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"But what about the moderates?"

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"But what about the moderates?"
xpastor Offline
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Religious Views: Humanist
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#5
RE: "But what about the moderates?"
October 28, 2014 at 3:03 pm
This is a very tricky issue.

I agree 100% with the OP that religious liberals provide cover to fundamentalists by claiming their holy books are the word of God. Some liberals like Anglican bishop John Shelby Spong try to sanitize the Bible by admitting to "the sins of scripture" (the title of one of his books). However, it turns into a theological dog's breakfast. Basically, he anathematizes any passages which violate the statement that "God is love." Obviously, a fundamentalist can define "love" any way he wants, for instance, God loves homosexuals so much that He cannot tolerate their sins.

Just a few weeks ago a liberal rabbi who writes a column for a large newspaper tried to hang the whole doctrine of human rights on the biblical story that God created mankind in his own image. If we found such an important matter only through the Bible, the fundamentalist can argue for taking the whole thing seriously.

The problem is this: Is it worth thumping liberals over their attachment to scripture? I must confess I have done that more than once. Yet liberal believers do a lot of good in the world. If I were offered a choice between converting all religious liberals to secular humanism OR converting all fundamentalists to liberal religion, I would choose the second in a heartbeat. The first option would make no discernible difference to the state of the work, but the second would make an immense difference.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people — House
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Atheist Forums › Community › Religion v
"But what about the moderates?"

Messages In This Thread
"But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - October 27, 2014 at 11:08 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 27, 2014 at 12:03 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by ManMachine - December 15, 2014 at 6:08 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Brian37 - October 27, 2014 at 12:24 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by fr0d0 - October 28, 2014 at 3:15 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by RobbyPants - October 27, 2014 at 1:31 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - October 28, 2014 at 3:03 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by ThomM - November 2, 2014 at 1:24 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Christian - October 29, 2014 at 8:18 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Valkyrie - October 29, 2014 at 8:28 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Christian - October 29, 2014 at 8:39 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Valkyrie - October 29, 2014 at 8:47 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - October 29, 2014 at 9:27 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 29, 2014 at 8:25 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - October 30, 2014 at 8:26 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - October 30, 2014 at 8:53 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - October 30, 2014 at 10:25 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - October 30, 2014 at 10:53 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - October 30, 2014 at 11:30 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 30, 2014 at 11:41 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 29, 2014 at 8:53 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Christian - October 29, 2014 at 9:46 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 29, 2014 at 9:57 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by RobbyPants - November 3, 2014 at 4:09 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - October 30, 2014 at 10:52 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Mister Agenda - October 30, 2014 at 11:49 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - November 1, 2014 at 8:35 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 30, 2014 at 3:38 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - October 30, 2014 at 8:31 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - October 31, 2014 at 11:05 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 31, 2014 at 12:04 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - October 31, 2014 at 12:41 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - October 31, 2014 at 1:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - October 31, 2014 at 1:02 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - October 31, 2014 at 1:48 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by WinterHold - October 31, 2014 at 1:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by FatAndFaithless - October 31, 2014 at 1:26 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 1, 2014 at 3:36 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 1, 2014 at 6:05 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - November 1, 2014 at 6:23 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 1, 2014 at 8:53 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - November 1, 2014 at 9:08 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 1, 2014 at 10:59 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 1, 2014 at 5:08 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by LastPoet - November 1, 2014 at 5:18 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 1, 2014 at 9:50 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - November 1, 2014 at 10:42 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - November 2, 2014 at 3:52 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by tjakey - November 3, 2014 at 6:21 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - November 3, 2014 at 6:47 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 3, 2014 at 7:05 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - November 3, 2014 at 7:16 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 3, 2014 at 8:00 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 3, 2014 at 7:29 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 8, 2014 at 11:56 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 8, 2014 at 12:17 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 8, 2014 at 2:52 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 8, 2014 at 3:56 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 8, 2014 at 5:41 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 8, 2014 at 10:52 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 12, 2014 at 11:38 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 12, 2014 at 1:38 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 12, 2014 at 2:44 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - November 14, 2014 at 12:41 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 12, 2014 at 4:43 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by FatAndFaithless - November 12, 2014 at 4:46 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 12, 2014 at 6:36 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 12, 2014 at 7:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 12, 2014 at 7:40 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 12, 2014 at 9:56 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 12, 2014 at 10:09 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 13, 2014 at 8:25 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 13, 2014 at 11:21 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 13, 2014 at 3:03 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 13, 2014 at 3:57 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 13, 2014 at 9:10 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - November 14, 2014 at 1:30 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 13, 2014 at 9:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 19, 2014 at 6:34 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Grand Nudger - November 19, 2014 at 6:51 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - November 20, 2014 at 4:15 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - November 21, 2014 at 1:12 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 22, 2014 at 9:13 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by TreeSapNest - November 25, 2014 at 3:42 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - November 25, 2014 at 5:08 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 25, 2014 at 3:48 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 25, 2014 at 6:18 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 26, 2014 at 4:24 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - November 26, 2014 at 4:48 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - November 27, 2014 at 4:35 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - November 26, 2014 at 10:14 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - November 26, 2014 at 10:16 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Smaug - November 27, 2014 at 4:15 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 9, 2014 at 2:40 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 9, 2014 at 4:31 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - December 9, 2014 at 4:40 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 14, 2014 at 4:17 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 9, 2014 at 4:45 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Mister Agenda - December 12, 2014 at 1:25 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by FatAndFaithless - December 9, 2014 at 4:43 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 10, 2014 at 3:35 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 10, 2014 at 12:07 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 10, 2014 at 12:10 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 11, 2014 at 11:18 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 11, 2014 at 11:30 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 11, 2014 at 11:37 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Vicki Q - December 14, 2014 at 1:11 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - December 14, 2014 at 5:57 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Vicki Q - December 15, 2014 at 5:28 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - December 15, 2014 at 6:39 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Vicki Q - December 16, 2014 at 5:33 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by DeistPaladin - December 16, 2014 at 6:57 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Vicki Q - December 17, 2014 at 4:52 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 17, 2014 at 4:55 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 18, 2014 at 12:18 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Vicki Q - December 18, 2014 at 5:59 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 19, 2014 at 12:41 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Ryantology - December 16, 2014 at 8:50 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Ryantology - December 15, 2014 at 7:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 16, 2014 at 11:12 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 14, 2014 at 1:26 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 14, 2014 at 1:44 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 14, 2014 at 1:46 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 14, 2014 at 2:47 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 14, 2014 at 2:55 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 14, 2014 at 3:22 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 14, 2014 at 3:29 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by xpastor - December 14, 2014 at 3:41 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 14, 2014 at 3:59 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 15, 2014 at 12:40 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 15, 2014 at 6:28 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 17, 2014 at 1:36 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Grand Nudger - December 15, 2014 at 9:30 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 16, 2014 at 12:01 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 16, 2014 at 1:04 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 16, 2014 at 7:43 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 16, 2014 at 7:49 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Grand Nudger - December 16, 2014 at 5:52 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by robvalue - December 16, 2014 at 6:29 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - December 16, 2014 at 7:20 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 16, 2014 at 9:04 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Valkyrie - December 16, 2014 at 9:27 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 16, 2014 at 11:44 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 16, 2014 at 9:31 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Valkyrie - December 16, 2014 at 9:49 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 16, 2014 at 10:00 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by The Valkyrie - December 16, 2014 at 10:07 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 16, 2014 at 11:18 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 16, 2014 at 11:51 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - December 17, 2014 at 12:04 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 17, 2014 at 12:16 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 17, 2014 at 12:09 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - December 17, 2014 at 12:21 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 17, 2014 at 1:19 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Chas - December 17, 2014 at 9:14 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 17, 2014 at 9:42 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by dyresand - December 19, 2014 at 1:51 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Thumpalumpacus - December 17, 2014 at 12:42 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by simplemoss - December 18, 2014 at 5:24 am
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Whateverist - December 18, 2014 at 10:26 pm
RE: "But what about the moderates?" - by Minimalist - December 19, 2014 at 1:10 pm

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