Do you have parents against religion?

[funkyducky]

I don't think someone's religious beliefs should be a basis on which you judge their worthiness of your respect. There are plenty of religious nutcases out there, but there are also plenty of religious people out there for whom their beliefs are a source of moral guidance and support. We have no right to say that someone doesn't deserve our respect because their views don't quite align with our own; rather, we should give people respect based on their actions and ethics. I believe in god, but to me god is not some floaty spirit or human-like being, but rather an abstract being that is beyond the scope of human understanding.I wouldn't call myself a creationist as that suggests the rejection of the theory of evolution, and I 100% agree that complex life is the product of evolution. In the end, god to me is what produced my human life, complete with consciousness and emotion, out of what was initially a giant, unfathomably hot mass of sub-atomic particles. Until science can disprove the existence of higher beings, we are all entitled to speculate, believe or refuse to believe. I don't hold anyone's ideas about religion against them, whether they be happy-clappy evangelists or richard dawkins, and I'd like to hope they we are above such prejudice here. The OP has every right to explore religion and make up her mind without facing the obstacle of other people's bigotry.

[ninwa]

Would you respect someone whose morals include that women and homosexuals are inferior, and that pillage, rape and murder is okay as long as the village/town/city/people in question does not conform to certain aspects of your views?

Then why do you respect those who obtain their morals from a book which endorses these things?

And if you are one of those who believe in an almighty, all-knowing god, but do not hold these morals, why do you go against his/her/its (clearly stated) rules?

[mikee65]

Would you respect someone whose morals include that women and homosexuals are inferior, and that pillage, rape and murder is okay as long as the village/town/city/people in question does not conform to certain aspects of your views?

Then why do you respect those who obtain their morals from a book which endorses these things?

And if you are one of those who believe in an almighty, all-knowing god, but do not hold these morals, why do you go against his/her/its (clearly stated) rules?

Because they are hypocritical morons, only choosing what they deem to be fit in a modern society, god/bible has no connection to morality, I could just as easily claim my calculator is  the divine creator who passed down a certain set of commandments (which will later be refined by the masses accordingly), the proof will be identical, Christians who are mentally deficient just seem to think theirs is more plausible when in reality its not, in fact given that faith is the main cornerstone of religion, more people should congregate to my calculator, such strong delusion (faith) is proportional to fidelity which is considered an achievement, something based on no experience, just illogical impractical delusions of grandeur

[Eriny]

Would you respect someone whose morals include that women and homosexuals are inferior, and that pillage, rape and murder is okay as long as the village/town/city/people in question does not conform to certain aspects of your views?

Then why do you respect those who obtain their morals from a book which endorses these things?

And if you are one of those who believe in an almighty, all-knowing god, but do not hold these morals, why do you go against his/her/its (clearly stated) rules?

There are heaps of people who believe in God (i.e. most of them) who do not take the religious documents literally. Personally, I don't believe that the bible was written to be taken literally (I mean, there are two creation stories which kind of contradict each other in there), but rather is a book of parables, stories, etc. I don't think that taking these documents literally is logically tenable for the most part.

But in any case, I judge people morally based on their actions, not what their privately held beliefs are. Their privately held beliefs are none of my business and realistically bare minimally on their lives anyway. Most religious people I know also believe in things like gay marriage (or at least the right to civil unions), not murdering others, not raping people, and equality between the sexes. If someone were to do horrible things or believe horrible things justified by the bible or whatever, that reflects poorly on their character and I would not assume that all people who believe in God would do/believe the same.

There is quite clearly diversity in how people choose to enact their belief in God and there is diversity in the way people come to understand their own spirituality. Believe it or not, there are people who really question the meaning of life and existence and reflect upon themselves and end up as religious. I know someone who has questioned this stuff intensively and has arrived at Catholicism. And of course, many of the deepest philosophers were religious. It is not fair to assume delusion or brainwashing when it comes to religious beliefs just because it doesn't match with your own beliefs.

[mikee65]

What you said about many philosophers is nearly false, many concealed their true beliefs in order to be assimilated in times of catholic rule, its the modern day equivalent of being a homosexual with a alot more prejudice, this was done in order to be subsidised for scientific research (Mendel) or to have your works be published and not be discarded as it was written by an 'infidel'

Religion is obsolete, it has been refined to the point every person may as well have their own religion, good people will do good, bad will do bad, regardless, only in religion can good so mindlessly do bad, with utter compliance and zeal,

How is this to be respected?

[Eriny]

What you said about many philosophers is nearly false, many concealed their true beliefs in order to be assimilated in times of catholic rule, its the modern day equivalent of being a homosexual with a alot more prejudice, this was done in order to be subsidised for scientific research (Mendel) or to have your works be published and not be discarded as it was written by an 'infidel'

Religion is obsolete, it has been refined to the point every person may as well have their own religion, good people will do good, bad will do bad, regardless, only in religion can good so mindlessly do bad, with utter compliance and zeal,

How is this to be respected?

It is to be respected in the way that people ought to be respected.

[mikee65]

I dont believe you actually think that means something

[Russ]

She's saying that you should respect the right of people to believe whatever they want, insomuch as it is a personal choice that will never affect you - they can be the only arbiter of what is an appropriate belief system for themselves.

Religion is obsolete, it has been refined to the point every person may as well have their own religion, good people will do good, bad will do bad, regardless, only in religion can good so mindlessly do bad, with utter compliance and zeal,

This makes literally no sense, please explain it so I can address your claim that religion is obsolete.

[funkyducky]

All religious texts, everything the churches/synagogues/mosques/etc. proclaim and preach to the masses should be explored with a critical eye, much as one should approach the mass media, research papers, policies, politics and, well, pretty much any proclamation presented as fact. The bible was written 2000 years ago for a largely illiterate audience, every single word in it should be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway, if a person has questionable morals which they defend with "*insert religious text here* says it's ok", then they should be judged for being an idiot with questionable morals and an obvious incapability to follow any line of logical, ethical reasoning, not for the simple fact that they believe in some religion.

[Thu Thu Train]

The other day this religious person walked up to me and tried to hand me a flyer for something about the end of the world and I said "No thanks" and she just walked away. I mean just like that she just walked away. I DIDN'T EVEN GET A CHANCE TO INSULT HER ABOUT HER BELIEFS OR ANYTHING. Religious people don't deserve my respect.

[iffets12345]

^ Are you being sarcastic?

[Thu Thu Train]

Yes. However if she'd kept bothering me I would have been pretty annoyed.

[iffets12345]

Sorry, bad at catching sarcasm on VN sometimes . But I agree with you anyways, although there are many people who do kind of push it onto you. What Eriny said is right, we shouldn't label people purely on their religion, and just because you've had a bad experience with a religious person doesn't mean you can generalise a whole demographic.

[ninwa]

There are heaps of people who believe in God (i.e. most of them) who do not take the religious documents literally. Personally, I don't believe that the bible was written to be taken literally (I mean, there are two creation stories which kind of contradict each other in there), but rather is a book of parables, stories, etc. I don't think that taking these documents literally is logically tenable for the most part.

So what you're saying is that it's a book of fairytales (and yet it's the religious people who get all uppity when atheists say that. Tomahto tomayto.)

If someone is picking and choosing your morals, then they are not basing it on religion. They are basing it on their own (rather arrogant) judgement (who are they to say what god intended to be binding and non-binding rules?).

[enwiabe]

What you said about many philosophers is nearly false, many concealed their true beliefs in order to be assimilated in times of catholic rule, its the modern day equivalent of being a homosexual with a alot more prejudice, this was done in order to be subsidised for scientific research (Mendel) or to have your works be published and not be discarded as it was written by an 'infidel'

Religion is obsolete, it has been refined to the point every person may as well have their own religion, good people will do good, bad will do bad, regardless, only in religion can good so mindlessly do bad, with utter compliance and zeal,

How is this to be respected?

It is to be respected in the way that people ought to be respected.

I don't think it is helpful, nor correct, to respect people's wilful ignorance. We can have this namby pamby "well it's not hurting anyone!!!11" but it IS. Because it's so acceptable in society to be wilfully ignorant that this is taught to children and it corrupts and poisons their minds. Wilful ignorance is how problems get started in society, and no, I will not tolerate, and I WILL ridicule the wilfully ignorant, as should be done until it is societally unacceptable.