Bela
 

So as not to go off-topic in the other thread...

OK, so I'm an asshole about nearly everything, but I say something about religion and I get told not to be an asshole? Why does religion get an automatic pass? Why is that topic untouchable?

What you said was a personal insult to the thread creator. It's one thing to make a thread about atheism, calling all religions crap and whatnot, and another thing to rub it in their face.

So reason I called you an ass is not because your comment was something negative about religion, it was because of your insensitivity to that person.

I don't really think it was insensitive. That would imply I wouldn't know it had the possibility to offend. I'd classify it as callous disregard for their particular sensibilities.

It isn't personal. I would have said the same thing regardless of who posted it. If I step on someone's toes and they get bent out of shape because I offend their religious sensibilities, all the better.

why not just leave everyone alone and let them believe what they want? :/

Because I'm not a spineless, intellectual relativist? The rational people of the world have sat idly by for far too long and let these destructive, delusional mindsets run rampant in the public square.

Who's to say those who are religious arent rational? sure, there are extremists, but that applies to every group in the world, not just the religious. Those who believe there are more in the world, and arent simply sheep, can be just as rational as you.

Belief without proof is irrational, almost by definition.

To those who believes in certain religions, they do have "proofs" for what they believe in...

You may not understand / agree with their proofs but it doesn't mean it doesnt make sense for others, and just because you can't see the way they think, doesn't make them irrational...

I watched this interview the other day, and it was about a guy who's heavily religious, and it totally believe in science at the same time... he was using science about the universe to explain their religion....

It was really hard to understand, but it was a new perspective non-the-less...

See, the thing is...I do understand how they think. I was raised in an environment that let me get a good perspective on how the mind of a "believer" works. I understand arguments for the existence of supernatural entities. The truth-claims that are made by any religion are faulty at their very core.

Would we give the same credence to someone that says 2+2=6 or that the sky is purple? Would we listen to a person that says they are Napoleon Bonaparte reborn? Would someone that says little men speak to him in his dreams be considered rational? Of course not. It's time we stopped this sort of pathological deference to the absurdity of religion.

But not every "believer" is the same. we're a very varried group, from the "Jesus Freaks" who believe that their religion is the only one, and that all others are condemned to hell, regardless of how unreasonable it may seem, and how radically different their beliefs are from the core of the religion, *Cough*patrobertson*Cough* to the free thinking religious people who use reason to understand God more.