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Why Do You Care...?

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?

Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?

Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?
I was just curious about it :) and they answered very well in my OP about same topic;)
 
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SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
I was just curious about it :) and they answered very well in my OP about same roping;)

"Roping?" Did you mean topic?

While your thread inspired mine, I'm not looking for answers specifically from you, though you're welcome to answer the questions if you like.

I'm genuinely curious what others think.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I don't care personally, but sometimes I'll put forth an alternative view for reader's benefits. For example, if somebody posts something about my religion as if it were fact rather than belief, I'll put up an alternative. There is enough misinformation spread already, and if we don't counter it, that misinformation only continues.
 

Colt

Well-Known Member
Truth needs to be vigorously defended when attacked. We are representatives of our beliefs on earth.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Truth needs to be vigorously defended when attacked. We are representatives of our beliefs on earth.

Who is to say that your truth is that of another?

Do you feel the need to vigorously defend that your favorite food tastes better than any other?
 

SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
It doesn't really bother me if people want to discredit my beliefs (since I really enjoy deeper conversation), but it does irk me when people assume certain things about me because I'm an atheist. Why?... I dislike the perpetuation of certain common ideas and misrepresentations about atheism. A lot of people tend to assume they know what atheists think and what our motivations are (such as only wanting to be atheists so we can sin to our heart's content or because we want to rebel against god).

The tropes get repetitive and boring... they're just two dimensional caricatures that are easily dismissed, as any straw man should be. I'd rather that if someone wants to misrepresent me, they would put more time and effort into it. A good villain requires a relatable and complex back story! :D
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?
If criticism is ignorant and is pushing a straw argument it is annoying. If it is directed and accurate, then it hurts but can be helpful. Knowing which is which is my responsibility.

Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?
'Religion' has either a good reputation or bad, and this affects more than merely what people believe. It affects government attitudes, and governments work on the basis of murder and imprisonment. I don't directly blame religion for what happens in China or other places, but it could be a direct result of the bad faith of actors here. It could mean that people there suffer as a result of how people here behave. Think about the USA as a religion, too. How do worldwide opinions of the USA affect the way people are treated around the world? What about worldwide opinions of China? What about opinions of Russia? These are similar concerns.

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?
I have a very limited worldview. I don't know a lot of Geography or Language. When people criticize one religion, all religions bear some of the brunt of it; but some criticism is healthy. Its good to be criticized so long as that criticism is undeserved. What's damaging is when the criticism is deserved, because a religion is not supposed to deserve criticism. Good things are destroyed with along with the bad things, just like when you lock a criminal into prison you also lock away part of a family. A family is impoverished by it, not merely one criminal.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
"when attacked" Truth needs to be vigorously defended when attacked.

So you have no problems with me vigorously defending my truth (i im atheist) against religionists who often attack atheists and would like to see us all dead and burning in hell.

Good to know, thanks
 

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

As I search my heart, I don't feel like it matters to me if someone tries to discredit my world view and faith. (I don't like calling it a religion although some can make it a religion--Jesus didn't come to start a new religion but rather to re-establish being made in the image and likeness of God.)

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?

Yes and no. It isn't so much I "need to defend" but rather there are some people who really are searching and if it goes unanswered the lies would end up being taken as truth. As Jesus put it, "You do all you can to keep people from experiencing the reality of heaven’s kingdom realm. Not only do you refuse to enter in, you also forbid anyone else from entering in!"


Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?

Basically, no. I understand free will and everybody has the right to choose. In that I believe my world-view is true, there are some cases where there is needless suffering because of their position. So it certainly affects my heart to see the suffering.

Not that all other world-views causes suffering but rather "some cases".

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?

When people speak against it, it reaffirms it. First, because it helps me understand what is the latest fad or coined positions are and helps me develop a better response. And second because the responses are weak IMV.
 

Suave

Simulated character
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?

Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?
Because most of our dear RF comrades have come to the realization there is zero evidence for any particular god''s actual. existence, we need not take any god claim seriously.
 

Colt

Well-Known Member
So you have no problems with me vigorously defending my truth (i im atheist) against religionists who often attack atheists and would like to see us all dead and burning in hell.

Good to know, thanks
No. I don't have a problem with you defending your faith in a Godless universe. I don't want you dead and hell is a myth.
 

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Why do you care if others try to discredit your religion?

Do you feel you need to defend your religion to those who would discredit it?

Does it matter to you what others think about your worldview or beliefs?

Does it weaken or negate your worldview or beliefs or help to reaffirm them? How so?

I don't particularly care about the opinion of others, but I'll listen just in case they might have a valid point that I need to research and understand better.
If someone discredits my religion instead of asking questions about my beliefs, I don't see a point in arguing. Someone who doesn't know something and wants a clarification, or someone who doesn't agree with my views and can back it up with a good argument is wordy of my time and attention. People who just want to tell someone else they're wrong, are just annoying.
My life choices are not based on other people's opinions. That applies to religion and everything else. When I need help with a particular subject I try to find someone who can truly help me because they have the knowledge and the experience. For example, I'll talk to a doctor about a health issue and ask a mechanic about a problem with my car, but randomly worrying about the opinions of people who have no qualifications to even have an opinion is giving them a power they don't deserve.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
No. I don't have a problem with you defending your faith in a Godless universe. I don't want you dead and hell is a myth.

What faith? Faith is not truth so is a strawman

Can you tell those who threaten me and even my children with hell that they are threatening me with a myth,when i tell them they are threatening me with a 14 century poem and art they don't believe me
 

Erebus

Well-Known Member
It doesn't really bother me if people want to discredit my beliefs (since I really enjoy deeper conversation), but it does irk me when people assume certain things about me because I'm an atheist. Why?... I dislike the perpetuation of certain common ideas and misrepresentations about atheism. A lot of people tend to assume they know what atheists think and what our motivations are (such as only wanting to be atheists so we can sin to our heart's content or because we want to rebel against god).

The tropes get repetitive and boring... they're just two dimensional caricatures that are easily dismissed, as any straw man should be. I'd rather that if someone wants to misrepresent me, they would put more time and effort into it. A good villain requires a relatable and complex back story! :D

Replace the word atheist with Pagan and this pretty accurately sums up my own view here.

I appreciate that Paganism isn't particularly common so I try to be understanding of misconceptions if I think somebody is willing to discuss/debate in good faith. Being automatically dismissed as a gullible hippy gets my back up though. Being told what I believe or ought to believe by somebody who knows virtually nothing about Paganism is also annoying.
 

Suave

Simulated character
No. I don't have a problem with you defending your faith in a Godless universe. I don't want you dead and hell is a myth.
The god hypothesis is neither falsifiable nor verifiable, therefore such conjecture is meaningless to me.
 
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