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Well, I disagree.
If you don't have a problem with the people, why do you insult them constantly for having their beliefs?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to this, but that didn't make any sense to me at all.
Pointing out there are flaws in their beliefs is insulting them how? if someone thinks they are Napoleon should we agree with them or should we try to explain to them that they are not? if there was only one person who believed as they do that person would be in a well padded room now, however, fear is a terrible thing and it affects us all, we just deal with it in different ways, some rationally and some irrationally.
Then I will explain it again. People can be literal, fundamental, dispensational when it comes to science and religion.
So why the religious terms for scientific concepts?
God created Science and God gave us our Bible. There is no reason for us to reject what God says is good. There is no goodness apart from God.
Saying that they live in a fantasy world is not pointing out the flaws in their beliefs. In fact, I don't recall you ever quoting scripture to point out its flaws.
Comparing apples and oranges now, are we? Belief in a deity is not on the same level as believing oneself to be a long-dead historical figure. Also, telling them that they are illogical, and leaving it at that, would have no hope of convincing them that they were wrong. But, calmly asking for them to present evidence that they are Napoleon would make them open to discourse with you, which allows for the opportunity to later display evidence for Napoleon being dead, thus easing them out of their belief. If they don't change their mind, then they don't, but you kept the conversation civil, and they appreciate your willingness to hear them out. Sometimes, that makes someone's day. Is that not worthwhile to you?
But that fear does not define us. A creationist is far more than a creationist, just like an atheist has much more to them than being an atheist. You judge others on a disagreement, but if you saw what you did agree on, you might realize these people aren't as irrational as you thought.
That about sums it up, although it would take significantly more evidence for me to become a creationist than for me to become a theist, and I am seeking the latter, not the former. The former is an unlikely consequence of, hopefully, attaining the latter.
It is insulting. Unnecessarily and unhelpfully insulting. But, as I recognize myself as weak for not being able to handle my own perceptions of reality, I'm not going to try to say you are wrong, as I don't think you are. I can't force myself to accept death any more than I can force myself to be a theist. I imagine that a theist of the type I want to be can't force themselves to be an atheist either.
I read your post and I gathered from it that you think religious people are people to be pitied and pandered to because they can not help themselves, you think they have problems and the last thing you think I should be doing is pointing out the fact that they have problems, perhaps you're right in a sense but I would prefer to come at it from a different angle, before a problem can be addressed if must first be recognise as being a problem and if no one tells them they have a problem they will be unaware that there is even a problem.
If that's the case, then you already have an imaginary friend.
Perhaps it is the only friend a lot of people have......
How patronizing do you think I am of religious people?! I am asking you to treat your fellow adults like adults rather than children because of some points of contention. Your lack of respect towards people is uncalled for; even though you have low opinions of theists, you don't have to be a jerk and express it constantly. It's bullying people for having faith, and that makes you no better than the people that bully us for not having faith. I am not asking you to give their position special consideration, but demanding, yes, DEMANDING that you provide evidence and reason behind your disagreement rather than repeatedly give posts that amount to "y'all are dumb for being believers and I am totes superior to you for not being a religious sheep".
I have anxiety related to autism. I can only not feel worried when I am asleep. Situation is irrelevant. In fact, my baseline levels of stress are so high, that I actually handle high stress situations better than most people, because I've had to adapt to extreme stress my whole life. Also, all of what we are is in our heads. More specifically, our brains. It's an irrelevant detail to bring up.
Wow, a Mark Twain quote that actually makes not one lick of sense for the context of when he was alive. Never thought I would see a day when his wisdom had as much meaning to me as a random string of words. It assumes that the state prior to being born is the same as after we die in terms of how fear inducing it is. It isn't. Prior to being born, I had never existed, but after I die, I will have previously existed and thus found reason to fear not existing. They may, in fact, end up being equivalent in terms of existence, but they are not equally terrifying.
Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Only the dead have experienced it, and it's not like we can ask them. Death is one big question mark, which is part of why it is so ominous.
How on Earth would that thought make you fear death less? Also, who knows, humans might go extinct before tens of billions of them die after me.
What does this have to do with your conduct towards other people on here? Absolutely nothing. I am already an atheist, and a seeker no less. The last thing I want is atheism promotion. Forbid I fall back into my brief nihilism phase *shudder*. Why would you do this to a person IN MENTAL ANGUISH from their theological perspective? It's like trying to shove a scone into the mouth of a diabetic person; I don't want it, and it's obviously not good for me. It might be fine for others, but I think I have expressed my pain enough for you to understand that this wouldn't help me.
What you are seeking is something you can not find or have, the knowledge of what happens after you die, all you will find is wild guesses and old stories.
Probably, but you are not helping. It's not like I am so obsessed with it that I can't function, so why try to discourage me? Furthermore, why did you only address such a small amount of my post, and the most trivial part of it at that?
-_- I would think that if humans have an afterlife, then likely all living things do. The concept itself is irrelevant as to whether or not it applies to reality. There was a time before anything conceived of the idea of atoms, but atoms existed still long before that point. An orangutan may have no concept of an afterlife (although, they are so smart, that they actually could pick that up from people), but that says nothing about how valid or invalid the idea of an afterlife is. And it also has nothing to do with your conduct towards others, stop dodging my points on that matter.
You ask an irrelevant question, because you are still bullying people.
And periods are your friends, and I recommend that you use them more often. I find it odd that you think I disagree with your points entirely. It's your delivery of them that irks me and other people. It's like watching someone hammer in a nail with a screwdriver. Obviously, my problem with that wouldn't be the fact that the person is trying to hammer in a nail, but the fact that they are using a screwdriver to do it.
Wow, I never thought I would have to explain to a nontheist that beliefs are not a fully conscious choice, but are subject to our perceptions and experiences. A believer can't just choose not to believe any more than I can force myself to believe, for the very fact that belief is not highly subject to personal desire. I think a lot of atheists overestimate how accepting Christians are that, if their beliefs are true, that the majority of humanity is burning in hell. They don't want that to be the case, but they believe it is so, so they cope as best as they can. Additionally, you consistently fail to present evidence for your own claims, so not only are your posts the equivalent of those of people that make empty faith claims, but they are actually worse in that you could present evidence, and yet you choose not to in favor of bullying.
They weren't indoctrinated into it. How logical their beliefs are or not to you is irrelevant to debate conduct. There are plenty of ideas I have seen tossed around that seem pretty idiotic to me, but I don't go off and say that and leave it at that. Instead, I actually debate people. I treat them as people.
And most adults know better than to waste their time bullying other adults online and developing a superiority complex for it. Honestly, if you think you are behaving more appropriately than me, then you are more delusional than a person that honestly believed that the universe was tooted out of a cosmic tea kettle.
That is true.
