Quote:
Originally posted by Turbo_pro
Although my belief system does not include fairies, I would not attempt to demean a person based on that belief.
The phrase "Fairies in the garden" like "God Delusion" is an obvious attempt to demean the believer. If the belief promotes a feeling of belonging and well-being your criticism is just mean spirited and brings nothing to a discussion between reasonable people.
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I think the rest of your post has been dealt with turbo, by others, but im interested in this part.
I am not trying to demean you, but i think your beliefs are irrational, and frankly, ridiculous. That doesnt mean i think you are those things- there is hope for you yet.
For me, and I think more and more atheists, Im not prepared to give religion a free kick any longer. Why do we exempt religous beliefs from the scrutiny we apply to anything else? Why is "because this is what I believe" good enough, even often for courts of law? Why is my belief in faeries in my garden less valid than your beleif in god when the evidence for both is the same?
Its time we started asking -why do we unquestioningly beleive/accept these things? Its absolutely correct to ask people who beleive what you do to substantiate those beliefs- or take them out of the courts, achools, the public realm.
Finally you say religion offers us a feeling of well being, of belonging, and its mean spirited to attack it. So on two points on the this
1. Religion consoles us. And it does. You will never be disappointed about not getting eternal life in heaven, but your belief that this will occur can surely affect the way you live here and now.
2. Religion offers a feeling of belonging. Yep sure does. Every suicide bomber, every jihadist knows the feeling.