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Torillian on 25 March 2019
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EricHiggin said:
Torillian said:

The same reason they put up satanist statues next to Christian ones on government property: to make sure the government is applying these regulations fairly. 

Well if you don't think God is real that's less of a concern. Here are their tenets if you're curious. I'm particularly a fan of no. 5

  1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
  2. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
  3. One's body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone.
  4. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
  5. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
  6. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
  7. Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

So I'm always happy to see them put up a statue on government property next to one of the ten commandments. 

Not sure what the construction of a statue has to do with free speech.

#5 and #7 are a problem because one says you should base your beliefs around what we know now scientifically, and the other says the rules are designed to promote thought. How do you think people like Einstein came up with their idea's? By using the known methods that weren't working, or going beyond them?

What a weird interpretation of free speech and the idea that ones beliefs should conform to our best understand of the world. 

I guess I'll just say:

1. free speech includes actions

2. I don't think that conforming your beliefs to scientific understanding means all science stagnates. People like Einstein worked within the scientific method to help better our understanding of the world. He did not just believe something despite all the evidence against it, which is what #5 is trying to address. 



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