What religion are you?/Religion discussion

[Anti-Block]

It's best if religion or atheism never comes up in discussion in social conversations, it usually ends up with akward talk to the minority

this is why i always make sure my friend is the complete opposite of me.

Then i can have arguments that go on forever!no not really

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[Aces]

It's best if religion or atheism never comes up in discussion in social conversations, it usually ends up with akward talk to the minority

I've had bad experiences telling people i'm atheist, they always spaz the forget out and act like i'm a demon or something.

Quite what I thought when my friend told everyone he was an atheist. You would think that in a room full of African-American Christian 13-14 yo's everyone would flip out, but no one even cared. It was my friend who kept showing and telling it everytime someone said anything that dealt with religion.

[Snackbar]

That MAY be true, but I have respect for anyone who does or does not have a faithwho use their own reasoning to find stuff out instead of trying to defend their beliefs by calling every other religion stupid.

When you start to exclude the possibility of anyone else being right or even reasonable, you start treading towards extremism. As such, I fixed your quote for you, unless you would like to be an intolerant extremist. I mean, I guess that's cool too.

[Wafflajizzles]

Quite what I thought when my friend told everyone he was an atheist. You would think that in a room full of African-American Christian 13-14 yo's everyone would flip out, but no one even cared. It was my friend who kept showing and telling it everytime someone said anything that dealt with religion.

Yeah, vocal atheists are annoying about it. They act like they deserve some special acknowledgement for it or something. It would be better if he didn't say stuff and nods/smiles during the conversation, which is what I usually do when religion makes it's way to conversation

[Aces]

When you start to exclude the possibility of anyone else being right or even reasonable, you start treading towards extremism. As such, I fixed your quote for you, unless you would like to be an intolerant extremist. I mean, I guess that's cool too.

Do you really think I cared about the difference between "anyone who does not have a faith" and an "Atheist"? As if you didn't get the gist of what I was saying. I'm not an extremist and I don't know where you're getting your info from for saying "Atheist"

Yeah, vocal atheists are annoying about it. They act like they deserve some special acknowledgement for it or something. It would be better if he didn't say stuff and nods/smiles during the conversation, which is what I usually do when religion makes it's way to conversation

True dat.

[Wedge]

Way to go on being an Objectivist. Even if you aren't religious, other people are important, and should be important in your life. The social contract exists for a reason. You don't have to believe in a deity to follow it, and you should still follow it even if you don't believe in higher power.

I'm confused about what the connection between this and his statement of his beliefs. He also says that he believes in protecting the people he loves - clearly he views other people as being important. The primary thing is that he views himself as the most important thing in his life. I don't blame him for that, I think self preservation is something everybody posses and it's not a negative quality. Hating enemies is fine too, that's why they are enemies. If you didn't hate them they wouldn't be enemies, they'd be friends, or just people you didn't have any positive or negative feelings about. I'm sure many Christians hate people and have enemies too (except Quakers maybe), the difference is hate is probably considered a sin and they apologize for it, whereas the Satanist does not feel a need to apologize for hating someone.

However; I have two issues here. Once is not asking for forgiveness for wrongs committed. This sounds a lot like "If I do something wrong, I shouldn't apologize." I think that if you wrong someone, you should apologize. If you know you did something wrong, then you should have a natural desire to make amends, otherwise you don't really think you did something wrong. If you don't want to make amends, then that means you have internally justified your action, in other words, you don't really feel you've done something wrong.

So my first issue revolves around not asking for forgiveness when you know you've done wrong. I think a fundamental part of knowing that you've done wrong is desiring forgiveness, otherwise you have not truly committed something you feel is wrong.

Hating weakness is my second issue here. It depends on what is meant by weakness and what you mean by hating it. For example, I might view poverty as a weakness. I don't like poverty. So therefore you could say that I hate weakness too. My natural reaction to people being in poverty is to want to help them out of poverty. I am then addressing that weakness and making it stronger, and we are all better for it. Does the Satanist feel different about this?

[Snackbar]

Do you really think I cared about the difference between "anyone who does not have a faith" and an "Atheist"? As if you didn't get the gist of what I was saying. I'm not an extremist and I don't know where you're getting your info from for saying "Atheist"

Reread the quote. It says "does or does not." I'm just encouraging you to be inclusive. Everybody can be reasonable, and you should admire everyone for that, regardless of their religious beliefs.

[Aces]

Reread the quote. It says "does or does not." I'm just encouraging you to be inclusive. Everybody can be reasonable, and you should admire everyone for that, regardless of their religious beliefs.

So, not including theists makes me an extremist?

[Clone v.117]

So, not including theists makes me an extremist?

logic yay

[Aces]

logic yay

I'm just saying, if I added one someone would interpret me as unfair. I don't need to balance an opinion to seem open-minded. Of course, you can IMPLY that I think the same of theists too, which may be right. But don't go around correcting my opinion.

[Snackbar]

- A well thought-out argument -

I apologize for not being clear. I was attacking the belief that only he and his loved ones were important in life, and bugger all else. The emotions of others are just as important as yours, even if you don't like them. In society, where the social contract applies, you still have to be civil with people you don't like. The self-preservation instinct is not necessary here, and should not be used as an excuse to treat somebody you don't "love" (I'm not certain how strong the emotion he refers to is. Does he only want to protect the people he loves, or does this extend to people with whom he is merely friendly?) like dirt. The social contract, as Rousseau suggests, states that we should subject ourselves to the general well-being of the people involved. Essentially, our desires are illegitimate if they harm another person.

I think that following the social contract is something that any decent human being should do, regardless of whether or not they believe in a teacup between here and Mars. That's why I find his beliefs, and Objectionist philosophy as a whole, objectionable.

[kake]

national socialist.

[Snackbar]

So, not including theists makes me an extremist?

Actually, yes. If you are an atheist, then your are specifically singling out any group that doesn't agree with you and saying that it is impossible for them to be reasonable. You are taking your beliefs to the extreme.

If, however, you aren't an atheist, than I apologize for not understanding the context of the statement. This would be okay, as your are singling out a group of which you are not a part, and saying that only like the reasonable members of said group.

[Aces]

Actually, yes. If you are an atheist, then your are specifically singling out any group that doesn't agree with you and saying that it is impossible for them to be reasonable. You are taking your beliefs to the extreme.

If, however, you aren't an atheist, than I apologize for not understanding the context of the statement. This would be okay, as your are singling out a group of which you are not a part, and saying that only like the reasonable members of said group.

I'm personally non-atheist.

I was saying I respected Atheists who DIDN'T do such things. I believe anyone can have their own reasoning and that I have the choice to accept it or not. I'm not necessarily singling out a group I'm not a part of for bad reasons, but rather to show Atheists that aren't very assertive that I personally appreciate them.

[Snackbar]

Then I apologize. I misunderstood your post. From what you said, it seems as if my argument is actually the same as the one you were making; everybody is nice if they're reasonable, regardless of what they believe.

So again, I'm sorry. I just take it upon myself to fight intolerance where ever I see it occurring, and occasionally this means that I mistakenly see it some places where it really isn't.