Hey everyone, the 1-year anniversary for Religious Freaks is upon us and I’d like to offer myself to the altar :) Feel free to ask me questions on anything such as religion, work, life, etc. Just ask your questions in the comments section. At the end of this week, I’ll answer them best I can and post the results :) Have fun with it!
If you’re still waiting for the previous Just Ask! contestants, I appreciate your patience. I have contacted them and they assure me they’re working on the responses… but they’ve been extremely busy. Anywho, hang in there and hopefully we’ll get some answers soon!
Related posts:
- gasmonso Answers Your Questions… Finally!
- Humanistic Jones Answered Your Questions About Deism!
- Muhammed Has Spoken!
- deletedsoul Resurrected After 21 Days
October 25th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
wow, daring move gasmonso.
1 - Is this site your primary income? or have I been clicking adds for nothing? :P
2 - You, understandibly, haven’t joined any discussion, so what would you call yourself? Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Scientoligist?
3 - where do you find these articles?
4 - Thanks for all the great work (yeah, not a question)
October 25th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
I can’t help but wonder, with all the work to find articles and moderate comments for a site like this, just how much time do you spend each day managing this website?
October 25th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
How much, if at all, do you talk to your kids about religion or in any way influence beliefs on them(?),
and in general do you think alot about (trying to)/avoiding influencing some beliefs on them(?),
also how do you react to others influencing your kids with beliefs?
1, 2 or 3 questions, you decide.
I seem to remember you mentioning you had children, if you don’t, just assume it’s about what you are planning to do if/when you get some.
October 25th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Apologies if my questions are long, have many parts, and are somewhat leading/loaded. Thanks for doing this, it’s quality.
Some of your posts seem to indicate you’d like to see a world without religion (forgive me if I’m wrong about this). What do you think would happen in such a world; where would people turn to for guidance (read: being told what to do) and acceptance (read: without having to do anything other than say they belong to the group)? Do you think it’s possible to have some sort of Utopian/anarchaic/something society where people don’t need such institutions, or if not what kind of power structures would fill the void left by religion?
What do you think the right way is to combat religious idiocy? Should there be confrontation? Is it ok to use emotional appeals, fear, etc (fighting fire with fire) to get people to listen? What would you mandate teaching children in schools (about religion) if you had the power?
And maybe along with the last question, how much good do you think this website has done against religious idiocy? And how much harm, if any?
October 25th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Congratulations on maintaining a site which just keeps getting bigger and better!
I would like to know:
1. What kind of hate mail/issues/death threats have you had running a site which would be considered “controversial” by most?
2. Where do you see this site going?
3. How do envision your perfect world: morally, educationally and spiritually?
4. What is the number one thing wrong with organised religion?
5. What is the history behind your nickname!
Thanks Gasmonso!
October 25th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
1- does technilagical abilitied life exist in this universe or any other universe?
2- what are your veiws on the big bang and quantum physics?
3- why do people believe in fiction over facts?
thank you. i love your site, its one of the best ive found in the last 8 years of surfing….
aaron
October 25th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
do you plan on improving the site to show all active threads instead a couple recent comments?
October 25th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
i think i sent 30 articles total, might be nice if i could recollect them heh. i dunno, i still dig the story about the parrots “Parrots have been found in studies to give other parrots ‘names’” hmm this kinda gos against adam and his job of naming, right?
October 25th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
oopsie, i should so ask a question. If you were to found a religion featuring faith and spiritual practices, how would it function and how would it be made beneficial to mankind in lieu of alternatives.
October 25th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
gah should not send 3rd message x_x i screwed up, #1 dun matter how many i sent, you find many i don’t.
#2 not in lieu, if it was in lieu, you’d allready have the best such religion. just make the best one over alternatives ^^
October 25th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
Yes, I have a few questions.
How do can you possibly sleep at night knowing you are corrupting one or two if not tens of lives every year by turning them away from god? Do you think god is funny? Do you ever wonder how torturous your afterlife in hell will be?
Oh, I can tell you: god is no joke and neither is hell. God is very, very real and you will pay dearly for your insolence. There are ways god has ways of dealing with homosexual, blood-drinking, pot-smoking, democrat-voting, Satan-worshiping atheists like yourself! You with your thick black tar for blood and sulfer breath, your day will come!
(Cheers, gasmonso! Thanks for all the great work and enjoyable humor you have been giving us for the past year!)
October 25th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
gasmonso,
Thank you for your effort her, I know you try hard to be modrate as much as you can.
My question is:
1- What if we don’t have any law, what do you think life would be without religion, where is the value would come from. With out cops who you would fear to kill somebody or steal?
2- would you allow your daughter marry you son?
3- Do you think that Mulsims are the root of all evil, and do you think there is no extremist athiest for example Boris, just kidding.
You can answer any question you would like, you don’t have to answer all of my question, so other members get the chance to answer.
By the way, I never send gasmonso any threat email.
October 25th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
W00T! Means I wa slurking here since the beginings? ehehehe…
Mohamed:
1 - No laws? Probably would revert to some sort of pre-feodal society, after a while of anarchy. As for the source of morals, just ask yourself: If God didn’T exists (just try to grasp the concept), you be automaticaly pick up your rifle and kill everyone? Or would you still be an ok guy?
2 - I would find it weird, given they were brought up togerther as siblings and I would expect them to NOT have kids together but to adopt or use someone else to impregnate or carry a baby for both. Point is… as long as they are happy…
3 - Nothing is the root of all evil. Evil doesn’t exist. It’s merely a concept. Root of all probleme would be a better way to put it. Are Muslim the root of all problems? No. Problems (evil) have an infinite number of sources, and religion at large is only one of the thickest root there is. Not the only one nor the original one.
But, hey! If it is a good thing to teach kids that belief without real proof and against evidence, to foster in them irrationnal thoughts and delusionnal ideas about their life and it’s importance… religion is on the right path then…
October 26th, 2006 at 3:31 am
We can deny/doubt the existence a God, but as long as a part of our society do not share our view our children will be influenced by the religious babble(as I see it) around them.
My question:
How can I as a father give the most balanced picture of religion? If I wanted I could of course convince my son(4y) and daughter(2y) that there is no God, but I believe in giving them the option to choose for themselves, so I have ruled this out. Should I stand back and do nothing while the church ppl try to convince them that there is a God, and then let my children figure out whether or not they want to believe for themselves? The problems with this option are many as I see them, but to keep things simple the result would be:
a. my kids becomes a believer- hallelujah, deny science, deny reason, hallelujah, hallelujah
b. my kids choose to believe – we all know these ppl and they are probably even worse than the ppl in group a. since they uses their belief whenever is suits them, taking the high ground and always looks down on ppl in group c,d and e
c. my kids wont have any significant opinion on the matter- ok I guess, but is this really a possible outcome?
d. my kids choose not to believe- Since this involves doubt it means they will have to live with the ever present threat of being sent to hell because the chose not to believe, since this is the underlying context of Christianity even if they don’t preach about hell anymore
e. my kids becomes a non-believer – (Ill put both agnostics and atheists in this group for simplicity) great my kids became smart after all^^
Damn… I cant seem to phrase my question.
Ok short version of my question:
How the f*ck should one approach the problem with religion when raising kids. Deny it, ignore it, encourage it??? If all had ignored this issue it would have been OK, but this is not the case, Kindergardens/schools/etc are all places where believers spread the “good” news, so what are one to do?
If anyone understands my question please feel free to comment
October 26th, 2006 at 6:39 am
nownow neary, no discussing over here…. :P
I understand how much you want to pounce right on it, try not to.
I was wondering about those threat mails you’ve recieved. Do you consider them geniune? Has it influenced you in any way?
No i’m not going to ask if we can see them.
October 26th, 2006 at 6:59 am
NewOne , I think you hold religion in too high a regard. There is no more a balanced view of religion than there is a balanced view of “1 + 1 = 3”.
Something is either true or it is not. There is either evidence to support an assertion or there is none. In the case of religion, we are bereft of anything that should compel us to think it is true. There is no more evidence to support that the gods of Christianity, Islam, or any other presently fashionable dogma are any more real than Zeus, Thor, the Tooth Fairy, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Certainly I do not have all the answers, but in my opinion, the solution to this is simple: do not teach your children to believe in things that do not exist. Teaching children that Santa Claus is real or that there is an Easter Bunny primes them to believe in things that are false. Likewise, teach them that Christianity is a myth, right along with other myths that have appeared all throughout history. All you can ultimately do, in the long run, is give them the most accurate information possible and let them come to their own conclusions.
Richard Dawkins gives some treatment to this issue in chapter nine of The God Delusion. I highly recommend giving that material a look since I think you will find it has insights particularly relevant to your dilemma.
October 26th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Hello gasmonso!
Let’s see how well I can ask questions while doped up on industrial strength cough medicine.
1. What is your religous history?
2. Do you read much philosophy? If so, who are your favorite philosophers?
3. Do you read many books? If so what are you currently reading / read most recently?
October 31st, 2006 at 11:26 pm
hey gasmonso. thx for maintaining this website. i have found it to be a great resource and a valuable tool that is sharpening my knowledge. sharpening my responses to countless stupid questions and unfounded theories presented here almost daily.
here’s my question:
what are you going to do with gasmonso.com/?
November 1st, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Why do you hate Jesus?