Tar Heel turns State red.

[robvalue]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

[Dystopia]

I've never heard a (sane) atheist advocate violence, ever. Not that I recall anyway.

Hitchens supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Hitchens wasn't the wisest person in every subject. If I recall correctly he professed a pro-life stance once.

I think Hitchens, much like Harris, was very focused on fighting Islam to the point he took the theory that Islam is a supremacist movement very seriously. Don't get me wrong, terrorist groups are most certainly supremacists and want to impose Islam on the rest of the world, but I don't think the majority of Muslims, immigrant or not, want anything to do with that and probably just want a peaceful regular life.

[Brian37]

Hitchens supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Hitchens wasn't the wisest person in every subject. If I recall correctly he professed a pro-life stance once.

I think Hitchens, much like Harris, was very focused on fighting Islam to the point he took the theory that Islam is a supremacist movement very seriously. Don't get me wrong, terrorist groups are most certainly supremacists and want to impose Islam on the rest of the world, but I don't think the majority of Muslims, immigrant or not, want anything to do with that and probably just want a peaceful regular life.

Um no, if you watch enough of Hitchen's debates you know he isn't saying "God is Not Great" solely as an Islamic political movement. He has videos debating Jews and Christians.

No he was not right about everything. I didn't know about his pro life stance, never heard about that. But he certainly was wrong about supporting the Iraq war.

He was attacking Islam's current climate. But even with that he wanted the emancipation for the east the same way Jefferson and Paine gave rise to secular common law.

He never once advocated violence towards non violent fellow humans. He had plenty of theist friends of all stripes including Muslims. He had a love of humanity in the context that it saddened him to see so many worldwide giving protection to a very divisive concept and he simply wanted humans to stop giving religion a pass.

[Chad32]

I've never heard a (sane) atheist advocate violence, ever. Not that I recall anyway.

It's not something that's easily justified, outside of self defense.

[Brian37]

To me, the enemies are "faith" and the myth that a book can be magically true. If we can get it through people's heads that these are both stupid things then the world would be a better place in my opinion. If the bible and koran were just sitting in the fiction section next to all the other books, and there wasn't a myth being perpetuated that these books were magic, they would hurt virtually no one. And if people learn to use their brain rather than accept any nonsense "on faith" then that would be a major breakthrough.

To me, everyone who perpetuates these bad ideas is propping up the whole problem. They are making it seem valid and acceptable. Because sadly, most people fall for the argument from popularity fallacy. They shouldn't, but they do.

I agree but the only caveat to that is that even atheists cannot think we are above the same range of cruelty and compassion our species has always displayed.

It bares repeating. "Atheist" is not a religion. It is not a moral code. It is not a political party. It is not a loyalty oath. It is a position, the "off" position on one claim. Our species ability to be cruel or compassionate is in our evolution, not the labels we assign ourselves or others. Not even we should forget that least we become what we say we hate.

[robvalue]

Sure, that's very important.

But I think religion is a huge facilitator of the dark sides of humans, and without it people would have to work a lot harder to be as shitty on the same kind of scale.

Religion stifles individual thought and assessment, and encourages a follow the leader attitude, regardless of how corrupt that leader might be.

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Additional: even when their own book explains in detail exactly how corrupt the leader is.

[Brian37]

Sure, that's very important.

But I think religion is a huge facilitator of the dark sides of humans, and without it people would have to work a lot harder to be as shitty on the same kind of scale.

Religion stifles individual thought and assessment, and encourages a follow the leader attitude, regardless of how corrupt that leader might be.

---

Additional: even when their own book explains in detail exactly how corrupt the leader is.

Right now the majority of individuals worldwide who hold the label atheists are in the minority so it is much easier being in it to have empathy. But power shifts over time and the current lot will not be around forever. So what we have to constantly pass down as a species is to the next generation is that our behavior, good or bad, is not determined by a label, but is part of a range in our evolution.

[CristW]

What is the meaning of "red" in this post?

[Brian37]

What is the meaning of "red" in this post?

Colleges have rivals within the same states. UNC color scheme is powder blue but NC State is red.

It is not an indictment of NC State at all, just a metaphor. Universities are very good for diversity and the sad part is NC State rivals were just as horrified by the murders as UNC. NC state students extended their sympathies for the victims and UNC.

It is sad it takes events like this to unify our species.

[Nope]

What is the meaning of "red" in this post?

Colleges have rivals within the same states. UNC color scheme is powder blue but NC State is red.

It is not an indictment of NC State at all, just a metaphor. Universities are very good for diversity and the sad part is NC State rivals were just as horrified by the murders as UNC. NC state students extended their sympathies for the victims and UNC.

It is sad it takes events like this to unify our species.

Also, Tarheel is the nickname of any resident of NC. I didn't think about sports when I read the title. I thought you were just saying that the state of NC turned red or had violence committed in it.