uwot wrote:Well, you might start by respecting the fact that not all of us are American.
True. But I think you probably are. Correct me if I presume incorrectly. And if so, no problem: the world statistics aren't vastly different, varying between 12 and 14%, with half of those, again, believing in some sort of supernatural or Divine reality but uncommitted to any particular religion. So your hardcore Atheists are now up to 6% or so. So there's still 94% of the world whose interests are being served by the discussion. And as I say, Atheists can find lots of TV shows to distract them while the rest of us get on with life.
Really? 92% of Americans believe in god and you can't find someone to talk to?
Well, you're here, aren't you? I assume nobody asked you to be: you just wanted to be. And so far as I know, nobody's holding a gun to your head at the present moment -- so you could solve your problem entirely by moving on if what you're evinced antipathy to the subject were sincere.
I imagine you could have a very lively discussion with the Taliban
Quite. They'd kill me even faster than they'd kill you, but we'd both be dead. That's why it's important to know what a religion actually believes, rather than to group them together in one prejudicial mass called "religion" or even worse -- to pretend the radical and violent sects and dogmas do not actually exist. Thus, if Atheists want us not to spend so much time thinking about "religion," they're really campaigning to deliver us to the hands of the violent extremist groups by suppressing the more peaceful and discourse-oriented ones. Perhaps they should be
encouraging dialogue instead of
suppressing it.
Would you rather preach to the converted? What happened to:
Immanuel Can wrote:If one really, really believes something, and is really convinced it is helpful to everyone, what sort of a miser would not gladly share it with other people?
Sorry. Not understanding this point. You'll have to clarify. If people believe in the
wrong faith, they may still be quite happy to talk about God. Your Taliban would be happy to "talk" long enough to make you say the
Shahada, then would cut your throat if you didn't. But Buddhists can also be very chatty, as can New Agers, Mormons, JW's, and any number of other such persons, including the Atheist set. (I have not noticed that reticence is characteristic of them).
Now, since these belief systems do not agree on their own fundamental premises, the Law of Non-Contradiction is all we need to know that the majority must simply be wrong. But they're all very happy to compare notes and talk about it. Some of us even think we can learn particular new ways of thinking from each other, even if we're not particularly entertaining the intention of leaving our own faith.
Actually, all that sounds kind of like a definition of "learning," and rather open-minded (with the exception of people like the Taliban...and, as you say, the radical Atheists who allegedly don't want to talk to anyone but can't stop talking about it).
Oh, and I notice you're still here. For a guy who thinks it's terrible we talk about religion so much, you sure want to talk about religion.
