Tooth Fairy Bullshit

[Huggy Bear]

[Asmodee]

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Okay, let's try this again.  I'm going to post what you said, bold parts of it, post another thing and you try to spot what's wrong with it.  It's like a game, only nobody's having any fun.



Did you see it?  You just said EXACTLY what I've been telling you this whole time, and yet, somehow, you're arguing AGAINST what I'm saying!

Can we PLEASE just skip to the part where you say, "I get what you're saying now.  I did not mean that there was no difference ever, I meant it only in the context of that to which I was replying.  Of course the words are not synonymous 100% of the time and always entirely interchangeable and of course there are times when faith and belief have different, not entirely compatible meanings, their usage not being synonymous in those cases."  I PROMISE YOU, this was not some elaborate setup to get you to cop to anything so I could go, "AHA!"  I can't stand information that isn't entirely correct.  There's something wrong in my brain that makes it drive me nuts.  THAT is what this is about.  I was pointing out that they are not ALWAYS the same thing, that there IS a difference sometimes, which IS WHAT YOU JUST SAID!  That's it!  No hidden agenda, no trying to make you look bad, just pointing out that "no difference", put that plainly with no contextual qualifiers, was not accurate.

Here's your problem, you took what I said completely out of context. I didn't just state "Belief and faith are synonymous, there is no difference..." out of the blue, I made that statement in response to what someone else said.

And here's your problem. That's all you had to say from the beginning.  I did not "take it out of context", your wording suggested a claim of the absolute, "there is no difference", as in "ever", and that is what I was responding to.  As long as you acknowledge that statement is not true as an absolute, without exception, we're done and we agree.  That is the entirety of what I was getting at from the beginning.

[Tartarus Sauce]

As I said on a different thread, one of the double standards I see among some people here (not all) is that they are quick to attribute a person's bad actions to their religious beliefs. But when a person does something good after being inspired/influenced by their religious beliefs to do so, all of the sudden religion has nothing to do with that person's actions.

This is one of the main reasons I don't post on atheist boards that often anymore. There is a legitimate prejudice against theism that goes beyond criticism and skepticism and enters the realm of bigotry. Being a theist, any kind of theist, is seen as more than just flawed belief by some, but as an intractable character defect that compromises everything about the individual. There are certainly some theists whose convoluted beliefs make this a reality, but a non-insignificant portion of atheists on online communities like this one incorrectly project the psychosis of fundamentalists onto theists of all stripes.

[SteelCurtain]

Hehe! I love dropping in on a thread and seeing Huggy posting definitions of a word, willfully ignoring the other, more context derivative definitions.

I remember why I never get into it with him.

[Neo-Scholastic]

As I said on a different thread, one of the double standards I see among some people here (not all) is that they are quick to attribute a person's bad actions to their religious beliefs. But when a person does something good after being inspired/influenced by their religious beliefs to do so, all of the sudden religion has nothing to do with that person's actions.

This is one of the main reasons I don't post on atheist boards that often anymore. There is a legitimate prejudice against theism that goes beyond criticism and skepticism and enters the realm of bigotry. Being a theist, any kind of theist, is seen as more than just flawed belief by some, but as an intractable character defect that compromises everything about the individual. There are certainly some theists whose convoluted beliefs make this a reality, but a non-insignificant portion of atheists on online communities like this one incorrectly project the psychosis of fundamentalists onto theists of all stripes.

My OP was definitely an aggressive reaction to those atheists that malign theists. I expected the open hostility that followed. At the same time I found it very sad that so many atheists would 'double-down' on the tooth fairy/Christian God comparison. Others tried to distance themselves from the insult by saying they could respect the person without respecting their beliefs. That doesn't work. By implication they are saying that the admirable people on my list were too stupid to dismiss a childish belief.

[Catholic_Lady]

As I said on a different thread, one of the double standards I see among some people here (not all) is that they are quick to attribute a person's bad actions to their religious beliefs. But when a person does something good after being inspired/influenced by their religious beliefs to do so, all of the sudden religion has nothing to do with that person's actions.

This is one of the main reasons I don't post on atheist boards that often anymore. There is a legitimate prejudice against theism that goes beyond criticism and skepticism and enters the realm of bigotry. Being a theist, any kind of theist, is seen as more than just flawed belief by some, but as an intractable character defect that compromises everything about the individual. There are certainly some theists whose convoluted beliefs make this a reality, but a non-insignificant portion of atheists on online communities like this one incorrectly project the psychosis of fundamentalists onto theists of all stripes.

Thank you for this. 

[Edwardo Piet]

Others tried to distance themselves from the insult by saying they could respect the person without respecting their beliefs. That doesn't work. By implication they are saying that the admirable people on my list were too stupid to dismiss a childish belief.

This is bullshit. Terrible logic. Think harder.

[Jesster]

My OP was definitely an aggressive reaction to those atheists that malign theists. I expected the open hostility that followed. At the same time I found it very sad that so many atheists would 'double-down' on the tooth fairy/Christian God comparison. Others tried to distance themselves from the insult by saying they could respect the person without respecting their beliefs. That doesn't work. By implication they are saying that the admirable people on my list were too stupid to dismiss a childish belief.

When you act like a dickweed in your opening sentence, don't expect us to grant you any ground. Get over yourself and stop playing the victim.

[The Grand Nudger]

My OP was definitely an aggressive reaction to those atheists that malign theists.

Malign theism...malign theism.  Comparing god to the tooth fairy has what, exactly, to do with you personally Neo? Are you god?

The admirable people on your list -were- too stupid to dismiss a childish belief, if you insist on using that language to describe it I'm more than happy to run with it...but who's maligning them, at this point?

[Huggy Bear]

Hehe! I love dropping in on a thread and seeing Huggy posting definitions of a word, willfully ignoring the other, more context derivative definitions.

I remember why I never get into it with him.

Except the context was made very clear...