To see it in action, read this thread: The Redefinition of Marriage In particular, note how they initiate the religious strawmen arguments, complain about it, and then ignore Reid and others say "stick to the addressing points I am making, which are political" which they continue to ignore, so by the time MNIJ turns up, a fundy atheist in the tradition of a Pavlovian dog, all he can open with is yet another selective quote from the bible, doing his best to take the conversation of course to an area he can froth.
On the other hand, the tactic sometimes works, as there are the occasional fundy Christian that will come along and play the "saw" to the fundy atheists "see". And others that try to patiently address the ignorance evident in only reading the bible with grey-tinted lenses.
Never-the-less, an interesting debate if one can filter out the distraction of atheists trying to make things about religion with the assumption religion is evil.
Good on ya zen, thanks for the Ups to me!
ReplyDeleteHowever, reid was not the only one involved in that debate, my bible quote was aimed at Scott Chris. And even Lucia Maria noted my quote was right on the money for the point I was addressing. Not often she comes to my side, is it?
And there is no assumption religion is evil, it is a well known fact that religion leads people into doing enormous harm.
And where did you find this atheist bible? I guess you wrote it yourself.
Good on ya zen, thanks for the Ups to me
ReplyDeleteNo problem.
However Reid...
I realise Reid wasn't the only one involved in the debate - it is a long thread. I used Reid as an example of the idea of the attempt to "stay on topic" and not sidetrack into a religious debate, because a discussion on the state of the family and the role of marriage was more important than using the thread as a platform for a religious discussion, and I simply wanted to point out the non-religious raised the issue of religion and continued to push it.
Perhaps I shouldn't have singled you out, but you are an "ideal type" for a fundy atheist. You cannot resist entering a debate if any-one else quotes the bible or any variation thereof. Maybe Satan has a bell he rings, or is it your RSS feed? :)
When the thread did stick to the discussion on the breakdown of the family, encompassing points like easy divorce and feelings over committment, I found the discussion interesting.
The liberal position was clearly that all forms of marriage (as opposed to civil unions) must be allowed - notably, polygamy & same sex, and that marriage should be something as easy as registering and unregistering, perhaps over the web.
It was about a relationship, not a family. Although families often come out of a desire to "complete" the relationship, so the nature of the family will continue to change until the norm is the rarity. Perhaps it already is the rarity?
It is a well known fact that religion leads people into doing enormous harm. It's a well known meme. Even so, might just be the fundamentalist aspect, which would therefore endanger a fundy atheist too.
And where did you find this atheist bible? I guess you wrote it yourself.
I read a lot of Dawkins.
It is a well known fact that religion leads people into doing enormous harm.
ReplyDeleteStrange how the enormous good that Christianity has done for society is never mentioned, while the enormous harms caused by atheism are all too readily glossed over.
The thread you link to, Zen, is indeed a great example of atheist thread-jacking. It has a beautiful example of a troll quote - an obscure OT passage entirely out of context...
"... it is a well known fact that religion leads people into doing enormous harm."
ReplyDeleteNine out of ten scienticians wearing white lab coats and glasses know for a fact that religions turn people from good, loving, sweet natured lovelies into rabid, drooling psychopaths. Just walking into a church, temple, mosque or synagogue causes bad language and an urge to pull the wings off flies.
Protect yourself today! Dob in a worshipper! Government internment camps are safe places for the unhinged religious.
Save a life! Shoot a fundy!