I find myself being rather upset with my fellow Atheists. What do we want from the religious? to be respected. What do we do to the religious? disrespect them.
There is no logic in this. Sure the belief is false in our eyes, and sure over the past 2000ish years Atheists haven't exactly been treated fairly (I.E the inquisitions, burning us at the stake, etc). The fact remains that if we want to be treated with respect we should respect those who we would see respect us.
This is not to say that those who use religion to justify the degrading of other humans (Westboro Baptists, KKK, Nazis {Neo-Nazis}, Fox News, Republicans, ISIS, Al-Queda, Taliban looking at you guys) should not be treated with disdain. Those who use religion (or lack thereof) against other people should be ridiculed, and IDC if you are offended by the statements I make.
Bottom line is this. If you are religious and you don't belittle and degrade people through use of your religion I am fine with you and would love to have spirited debates with you, but if you degrade people and justify it through religion then I have no place in my heart for you.
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What does this respect look like, Conner? What behaviors does it include and exclude?
In this sense it would mean attacking the person and not the belief. I am not saying that the beliefs should not be attacked, but when the people are attacked (unnecessary name calling and what have you) that is when I get ticked off. In the same sense as the religious say "hate the sin not the sinner" we should attack the beliefs and not the believers
In my view, it's not as simple as you put it.
First of, an Atheist has no quarrels with religion, if all you are referring to is "lack of belief in a god or gods".
Anti-theist tend to have a more active stance against Theism, but doesn't by any means necessarily include disrespect.
And Theism is actively trying to control politics and education, and in some cases also try to fight science. This is a major threat to the future of humanity.
Ok. I agree with you Mr.Pragmatic. The only bit I was worried about with the beliefs is the parts of religions that call for deaths and other violent immoral things. Other than that the only real quarrel with religion is when they are in charge of places/countries.
Conner-If you want to be nice to religious people who do no harm(except) believe bullshit be my guest. As for me I like to belittle, humiliate and criticize those who are pathetically stupid. I enjoy it. I like it. I love to argue with people whose beliefs are totally absolutely absurd. It is fun. Better than Disney World. Conner- be nice to those with ridiculous ideas and beliefs but I want no part of NICE. I have such a good time destroying the myths of religion and the beliefs of morons. I love to hate ignorance, stupidity, and dumb ideas. ..........It is not necessary to call Pragmatic---Mr. Pragmatic..... Sir Pragmatic would also just not be right. I usually call Pragmatic other things but Mr. Pragmatic- does not seem right.
Kenny, please take a deep breath and calm down.
I agree that we shouldn't attack the people; it's the beliefs that are stupid and should be ridiculed. Most theists are perfectly reasonable until it comes to their religious beliefs. A big problem that we have is that even if you attack religious beliefs and show nothing but the utmost respect for the person, they still take offense.
Personally I think if you are a theist going to an atheist site to be respected you have issues, religion being only one of them. The only other time I am disrespectful to theists is when they come to my door to preach because If I wanted religion I would seek it at their house, at lunch time, when they're just sitting down. I don't want to be disrespectful at all, but I don't go to their house or visit "welcomeallgodsrepublic.com" and smear their way of thinking so why do they feel the need? I don't really think they deserve any of my respect, otherwise they'd never have a conversation with me at all. Would you enter a lion's den and wonder why you are being eaten by lions? No.
I'm hearing, and have heard, one should not attack a person, rather they should attack an idea.
I posit that this, although it sounds nice, probably makes no substantive difference.
Someone who hates atheism says to me, "Atheists are evil baby-eaters and will go to hell."
Someone who hates atheists says to me, "You are an evil baby-eater and will go to hell."
What is the difference?
The problem here is that humans do mistakes.
The dishonesty comes when theists accuse the idea of anti-theism for the actions of the few.
We do not accuse all theists of raping little boys just because the few do.
Yet the theists do not use the same mentality when they attack anti-theism or atheism.
Their propaganda about this is so effective and everywhere that even atheists are confused about the meaning of anti-theism.
I will let Christopher Hitchens Explain anti-theism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nIRJVmZ4K8