Why do you undermine another persons beliefs?
Posted on: December 22, 2006 - 4:29am
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Why do you undermine another persons beliefs?
Quote:
> Amy sent a message using the contact form at
> I believe in Jesus Christ and consider myself a well educated christian as
> well as a fairly well educated person (I'm a veterinarian with two
> undergraduate degrees, theology & biology). Here is my question: why do
> you care so much to undermine another perosn's beliefs?
Because I care about things that are true. I don't think we should live in a world in which beliefs deserve respect just because someone holds them. As a vet, what would you say to someone who believed that their dogs incessant chewing of it's own feet is a good thing? Or someone who believed that their dog could take an unhealthy amount of medicine and handle it, what would you say? Would you try to undermine those beliefs? I would hope so. I would hope you would use logic and reason to come to a more reasonable conclusion. Why then don't we do this with religion? Why does religion get a free pass, but not life at the vet. I realize I'm making the assumption that you do in fact work as a vet supporting science and reason, however I could've made a faulty assumption. If I did make that assumption, and you actually would never think to undermine the incorrect beliefs of your clients, then I don't think you are doing your job properly. I think it's our job to each other to try and embrace reality, see things as they are, not as we want them to be. It's our job to speak up when someone holds an illogical or irrational belief, and we do so.
Quote:
> I've never once woken up and thought "I'd like to crush Buhdism!" or "I'll end mankind's
> obsession with socialism." Here's a bit of good news, so to speak:
> You're free to go! You have complete freedom to believe anything you
> want.
Can I believe that murdering 7 million jews is a good thing? If I believe I can do it, do I really have that freedom? Do you think less of the beliefs that Osama Bin Laden holds? How about the KKK, do you think less of their beliefs? Do you think those beliefs deserve equal respect to yours? I think we should respect humanity, but in doing so you are required to disrespect certain beliefs. It's not respectful for someone to murder 7 million people, therefore we must not have respect for that belief.
Quote:
Hopefully you have the tools to do that, perhaps some philosophical
> skills, maybe some grounding in the sciences. Especially here in the US.
> You actually can live in complete freedom. Look it up, its one of the
> founding principles of this nation.
You really should watch the usage of "complete freedom." No we don't have complete freedom, I understood what you meant, but you should be more cautious in using an absolute like that.
Quote:
And as a matter of fact, my right to
> worship a god you don't happen to believe in remains intact as well. I
> wish you all the best as you too seek ultimate truth. Amy
Yes you are very right that we both have the freedom to hold our own religious beliefs, or lack thereof as the case may be. We don't however have the right to actually be true Christians, or true Muslims for that matter. To be a true Christian one must be willing to stone their son to death should they disobey them, however our government would imprison someone for practicing true Christianity.
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Too many Christians want to impose their beliefs on everyone else - ie the anti-choice movement, anti-gay, censorship, blue laws, the Christian war on science, etc...
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
"Hopefully you have the tools to do that, perhaps some philosophical
> skills, maybe some grounding in the sciences. Especially here in the US.
> You actually can live in complete freedom. Look it up, its one of the
> founding principles of this nation."
Like Sapient said one has to be careful when saying that the US has complete freedom. There are lots of things that aren't accepted mostly because of political leaders religious beliefs. Example: gay rights, abortion etc. Look it up.
"two
> undergraduate degrees, theology & biology)."
Congratulations. I don't know, but why do you feel like saying what degrees you have. No one has said that you or any other theists aren't capable of being smart, intellectual people. They only speak about your god-belief so why is it necessary to say you have this or that? One thing is saying "You are stupid or incapable of doing anything else in your life like college or what not, because you're dumb, blah blah" Which the RSS hasn't done. All they say is that you're god belief is irrational. I'm not sure i made sense here. But i hope you guys get the point of what i'm trying to say.
i've actually seen multiple occasions on this forum where christians were reffered to as 'slightly less than smart'not in those exact words of course, but you get what im saying.
Read some more of our hate mail and tell me why that is the case.
We try HARD, at least I do, to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and the people who come here of their own voilition I DO grant that to.
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I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins
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Amy sent a message using the contact form at I believe in Jesus Christ and consider myself a well educated christian as well as a fairly well educated person (I'm a veterinarian with two undergraduate degrees, theology & biology).
I just can't spell “Buddhism.”
Here is my question: why do you care so much to undermine another perosn's beliefs?
Playing the victim I see.
I've never once woken up and thought “I'd like to crush Buhdism!“ or “I'll end mankind's obsession with socialism.“ Here's a bit of good news, so to speak: You're free to go! You have complete freedom to believe anything you want.
Hopefully you have the tools to do that, perhaps some philosophical skills, maybe some grounding in the sciences. Especially here in the US. You actually can live in complete freedom. Look it up, its one of the founding principles of this nation.
The nation was founded by wealthy slave-holders who carried out a massive genocide. While I consider the common use of “freedom” meaningless, actual freedom is something that's developed over time. A Christian might be inclined to think in terms of things just popping into existence perfectly, but that's not what history suggests.
If you mean freedom of beliefs, sure I support that. But we've experienced the imposition of beliefs both directly (ID, religious monuments, insipid “god” references added to money and the pledge of allegiance during the cold war) and in the form of policy (stem cell research opposition, laws prejudicial against gays, etc.). There is no secular counterpart to these motives; there is only an argument from dogma. You can play the victim all you like, but it's a lie.
And as a matter of fact, my right to worship a god you don't happen to believe in remains intact as well. I wish you all the best as you too seek ultimate truth. Amy
They always end with that little barb that suggests you're going to end up on their side. Lunatics.