Fresh Outbreak of Religion-Bashing Threads

[karlhenning]

What would they do for entertainment otherwise?

[Keemun]

Listen to classical music?

[Iconito]

What would they do for entertainment otherwise?

I don’t think it’s merely for entertainment. Religions lead people to believe and do a number of things, some of them admittedly harmless (I’m OK with people gathering to sing and have some bread and wine), but things like not using condoms because that’s a “sin”, or refusing blood transfusions (or modern medicine altogether), or opposing human embryonic stem cell research because those 3-days-old-150-cells-embryos “have souls”, etc, etc... It could be a rather long list... To the eyes of any reasonable non religious person these things are (at least) idiotic.

Luckily, at least Catholics don’t burn people anymore, but there you have Muslims setting embassies on fire because they found some cartoons offensive, or crashing planes into buildings so they’ll get their share of virgins in Heaven... Maybe, 400 years from now, Muslims will “moderate” themselves too, but where Catholics had torches Muslims have planes and modern weapons, so I’m not sure if we should “respect their beliefs” and patiently wait until they “evolve” and begin to see the atrocities written in their “holy” books as “stories meant to teach a moral lesson but not intended to be taken literally”.

So, again, I don’t think this “anti-religion-movement” is just for entertainment. It’s no fun when your neighbour is a delusional idiot.

[greg]

how about we use this thread to bash all religions (and "non"-religion(s))?

[uffeviking]

How about NOT bashing anybody/anything? Ignore, tolerate, debate intelligently in case you have nothing better to do, as has been said above: Listen to classical music and then log on to GMG and discuss what you heard. Try it, you might like it!  0:)

[Saul]

What would they do for entertainment otherwise?

Hard to tell...

[eyeresist]

Why not ignore them?

[david johnson]

i am very religious and have not/will not start an atheist/agnostic bashing thread.
have class, comrades.

dj

[karlhenning]

Listen to classical music?

One would think, eh?  0:)

[karlhenning]

It's no fun when your neighbour is a delusional idiot.

Right. So what if your delusional idiot neighbor is an atheist/agnostic?  Who has a compulsive urge to vent his personal problems with his private caricature of "religion" at every turn?

[Cato]

It is an interesting yet old psychological observation, that those who are tenuous in their own beliefs, or who lack firmness in their own personalities, often will attack those who are firm in personality and belief.

Such people attempt thereby to counterbalance that wobbliness and to create at least an impression of the firmness which they in fact are lacking.

I once observed a shoplifter, who, after purloining a bottle of aspirin or a jar of marmelade and plopping it into his pocket, immediately rushed to a store employee to ask a question in a very friendly manner, counterbalancing his theft with a friendly smile.

[BachQ]

Re: Fresh Outbreak of Religion-Bashing Threads

Are we really talking about a "fresh outbreak"?  Or a re-emergence of the same chronic condition?

[Hector]

Hey, hold on there!

I have 'Religion.'

I can reliably inform you and contrary to what you might have heard/read elsewhere that every day I religiously go to the toilet.

More than once, I'll have you know.

There, I've 'come out' and stand revealed!

[Iconito]

Right. So what if your delusional idiot neighbor is an atheist/agnostic?  Who has a compulsive urge to vent his personal problems with his private caricature of "religion" at every turn?

Sad that the “delusional idiot” part is the only thing in my post that called your attention. My fault, probably. I’m sorry. What I wanted to say is that there are a number of really nasty things going on in this planet that are directly related to religious beliefs, and the average non-religious person is sick of this, and rightly so, because you can believe whatever you want, but when your acts become annoying/dangerous/harmful then it’s a whole different story.

You have never wasted an opportunity to react to 71 dB “nonsense” when he claimed Elgar is the greatest Composer ever (among many equally audacious claims). Are your reactions merely for entertainment? I won’t deny that there might be some fun for you in bashing 71dB, but you won’t deny that there is a genuine annoyance in your posts. You know he’s wrong, and you have to tell him he’s wrong. Now try to picture The First Church of Elgar, with millions of 71 dBs... How are you feeling? If this sounds ridiculous, try to understand that it’s not one bit less ridiculous than religions are for the average non-religious-person.

Claiming that a “Fresh Outbreak of Religion-Bashing Threads” is merely the product of a bunch of really bored people (even when it’s indeed perfectly possible that some bored people might actually start some of these threads) is overlooking the actual problems that surround religion and the genuine desire to discuss the issue.

And please try to think again about your “private caricature of religion” concept. You are reasonable enough to pick what you find good and logical from religion, and ignore the rest (or think of it as “stories meant to teach a moral lesson but not intended to be taken literally”) but that is not a merit of religion. It’s yours. If you were to write the holy book for the good sons of God, it would have none of the atrocities found in the Bible (And I bet it would be better written, too...) The Spanish Inquisition was perfectly justified in the scriptures. So were the actions of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta... If you have a holy book that can give you Tomás de Torquemada, Mother Teresa, and everything in between, that’s quite an ambiguous book... Don’t blame people for not “getting” the message when the message itself is all messed up. Disney has recently announced that it's banning scenes of smoking from all its family-orientated movies, since those depictions may lead children and adolescents to smoke... How about a holy book (the words of God, nothing less) that tells them to kill their brother if he dares serve other gods?! One thing is your belief in a good and loving God. Religion (the whole dogma) is an entirely different thing. Those “private caricatures” are nothing more than the aspects of religion that you reject, but they are every bit as real (written) as those you embrace. In other words, you have your own private caricature of Religion, too. It’s just that your own caricature happens to be nice (and, of course, you believe in it)

What you and every reasonable religious person nowadays could do is organize and push for a big Reformation where all the crap was cut out. You won’t end up with much more than “there’s God who created the Universe and everything in it and he’s a good and loving Father and we have to be really good people so we all can go to Heaven”, and maybe keep the singing and the wine... But that’d be much better than the aberrations you have to ignore/excuse/reinterpret today.

[david johnson]

'The Spanish Inquisition was perfectly justified in the scriptures'

prove it.  let us read the book, chapter, and verse for it.

'a holy book that can give you Tomás de Torquemada'

not the book, but the dominant religious grouping of the time.

'the message itself is all messed up'

where?

dj

[Iconito]

'The Spanish Inquisition was perfectly justified in the scriptures'

prove it.  let us read the book, chapter, and verse for it.

'a holy book that can give you Tomás de Torquemada'

not the book, but the dominant religious grouping of the time.

'the message itself is all messed up'

where?

dj

"If you hear that in one of the towns which Yahweh your God has
given you for a home, there are men, scoundrels from your own
stock, who have led their fellow-citizens astray, saying, "Let us go
and serve other gods," hitherto unknown to you, it is your duty
to look into the matter, examine it, and inquire most carefully. If
it is proved and confirmed that such a hateful thing has taken
place among you, you must put the inhabitants of that town to
the sword; you must lay it under the curse of destruction—the
town and everything in it. You must pile up all its loot in the public
square and burn the town and all its loot, offering it all to
Yahweh your God. It is to be a ruin for all time and never rebuilt."
(Deuteronomy 13:12-16).


That’s a quote found in Sam Harris book. I don’t own a copy of the Bible. [sarcasticjoke]I mean, I had one, in the bathroom, but it’s out of pages now.[/sarcasticjoke]

[Brian]

I confused the bookstore clerk today by purchasing C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, the Dalai Lama's Universe in a Single Atom and Christopher Hitchens' Portable Atheist on one ticket. 

[drogulus]

How about NOT bashing anybody/anything? Ignore, tolerate, debate intelligently in case you have nothing better to do, as has been said above: Listen to classical music and then log on to GMG and discuss what you heard. Try it, you might like it!  0:)

     There are worse things to do than intelligently debate. It's not merely a case of "nothing better to do". This is one of the better things to do. But by all means those who disagree should find something else to do. Though it will not necessarily be better, it may be better suited to them.

[david johnson]

"If you hear that in one of the towns which Yahweh your God has
given you for a home, there are men, scoundrels from your own
stock, who have led their fellow-citizens astray, saying, "Let us go
and serve other gods," hitherto unknown to you, it is your duty
to look into the matter, examine it, and inquire most carefully. If
it is proved and confirmed that such a hateful thing has taken
place among you, you must put the inhabitants of that town to
the sword; you must lay it under the curse of destruction—the
town and everything in it. You must pile up all its loot in the public
square and burn the town and all its loot, offering it all to
Yahweh your God. It is to be a ruin for all time and never rebuilt."
(Deuteronomy 13:12-16).


That's a quote found in Sam Harris book. I don't own a copy of the Bible. [sarcasticjoke]I mean, I had one, in the bathroom, but it's out of pages now.[/sarcasticjoke]

? something the jews did justifies the inquisition ?
it would be good for you to reclaim your br bible and read it for comprehension, wouldn't hurt harris to do so either.

dj

[Iconito]

? something the jews did justifies the inquisition ?
it would be good for you to reclaim your br bible and read it for comprehension, wouldn't hurt harris to do so either.

dj

What do you mean with “something the Jews did”? That’s a quote from the Bible...