(August 9, 2017 at 8:06 am)rjh4 is back Wrote: To Thumpalumpacus
This thread is getting way off track.
Quote:Yes, you are generalizing, and you should not do so. You said we're all being insulting, and not all of us are. So either you can practice nuance, or catch grief for sloppy thinking. It's not my problem, but I sure as hell won't let your overbroad generalization slide without comment. If that discomfits you, perhaps you should, you know, say what you actually mean.
You know my "position on things". You also know that I'm not cussing at you or calling you names. You should take care not to broad-brush people -- and if you do, you should not be surprised when they pipe up.
1) Maybe you should practice nuance also. I never used the word "insulting".
2) I agreed that at the point you were talking about that I was generalizing. So why are you commenting like I said I wasn't. More nuance practice needed on your part.
3) I really love this one: "but I sure as hell won't let your overbroad generalization slide without comment". This one is really rich given that neither you nor anyone else has piped up in Min's defense indicating that his original post was really meaningful in any way. It certainly does not show evidence that supports any view of life to non-life. And if it did, I would think people like you would have called me out for that, i.e., that I was wrong on my original post. But...you didn't. So from what I get out of this is that here at this forum, you, Thumpalumpacus, will hold a Christian to a different standard than an atheist.
So, Thumpalumpacus, in your position what makes stealing or kicking someone in the teeth wrong? I mean I think it is wrong because the Bible tells us to treat others like we want to be treated. But without God, what is your naturalistic explanation for right and wrong? Is it just a result of chemical reactions going on in your brain?
While I am specifically asking Thumpalumpacus, I am interested in any atheist's position on the matter.
If you need a old book of mythology to keep you from harming others, it isn't religion you lack, it is empathy you lack. Now while the word "atheist" is also not a magic word that will prevent us from harming others, it also does not automatically mean we will harm others.
Funny how every nation in the world under every religious label all have hospitals and prisons. Just like you can accept there are Jews and Hindus and Buddhists whom also do not commit acts of violence, atheists are also perfectly capable of not harming others.
Maybe you need to consider that it isn't the book telling you to refrain from acts of violence, but your own evolutionary empathy. Our species was around long before any first writing or first nations.
If you need that old book of mythology to prevent yourself from harming others, by all means keep it. But don't pretend we need it just because you like it. Most humans can figure out that harming others causes more problems than it is worth. You liking that book only means you like it. You are still not doing anything differently as far as apology that we have seen from people from every religion.
There are good people in every religion, but that does not make the religion a requirement for 7 billion diverse humans. It just means for most, they bought the religion of their parents. You found a story you like, well so what. 7 billion humans with thousands of sects under each major label. I say the same to you as I say to anyone of any label. Get in line, take a number.
