Only if they are serious about wanting information. NO threat’s, trying to convert us, or lies. I’m willing to have a philosophical talk.

I've only been a member for a few hours. If I was accosted by a believer, I have some tactics that I use to dampen their ardor. Sometimes I say to a fundamentalist trying to get me to accept Christ in my heart, "I believe in evidence; when you ask me to have faith, I will tell you that I have faith in science based evidence that can be proven via visual and auditory perception". I am also comfortable saying that per such evidence, no one has ever proven or disproven the existence of an omnipotent entity who created our universe, solar system, and Planet Earth merely out of its own free will. I also believe that any entity that creates a race of beings, gives that race free will, then punishes those whose exercise of free will does not follow some arbitrary religious commandments, is a psychopath.

If a religious person joins and is respectful to others here then I'm okay with it. I would enjoy discussing religion with a religious person as long as they are rational and polite about it. Anyone who comes here trying to start trouble or spread religion should be banned.

Also, there's absolutely nothing that a religious person could say to sway me to their religion. Nothing short of empirical evidence could do that and no one has submitted any real evidence of the existence of any gods.

Mmm; I hear/read what you're stating, and hope/trust that not too many "vocal but not thoughtful" theists will over-post here; but.... Am fine with folks as long as they are civil and earnest in witnessing for what they believe in. In fact, am hopeful that religious individuals might learn from participating... even if they at times proselytize occasionally. Am happy to try proffering my views in return; hoping to sway believers to rationality.

For a site that is about "..promoting universal truths and peaceful life without religion" there are a whole lot of posts about religion. So I don't suppose a few more would do any harm.

No, i don't think that they should be here. One of christianitys' prime motivations is to convert the masses, and I don't think that is in the spirit of this group. Besides the site is called agnostics.com not anyone.com.

I contributed to this thread before but I cannot see my post, which is odd. So I will keep it brief and add my support to the general view here that there are other places for believers and non believers to engage. This should be for non believers only to share and debate. Getting into debates with religionists is easy, online and in the real world. What's hard is connecting to other non religionists. This is a great place for that.

Yeah, I’m not big in letting religious people as well. I joined the group to meet people that are of similar thinking. That being said, I think we already have a enough diversity with the different types of people here: atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, etc..

You can't be annoyed if you don't participate with their challenges. Personally, I like a little challenge because it makes me think and sharpens my reasoning. Too often though their cognitive dissonance gets boring and I simply end the discussion, because it is pointless to argue about the color of the teapot in orbit around the Earth.

" Too old to Argue" ?. Can I please point out that you do not HAVE to argue. You just have to be right. If you are getting tired then you are doing something wrong. It is possible to view each conversation with a religious person as an opportunity for improving your responses and getting THEM to change their minds. Please google Jennifer Hancocks website to find out " How to win an argument without actually arguing" .

One technique is to give up debating - which implies TWO sides when there are multiple sides . Just call it discussion and keep looking for things upon which you do agree. Plenty of other contentious points will arise though.

Here in Henley on Thames UK we have a Meetup group called " Skeptics and believers" where the two sides amicably meet to have stimulating and refreshing discussions. 20 minute 'primer' talks from one side or the other followed firstly by group Q&A and then smaller group table discussions. It is sometimes difficult to get people to leave. This is the way that society should evolve. Example of a talk " Is logic and reason the only way to know?"

Please remember that religious people, by their very nature, never give up, never go away always want to convert you. We will have to wait for them to die and just make their last years comfortable. Please do not wear yourself thin though.

My first reaction was to say, "hell no" but then, I realize perhaps that is hasty. I think it may be beneficial for those who are considering why they believe. They may learn to open their minds and recognize it is okay to take the driver's seat, heal cognitive dissonance, or,whatever! I know I didn't suddenly decide I know longer had beliefs in Christianity. It was a process. As for those who may come here to "preach".... lol, I think they will be weeded out swiftly. Also, I would give them kudos for trying. I am not vulnerable to them.

Part of me says "hell no!", and part of me says "whatever". They can join, which strikes me as pointless, but the moment they 'start', gotta bounce 'em. I live in South Georgia. I get enough of that bullshit in my daily life. I joined this site to get away from that garbage, and it's been nice interacting with like-minded (for the most part) folk. I'm going to leave it to Admin to weed out the religutards.

I would be skeptical of believers joining. What would their motivation be? Disrupt? Argue? Attempt to convert? I think we get enough of God botherers as it is.

Religion in the way I learned it (fundamentalism) wrecked my life and mental health. I know this sounds religious but de-converting "saved" me. If I could slowly wean away at a fundamentalist and make them more "liberal" or help another de-convert it would be a moral action to me. This is to be balanced with the frustration that I may experience throughout the process.

as a not atheist, I would assume that any dogmatic certainty based person would be a huge bummer here.

I joined because I have my own spiritual reality but I fucking hate classical theism and the anti science bullshit of most of America. but I assume my oprahesque woo woo will be tolerated with derision and I am fine with that. but an actual believer? fuck them. they have like a million places to be.

catbyrd is right. fuck certainty. I just want to think well and love well before I die and no longer exist.

It's a free country but my caution is when people live to troll and pick debates all day long negatively when they could be contributing in a positive way-less confrontationally based.

I like how the admins have set this up. New members can't post anything without a review. Trolls can usually be identified and booted based on their initial activity on the site. Nothing can prevent a believer from creating an account, but they can't do much damage to the community with the safeguards currently in place. Does anyone feel the current safeguards are insufficient?

no thanks I live in a very religious often proseletysing wee town this is a nice getaway for me a breath of fresh air.

I have not had the chance to encounter a "believer" on this site (thank 'god', but I'm inclined to believe that those who are joining are simply trolls, trying to convert... the completely unprepared since most of the people here know more about the bible than they do.

I'm often told that "the reason you don't believe in God is that you haven't read the bible."

I respond by saying, "No! The reason you believe in God is that YOU haven't read the bible."

Let em join if they want. Some may be seeking for knowledge but some just want to argue. Still, everyone deserves to be respected. If a person is a troll, I don't really care. It's not me they have problems with. It's defending their belief that causes them angst. You can also block them (I think I saw that feature).

If a believer joined, it would only be for contentious reasons and I'd think the suffering party would be laughed right out of here.

Not one to shy from debate or discussion, however, I welcome any and all to tap at my door on a weekend morning, hangover be damned, or an inbox exchange where one desperately wishes to save my soul.

Bring. It.

Why would a believer join a group dedicated to a philosophy diametrically opposed to their views? Are they here as trolls? Nope, I would not welcome Christians or whatever to a place I feel comfortable being in. Go to your church or something.

I would welcome them with open arms. We do have a good thing going here and it is awesome to have a intelligent group of people who are mostly on the same page as I am to discuss things with but I think that it would be a good thing for theist to join in and possibly see for themselves that we aren't evil terrible people who ought to be burned for our beliefs.

Also, I sometimes feel as though I am , pardon the expression, preaching to the choir. For the most part, we agree about stuff so debates would be more interesting if those who think differently were included.

I believe in the primacy of free speech and that includes the right of a believer to enter a domain populated by non-believers and advance, in a respectful manner, an argument. If we insulate ourselves, as believers do, we become hypocrites.

I joined this site to get away from the religious mumbo-jumbo found on other sites. I have joined many online dating sites where this nonsense takes place all the time. I found this site to be a refreshing delight. No, the religious do not belong here.