Why do Athiest post here

Originally posted by inimalist
nope, insulting is the last word of this post:

I don't understand the tolorance thing either, methinks some sort of appologist doing some sort of appologetics

Tolerating what "he" finds insulting; let's say someone called me fat (if I was,) I would tell them that I do not care, in this I am tolerating (by not blabbering about it NOT being nice) what they have said and moving on to the next thing in life.

Just accept the fact that some people are immature and live with it; does this describe it a bit more than the last one? It is hard for me to voice my thoughts in typing.

tolerance and indifference are different things though

tolerance, as a concept, really refers to state initiated social policies meant at reducing outright hostility toward marginalized social groups. As intellectual people, we can play semantics and make it mean all sorts of things, but in general, when people talk about tolerance, they are speaking of a meme that ensures nobody assaults gay or black people in the street (or rather, when they do there are legal consequences).

The idea that tolerance means stupid ideas aren't called such is, itself, stupid. I will tolerate the fact you are allowed to hold it, and thus, will not assault you, but I don't have to think you are correct, or accept you spewing it anywhere

People who believe in religion go beyond the boundary's of "stupid". It's always amusing watching the world pray to their "God".

Originally posted by Saskaswan
People who believe in religion go beyond the boundary's of "stupid". It's always amusing watching the world pray to their "God".

Careful how you judge. People who don't believe in a god can still be stupid, while people who do believe in a god can be smart.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Careful how you judge. People who don't believe in a god can still be stupid, while people who do believe in a god can be smart.

I never said anyone was "Stupid", that would be a compliment to Religious people, I said they go past the boundary's of Stupid, which is way way past stupid.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
I never said anyone was "Stupid", that would be a compliment to Religious people, I said they go past the boundary's of Stupid, which is way way past stupid.

really?

Originally posted by inimalist
really?

Yes....

Originally posted by inimalist
really?

Yep, it's a mathematical fact that no one who believes in God has ever done anything intelligent.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
I never said anyone was "Stupid", that would be a compliment to Religious people, I said they go past the boundary's of Stupid, which is way way past stupid.

Now, that goes past the boundary's of Stupid. Good thing I didn't say you were stupid.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Yep, it's a mathematical fact that no one who believes in God has ever done anything intelligent.

Mathematical and Believes in God in the same sentence, Religion is evolving. Wait sorry, Evolution is a communism plot right?

Originally posted by Saskaswan
Mathematical and Believes in God in the same sentence, Religion is evolving. Wait sorry, Evolution is a communism plot right?

Religion is the product of evolution.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
Yes....

Originally posted by Saskaswan
Mathematical and Believes in God in the same sentence, Religion is evolving. Wait sorry, Evolution is a communism plot right?

I'm not even going to argue against your (incredibly wrong) position

do you really not see how that attitude is going to pretty much ensure that religion wins in the "culture war" it has constructed?

Originally posted by Saskaswan
I never said anyone was "Stupid", that would be a compliment to Religious people, I said they go past the boundary's of Stupid, which is way way past stupid.

Your generalizations say differently.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Religion is the product of evolution.

And religion is in fact evolving, though not by the definition used in biology.

I'll tell you what: I never actually got around to answering the titular question. It devolved into tangent too quickly for that to happen. But even though the way the thread starter phrased the question made it more of an attack than a discussion starter, the question itself is valid enough. I'd like to, so here goes...

Why I post here.

1. I enjoy refining my own beliefs through debate here, as well as discovering members and ideas that I agree with.

2. Imo, one can only truly feel secure in a belief by subjecting it to intense scrutiny from both yourself and others. I don't ever want to feel like I am non-religious at the expense of having considered religious arguments. The reverse was true when I was religious, which is how I became atheist in the first place.

3. In a more general sense, I see a lot of negative consequences in the world as a result of illogical thinking or people being duped by various forms of pseudoscience. Religion is only one of the (many) areas I see this in. And while my own sphere of influence is very small, I nevertheless enjoy equipping myself to confront it when I encounter it, whether it's in a medical, psychological, philosophical, or religious context, or various other contexts. The internet, as many of you know, is a hotbed for such irrationality, and so is a good place to hone such skills. As a usual rule, religion is contentious, religious internet debate moreso, and so I rarely intend to change someone's mind. But it's good practice for situations that may matter more, and also fun to be able to form cohesive arguments about topics that I am not an expert in, but can nevertheless debate credibly upon.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
I never said anyone was "Stupid", that would be a compliment to Religious people, I said they go past the boundary's of Stupid, which is way way past stupid.

You make atheists look terrible with your ignorance. People who believe in deities or even practice religion can be and have been more intelligent than you will ever be. I can list examples, if you'd like. My examples are a little dusty because some of our champion intellectuals that practiced religion were from the twentieth century and below. This is simply because we, as a society, reject religion more frequently because we know more. We have a stronger educational system than we did a hundred years ago so it probably wasn't unusual for intellects to believe in several things that are commonly known as false today.

People who believe in some fictional character who created every single thing in this universe and determines the outcome of our lives is obviously very stupid, also some of you believe the world is around 6000 - 8000 years old when there is scientific evidence that it is 4.5 billion years old. Although the mention is science must be fake to you. The Tooth Fairy is more realistic than God.
If you really just sat there and thought about what you believe in you would think like i do.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
People who believe in some fictional character who created every single thing in this universe and determines the outcome of our lives is obviously very stupid, also some of you believe the world is around 6000 - 8000 years old when there is scientific evidence that it is 4.5 billion years old. Although the mention is science must be fake to you. The Tooth Fairy is more realistic than God.
If you really just sat there and thought about what you believe in you would think like i do.

It's easy to attack the fundamentalist extreme, like the Young Earth creationists. But that's not Ultra's point, nor others who are refuting you.

To say that you think believing in God is stupid is a valid, if blunt, opinion. To say that those who believe in God, only because they believe in God, are stupid is simply false. History is littered with geniuses, as is our current era. And despite a slow trend toward non-religiosity in our society, the vast, vast majority of the world is religious, theists, etc. and this was more true in past ages. As such, the vast, vast majority of those geniuses, past and present, were and are theists.

There's also degrees of religion. The vocal extremist minority is just that, a minority. Those people, yes, are often quite stupid. But lumping them with ALL theists is a gross misrepresentation of theism, and displays a hearty amount of ignorance about religion and religious followers.

Also, the Tooth Fairy is not more believable than God. The mere fact that no one believes in the Tooth Fairy over age 5 or so, but billions believe in God, should be enough evidence of that, though there are certainly other reasons. Hyperbole doesn't suit your intent.

Frankly, I'm surprised I have to explain this to anyone capable of conversing on the internet (perhaps I shouldn't be). What I just said up there should be common sense. And I'm an atheist, btw, just so you don't try to lump me into the "science must be fake" crowd like you seemed to do with Ultra.

Originally posted by Saskaswan
People who believe in some fictional character who created every single thing in this universe and determines the outcome of our lives is obviously very stupid, also some of you believe the world is around 6000 - 8000 years old when there is scientific evidence that it is 4.5 billion years old. Although the mention is science must be fake to you. The Tooth Fairy is more realistic than God.
If you really just sat there and thought about what you believe in you would think like i do.

this might help you understand...

most people who believe young earth creationism (which is the minority of religious people, especially outside of the United States) don't do so because they found the ideas convincing. They aren't intellectually trying to analyze everything for its empirical merit, they are believing that which makes the most sense to them given their personal experiences, which are themselves, shaped by powerful cultural narratives. Its more an issue with these ideas being an integral part of their personality, rather than any issue of intellect. This is most apparent when you actually talk to young earth creationists about anything other than religion or politics. Try it some day. I'm not actually kidding, talk to one about something you think you might find common ground on, and you will be amazed [sic]!

and here is the kicker. You are the exact same. You aren't a geneticist, you aren't a geologist, you don't study paleontology, and, I'm just going to guess, at best you are an undergraduate at some university. You have no reasonable qualifications to determine the validity of science in the fields you are criticizing religious people of being ignorant of. The problem is, you are just as ignorant, you just believe empiricism over religion. This is the same of all people. I might understand psych, but I take on faith what people in the physical sciences discover because I have no reasonable understanding of the data they are uncovering.

you can't make a value based judgement on people determined by what they believe. Ultimatly, we are all in the same boat, entirely ignorant of everything and wholy trusting of the people we have determined have some access to truth.

Even when I like my responses, inamilist tops them. I think I've gone from loving everything you post to hating everything you post.

crackers