Have You Been Insulted by Religious People in Front of Everyone's Eyes?

[Heyo]

It's complicated. For those who figure insulting the religion is different than insulting the person, consider these two statements:
1) Your religion is stupid.
2) You're stupid for following it.
1 insults the religion, while 2 insults the person. I would suggest that 2 is a corollary to 1. When a person's identity is tied closely to their faith, I don't see much of a difference. The key is to insult neither, and use tact in discussion, even just in sharing your philosophical disagreement.

Of course there are those who get insulted when you simply disagree. Not much we can do about that, other than hope those individuals will some day see through that folly.

Tying one's identity to a faith is stoopid. ;-)

 

[thomas t]

I could say the same about my musical taste, my favourite band gave me friendship, solace and became part of my identity. I used to follow them round the country and abroad. But, I still accepted that other people disagreed with my taste and called my band all sorts of names.

Sorry, but religion is an ideology, I reserve the right to criticise the extremes and daftness of any religion.

relationship is not taste. If you live in a long lasting relationship with a spouse, that's more than that.
Same with religion at least in my case.
It's ideology.... and more.
In my opinion, God exists. So, interaction with God is more than just imagination or a set of attitudes for me, of course.

 

[Altfish]

relationship is not taste. If you live in a long lasting relationship with a spouse, that's more than that.
Same with religion at least in my case.
It's ideology.... and more.
In my opinion, God exists. So, interaction with God is more than just imagination or a set of attitudes for me, of course.

But in my world, god(s) are an invention.
So surely I am allowed to say so

 

[thomas t]

On the forums, I find most leave me be in peace. I try to be kind, and I find most posters here afford me the same respect. I have had a few disrespectful comments, but the posters that dispensed them tend to be disrespectful of all, so I believe they have the problem, not me.

In person, I got made fun of once by a group of Mormon boys. They were probably just out of high school, looking to convert people. I tried to politely say I wasn't interested, and one made a joke and the rest laughed. I took it as teenaged boys being teenaged boys, though, not a reflection of Mormons everywhere.

My husband and I were members of a UU church for a few years. Most of the congregation were atheist, and would bully the tar out of people who weren't. Not directly, but snidely. The women weren't so bad with it, it was mostly the men, and my husband got the brunt of it. Like the Mormon boys, there would be a ringleader and a bunch of gigglers, though who was leading would change. The religious service council did a good job of keeping the anti-theist stuff out of the sermons, but other than that it was free game. It was dehumanizing, and I'm sorry we didn't leave sooner.

But one of the most terrifying experiences we had was at an anti violence rally, locally. We were having an awfully bad year as a city, and too many people had been shot and killed, but no one really knew(or knows) what to do. Some of the Baptist churches in the area decided to stage a peace march. Sure. We decided to join in. When we got there, there was a preacher screaming fire and brimstone. We debated leaving, but decided to stick it out. But then he turned on us. I think my husband and I looked a bit 'goth' that day, and the preacher looked at us and screeched "If you're not here for God, you can go home. We don't want no one here that doesn't believe. You won't do any good!" Nasty look from him. Nasty looks from the crowd(who was probably numbered between 40-50). More fire and brimstone. Honestly, we were petrified. We didn't want to call attention by leaving, so we just stood our ground.

thank you for sharing. I hate "turn or burn" messages. I also hate bullying people out.

 

[thomas t]

But in my world, god(s) are an invention.
So surely I am allowed to say so

well, that comes with the territory of free speech.
But I let you know that I'm entitled to pose my opinion in this regard, too.

 

[sun rise]

True to a point, however one of the most misogynistic countries i have visited is India with its very high hindu population

The gap between the ideal of the religion and how people act is indeed huge.

 

[sun rise]

Today a couple of comics I read are related to this thread

 

[Altfish]

well, that comes with the territory of free speech.
But I let you know that I'm entitled to pose my opinion in this regard, too.

Of course you can have your opinion.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Thank you for respronding, UA.

you mean the one Christian forum I was talking about? Ask @viole .
Actually, I leave the moment I find out that at least one particular group is segregated out AND they are unwilling to discuss this kind of set-up.
So, I don't know.

The weird thing about it is, I have a huge feeling the owner of the other chat was a member of this chat. The names were 100% the same as well as the dialogue. I thought that was creepy unless he has a twin.

 

[VoidCat]

Yes that has happen but the group didn't condone it.

 

[rrobs]

Very seldom. In well-run forums moderation will step in to stop insults of people. However that is not to be confused with ridicule of ideas, including religious ideas. Some people claim to have been insulted when it is their beliefs that have been attacked. That is not insulting them and if they can't see the distinction that is their problem.

So it is OK to attack the idea of homosexuality as long as we don't attack particular homosexuals who believe in the idea of homosexuality? Now that's progressive thinking!

 

[Revoltingest]

Tying one's identity to a faith is stoopid. ;-)

I don't think so.
But it would be useful to have some independence.

 

[Revoltingest]

So it is OK to attack the idea of homosexuality as long as we don't attack particular homosexuals who believe in the idea of homosexuality? Now that's progressive thinking!

I wager it would depend upon how it's attacked.

 

[Clara Tea]

When I debated in a Christian forum, I became aware of the fact that some people were insulted, but nobody seemed to have problems with this - the moderators included.

I think it's a difference between getting insulted by one person and nobody sees or hears anything... and the insult/ offense happening in front of the whole group. The role of the group is key, I think.
When they condone the insult, it's the group's fault I think.

Did anything of this sort happen to you?

Civility, cleanliness, neatness, calmness, goodness, are all admirable and Godly qualities.

Lynch mob mentality: Now ain't the time fer thinkin', now's the time fer action....after which we can figure out whether or not God wanted us to bomb other countries or make a torture camp. That is swift Texas justice, like the Connecticut Yankee (Phillip's Academy and Yale) made.

Hoards of homeless are left to fend for themselves. The rich get tax breaks and loopholes. The environment is ravaged.

Those who tout God's words don't heed them.

A person's own actions insult them, without the need to add adjectives.

 

[rrobs]

I wager it would depend upon how it's attacked.

Well, I'd take you up on that wager. Go ahead and start a new thread that has the merest hint of
criticizing homosexuality, hinting that it is against the scriptures. If it doesn't get taken down within three hours, you win.

BTW, I accept PayPal.

Take care.

 

[Revoltingest]

Well, I'd take you up on that wager. Go ahead and start a new thread that has the merest hint of
criticizing homosexuality, hinting that it is against the scriptures. If it doesn't get taken down within three hours, you win.

BTW, I accept PayPal.

Take care.

I won't be starting such a thread.
But for one to survive, I have advice.
- Avoid hostility.
- Make it clear that you're offering a personal opinion...not stating a fact.

You might be amazed at what you can
get away with if you're careful & civil.

 

[exchemist]

So it is OK to attack the idea of homosexuality as long as we don't attack particular homosexuals who believe in the idea of homosexuality? Now that's progressive thinking!

If you believe in free speech, then yes, that seems to be the case, does it not? If you think homosexuality does not exist, or is just a lifestyle choice or a form of sexual perversion, that makes you a crank, certainly, but there is no law against being a crank - as the pages of this forum amply testify.

 

[Heyo]

Well, I'd take you up on that wager. Go ahead and start a new thread that has the merest hint of
criticizing homosexuality, hinting that it is against the scriptures. If it doesn't get taken down within three hours, you win.

BTW, I accept PayPal.

Take care.

Criticizing homosexuality is like criticizing the moon. It's just there and criticizing it won't make it go away.
But saying that it's against scripture is simply stating a fact, it won't get taken down.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

atheistic forums are worse. Far, far worse. Its ironic and strange. There is no way one could have any level of decent conversation in any of those ... Their arrogance is far far stronger in comparison to everyone else. It is almost as if they thrive on insulting theologies and theists.

Perhaps it's you that is unable to hold a decent conversation with people who reject what you base your life on. There is no reason why an intelligent, mature person cannot hold a discussion with someone who disagrees. I suspect that you cannot contain your emotions.

But how can I respect your religion when I reject faith as a path to truth, and your religion can only be believed by faith? Are you asking me to feign respect for ideas I reject?

And if you can't read such comments without becoming triggered, that's on you. I have no interest in tap dancing to protect your delicate sensibilities.

Look at how you just trashed atheists while explaining how horrible we are. Did you get an emotional response from me or anybody else? No, but I wouldn't expect the same from you. I wouldn't expect an even, measured response. I would expect you to tell atheists how horrible and unreasonable we are.

Here's Pat Condell' stake on the subject:

"Theists seem to demand respect for their beliefs even from atheists, but seldom offer it in return.

"If you criticize religion, every so often someone will say to you quite disapprovingly "You may not have faith in God, but you could show a bit more respect for those people who do." So yes, maybe I could show a bit more respect. The only fly in the ointment is I don't actually feel any respect. I have tried, I really have, and I feel just terrible about it, but it just isn't there.

"My conscience knows that there's no earthly reason for anybody on this planet to respect religion in any way. Indeed, purely on the evidence religion itself provides in such regular abundance, there's every reason to actively disrespect it to the point of outright abuse. And quite frankly, the fact that religion gets so little abuse compared to what it really deserves, I can only attribute to the unbelievable tolerance, restraint, and plain good manners of atheists and secularists everywhere."​

This is how we answer you. If you don't like it, don't publish your religious views in mixed forums like this. I promise that if you never post about your faith again or how much you dislike atheists, you'll never see another word about it from me. When you post like you did above, you make it too tempting not to tell you what I think about it. But I'll do it like this, not like you did. You don't want to know what I think of theistic atheophobes.

As an anti-theist, I debate theists a lot. A common dance I see, is that I attack a few religious ideas, and after a little back and forth, the religious person stoops to personal attacks.

As in this thread. You just saw the personal attacks from the theist again. Whereas we tend to talk about ideas (Christianity) more than persons (Christians), you'll notice that none of the criticisms in the quoted section above were about atheism, just about how horrible and arrogant we atheists are, and how we thrive on insulting him and his ilk.

 

[exchemist]

Well, I'd take you up on that wager. Go ahead and start a new thread that has the merest hint of
criticizing homosexuality, hinting that it is against the scriptures. If it doesn't get taken down within three hours, you win.

BTW, I accept PayPal.

Take care.

I'm sure I've read several threads arguing that and they were not taken down - even though it's a fairly weak argument to make.