RE: The Obsession with Discussing the Supposed Rudeness of Atheists
September 30, 2015 at 2:48 pm
(September 30, 2015 at 12:15 pm)lkingpinl Wrote: Stereotyping or generalizing people is always bad. People are individuals and may choose to label themselves under certain banners, but that in no way gives anyone the right to assume what they believe or how they behave without getting to know them personally.
You might want to rethink that. What you are saying is, when someone labels himself a theist, you would be wrong to "assume" that the person believes in a god. Of course, it is not an assumption at that point. It is just taking the person at his word. If someone is a stupid moron who does not know how to properly label himself, that is a failing of his, not of the people who initially take him at his word. I will grant you, however, that there are quite of few complete morons who label themselves inaccurately. Of course, if they are that stupid, when they directly tell you, "I believe X," you would be equally wrong to suppose that you could count on that being true, since the person clearly has no clue what they are talking about.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
