Tattoos

[Mormagil]

Whoa!!

 

[Hell Mike]

What do you guys think about a tattoo like this:

I want a tattoo which is the pearl gates of heaven being over run with vines. The gates would be all rusty and old looking. The point of the tattoo would be that heaven was created, but never used.

I would probably get on my should blade or my chest, like on my pectoral muscle. I think it's a cool concept for a tattoo, or is it incredibly shitty?

EDIT: fucking typos

I think that sounds kool, but the fact that you felt you had to explain the point of it is quite gay so never do it again unless asked, and even then there's the option of the blank kool stare.

 

[swizzlenuts]

I see what you mean. I really just don't want something like Glenn Benton where it's blasphemous to the absurd. I mainly spelled it out because I think it's slightly creative on my part. However, I'd never explain it, unless I was asked. It's something personal to me, and I feel it's more than a cool design, which I think is dumb for a tattoo.

I also can't decide if I should actually do it... Tons of people always hate the tattoo wish they didn't in hindsight.

 

[lurch70]

that idea is cool ... but i have a feeling it does not mean too much to you personally.

me, if I ever got one, it would have to mean something deep down, otherwise ... i'd just get a sticker and put it on the fridge.

 

[swizzlenuts]

It does mean a lot to me though. I care that people believe in something that doesn't exist. I think it's a huge issue in my life because it can have huge implications about my future. I don't think it's just 'cool'.

 

[Krilons Resa]

I care that people believe in something that doesn't exist.

That is your first mistake right there bro. And a HUGE one.

 

[swizzlenuts]

How is that a huge mistake?

 

[Krilons Resa]

Why would you care what other people believe in? And how does that bring about personal growth and happiness within YOU? Live & let live. Worrying about what other people believe in, or anything else of the sort will only bring about suffering and frustration. It's extremely fruitless & pointless.

When I used to care about such things, it was the most miserable time in my life.

 

[lurch70]

its true in some sense ... selfish pricks are a lot happier and live longer

 

[Krilons Resa]

I <3 Lurch

 

[lurch70]

... George Carlin told me that ... not that he <3 me ... but rather that "selfish ... "

 

[swizzlenuts]

I worry what other people believe because some of them are in charge of our country. Some of them don't believe in Evolution, which can drastically hurt our countries knowledge in science and hurt our overall search for the 'truth'. Some think it's an abomination for two people of the same sex to marry, which is in direct conflict with our constitution and our human rights. Some people believe homeopathy works, which can put themselves in a lot of harm if they direly ill. Some people think it's okay to refuse treatment to their sons or daughters because it says so in their holy book. Some people actually believe that people can be possessed with a demon, and will kill their family members because of it. Some people believe that they can talk to the dead, and they tell people that they are in contact with them, which prevents them to deal with reality.

Also, false beliefs have had some beneficial results to society, but not one of them can cannot be obtained without the false belief.

People accept things for the stupidest reasons, and helping them see why it's not necessarily so helps them in their lives and in our society. We want to make the human race as best as possible, and if we can weed out all of these false beliefs with logic and evidence (the only verifiable ways we have about knowing what we know), our society can improve and we can move on to bigger and better things.

However, saying all of this, I do maintain the position that they can believe anything they want to, but I can also criticize their beliefs and call them idiots. Which can, in return, help someone who is on the fence make an informed decision.

I care about people, and I want to do the most good things and the least amount of bad things to everyone. I care what happens in the future, this stuff will have an effect on my children(if I ever have them) or any person I care about. I do not want people to be suppressed when something like an argument could have stopped it. Why would I sit back and let society go back to something like the dark ages?

I think education, books, podcasts, and artistic expression are a great way to spark conversation with people that differ in views, and from this . This is probably the only thing I'm optimistic about, but I truly believe we can get rid of all this bullshit.

 

[swizzlenuts]

In this regard, my tattoo would spark conversation about the topic and help everyone out. I also don't find that I'm being selfish about this.

 

[lurch70]

jakprints.com + plane ticket = front page news and no body scars (except from possible police brutality)

 

[Krilons Resa]

eh, you and I think completely differently swizzle. (more like different wavelengths than differently, per se) i still wouldnt throw u out of bed for a mere few crumbs though.

 

[swizzlenuts]

Yeah, I figured as much. As long as you understand how I stand it's okay.

You're still in my ace book too

 

[lurch70]

i also think most metal shirts serve the same purpose ... converstion starters. I know where you are coming from too swizzle, I just think that its too much of a commitment for something that might be temporary ... unless you are going to go out and really be involved in this.

 

[swizzlenuts]

I'm not deeply involved now, except I like to talk about these type of things all the time. I read about it, I listen to people talk about, and I probably will end up doing more.

I'm still on the fence about the tattoo... I do really enjoy the concept and the implications though.

 

[spaffe]

@Swizzle: Your post got me curious: how do you regard the fact the overwhelming majority of people throughout history have believed in some sort of metaphysical reality (including some of the greatest minds of humankind) and that all civilizations that we know of have had a conception of god?

I've never really met an atheist of your (specifically american?) kind, so I'm interested to know how the arguments go. Feel free to redirect me somewhere if you can't be arsed to write something down

 

[swizzlenuts]

@Swizzle: Your post got me curious: how do you regard the fact the overwhelming majority of people throughout history have believed in some sort of metaphysical reality (including some of the greatest minds of humankind) and that all civilizations that we know of have had a conception of god?

I've never really met an atheist of your (specifically american?) kind, so I'm interested to know how the arguments go. Feel free to redirect me somewhere if you can't be arsed to write something down

Well, throughout history, how could we explain the diversity of life? How could we explain how were came into existence? How did human come about? Why are there something instead of nothing? Well if we have no evidence or even thought of a natural explanation and a god is seen as the truth, then it's logical sound to say it was God who created it.

Also if we look back through our evolutionary past, we can see how believing in something that isn't true, was selected for. Let's say, it's selected for a person to belief what their parents say no matter what without critically examining them. Well they tell us stay away from this part of the forest, stay away from the cliff, stay away from these berries, stay away from this or that, god created us, etc., then we'd take all the good advice, yet have some shitty advice with it. This would be a much better explanation rather than that there is actually a god, Occam's Razor...

Some of the best thinkers in the world didn't yet understand genetics or evolutionary theory, so it makes sense that they still believed in some sort of god by the same argument as you put forth, "Why would so many people believe it if it's not true?". Look at Thomas Jefferson for example, he didn't believe in the Christian god, but was essentially a deist because he didn't know how we came to be.

Also, look at how people used to think the earth was flat. Just look at it... it's a very reasonable assumption to say that it is. Hell, even now it's a reasonable assumption, granted it's a small scale. One thousands of years ago could say, "Just look, it's flat. As far as we can see, it's flat, therefore the earth is flat." I think the same applies to our case, the more we know about the universe and the more information we get, the more it points on not needing a god.

EDIT: For some reason I had the face at the top. I took it off