beatlejuice72 is offline beatlejuice72 Post #1  January 16,2009, 10:43pm

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This is a true story. A woman I used to date who is an atheist saw a Nativity display. She took one look at it, scoffed and said "That is so gay." Now, this is a woman who has a brother that is gay. Personally, I don't like comments like this because I think they are stupid and insensitive towards gay people. But what really strikes me is listening to so many of these atheists in the world who claim to be "open-minded" and "tolerant" yet they're the first ones to barge into your forum, your church or ministry shouting out at you because you're religious or spiritual. Yep, verrrry open-minded alright.

I also love it when they preach about the First Amendment and how it applies to them and their rights yet somehow that same privilege doesn't extend to those of us who believe that there is Freedom of Religion in the Constitution. Oh, sure, they don't mind if we pray out loud or silently. Just as long as we do it inside with the doors locked and so nobody outdoors can hear anything.

I'm not interested in converting anyone and I learned long ago that it was pointless and futile to even try it. But can somebody explain to me why some people feel it is their God-given right or science-given right to personally attack religious people for their beliefs? For some reason it's mostly the Christians that get attacked and very seldom is it any other religious group although they get attacked, too. If you don't like religion, fine. But coming to a religious message board or website to litter it with anti-religious propaganda and hate speech says more about you than anything you could ever say or think about religion and spirituality.

You are the ones always telling people how open-minded and tolerant you are. Prove it.
 
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neardc is offline neardc Post #2  January 17,2009, 7:10am
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You seem to be responding to something that happened on another message board focused on religion? One could ask the same question about Christians who insist on inserting religion into secular discussions. Doesn't it just come down to "some" individuals -- whether Christian or atheist -- overstepping appropriate boundaries? Certainly no atheist I know has done what you are suggesting is common behavior for atheists (i.e., barging "into your forum, your church or ministry shouting out at you because you're religious or spiritual").


If you haven't already, I suggest that you read the "Why I am an atheist" thread; you'll see a lot of (mostly) very civil and respectful discussion of the issues.
 
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vlnman is offline vlnman Post #3  January 17,2009, 9:07am
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They feel it is their right becasue aggressive atheism is simply a religionin itself.


There is a recentbatch of books out there...Hitchens,Dawkins, etc. They have different approaches in their arguments , but I noticed a very common theme across the board. They do not seem to grasp thatacross religions , and even within religions, there are wide variances...from quietly benign to violently radical. By tossing every religion into one overall category they are arguing against something they haveno understanding of. Now of course fuel for the fire is that there are Christian groups who do the same thing....they belive in something...with no clear understanding of why


The conceptthat religious belief creates intolerance is a huge selling point. But the radical atheist groups are themselves guilty of what they preach against. There's a book out there by a fellow named Sam Harris with a call to action against religion. Early on he attacks Christians for their alleged intolerance....then later incites the same of his followers - "we can no more tolerate a diversity of religious beliefs than a diversity of beliefs about epidemiology and basic hygiene"


When you encounter these radical persons the only way to shut them down is to engage is a confident logical debate, but you have to understand your own faith, the faith of others, and the arguments they will bring up against you. Your weapon is arguing the facts with the facts....notsimply what you believe...but why....and the why should have a foundation...not because your pastor, priest, friend, yourself had a revelationor really neat idea at breakfast this morning. Their lack of understanding in that area is where the holes show up and their logic unravels.


If you make a point to get to know a lot of diverse folks with different beliefs ...Muslim, Jewish, Satanist, Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu, etc... you are going to find that the folks attacking you are in fact the fringe elements of the world.
 
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dwreese182 is offline dwreese182 Post #4  January 17,2009, 12:15pm
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neardc,435790 wrote :

You seem to be responding to something that happened on another message board focused on religion? One could ask the same question about Christians who insist on inserting religion into secular discussions. Doesn't it just come down to "some" individuals -- whether Christian or atheist -- overstepping appropriate boundaries? Certainly no atheist I know has done what you are suggesting is common behavior for atheists (i.e., barging "into your forum, your church or ministry shouting out at you because you're religious or spiritual").


If you haven't already, I suggest that you read the "Why I am an atheist" thread; you'll see a lot of (mostly) very civil and respectful discussion of the issues.
+1
 
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godlessinseattle is offline godlessinseattle Post #5  January 18,2009, 7:23pm
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If I had to choose between spending a day with an open minded atheist or any one of thousands of close minded Christians, I would make my choice in a second. Sadly the most love and acceptance I have received in my lifetime has come from those who claim to have no or little religion. The most hurtful and destructive people in my life have been the noisy defenders of the one true faith: their own.
 
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bodhi23 is offline bodhi23 Post #6  January 18,2009, 8:59pm
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Just wondering if anyone here knows that one can be Athiest and Buddhist at the same time? Buddha said that blind faith is dangerous, and if I know anything about Athiests it is that you would agree to that term. He also said that belief in any God is completely beside the point of Buddhism. "God is not important" :Buddha. He also said that worship is unecessary and actually advised against worshiping him. It's just that people adopted the worship of Buddha on their own; against his will. I guess it's just that people "LOVE" Buddha so much that they felt they HAD to worship him. So now it is simply a tradition.
 
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rix is offline rix Post #7  January 19,2009, 8:03pm
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bodhi23,438623 wrote :

Just wondering if anyone here knows that one can be Athiest and Buddhist at the same time?
Yes... Actually Buddhism as a religion/philosophy is agnostic at it's core with no belief in a supreme being. Therefore, the "religious" impulse has led many of Buddha's followers to deify him in order to fill what Augustine once called the "god shaped vacuum" in each of us. And I guess that's a question we need to ask ourselves upon deeper introspection; who or what do we deify in our own lives? After all, something needs to fill the "vacuum".
 
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abjon is offline abjon Post #8  January 20,2009, 7:13pm

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I sometimes wonder if what happened to Buddha wasn't the same as happened to Jesus. At one time, perhaps, Jesus like Buddha taught how to live a "good life". The message struck a chord in many people. Over time, the message and the messenger kind of got mixed up. So that now we worship the messengers: Jesus or Buddha when all we need do is learn from them how to be better people.
 
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abjon is offline abjon Post #9  January 20,2009, 7:16pm

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rix,440369 wrote :

bodhi23,438623 wrote :


Just wondering if anyone here knows that one can be Athiest and Buddhist at the same time?


Yes... Actually Buddhism as a religion/philosophy is agnostic at it's core with no belief in a supreme being. Therefore, the "religious" impulse has led many of Buddha's followers to deify him in order to fill what Augustine once called the "god shaped vacuum" in each of us. And I guess that's a question we need to ask ourselves upon deeper introspection; who or what do we deify in our own lives? After all, something needs to fill the "vacuum".
What fills this "vacuum" doesn't always have to be something negative. Many Christians seem to believe that without a belief in their God we will simply stray into all sorts of destructive behaviors.


I guess what comes closest to filling that vacuum for me is my very deep love of the natural world and my committment to helping preserve as much wilderness or near wilderness habitats as possible.
 
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Zenrage is offline Zenrage Post #10  February 1,2009, 12:28pm
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Being open-minded does not mean being gullible towards ridiculous claims.


If you have a belief and you want to either be respected for that belief or take that belief into application, then it is your job to validate that belief. It is not and should not be the job of the skeptic to invalidate it. But skeptics will if you force that decision and it will most likely not be a pleasant experience (and there isn't really a reason that it should be) for those that cling hard to an irrational belief.


It is also not bigotry to hold all philosophies and notions to the same level of scrutiny, especially if said scrutinized beliefs are based on superstition and conjecture and yet, without evidence (or even the means to find evidence), their followers have no shame in using said irrational conjectures in real-world applications.
 
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