Sin, to me, is casting aspersions on my character that I refuse to tolerate. When people use it as a blanket, i.e. "We all sin", they're almost always using it in a way that tries to alleviate their own insecurity by casting it out at others, and I won't stand for that kind of insult. That the person is almost invariably drawing their moral considerations from a book condoning slavery and genocide, and then challenging my moral convictions, is unthinkably appalling.
It is also an implication that they, and their hypocritical phony tyrant believe I am deserving of flesh-searing torment without end. In the entire infinite multiverse, there's nothing any mortal could possibly do to merit this and yet it's tossed around like a Nightmare on Elm Street DVD.
People need to fucking understand how loaded these concepts are and that those who aren't interested in any of their phony-baloney crap are even less interested in the most divisive and offensive parts of it. Those of us who don't believe and who actually learned, on average, more about their fables than the believers, know full well that they are fundamentally incompatible with the idea that their object of worship is a liar, murderer and, depending on how you look at it, rapist, and that alone should make their whole rationale for condemning others (or even themselves) for the idea of bogus sins is laughable. The problem is, if this was a different time, we'd be getting flagellated at best, or burned alive at worst. The weight of these words is greater than their god can lift, and should not be tossed around lightly.
If someone does something completely idiotic, and you explain exactly what was wrong with it, and they call you a moron in return just because they feel like it, because it makes them feel better, does that not make it an insult? This is no different, except that the implications behind it are far worse. It applies to morality rather than intelligence (although since intelligence often indicates non-belief you could argue they're linked) and if they go the step further and say you should be sodomized by a piece of red-hot metal, well, that's the hellfire part. Can either of these things even remotely reasonably be said to someone who has done nothing wrong? There's no call for these concepts to ever be applied to anyone outside of a faith. For anyone to say that faith is innocuous when this kind of thing happens is to reveal that they are just as ignorant as the most embarrassing stereotype.
It is also an implication that they, and their hypocritical phony tyrant believe I am deserving of flesh-searing torment without end. In the entire infinite multiverse, there's nothing any mortal could possibly do to merit this and yet it's tossed around like a Nightmare on Elm Street DVD.
People need to fucking understand how loaded these concepts are and that those who aren't interested in any of their phony-baloney crap are even less interested in the most divisive and offensive parts of it. Those of us who don't believe and who actually learned, on average, more about their fables than the believers, know full well that they are fundamentally incompatible with the idea that their object of worship is a liar, murderer and, depending on how you look at it, rapist, and that alone should make their whole rationale for condemning others (or even themselves) for the idea of bogus sins is laughable. The problem is, if this was a different time, we'd be getting flagellated at best, or burned alive at worst. The weight of these words is greater than their god can lift, and should not be tossed around lightly.
If someone does something completely idiotic, and you explain exactly what was wrong with it, and they call you a moron in return just because they feel like it, because it makes them feel better, does that not make it an insult? This is no different, except that the implications behind it are far worse. It applies to morality rather than intelligence (although since intelligence often indicates non-belief you could argue they're linked) and if they go the step further and say you should be sodomized by a piece of red-hot metal, well, that's the hellfire part. Can either of these things even remotely reasonably be said to someone who has done nothing wrong? There's no call for these concepts to ever be applied to anyone outside of a faith. For anyone to say that faith is innocuous when this kind of thing happens is to reveal that they are just as ignorant as the most embarrassing stereotype.
Religions were invented to impress and dupe illiterate, superstitious stone-age peasants. So in this modern, enlightened age of information, what's your excuse? Or are you saying with all your advantages, you were still tricked as easily as those early humans?
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There is no better way to convey the least amount of information in the greatest amount of words than to try explaining your religious views.
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There is no better way to convey the least amount of information in the greatest amount of words than to try explaining your religious views.