Why so touchy about religion?

Shai Gar said:
No. It does not.
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Do you have proof that god doesn't exist?

Do you know what the definition of faith is?

Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, thing or theory.

The English word faith is dated from 1200
 
No, I don't have proof god doesn't exist.

Do you believe in the sock eating monster? Do you have proof he doesn't exist?
 
Hotkebab said:
Do you have proof that god doesn't exist?

Do you know what the definition of faith is?

Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, thing or theory.

The English word faith is dated from 1200–50, from the Latin fidem, or fidēs, meaning trust, akin to fīdere, which means to trust.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith#cite_note-dict-0

Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true.

Faith is often used in a religious context, as in theology, where it almost universally refers to a trusting belief in a transcendent reality, or else in a Supreme Being and/or this being's role in the order of transcendent, spiritual things.

I was not referring to the religious statment of the word faith but rather its core meaning.

I have no intention of trying to convince anyone that a god exsists or not. My point is that what gives us the right to judge each other and other people's beliefs when we are all in the same boat? Is there really any factual evidence? Or Is it a matter of faith and trust that what we belive in is right?

Yes I am a Christian. You can mock me and laugh at me if you so desire. But I am not here to force anything onto anyone. Its not the intention of this thread.

I guess at the end of the day people don't like talking about religion because people don't have any factual evidence of what really happens after the death, except decay (that might be enough for most people). I guess it depends if you believe that people/animals have spirits (souls) or not. Its a gamble that everyone seem to take. Nobody likes to be wrong especially with something as great as death.
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I'm touchy about religion, particularly the two virulent strains of monotheism: Christianity and Islam. It's not the beliefs themselves that bother me. People have all kinds of wacky beliefs for all kinds of reasons. I'm ok with that. The thing I can't stand about those two religions is the way they tie belief to morality. Correct religious beliefs = Good. Incorrect religious beliefs = Bad. This concept is so insidious, manipulative, divisive, and dishonest. It's also extremely effective at preserving and spreading the meme. When the belief=morality idea is internalized, people will actively seek ways to confirm what they think are "good" beliefs and actively avoid information that appears to contradict "good" beliefs. These religions feed on the fact that almost everyone considers him/her self to be a "good" person. They essentially make any sort of truth-seeking "BAD" unless the truth being sought is the version of truth offered by the religion.

This way of looking at belief and morality has been applied to a lot of nonreligious beliefs, especially politics. So when there's a political disagreement, the other party isn't just wrong, they're EVIL.

What if I said that I BELIEVE that Satan was clearly acting in man's best interests when He rebelled against the bloodthirsty and sadistic Old Testament BibleGod? or that global warming isn't happening? or that the holocaust never happened? Would I be INCORRECT or would I be EVIL? Isn't it possible to be incorrect and good at the same time? If I had a good definition of "good", then I'd say I think it is.
 
Montag said:
The thing I can't stand about those two religions is the way they tie belief to morality.
Correct religious beliefs = Good.
Incorrect religious beliefs = Bad.
This concept is so insidious, manipulative, divisive, and dishonest.
It's also extremely effective at preserving and spreading the meme.
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Yeah, but it does make it easier to argue against those religions.

Montag said:
These religions feed on the fact that almost everyone considers him/her self to be a "good" person.
They essentially make any sort of truth-seeking "BAD" unless the truth being sought is the version of truth offered by the religion.
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:)

Montag said:
This way of looking at belief and morality has been applied to a lot of nonreligious beliefs, especially politics.
So when there's a political disagreement, the other party isn't just wrong, they're EVIL.
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Should use that against the Republicans XD. Atheists Against Evil

Montag said:
What if I said that I BELIEVE that Satan was clearly acting in man's best interests when He rebelled against the bloodthirsty and sadistic Old Testament BibleGod?
Would I be INCORRECT or would I be EVIL?
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Theistic Satanism would agree with you.

Montag said:
or that the holocaust never happened?
Would I be INCORRECT or would I be EVIL?
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Incorrect.

Montag said:
Isn't it possible to be incorrect and good at the same time?
If I had a good definition of "good", then I'd say I think it is.
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Correct
 
I went to watch 'the invention of lying' yesterday at the cinema, it was good. It raised points from this topic. Nobody could tell a lie so the bible wasn't written :P

p.s Us atheist's can have faith to you know
p.p.s There is nothing creepy with researching love, its a feeling, a chemical reaction in the brain that lasts roughly 2 years (the time it takes to have babies and bring them up to a less vunrable age). That does not take away what so ever from what it takes to maintain a marriage and stay loyal and faithful to a life partner. Science has gone there already and there is nothing wrong with it. I think that understanding the physiology of mind and brain is not a bad thing, it actually helps people.
 
Sure, but not faith in god.

I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow and the day after for a great many centuries to come.
I have faith that the book "A Memory of Light: The Gathering Storm" will be fantastic.
I have faith that my books will arrive from the book store within two months.
 
I have faith that other morons will give him money, and he'll waste it on roulette again.
 
I also wonder......

There are so many more interesting things to do than arguing for or against religions....

I don't mind religions, I never try to argue with believers, as long as they don't argue or "prove" things to me. I even participate in some rituals with friends of mine, because I admire their devotion. It's cute, and they are usually nice people.

About the irrationality of it - well, many cultural followings are as irrational and influential - in music, in art etc. People need to be irrational in some way, otherwise it would be too boring, I guess.
 
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