or um... walking through some tunnel under a tank in an aquarium?

What are you talking about? I'm saying I'm afraid of death, not bashing Jesus.

I mean, you guys console everyone else, but I put my heart on a f*cking platter and I get blamed for "Starting a religious debate."

Like in some aquariums where they have these huge tanks. I think the glass will break.

I have never forced anything down any individual's throat, much less religion.

Also, Christianity is, "a gift," to be accepted, if you will. I am most sorry if another member of my religion has attempted to force the aforementioned beliefs upon you, for they were incorrect to do as such.

Christians are to offer their beliefs. None of this, "Convert or Die," nonsense.