Theism is literally childish

[Kernel Sohcahtoa]

I gave her kudos because I found the op interesting and thought that it was well formatted and presented in a coherent, concise manner.  However, I do not share the opinion of the thread title, as IMO, it inhibits genuine opportunities for mutual learning and dialog between the secular and non-secular camps.  With that said, you, along with Neo, Catholic Lady, alpha male, roadrunner, and ignorant, have posted some interesting/well-formatted ideas on these boards, which I have found to be neat and kudos as a result.  Hence, for me at least, a cool/interesting idea is cool/interesting regardless of whether the person presenting it is secular, non-secular, or whatever.

I disagree with you that matildas claims and assertions about theists were cool or interestong lol, but i appreciate this post from you. A lot of the stuff she said wasn't even true. like that teaching a child about faith discourages thoughtfulness, takes away personal responsibility, makes you stop maturing mentally, etc. I'm not disputing that in some cases it does, depending on how it's done, but that certainly wasn't the case for me and many many others. I was taught that doubt is good because it makes you seek answers and may lead to a deepening of your faith. I was taught that it's important to understand why we believe certain acts are immoral, and there's not a single moral teaching that I blindly follow without understanding. I'd also say I'm not an immature person, but that's just my opinion I guess lol.

My usage of "cool and interesting" was meant to describe the posts made by you, RR, Neo, AM, and other theists whom I have given kudos, not the op; I don't think the op is cool because it inhibits mutual learning and dialog. As I stated in the beginning of my previous post, I gave kudos to the op because I thought it was interesting, well formatted, and presented in a coherent/concise manner.

[Catholic_Lady]

I disagree with you that matildas claims and assertions about theists were cool or interestong lol, but i appreciate this post from you. A lot of the stuff she said wasn't even true. like that teaching a child about faith discourages thoughtfulness, takes away personal responsibility, makes you stop maturing mentally, etc. I'm not disputing that in some cases it does, depending on how it's done, but that certainly wasn't the case for me and many many others. I was taught that doubt is good because it makes you seek answers and may lead to a deepening of your faith. I was taught that it's important to understand why we believe certain acts are immoral, and there's not a single moral teaching that I blindly follow without understanding. I'd also say I'm not an immature person, but that's just my opinion I guess lol.

My usage of "cool and interesting" was meant to describe the posts made by you, RR, Neo, AM, and other theists whom I have given kudos, not the op; I don't think the op is cool because it inhibits mutual learning and dialog. As I stated in the beginning of my previous post, I gave kudos to the op because I thought it was interesting, well formatted, and presented in a coherent/concise manner.

Oh ok. Yeah, sorry I misread, thanks for clarifying! Hopefully everyone else who kudosed it did so for the same reason as you and not because they agree or think it was cool.

[Harry Nevis]

Immature and mature people exist in all groups. I think saying all theists or all atheists are immature, is immature.

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I thought the same thing.

Though I think in this case it's allowed because Matilda actually forms an argument to back up her wildly generalized claim, which encourages discussion rather than being made purely for provocation purposes.

I'm not sure you can call that an argument and I don't think they are even generalizations. She just made shit up--sentence after sentence. Notice how the kudos came? The atheists here don't police their own when it comes to stupidity. I think its because they no longer recognize it. Talk about abdicating critical thinking!

Like you would recognize critical thinking...your posts show you don't.

[John V]

Perhaps the reason you're seeing threads like that, AM, is because we have nothing to hide.  We can talk freely about problems and brainstorm real-world solutions, without fear of having our faith questioned or being fed platitudes like "God never gives you any more than you can handle."

Or maybe it's because there's a lot of troubled people here and the best they can do for support is strangers on the internet.

[The Valkyrie]

instead of suffering the doubt that is necessary to navigate a noisy and uncertain world

As someone who was raised in a religious environment, and then later spent many years as a Christian, I find the doubt, the searching for an answer using my own moral standards actually an exciting journey. No longer am I bound my rules and laws that often i knew deep down were themselves immoral. I also like that the world is uncertain, that it can be shaped that you can contribute.

I felt the same way when I threw off religious laws.

And then again when I decided all of society's laws don't apply to me, either.

[Harry Nevis]

Perhaps the reason you're seeing threads like that, AM, is because we have nothing to hide.  We can talk freely about problems and brainstorm real-world solutions, without fear of having our faith questioned or being fed platitudes like "God never gives you any more than you can handle."

Or maybe it's because there's a lot of troubled people here and the best they can do for support is strangers on the internet.

Or maybe you're a self-righteous, judgemental dick.

[John V]

Or maybe it's because there's a lot of troubled people here and the best they can do for support is strangers on the internet.

Or maybe you're a self-righteous, judgemental dick.

It's not judgmental to note that people who talk about their depression on the internet are, well, talking about their depression on the internet.

[Whateverist]

If the atheists on this site are what you consider mature adults, I'll take being a child, thanks.

Hey, way to make it personal.  No one singled you out.  She is just looking hypothetically at what the fallout of religious indoctrination appears to be.

The question I'd like to interest Mathilda in is this: why is religious indoctrination the way of the world?  What survival value favored human groups which passed along such beliefs to their offspring and how might religious practices have influenced the sort of mammal we've become, what we call our humanity?

[KevinM1]

Or maybe you're a self-righteous, judgemental dick.

It's not judgmental to note that people who talk about their depression on the internet are, well, talking about their depression on the internet.

So what? Do you have a point, or are you merely trying to be insulting?

[Catholic_Lady]

Alpha and Matilda are both being insulting, imho. Just gonna through that out there.