Does anyone else here get tired of seeing the same stories on the news day in and day out, especially during election season or after a major catastrophe? I know I do. The reason being that beating a dead horse is unproductive.
Lately, there has been a lot of insults flying in all directions for every side of the debate over whether or not a god exists.
Get this through all your thick skulls.... no one is going to change anyone's minds by browbeating them.
Both sides have their perspectives and it is their own experiences that led them to reach the conclusions they have. Nothing anyone says on this forum is going to change anyone's minds.
Honestly, who gives a flip why someone believes it to be immoral, unethical, or inappropriate (whatever word you use) to commit murder. As long as the majority of the people agree that it is something that is not welcome in society, does it really matter why?
Whether atheist, theist, or agnostic or whatever new word you want to invent to label yourself with, we all have belief systems, codes of ethics, self imposed rules for behavior, again pick a way to express it the definition is the same. We all believe that a particular way of life, (the one we live) is the best one. If you have ten different people who believe stealing is wrong, i bet you can get ten different reasons for why they believe it is wrong.
At the end of the day, do you care, does it matter to you, why your neighbor chose not to rape you dog? Or are you just glad they didn't? Can we stop bitching at each other over the "why" of everyone's life and just focus on actions, without the bigoted group definitions.
Instead of saying, when atheists bash theists, or when theists protests funerals.... how about, when assholes tell everyone else how to live. Because every grown up on this forum knows that assholes come in all shapes and sizes and they are all full of shit, no matter what they believe.
As annoying as Harold's style in posting in these threads is to me, he has a good point. Scientifically discussing religion is nearly impossible. It is too personal and it riles up the emotions. And whether you are atheist or not, religion can still be personal to you, because quite often religion, whether you follow one or not, has a major impact on your life. Try avoiding religion in Pakistan. You can't. And in parts of the USA, you can't. And whether we want to admit it or not, religion affects our government, our laws and our society as a whole.
So yes, discussing the affects of religion can be fair game though I bet it will be a hostile debate. But at least it would be somewhat relevant and useful. But trying to debate whether or not there is a god is stupid, redundant, and a waste of time because what difference does it make. People will do what they want to do and if you take a way god they will invent some other excuse to do what they want. it is human nature, some of us are just assholes. Get over it and stop blaming what doesn't deserve it. No one is an asshole because they do or do not believe in god. They are assholes because it is their nature to be one. From a psychological perspective belief IN GENERAL can be discussed but isolating religious believe or exempting it is not scientific is it. So a decision needs to be made. Allow it to be discussed freely without moderators bashing in the heads of atheists who discuss belief as a delusion, which is a scientific perspective whether you like it or not, and atheists stop treating theists as if they are all the same. or everyone needs to stfu and religion just be banned from the forum.
Whether I agree with someone's perspective on belief or not, i have to wonder why anyone would constantly create threads to discuss it. Why? Your decision has been made, do you need more confirmation? Is your faith or lack there of on shaky ground? Do you need a bunch of people to validate your position on the unknown? Why so damned obsessed? Does it make you feel good to create threads or derail threads in such a way that it gets everyone into a pissing contest and you hope that your team wins? Why don't we discuss the psychology of what causes obsession with conflict. Are we just that damned competitive? Do we need an arm wrestling sub forum.
Sorry had to get this off my chest. The atmosphere of the forum has been getting to me. it makes about as much sense as team vampire vs team werewolf. I have lost most of my motivation to participate in any forum or thread because it seems it is only a matter of time before someone pops up and carries their frustration from this forum towards another member into other subforums and completely ruins good threads.
If mods want to close this or delete it that is up to you. I won't be offended either way. Hell make it a sticky if ya like it. You can even print it and wipe you butt on it if you like. I don't really care but I had to get it off my chest.