(September 18, 2023 at 10:02 am)Data Wrote:(September 17, 2023 at 12:41 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Of course they were ignorant of some of the things we know, just as we’re ignorant of some of the things they knew. That’s not a slur, it’s a simple fact. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t intelligent - ‘ignorant’ and ‘stupid’ are very different things. ‘Ignorant’ simply refers to things you don’t know, not to things you’re unable to learn
Agreed.
(September 17, 2023 at 12:41 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: If I were plunked down in the wilderness, I’d very likely die without help. But if Musa Bin Habib were to take me in hand, I could learn the skills I’d need to survive. Similarly, if Musa were to be placed in a modern metropolis (Singapore, say, or London), he’d be dead in a week unless someone taught him how to survive.
Everyone’s ignorant of some things, to a greater or lesser extent.
Who the fuck is Musa Bin Habib? Nevermind. Doesn't matter. I agree with you, so why keep referring to them as irrelevant goatherders. Just a derogatory? If they aren't relevant than shut the fuck up about them, right? Then we go back to the sociopolitical. Here's the thing about that. It's a valid complaint, but even though Christ said his followers would be no part of the world wouldn't the theists, with their political views, should be allowed in a republic or democracy to play the game as well as anyone else. The majority of atheists aren't militant. The minority, by far, is. No organization. You don't have the numbers. Solution?
I don’t think I’ve ever used the term ‘irrelevant goatherders’. I call them goatherders because at least some of them, you know, herded goats. As it turns out, they were anything but irrelevant. Hugely relevant, in fact.
But, yes, the term is to an extent derogatory. I tend to used it only when people use their favourite mythologies as science texts, as in, ‘Really? You think semi-literate goatherders from 3000 years ago had a handle on quantum physics?’ It’s intended at a shot at people making moronic arguments more than at the people who invented the lore on which the Bible is based.
I don’t object to theists taking part in the body politic, as long as they don’t attempt to get non-believers to live according to their own spooky rules. To be fair, I wouldn’t want atheists in government to attempt to outlaw religion, either.
I don’t consider my self a militant atheist. When it come to religion, I’m more of a mindyourownbusinessist. Apos if I gave a different impression.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax