Letters to the Editor
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Children and religion
And lets not forget that Dawkins comes VERY close to calling for the criminilisation of religious teaching to children. That is definitely putting his beliefs in my face, far more so than "coming onto [my] property and knocking at [my] door."
Wanting religious doctrine taught in public school to my children is certainly putting theists beliefs "in my face".
Dawkins is one man, the number of theists agitating for religious instruction and/or prayer in public school is in the tens of millions.
'Why do atheists always assume all religious people are mean-spirited hateful xenophobic bigots?
I can't speak for any other atheist other than myself but I don't think all theists are mean-spirited, hateful, xenophobic bigots. I don't even think most of them are that.
You have to admit though that the theistic mean-spirited, hateful, xenophobic bigots are the ones screaming the loudest about their religious faith and that they are the ones that get most of the press. In many ways perception is reality and the perception one gets from the media is that most theists are mean-spirited, hateful, xenophobic bigots.
Of course the atheists who get the most media attention are the mean-spirited, hateful, xenophobic bigots too, so that drives perceptions also.
Go lurk on Red State, Free Republic or Little Green Footballs for a while. You'll find that they are *all* vociferously "Christian" and yet there is an incredible level of violent imagery. They regularly speak of nuking Mecca, Iran and any other country they don't like. They fantasize about putting liberals in death camps. It's really a quite unsettling experience to visit those blogs.
to begin with, proof of evolution in humans is not yet conclusive (not ruling it out, it's just not there yet), but to then pile on a shaky foundation the idea that there is continuity between the primitive mind of a gorilla and the greatest depths of man's soul is all the proof i need that intellectuals have gone over the edge into self parody.
Ever had a dog?
I've had quite a few and it's quite clear that dogs have emotions and individual personalities. Dogs can also be quite intelligent. Is it the same as human intelligence? Of course not, but dogs are remarkably sensitive to the moods and emotions of the people around them.
Gorillas are much smarter than dogs and it's pretty clear that they are self aware.
Yeah, so didn't we already try this with atheistic communism in the Soviet Union and China and Cuba? Gosh, those turned out be such GREAT societies!
Saudi Arabia is possibly the most theistic nation on the planet, the URL below is to a BBC story about Saudi religious police refusing to allow girls to exit a burning school building because they were inadequately dressed. You really don't get much more repressive than that.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1874471.stm
Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers.
In a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful "mutaween" police, the Saudi media has accused them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who died in the fire on Monday.
About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred.
15 girls died in the blaze and more than 50 others were injured
According to the al-Eqtisadiah daily, firemen confronted police after they tried to keep the girls inside because they were not wearing the headscarves and abayas (black robes) required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.
One witness said he saw three policemen "beating young girls to prevent them from leaving the school because they were not wearing the abaya".
My point being that it isn't a belief or lack of belief in a supreme being which determines whether or not a given society is GREAT.
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Ktwdawg
apology accepted and I also apologize for the harsh tone I used at first. I can totally accept and respect the way you approach reading the bible, now that I understand your position. I have never found it all that fascinating, execpt in the "wow people really believe this stuff!" kind of way. But I am willing to concede that perhaps I have not come to it with the right perspective.
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cgeiger
does the phrase "burden of proof" mean anything to you?
It is not just "difficult" to prove a negative. It's impossible. If you disagree, then ok, prove to me there's really not that little teapot orbiting the sun.
But rational, reasonable people don't go around believing in everything that hasn't been disproven.
I'm going to quote your own post:
"Just because something's plausible... doesn't mean that it's so."
right. And the burden of proof is on you. And the world has been waiting for, oh, a few thousand years for it.
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I'd bet most people attending church are atheists or agnostics.
It's just plain easier to go along and get along then to make waves. Lots of people mouthing the words, going through the motions, can't wait to get the hell out of there (so to speak). And throughout history we have so many examples of those who are preaching the loudest actually being the most guilty, law-breaking, hypocritical SoBs out there--as if yelling loudly could divert attention from their deliberate misdeeds.
Personally, I think people who are comfortable with what they believe rarely feel a need to defend it vociferously...unless challenged in such a way as to rob them of their freedom. My opinion of people who are yelling loudly is they're usually trying hard to convince themselves...or they've got money tied up in it. (Dawkins gets paid to write his books, preachers get paid to make sermons. Doesn't negate what either side says, just one more reason for me to wonder what's in it for them.)
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If Triangles had a god
He would have three sides.
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Behavior vs. Belief
Frankly, I don't give a rat's derriere if someone believes in God, Allah, Krishna, Yahweh, Great Mother Spirit, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Xenu, or nothing beyond his/her five senses. It's how the person *behaves* and the choices that he/she makes in life that matter. Good actions trump "right" belief. I've known plenty of theists and atheists who are sanctimonious self-serving bigoted a**es, as I've known plenty of both stripes who are amazing radiant beautiful people.