In the past there appeared to be more Believers here in Fluther, where did they all go?

They probably persist, but must certainly weary of the scaldings rendered from wading into religious waters hereabouts.

I’m sure many of them, including me, magically turned agnostic.

Why and where does anyone go when they leave Fluther?
Some may not have liked having their beliefs refuted, some may have just gotten bored and moved on, or busy, or sick, or moved, or their lives took a big turn of change, Some people are more thin skinned and can’t handle, even mild confrontation, disagreement, conflict.
impossible to say.

One things for certain if you can’t handle a little heat on occasion Fluther is not for you.haha

When you say “Believers”, do you mean Christians or something else?

Maybe they’re still here but keeping shtoom.

I was gone for a while because I needed a break. It had nothing to do with my religious beliefs.

I’m guessing the Rapture, uh, Raptured and we’re all in some deep metaphysical shit.

Aren’t we all believers? Is it even possible for someone to have absolutely no beliefs?

@Blondesjon LOL That’s it! All the believers have ascended and it is only those of us going to hell in hand basket that are left. haha

To which religion do “Believers” prescribe?

Are Budhists, Jews, Muslims, and others not “Believers” as well?

They’re off having a tea party. You set their cause back so many times you weren’t invited.

I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe – I believe what I believe is right.

George W. Bush

I believe in the magic goose that lays the golden eggs and lives in the giants castle in the clouds. I just need to sell my cow and buy some magic beans. lol

I believe I shall have another dish of ice cream.

Ooooh, ooooh, oooh, I’m here. I’m here. LOL

I remember when I first came on board. It got really annoying with all the weekly, test your religion stamina questions. I think many are still here, but got wise to answering the questions that were only asked to bash them with.
I stopped answering them and quickly learned to ignore those only looking to harass and answer those who asked questions in earnest.

I think many just decided to never answer period.
I’m sure there are many who look at your question and simply skipped it because they didn’t want it to turn ugly.

Raptured?

Well, Justin has taken a severe tumble in his personal life and career… so people aren’t as interested in following his life or his music. He has been, from my POV, an extreme disappointment.

OH… SORRY… you didn’t say Belieber… you said Believer??? oppps My bad.

@Pied_Pfeffer *_When you say “Believers”, do you mean Christians or something else?
I mean those who believe in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and resurrected on the third day, name they call themselves notwithstanding.

@Coloma One things for certain if you can’t handle a little heat on occasion Fluther is not for you.
I thought it was whine to the mods when that happened

@dxs Aren’t we all believers?
In short, no.

@cookieman To which religion do “Believers” prescribe?
Whichever one recognizes Jesus Christ as a member of the Godhead, who came to Earth, sacrificed Himself as the propitiation for the sins of man, who rose o the third day from the grave; whichever you match up to that, then that is the one they subscribe to.

And for the record, I am absolutely a believer. Just not what you believe, so get over it. That is why we are here.

from the merriam webster

Believe
intransitive verb

1 a : to have a firm religious faith

b : to accept something as true, genuine, or real <ideals we believe in> <believes in ghosts>

2 : to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something <believe in exercise>

3 : to hold an opinion : think <I believe so>

No mention of “Jesus” or “Godhead”. So herein lies the fundamental problem with the question. By proper definition, we are all believers in SOMETHING.

It should be asked, ”...there appeared to be more believers in Christ…”

I wouldn’t normally nitpick, but your appropriation of the word “Believer” to promote your specific beliefs (about Christ) is just so arrogant and myopic. I thought a neutral dictionary definition was needed.

Where did all the believers go
Gone to therapy every one
When will they ever learn
When will they ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…ver learn

but i am a believer!
allahu akhbar! Bombala!

This one took his customary after-breakfast nap, that’s all.

Do we have one here to cool things down.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DjydOI4MEIw

Thank you clarifying that you mean Christians, @Hypocrisy_Central, there are many “Belivers” that are not.

I don’t remember there ever being that many Christians here. Yes, some I know who are believers are gone, but many who are atheists are gone too. If there were statistics about this, I think all they would sure is the community being smaller. More atheists, less Christians, or so it seems to have always been since 2009. (not including people who are believers but non Christian) Couldn’t say about before I joined though.

Maybe they decided that sarcastic, digital, turd slinging had no place in their life.

@cazzie And for the record, I am absolutely a believer. Just not what you believe, so get over it
I was never on it, you have a belief in something but you are not a believer of Christ, that is the way you want it, so deal with it.

@cookieman No mention of “Jesus” or “Godhead”. So herein lies the fundamental problem with the question. By proper definition, we are all believers in SOMETHING.
In the context of this question, we are talking about Christ who is everything, but if that is too hard for people to follow and they want to be as Republicans getting hung over every syllable of a bill lined with pork, I will put the cookies on the very lowest shelf so on one gets confused over Who we are speaking of. ~~

@ucme Gone to therapy every one
Must be those dictionary type believers, Believers of Christ have Him; much better than a shrink*

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One Maybe they decided that sarcastic, digital, turd slinging had no place in their life.
Perhaps this ”enlightened place”, had too little enlightenment in it. LOL

@ucme I was thinking of that same song!

@chyna great minds & also bodies…which is nice.

@Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One
Yeah, instead they will just continue to lynch gays, molest altar boys, and blow themselves up in crowded places.

@ragingloli
“Yeah, instead they will just continue to lynch gays, molest altar boys, and blow themselves up in crowded places.”
People doing those things are not being very Christian. By the standards you’re presenting all humans are rapists if even one is.

I’m still here, I have always avoided such questions as I find the nastiness level of people to other people revolting and not a fun or productive use of my time

I think @ragingloli is more saying ‘Once a rapist, always a rapist’, @Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One.
The wider Christian Church has committed some hideous atrocities in the name of Christ. Akin to Hermann Göring dismissing his Nazi past to ‘youthful indiscretion’.

I’m not doubting your sincerity, but the fact that the same teachings result in your calm thoughtfulness and The Westboro Baptist Church should probably be an indication that the Bible needs a little lot of tightening up to remain viable.

But, it’s sacrilegious to tamper with the Bible, isn’t it? Full circle, self perpetuating.

[...the Bible needs a little lot of tightening up to remain viable.
It is MAN that needs the tightening up, not the Bible.

@ibstubro
If you’re seriously going to equate all of Christianity to the (disowned by religious organizations worldwide as rubbish) westboro baptist church, than there’s nothing I could say to remove you from your madness.

I like that scene in the TV series ‘Firefly’ where River Tam tries to ‘fix’ the preacher, Book’s bible. It really illustrated the problem of trying to apply logic to its contents. The Christian bible is not an encyclopedia. It is more like one of the most poorly written user manuals ever to be mass printed and cause mass hysteria and confusion around the globe.

^ _It is more like one of the most poorly written user manuals ever to be mass printed….] _
No, it is more like any law written in the US, it keeps things in order but I doubt anyone would try to unravel it in court if they had an issue because they do not know how to interpret it. If you went to law school, you would be taught. Those who cannot understand the Bible can’t because they are like John Q trying to understand real estate law without going to law school.

@Hypocrisy_Central you have to admit that it is one of the most difficult books to look for 100% logic in, and it has been wielded like a weapon and been used as a tool for war and destruction because of, well, people.

If you ever watched Firefly, you would be familiar with Book’s response to River, which I thought was pretty great. He says, ‘River, you don’t fix the bible. The bible fixes you.’

I am not equating all of Christianity with Westboro, @Apparently_Im_The_Grumpy_One.

My point was that if a philosophy is so broad and vague that it can be misinterpreted by nut-jobs like Westboro, then it’s hard to claim Christianity is the One path to salvation. It’s the same leap-of-faith that mainstream Muslims face when confronted with the World Trade Center attacks.

”...disowned by religious organizations worldwide…”
And yet, to the non-believer, you still share the same faith, like it or not.

@cazzie [… you have to admit that it is one of the most difficult books to look for 100% logic in, and it has been wielded like a weapon and been used as a tool for war and destruction because of, well, people.
”Sokath, her eyes uncovered!!” (sorry for the Star Trek reference, I could not help myself). You have taken a small step into Spiritual Wisdom and not even knew it. The operative word is people, God was never wrong; it was those who attempted to follow Him or those who never did. I would agree, if you tried to read the Bible as a novel, or outside the Spirit, you could get very confused. When I started dealing with the Bible in the Spiritual, the natural made near total sense. If one tried to read a book on inheritance law as a novel or pleasant reading, they would never grasp it.

Finally, an answer most of Fluther can get behind.

Star Trek and the Bible are rough equals. Phantasmagorical analogies of the past and future.

You have taken a small step into Spiritual Wisdom and not even knew it. You have no idea about my ‘Spirtual Wisdom’ and you aren’t the type of person I would talk to about it. Nor does your faint praise mean a jot.

^ Ooo….you will certainly lurve off that. ~~

I’m a Belieber.

I am a believer in myself. Only.