Agressive?

[WitchSabrina]

when my humor meter goes wild -- I could easily respond with "Yo...aren't YOU the one with a God?"

Very true. They should def go easy on you

Yanno it's actually sad that good or decent people *do* get lumped in with the rabid crazies that tend to be more visible. BUT....... as I've mentioned to people time and again - Hey rein in your crazies and there'd be less ridicule. Own your own history, fix your theology and dogma, etc. Such things leave the deeply religious open to critique. AND they put up billboards etc to announce their availability for review.

I don't know the answers to such things but I think if someone's going to try and sell me something they should anticipate a response. And perhaps not a friendly response either.

[Aegrus]

Atheism is, at least in America, a small and misunderstood minority.

Yeah I see it all over the media, in the movies and even the superbowl. No atheism there ever.

I'm not entirely sure what this post is saying. Are you being sarcastic, or. . .?

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Atheism is, at least in America, a small and misunderstood minority.

Yeah I see it all over the media, in the movies and even the superbowl. No atheism there ever.

Tell you what, here are some statistics.

16% of America is unaffiliated with a religion, with 1.6% actually identifying as atheist.

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

In seven US states, atheists can't hold public office. Some also have anti-blasphemy laws.

http://digitaljournal.com/article/339708

Atheists are less trusted than rapists.

http://atheism.about.com/od/atheistbigot...apists.htm

On a more personal note, all five people who I've told about my atheism in my day to day life have assumed that atheism and Satanism are interchangeable. And I don't even live in the bible belt.

[fr0d0]

rein in your crazies and there'd be less ridicule. Own your own history, fix your theology and dogma, etc.

So you ridicule me because of other people I disagree with? Yeah I see that happen to an even wider group of people too. Atheists

History - nothing much I can do about that is there.
Theology... well if it ain't broke
Dogma? Meh we all got those :S

[Aegrus]

Very true. They should def go easy on you

Yanno it's actually sad that good or decent people *do* get lumped in with the rabid crazies that tend to be more visible. BUT....... as I've mentioned to people time and again - Hey rein in your crazies and there'd be less ridicule. Own your own history, fix your theology and dogma, etc. Such things leave the deeply religious open to critique. AND they put up billboards etc to announce their availability for review.

I don't know the answers to such things but I think if someone's going to try and sell me something they should anticipate a response. And perhaps not a friendly response either.

Well said. If organized religion would admit that it has a problem, it might be able to fix it's problems.

[WitchSabrina]

rein in your crazies and there'd be less ridicule. Own your own history, fix your theology and dogma, etc.

So you ridicule me because of other people I disagree with? Yeah I see that happen to an even wider group of people too. Atheists

History - nothing much I can do about that is there.
Theology... well if it ain't broke
Dogma? Meh we all got those :S

Well actually No. Atheists have no dogma. Zip. Nada None

it's cool though....... not trying to fight you

[fr0d0]

Neither do theists. Some specific theistic specialisims do, just like some specific atheistic specialisms.

Hey no fighty Sabrina!

[Angrboda]

rein in your crazies and there'd be less ridicule. Own your own history, fix your theology and dogma, etc.

So you ridicule me because of other people I disagree with? Yeah I see that happen to an even wider group of people too. Atheists

History - nothing much I can do about that is there.
Theology... well if it ain't broke
Dogma? Meh we all got those :S

I ridicule you for exactly what you believe fr0d0 (see the free will paradox thread). Don't go pretending you can get a pass by acting all meek and liberal and shit. You are the crazy, if only slightly less crazy than those other crazies. Being "relatively" sane doesn't make you sane.

[Violet]

Even if materialism explained everything (which it presently does not, though it may eventually explain everything, IMO) spirituality could actually be beneficial. I don't have a source for this, but the more spiritual people I know are in general more pleasant to be around than either atheists or Catholics/Muslims.

Excepting myself, of course. I'm a beacon of logical and tolerant rational discourse.

Materialism cannot explain everything... specifically, that which is nonmaterial cannot be materially understood.

Am I pleasant to be around? I just got two people to cave into sex with each other and me... and I'm among the most spiritual people I know of

Hey, being a beacon's gotta be better than being a people-pleaser

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Dogma? Meh we all got those :S

Do I have a dogma? I don't think I'm authoritative enough for that... I might be without realizing it though. I certainly know others who are -_- Kyu

[Mister Agenda]

It's not that materialism can explain everything, it's that dualism can't explain anything.

Can't explain anything... scientifically. Please, let's not be ridiculous: a justification can be made for anything with anything REGARDLESS of how 'correct' or self-defeatingly hypocritical it might be.

Stop being ridiculous, nobody cares that you can't elucidate your point when you make it

Or rather... nobody should care Bunch of whiners we've got here.

Can't explain anything in a way that anyone can tell is true or not. To be fair, it can explain ANYTHING to the same degree that any other made-up and unfalsifiable answer to a question can. Non-material electron fairies are the secret cause of voltage is as plausible as any other dualistic claim. There's no way of knowing which dualistic explanation for something, if any, is right.

I should have said 'dualism can't explain anything usefully'.

[Angrboda]

Explanatory power, generally, at minimum, means allowing one a greater understanding of the phenomenon. On that measure, dualism has none. It's the explanatory equivalent of "it just happened" or "it's mysterious."