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Religion is not funny.

Justanatheist

Well-Known Member
I always used to think of religion as mildly amusing, if people want to live their lives believing in all sorts of weird and wonderful things, that is fine by me, why should I care?

Last night I witnessed a thread develop on here posted by a lady who believes she is being "visited" by a "presence" The lady told us she was already on tablets to stop hallucinations. The advice from many of the religious on this forum? not go and see your doctor as any responsible adult would do but talk of angels and demons and something called a jinn. Calls to pray to whatever god that person believed in. I was astonished and not a little angry.

Can you imagine if a woman came on here and said she had a lump in her breast and posters told her to see a witch doctor! There would be outrage and quite rightly so.

Mental health is a well established science it can help people. Hats off to those religious people who did advise her to see a doctor first.

For me this is an example of how religion can be worrying, it is not always the obvious like flying planes into buildings, anti vaxxing or hating on those like the LGBT community who suffer from religious bigotry, it can often be barely noticeable how religion affects our society.

Religion is not funny, it can be downright dangerous.
 

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
I always used to think of religion as mildly amusing, if people want to live their lives believing in all sorts of weird and wonderful things, that is fine by me, why should I care?

Last night I witnessed a thread develop on here posted by a lady who believes she is being "visited" by a "presence" The lady told us she was already on tablets to stop hallucinations. The advice from many of the religious on this forum? not go and see your doctor as any responsible adult would do but talk of angels and demons and something called a jinn. Calls to pray to whatever god that person believed in. I was astonished and not a little angry.

Can you imagine if a woman came on here and said she had a lump in her breast and posters told her to see a witch doctor! There would be outrage and quite rightly so.

Mental health is a well established science it can help people. Hats off to those religious people who did advise her to see a doctor first.

For me this is an example of how religion can be worrying, it is not always the obvious like flying planes into buildings, anti vaxxing or hating on those like the LGBT community who suffer from religious bigotry, it can often be barely noticeable how religion affects our society.

Religion is not funny, it can be downright dangerous.

As are lots of things. I'd be interested in what you think the 'solution' is though. Such things can also be dangerous I believe.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
As are lots of things. I'd be interested in what you think the 'solution' is though. Such things can also be dangerous I believe.

With the OP particular scenario I think another thing that could have been said in addition to see a doctor to encourage her with her belief in god. It wouldn't need to be an either/or scenario but just make the emphasis on going to the doctor while maintaining a common ground of faith to encourage her to go. @Justanatheist
 
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lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
With the OP particular scenario I think another thing that could have been said in addition to see a doctor to encourage her with her belief in god. It wouldn't need to be an either/or scenario but just make the emphasis on going to the doctor whole maintaining a common ground of faith to encourage her to go. @Justanatheist

I agree the two things aren't mutually exclusive. Heck, I'm an atheist that doesn't seem medical assistance when I should, so that can happen too.
 

AlexanderG

Active Member
As are lots of things. I'd be interested in what you think the 'solution' is though. Such things can also be dangerous I believe.

Instead of indoctrinating children that it's virtuous to hold beliefs that they should never question, and teaching them to embrace fallacious reasoning, instead we could teach them how to critically think?

Don't teach them what to think. Teach them how to think. How to think rationally, and how to reliably distinguish between imaginary ideas and ideas that correspond to reality. Having your conceptual model of reality match up with the actual reality can only help you stay safe and succeed in your endeavors, right?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
As are lots of things. I'd be interested in what you think the 'solution' is though. Such things can also be dangerous I believe.
I believe the solution is to marginalize religion, prescribe everyone who complains about their religious ideas being challenged to keep their religion to themselves, and basically shake heads and roll eyes until these people stop trying to talk about it to the general public. Do nothing more than that overtly, and I believe religion will die on its own. Give public proposition of religion no safe quarter from scrutiny and disdain. Privately? People can do whatever they want with it... what is there to challenge, scrutinize or lambast if they keep it to themselves? And they can still "have" it. Just don't involve everyone else. Seems like a simple enough arrangement, and not unfair. What is unfair is me having to hear about it, and waste my time listening to it, and perusing what is hailed as "the next best in evidence" in order to discover if there is any merit this time. It would be like me trying to explain about some mediocre comic book character I wanted to create, and trying to tell someone (who wasn't interested) the whole back story of this character.
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
I believe the solution is to marginalize religion, prescribe everyone who complains about their religious ideas being challenged to keep their religion to themselves, and basically shake heads and roll eyes until these people stop trying to talk about it to the general public. Do nothing more than that overtly, and I believe religion will die on its own. Give public proposition of religion no safe quarter from scrutiny and disdain. Privately? People can do whatever they want with it... what is there to challenge, scrutinize or lambast if they keep it to themselves? And they can still "have" it. Just don't involve everyone else. Seems like a simple enough arrangement, and not unfair. What is unfair is me having to hear about it, and waste my time listening to it, and perusing what is hailed as "the next best in evidence" in order to discover if there is any merit this time. It would be like me trying to explain about some mediocre comic book character I wanted to create, and trying to tell someone (who wasn't interested) the whole back story of this character.

Well, for this above all we have in common is nothing. I don't agree with you and I am still an atheist.
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
Instead of indoctrinating children that it's virtuous to hold beliefs that they should never question, and teaching them to embrace fallacious reasoning, instead we could teach them how to critically think?

Don't teach them what to think. Teach them how to think. How to think rationally, and how to reliably distinguish between imaginary ideas and ideas that correspond to reality. Having your conceptual model of reality match up with the actual reality can only help you stay safe and succeed in your endeavors, right?

What is rational, critical thinking, reality and all that?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Well, for this above all we have in common is nothing. I don't agree with you and I am still an atheist.
Oh... oh... it hurts! Oh please... please stop... ackkk.... durr.... *cough*... *sputter* *sputter*

Oh wait... no... I don't give a crap. That's right. Whew... that was close. Haha.
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
Oh... oh... it hurts! Oh please... please stop... ackkk.... durr.... *cough*... *sputter* *sputter*

Oh wait... no... I don't give a crap. That's right. Whew... that was close. Haha.

Good that you have feelings. Not so good that you want to impose your subjective feelings on the rest of us. :D Yes, that represents a feeling..
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Yeah, but that is not a general policy or a way to base a society on.
And? What are you trying to get at? That social interaction is not "policy?" Do you think I am not aware or something? What I posited was more of a "Hey, this is what I am doing, and will continue to do (regardless what Mikkel has to say about it being subjective and "not policy" by the way), so if you agree with me, then let's go for it." You didn't agree with me, so you can feel free to ignore it. You can also feel free to look down on what I am doing with disdain... or, if you feel up to it, try to point out problems with what you feel I am doing "wrong." You are absolutely free to do any of this. Note, I will engage however... not just go crawling into some hole or go complain to whoever will listen.

And with respect to religious types - I am going to give them flak each and every time they bring something to the table as "fact" that is very obviously NOT fact and that I am pretty sure they have no worthwhile evidential backing for. If they don't want that to happen, then I am going to prescribe that they keep their religion to themselves. I am not telling them they can't bring their ideas into the public sphere! Far from that! Do that all you want... but EXPECT me to be in your face. Expect it. Because it is going to happen. And what can they say against this? If they want to spew their bullcrap, then I should also be able to spew mine. It just so happens that nothing they are going to say is going to have me complaining about how terrible they are being to me. I'm only worried about effects on society and the world as whole - I don't have time to care about what they say about me, personally, or any beliefs I might hold. Can't care. They care... they care very much... which is exactly why I can use that against them. And do. I do, and I admit it readily.
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
And? What are you trying to get at? That social interaction is not "policy?" Do you think I am not aware or something? What I posited was more of a "Hey, this is what I am doing, and will continue to do (regardless what Mikkel has to say about it being subjective and "not policy" by the way), so if you agree with me, then let's go for it." You didn't agree with me, so you can feel free to ignore it. You can also feel free to look down on what I am doing with disdain... or, if you feel up to it, try to point out problems with what you feel I am doing "wrong." You are absolutely free to do any of this. Note, I will engage however... not just go crawling into some hole or go complain to whoever will listen.

And with respect to religious types - I am going to give them flak each and every time they bring something to the table as "fact" that is very obviously NOT fact and that I am pretty sure they have no worthwhile evidential backing for. If they don't want that to happen, then I am going to prescribe that they keep their religion to themselves. I am not telling them they can't bring their ideas into the public sphere! Far from that! Do that all you want... but EXPECT me to be in your face. Expect it. Because it is going to happen. And what can they say against this? If they want to spew their bullcrap, then I should also be able to spew mine. It just so happens that nothing they are going to say is going to have me complaining about how terrible they are being to me. I'm only worried about effects on society and the world as whole - I don't have time to care about what they say about me, personally, or any beliefs I might hold. Can't care. They care... they care very much... which is exactly why I can use that against them. And do. I do, and I admit it readily.

No, I do get you. And you have a point about my answers so far.

The only problem is that claims without evidence is not unique to religious humans.
So if we are to show disdain for humans, who make claims without evidence, why limit it to religious humans?
 
Religion is not funny, it can be downright dangerous.

'Religion' covers so many different belief systems with minimal, if any, commonalities between them that just about any adjective you choose could be applied to some part of it.

Replacing religion with something else won't make much difference as non-religious ideologies can also be equally dangerous.

Religions are human creations so the problems in religions are really just problems caused by our flawed human nature.

Humans collectively are not very rational and never will be. Any future decline in religion won't really change this fact a great deal.
 
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