<p>Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t give anyone’s ridiculous views on anything any credence simply because they call them a religion, act earnest and get offended when you question them.</p>
<p>In the same way I will call someone crazy if they tell me that the sky is purple, saying that the Earth was created in 7 days, 6000 years ago (when every legitimate piece of scientific evidence shows otherwise) gets no free pass from me.</p>
<p><em>edit</em> And I’m not left-wing, just rational and logical.</p>
<p>not only are you not giving it credence, youre simply disrespecting my views by calling me crazy.that’s ok though, i’ve come to expect this from “liberal” thinkers. no offense to you democrats out there.</p>
<p>Well, you did ask for me to call you crazy. :)</p>
<p>Really, though: for what reason, exactly, do peoples’ views merit respect? If I were to say that I thought we should kill all black people or send them all back to Africa (there are many people who say just this), would you need to respect that view? Or should you deride it and call it stupid, as it is?</p>
<p>I see absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever for an a priori respect requirement for people’s views. Respect does make our society function somewhat more smoothly, I’ll admit, but that is insufficient reason to respect everyone’s views.</p>
<p>Sorry, but if I think you’re wrong I’ll tell you that. I’m not going to tiptoe around that because the particular object of discussion is religion. I am baffled by how much people expect their religious views to be immune from criticism. It is truly confusing for me.</p>
<p>By the way, saying things like “I’ve come to expect this from liberals” and the like loses you a lot of respect. Firstly, my political views are in many ways very un-“liberal”; secondly, it’s illegitimate to lump every single atheist’s views as if they were all liberal. I will admit that there is a dearth of logical atheists in, for example, the more conservative Republican party wings, but that doesn’t mean all atheists are necessarily liberal. You really need to work on your logical skills.</p>