(May 25, 2017 at 11:58 am)Valyza1 Wrote:(May 25, 2017 at 8:32 am)Cyberman Wrote: I do hope this was a joke.Nope. The original post quoted me but didn't have a response. It was changed after I posted that.
(May 25, 2017 at 7:58 am)Harry Nevis Wrote: Criticism and ridicule on a forum such as this can keep the minds of people who are not sure of their beliefs open. And religion gets so much free uncriticized publicity as it is. Need to make sure the other side is represented. Since the believers as a whole won't question their beliefs, and they support laws to push them, we need to keep the open minded hearing our side.I agree 100% when it comes to certain kinds of criticism, but not when it comes to ridicule. There's nothing open minded about derision of anything and only serves to sway the openminded towards one side, whilst strengthening the prejudices of the other side. So if your goal is to close the minds of the genuinely open minded, then by all means, use ridicule. Otherwise, criticism is your best bet.
I disagree. Pointing out the ridiculousness of a belief doesn't automatically close minds. If someone was more interested in the tone rather than the information conveyed, they weren't that open minded in the first place.
"The last superstition of the human mind is the superstition that religion in itself is a good thing." - Samuel Porter Putnam