RE: Question For Fellow Atheists...
January 7, 2017 at 8:55 pm
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2017 at 8:56 pm by Simon Moon.)
(January 7, 2017 at 8:36 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(January 7, 2017 at 8:08 pm)Autolite Wrote: @Catholic Lady
To understand what I'm talking about, try and imagine that almost everyone that you know believed in the Tooth Fairy. You can't call them delusional because belief in the Tooth Fairy is a shared belief within your community. You can't call their beliefs absurd, irrational or idiotic because you'll be branded "narrow minded and bigoted" and you'll be vilified and bombarded with countless ad-homs and insults.
Society demands that you afford the Tooth Fairy believers respect even thought you know that such a belief is complete and absolute nonsense. Picture yourself in that situation and perhaps you might be able to better understand what the Atheist is dealing with...
If believing in ferries was any sort of widely accepted belief, why the hell should I give a crap if other ppl believe in them?
You don't think you'd start giving a crap if these tooth fairy believers wanted to pass laws based on their 'tooth fairy morality', wanted to teach their 'tooth fairy creationism' in public school science courses, started wars with those that did not believe in their tooth fairy beliefs, flew planes into buildings at 300 mph because they believed they were going to be in tooth fairy heaven, etc?
Religious beliefs don't live in a vacuum. They are not benign. They affect people's actions. There are real world negative consequences due to religious beliefs.
Quote:Why should I respect them less for it? I don't believe mohammed was a prophet who spoke to an angel (islam), I don't believe people are "saved" simply for believing in jesus (evengelical christianity), I don't believe Buddha was a God (Buddhism). Does that mean I think those who do are mental? Of course not!
I can see how it can be annoying/lonely to you that you're the only atheist in your circle. But this does not need to progress to you thinking everyone else except yourself has a mental issue. Unless of course you're looking for an excuse to feel superior.
One does not have to mentally ill to have delusional beliefs.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
