<p>Do you even know who I am…how dare you
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<p>Oh please. Don’t be glib just to acknowledging I’m right.</p>
<p>The point of this post is that Atheists complain about religious fundamentalists and how they force their beliefs down people’s throats…all while doing it themselves. It’s about exposing hypocrisy. Religion has been around thousands of years…me getting butthurt about a bunch of blowhards who think it’s crap wouldn’t change anything. I’m sure it has withstood plenty of rhetorical jabs.</p>
<p>Atheism? Not so much.</p>
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Err… what?
So give me some examples of atheists force their “beliefs” down your throat. The fact of the matter is that there are some scattered idiots who do that but, in society, it just doesn’t happen. There is no institutionalized oppression forcing you to not believe in God.</p>
<p>my favorite part is how he anoints himself the exposer of the great hypocrisy and obviously thinks he’s bringing up something original or interesting. and the appeal to tradition he stuck in towards the end (logical fallacies for the win, baby)</p>
<p>I get so annoyed by atheists and get so ****ed of by them; I am an atheist
I get so annoyed by some republicans and conservatives; I am a conservative
Maybe i am just hypocritical, but its seems like most atheists are not like me and neither are most conservatives.</p>
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<p>Nothing in my OP is about Atheists disagreeing with religion. It’s about how they do it, and what they complain about.</p>
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<p>OK. Last semester in Intro to Social Problems, we get into a discussion about religion in school. People start offering up opinions. One Muslim guy says if people were to worship the right way, we wouldn’t have a problem. I’m not paraphrasing; he literally said about two lines. Four people raise their hands and, to him, basically say that Atheism in schools is best because it doesn’t force you to believe in anything, especially not something “absurd” like religion. All four of them made some kind of knock on religion.</p>
<p>Another example. A few weeks ago, our school’s “free thought society” (which isn’t its official name, but that’s their aim) decided to stand in our courtyard and hold up signs going “Rid yourself of the God Delusion!” and shouting about how people need to entrust in science and not blind religiosity. </p>
<p>There’s no “institutionalized” oppression, because the majority of people do believe in God, to some extent. I don’t think it’s becoming institutionalized; it’s still cultural, and social. Conservatives can’t make mention of their religious beliefs without people getting all offended, when no one is going to break their necks to convert them in the first place.</p>
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It sounds like they had the right idea but used the wrong words. You do NOT push belief in schools, but you push neither atheism nor theism.</p>
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Well, except for the “God Delusion” it sounds like their message was pretty good: don’t believe blindly, believe rationally and logically. And do trust science.</p>
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I think you kind of contradicted yourself there. As you said, the majority of people do believe in God. That is what makes it so ridiculous when people say things like “Conservatives can’t make mention of their religious beliefs without people getting all offended.” It is simply not true because the majority of people agree with you. It’s also a persecution complex. You’re seeing oppression where none exists.</p>
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<p>Uh huh.</p>
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<p>Their message was, “you’re of sub-par intelligence if you believe in God.” </p>
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<p>I didn’t contradict myself. I do think the majority of people believe in God, but that belief is mostly benign. It’s when they assert their right to speak that they have to worry about being judged.</p>
<p>And yeah, the majority of people probably would agree, but probably in church or in a non-secular setting. If you’re just having a debate like the one we’re having now, it’s the Atheists whole dog-pile the Conservatives for being too religious, not the other way around.</p>
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Simply because you choose to take someone suggesting you not believe in religion blindly as an insult to your intelligence does not make it true. It seems to be yet another piece of evidence toward a persecution complex and your original point being completely unjustified. You are seeing demons where none exist, monsters in the shadows.</p>
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It’s called a debate for a reason. There are two (or more) opposing sides. I doubt that any atheists have ever mobbed you in the real word for saying “You know, I think I believe in God.” If you say “You know, you people are all oppressive fools - I believe in God and you should too!” you might garner a different reaction.</p>
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<p>So if someone was standing outside yelling at people to rid themselves of the Atheist delusion, you would think what they’re really saying is “don’t believe blindly, believe rationally and logically”? That’s crazy, and I think you know it.</p>
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<p>In debate, you attack someone’s opinion, not the person. And generally speaking, “too religious” is more accepted criticism than “not religious enough”, right?</p>
<p>Individuals, like those found in the [Dover</a> School Board that attempted to introduce Intelligent Design into the science curriculum](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District]Dover”>Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District - Wikipedia), have properly earned derision and the stigma of being thought of as possessing “sub-par intelligence”.</p>
<p>Judge Jones, the federal judge on the case, [properly</a> points out the ignorance](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3416_id_12.html]properly”>NOVA | Transcripts | Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial Chapter 12 | PBS) of the board members that attempted to use religion doctrine in a public school setting to formulate science pedagogy:</p>
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Did you even read what anyone wrote? You said that they said to not believe blindly. You said that. And I said “except for the God delusion” their message was pretty good. The basis for your criticism was completely false. I can criticize John McCain for saying that there should be a human baby in every stewpot but that doesn’t make my criticism valid because he never said that.</p>
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Saying that someone is “too religious” is not attacking them, that’s attacking the opinion. You’re attacking them if you’re saying that they’re stupid for being “too religious.”</p>
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<p>No, it wasn’t. I said they called people who believe in religion as being false. It was explicitly anti-religion; not anti-blind faith. Maybe that wasn’t clear, even though I clarified and you still contradicted me.</p>
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<p>Uh, no, that’s just another way of doing it. If you call someone too religious, you’re talking about them. If you call someone’s opinion too religion, that’s their opinion. There’s a difference, and often times I seen and heard both attacked – the person and their opinion.</p>
<p>Honestly, as an aetheist, I have many religious friends. They all have different religions, which are not all Christian. We hardly ever discuss the topic of “God” or “Allah” or anything like that. </p>
<p>Except, my Christian friend, who loves to talk about how evolution is not true, how it is impossible how we can evovle from monkeys, there was no such thing as the “Big Bang” etc. Out of all the times we talked about that topic I can say she started about 80% of the conversation about it. She also, almost tries to belittle me somewhat, because I do not believe in “God”. I of course in return argue with her that I have my own personal beliefs, and do not wish to have a certain religion where I believe in something/someone specific. I grew up going to a Catholic school and now go to a public high school, therefore I have the opinion of a ex-Catholic school, high schooler, and I do not speak for any other aetheists or anyone.</p>
<p>I am okay with people having their own opinions/beliefs, but I don’t think they should go so far to say how something is not true. Aetheists should not say “God” does not exist, while religios people should not say things like, the “Big Bang” never happened, because no one knows for sure. And to condemn someone’s beliefs I think is just rude and not anyone’s place</p>
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That’s what you said, jaso9n2. Are you saying that your original statement was incorrect?</p>
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It depends a lot on the context. If someone says “I’m religious so I think that I should be able to sell my daughter into slavery, stone my neighbors for playing football, crucify my neighbors for working on the Sabbath, and burn down department stores for selling cotton-polyester blends” and a person replies “Uhh… I think you’re a bit too religious,” are they attacking the person or their opinion?</p>
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<p>Whatever. You’re obviously going to keep missing the point, so there’s no reason to keep back over this. They were calling those who believe in science rational, and those who believe in religion blind. Period.</p>
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<p>The person. You attack someone’s opinion by saying, “I think what you said was right/wrong because…” It’s edging close to an ad hom when you say “you’re wrong because you’re…” There are some variables, but generally speaking, it’s easy to denote opinion from purveyor of said opinion.</p>
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Theists believe that all the people including atheists are under the control of almighty god.</p>
<p>So what? Everyone is believing what he believes.</p>
<p>I consider myself agnostic. I don’t know for sure that there is or isn’t a god, but I’ve never seen any real evidence of him/her/the noodly appendage so I can say with some certainty that if there’s no evidence for it, it probably doesn’t exist. As an anthropology major, I’m all for evolution. It is a major part of my field, after all. I can’t understand how people can see the evidence for it and NOT believe it. However, I don’t try to force my “not believing in god” stance on people. I just try to educate people about evolution since there’s this heaping mountain of evidence about it and there isn’t one for a deity. I think that in 3000 years people are going to look back on western society like we look back at the ancient Greeks/Romans with their pantheons today, and say, “well, isn’t that a quaint and sort of interesting mythology?” Religions constantly evolve, and new ones emerge all the time. (hello! scientology! and to a lesser extent, mormonism and jehovah’s witnesses, since they’re somewhat associated with christianity)</p>
<p>Thank God for this thread, I need to write an essay on Atheists. Let’s hope some of you have posted some quality viewpoints I can bum. ;)</p>
<p>lol…“thank god”</p>
<p>yea…funny</p>