Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Docteur Stephan Halbeisen on February 1, 2011 at 9:18am

Sunday I have met for the first time a couple of young creationists (25 Years old) belonging to a proup of "orthodox christians".
They weren't stupid in the sense of a lack of intelligence but completely under a delusion. After a senseless "discussion" I have recommended them to go to a psychatrist in order to get helped...
All people ignoring scientific knowledge and believing in non-existing power called god should undertake a mental detoxification..

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Permalink Reply by Anachro1 on February 1, 2011 at 9:20am

EXACTLY! 

 

 And WE have to be brave enough to say I will not allow your useless crap anywhere near MY life.

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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 1, 2011 at 9:24am

"stupid" [...] I guess... if you are referring to intelligence, then no... they are no more likely to be stupid. However, perhaps the better word would be "self-blindfolded." They refuse to know the truth.... because they are afraid of it.

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Permalink Reply by miked420 on February 2, 2011 at 1:15am

It's interesting that I've come across this post, as I've recently been thinking how Glenn Beck is quick to accuse the media, pundits, or journalists, of specific types of undesirable behavior or activity (e.g., treating audience like morons). Realistically, it is he who exhibits the type of behavior or conduct he often demonizes. For example, this morning on his radio program, Beck accused Chris Matthews of selling his soul to the liberal establishment by toeing the left-wing line. But this is exactly how I have always viewed Glenn Beck. Beck toes the line of the far-right. Now I read that he recently told the audience of his TV program that the mainstream media treats them like morons. And this is definitely NOT the first time he has made this assertion. Again, it is Glenn who treats his audience like morons. Glenn is just like that closeted homosexual who crusades against gay rights. Reaction-formation anyone? Where are the psych majors???

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Permalink Reply by Daria Black on February 2, 2011 at 5:12pm

My personal opinion on this is that latching onto a narrow definition like that is disingenuous. The most widely accepted definition of atheism is a lack of belief in a deity. It is same type of lack of belief that I have in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, fairies, dragons, and other mythical creatures. A lack of belief != a belief. It is the antithesis of it. To me, a belief is an acceptance of something. I believe gravity exists because I experience it everyday. I've never woken up suddenly floating off into space. At one point in my life, I believed god exists. Today, I don't see how it is possible a god could exist given all that I have learned in the past ten years of my life. I don't believe in atheism. I am an atheist because I don't believe.

 

I say it is disingenuous because it is the same tactic that theists use to try and put atheists onto the same level as them which they then try to attack our non-belief as a figment of our imagination as we do their belief. They do this because they think we are asserting to them that there is no god based on evidence that there is no god like they assert to us that there is a god based on their supposed evidence for one. This is not true. Some atheists have taken an aggressive stance and made assertions that there is no god but even then all they are really saying is that there is no evidence that god exists and therefore no reason to believe that one does.

 

To say that an atheist has a "belief" that god does not exist doesn't really make sense because you are essentially saying that an atheist believes god does not exist based on evidence that proves its nonexistence. You can not prove the nonexistence of something. The most you can say is that you have not seen evidence for the existence of something and therefore you don't believe it is real.

 

Wikipedia Link to Atheism

 

It is also my opinion that to say an atheist holds a belief that god does not exist in the way that you are using it is also saying that an atheist accepts the evidence that theists says points to a god and that we willfully don't want to believe it is true. Also a tactic used by theists to try and socially pressure us into agreeing with their point of view.

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Permalink Reply by Daria Black on February 2, 2011 at 6:36pm

Thank you for linking to the amazingly in-depth and authoritative work, "Wikipedia".  Where on earth did you find that source?   You must have been searching the internet for hours!

 

Seriously, get a grip. I was not disrespectful to you and I don't appreciate the slap in the face. If you feel you need to be nasty to other people to get your point across then maybe its time for you to take a step away from the computer.

 

Also, if you had ready my earlier reply I said that I didn't think theists were stupid but were probably intellectually lazy. And by that I meant they didn't want to think about the big questions and instead just wanted their beliefs handed to them. This is not true of all theist but it is true for most of the ones I have met.

 

And I'm done.

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Permalink Reply by Daria Black on February 2, 2011 at 8:06pm

What generalizations? Please read what I actually wrote:

 

Also, if you had ready my earlier reply I said that I didn't think theists were stupid but were probably intellectually lazy. And by that I meant they didn't want to think about the big questions and instead just wanted their beliefs handed to them. This is not true of all theist but it is true for most of the ones I have met.

In general, I like to think the best of people. However, I'm not going to walk around blind to their imperfections. Many of the theists I know are intellectually lazy when it comes to religion. Are you really going to try and make a case that this is not my experience especially as this is something that I have witnessed first hand?

Also, don't sit and bitch about other people requiring empirical evidence or dismissing evidence not living up to their oh so high standards and then try to have something to say because I chose to link to a Wikipedia article regarding the definition of atheism. I'm not making any extraordinary claims about atheism or trying to redefine it into something no one has ever heard of before. I was merely showing that the definition is not as narrow as you were trying to make it seem therefore a link to Wikipedia was just fine in my book.

Based on the posts you have left on this thread I feel like you are only looking for someone to argue with and I'm not interested. Therefore, you are welcomed to get the last word in.

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Permalink Reply by James Ulness on February 25, 2011 at 1:11pm

I don't think theists are stupid. I know some very smart people who are theists. I know some very smart people who have some very off beliefs (I have one friend who just made up a religion out of thin air that makes no sence at all. She is deeply devoted to this totally nonsensical religion). I even know one very intelegent young earth creationist.

While all these people are very smart, I find it hard to think that their beliefs are anything but silly ideas that have nothing to do with the universe around us and how it actually works.

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Permalink Reply by M on February 25, 2011 at 4:18pm

My knee-jerk reaction is, "yes."  Well, more like, "YES!"  However, I've met some very intelligent people who happen to be religious, which then... confuses me, honestly.  I don't know why it is so obvious to some that science, anthropology, historical accuracy, mathematics, etc. have discredited and disproved many a holy book, rendering them useless, even destructive, drivel, and yet others hold those same books near and dear and worthy of literal worship.  Not to mention a clinging belief in some sort of deity, which also seems like it would appear to be illogical to most folk.  How does this happen?  I can only accredit it to a special kind of blind stupid, I guess.  Or very willful hopefulness, because who doesn't want to be "loved" no matter what and have a comfy afterlife to retire to even if this life doesn't go as well as planned?     

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Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on February 28, 2011 at 11:41am

There are a lot of well-educated theists, which confuses people and the issue because they seem intelligent.

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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on February 25, 2011 at 5:46pm

Theistic beliefs ARE stupid, yet many intelligent people still believe them.

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Permalink Reply by Atheist Exile on February 26, 2011 at 4:25am

The whole point is to persuade . . . not alienate.  Tact is certainly a useful tool for those who are genuinely interested in shining the light of reason.

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