Branko2166 said:
Majora said:
Branko2166 said:
Majora said:
It's a sign of how powerful religion is and how warped peoples minds are in the religion that they feel quoting bible passages is the proof that they talk about that god exists.
And also, whether it's Christianity or Islam, what difference does it make? They are both elaborate myths so really whichever you want to 'debate' is fruitless. The 'enlightened' will tell us God said this, Allah said that. Did he now? How perfectly charming! It's all tosh. |
As human beings we are wired generally speaking to be followers of something. This could be religion or it may be a political system, and it could even be a person of great charisma. We are all gifted with our own private thought domain which is our conciousness and we make the conscious choice to follow or not follow something. I have no issues with anyone believing anything they want to believe in as long as they do not attempt to force their convictions onto me. And yes this includes both religious extremists and hardcore atheists.
The issue I see is that there are extremists on both sides who are convinced that they are in the right and are trying to prove it which is the ultimate example of engaging in futility . I have had many debates with friends but while we have a lively and interesting debate in the end we generally reach a stalemate and switch topics. It is an interesting debate to have for sure but it's when people start getting emotional or express disrespect that the debate becomes pointless. And this has been fairly well demonstrated in this thread.
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The problem stems from the fact that religions do not grant respect and for too long people of faith have held too much power and influenced (often negatively) large segments of society, even ruling countries in some cases. If religion was merely a past time that was kept in the background and was largely ignored when making decisions on laws that rule the land then that would be fine and then yes, respect would be granted. But this is not the case.
Richard Dawkins makes excellent points in his documentaries and books. I'll watch some vids and post them here if I can. But how can we respect a myth? A fairytale? It is not worthy of respect when people use their religion to impose hideous bigoted opinions on society all in the 'knowledge' that they are doing the right thing because their respective deity grants them the right to do so in their name. It's ridiculous. So do I respect religion? No. I find it abhorrent.
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I agree that religion has wielded a great deal of influence and power over mankind, however there have been plenty of other of non religious entities or movements which have also had negative effects on mankind. Ultimately religion, atheism or political movements and any other human construct has positive and negative aspects and the outcome is determined by what decisions people make. At the end of the day right or wrong if you disrespect someone for whichever reason you will get an emotional response.
I guess it's idealistic but the best result we can hope for is to live in a world where equality rules and people respect different beliefs. The realist in me though says that it is in our nature to force our beliefs on others and we are destined to be locked in a struggle for as long as humanity exists.
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First point I don't feel that any other movement has had as much impact on humanity as religion. Secondly, atheism is not a movement or a construct nor is it a belief. Atheism by its nature does not require any belief; it purely doesn't acknowledge something of which there is no evidence whatsoever.
However I appreciate your response and I don't want to feel like I'm arguing with everybody. I'm arguing with nobody. I just refuse to respect belief in a story that directly affects my life and the lives of millions in the wider world.
