Brainstorm

[Joods]

I do have empathy. If I didn't have any empathy I wouldn't care whether someone who is definitely going to suffer very much is given birth to or not.

You've confused compassion with empathy, however, any narcissist can easily mirror those traits. It's not something they posses naturally.

[Excited Penguin]

I do have empathy. If I didn't have any empathy I wouldn't care whether someone who is definitely going to suffer very much is given birth to or not.

You've confused compassion with empathy, however, any narcissist can easily mirror those traits. It's not something they posses naturally.

You're right, I did. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm lacking sleep right now, that might be why I made that mistake.

Not sure what to say about the other part of your post. If you think I'm a narcissist, that saddens me, but other than that, not sure how I can change your opinion of me.

[Joods]

You've confused compassion with empathy, however, any narcissist can easily mirror those traits. It's not something they posses naturally.

You're right, I did. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm lacking sleep right now, that might be why I made that mistake.

Not sure what to say about the other part of your post. If you think I'm a narcissist, that saddens me, but other than that, not sure how I can change your opinion of me.

Give it time. I have seen here lately, that you are trying to be better.

[Mister Agenda]

What a naïve thing to say.

Although the antitheists who think a police state is a small price to pay for eradicating religion are a small minority, it's not small enough by a long shot. Here when someone suggests an extreme 'solution', they're kidding. That's not always the case in the wild.

That's fascism, not antitheism. Get your definitions straight. Being an antitheist only means being against religion/theism. To take a "further" step and be against people, that's new territory, one antitheism doesn't cover. That's misanthropy/authoritarianism.

There's nothing in the definition of antitheist that prevents one from also being an authoritarian fascist. Sadly, they are by no means exclusive terms.

[Excited Penguin]

That's fascism, not antitheism. Get your definitions straight. Being an antitheist only means being against religion/theism. To take a "further" step and be against people, that's new territory, one antitheism doesn't cover. That's misanthropy/authoritarianism.

There's nothing in the definition of antitheist that prevents one from also being an authoritarian fascist. Sadly, they are by no means exclusive terms.

I don't think you are justified in making that comparison, however. Fascism is a form of irrationality in itself. Antitheism isn't.

[Mister Agenda]

That's ridiculous EP. Not all Muslims are not not unsafe.

No, it is not. When we are talking about Muslims we are talking about grown men who have chosen to follow a certain set of ideas. That particular set of ideas and their reputation as a source of violence in today's world is what scares me. Fuck them and fuck their backwards ideas. If they want acceptance from me, they should have better ideas.


You would think the same about Nazis.

When we're talking about Muslims, we're talking about a much more diverse population than Nazis. For instance, 20% of Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa, yet we characterize Islam by what's happening in the Middle East (which includes the West being responsible for the deaths of 4 million of them since 1990). 22% of Christians live in Africa, 70% live in Africa, Asia, and South America combined...yet we tend to characterize Christianity by what we see in North America and Europe. The common perspective is skewed.

In America, about 22% of Christian fundamentalists accept evolution, while about 45% of American Muslims do. I have more in common with American Muslims on average than I do with Christian fundamentalists, and I'm much less likely to be shot by an American Muslim than a Christian fundamentalist.

Distinctions matter.

[Mister Agenda]

Greetings bigot. My name is turtle. I am anti-Nazi 

(That's my emphasis).
So you're calling me a bigot right before admitting to being one yourself?

The essence of being a bigot is stubbornly clinging to beliefs (particularly unfavorable beliefs about people) no matter the evidence to the contrary. If you are aware of reasons why people shouldn't be anti-Nazi, please share with the class.

[Excited Penguin]

(That's my emphasis).
So you're calling me a bigot right before admitting to being one yourself?

The essence of being a bigot is stubbornly clinging to beliefs (particularly unfavorable beliefs about people) no matter the evidence to the contrary. If you are aware of reasons why people shouldn't be anti-Nazi, please share with the class.

How am I a bigot, by that definition? Does Evie have any proof to back up the claim that I stubbornly cling to unfavorable beliefs about people no matter the evidence to the contrary?

[Mister Agenda]

Being anti-nazi is kind of being anti-bigot....

Same goes for being anti-muslim.

Not really.

And comparing them with racially bigoted white supremacist Nazis is particularly inappropriate considering that racially there is no majority in Islam, every race is a minority (30% white, 23% black, 21% Asian, 6% Hispanic, 19% other or mixed race). If they were being judged by the average American, that percentage of whites would drop considerably given how many of us think that Arabs are too brown to be white.

You say you're just an antitheist, and being anti-Islam (as well as anti-Christianity, anti-Hinduism, and so forth) is consistent with that. However, being anti-Muslim goes further, into being against the people.

[Excited Penguin]

No, it is not. When we are talking about Muslims we are talking about grown men who have chosen to follow a certain set of ideas. That particular set of ideas and their reputation as a source of violence in today's world is what scares me. Fuck them and fuck their backwards ideas. If they want acceptance from me, they should have better ideas.


You would think the same about Nazis.

When we're talking about Muslims, we're talking about a much more diverse population than Nazis. For instance, 20% of Muslims live in the Middle East and North Africa, yet we characterize Islam by what's happening in the Middle East (which includes the West being responsible for the deaths of 4 million of them since 1990). 22% of Christians live in Africa, 70% live in Africa, Asia, and South America combined...yet we tend to characterize Christianity by what we see in North America and Europe. The common perspective is skewed.

In America, about 22% of Christian fundamentalists accept evolution, while about 45% of American Muslims do. I have more in common with American Muslims on average than I do with Christian fundamentalists, and I'm much less likely to be shot by an American Muslim than a Christian fundamentalist.

Distinctions matter.

That doesn't exactly address the part of my post talking about their adherence to a set of problematic ideas. 

But point taken if all of those numbers are accurate.