(January 26, 2019 at 4:28 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: But I am not making an argument for whether it's rational to believe in a god. I am merely accepting the fact that people believe what they believe and then moving forward from there.
If they believe that the Christian god has a plan and that they can convince it to change that plan by whispering to it, then so be it. It's not up to me to change them, and by all accounts prayer brings people comfort, so pray away.
I'm merely pointing out that "thoughts an prayers" isn't bereft of social context, and that to treat the axiom as if it is, well that's sort of inane.
Again, it is not for me a human rights issue.
I have said in many posts that I value the likes of Martin Luther King Jr, Ann Frank and Malala. All different religions, and would love to have them as my neighbors. But it does not mean, because I value the common empathy humans have the potential for, and we all do, that means I cant or should not question where my fellow humans think our morality is coming from.
It is not up to you to change them by force, no. But if our species never questioned social norms, we'd still believe the earth was flat, we'd still deny women the right to vote, and we'd still own slaves. I am glad humans dared to question those social norms.
I am merely saying while human rights are a given, our species would do far better than to fear each other, or to fear change when better data gives humans better answers.
