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Originally Posted by shakran
OK. I've tried to be nice, and it's not working, so I want you to read this part of the post very, very carefully. I am not trying to prove that there is or is not a god. I am not telling you that you have to prove that there is or is not a god. I am saying that if you cannot PROVE your position, you should not be a JERK to those who disagree with you. It's another way of saying "Stop being a damn jerk" without being so blunt about it.
I don't have an obsession with proving that there's a god, especially since I have significant doubts that there is one.
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Well, don't worry. I'm not the kind of guy who stops being nice merely because the other speaker isn't. That's just the kind of guy I am...
I'd hate to think that you spent all this time dancing around the message "stop being a damn jerk." There's nothing wrong with being blunt and asking others to not be jerky is far from rude...
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Well, from where I sit, calling religion ridiculous is asinine. Until you can provide concrete evidence that you are right in YOUR belief, then it's absolutely jawdroppingly stupid of you to say that someone else's well established and ingrained belief is ridiculous. That's not to say they're right. You don't have to think they're right. But try putting it more intelligently. "I don't think you're right about God" is much less of an asshole thing to say than "Your religion is ridiculous."
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This is why I said you're "obsessed" with "proof." I'm not saying you're obsessed with proving God exists (since you don't even particularly believe), I'm saying that you're obsessed with the necessity of proof.
If someone thought that there was a teapot in orbit (not on Earth) around the sun, I would call that ridiculous. Moon hoax proponents are ridiculous. I cannot prove there isn't a teapot orbiting the Sun and I can't prove the moon landings weren't faked but it's not inappropriate to call these beliefs ridiculous. I don't think these statements are insults, either. Is your contention that religion is such a sensitive topic that one must "sweeten" their tone beyond ordinary discourse?
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Try "I don't believe in god, and here's why." Gee, you might even get people to listen to you instead of concentrating on how pissed off you made them if you did that.
I don't believe in god. I have issues with some of the stories in the bible. For example. . . .
See how that invites dialogue a lot more than "everything you believe is ridiculous?"
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These examples do sound a lot less confrontational but they also seem understated. "I don't believe" sounds very conciliatory, which I suppose is the point. How about "I think there's no reason to believe in God and here's why?" Would you consider this less offensive?
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Maybe they don't want to. Who cares? Not your problem. Live your life, not theirs. Athiests love to bitch to high. .er. . heaven about how the christians want to impose their horrible god beliefs on everyone else. Well, the door swings both ways. Practice what you preach. It's fine not to believe in god. But quit trying to convert the masses lest you become guilty of the same bullshit you accuse them of.
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I thought we went over this? A lot of atheists would love to "live their lives" if only the deeply religious would let them. People proselytizing is less offensive to me than lobbying the government to fund religious activities. If all theists ever did was try to convert me, it wouldn't be the heated debate that it is. The door does not swing both ways. Unfortunately, it is my problem and if I bitch, it's only because I'm given plenty to bitch about...
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That's admirable. Not everyone is built like you. And even if they did listen to you despite hurling insults at them, doesn't mean it's OK to hurl insults at them.
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You miss the point entirely. I was merely questioning why you'd say "it would surprise me if I hurled insults at you and..." after being told how ineffectual insults are to me. It just seemed odd... In fact, your response here seems queer considering the context. Here's what you edited out, underlined:
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I understand why you cut out so much context since, frankly, these posts are getting too long. However, do you recall the part of my post that claimed that I listen to people regardless of how much they insult me? I don't disregard valuable information merely because the source of that information was a jerk. I understand that I'm unique in this regard but I don't get why you'd be surprised by my reaction given what I had told you about myself...
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The important part is in bold. I tell you that I'm unique but you turn around and remind me that "not everyone is built like me." I tell you at the very end what the point of that paragraph is and you ignore it...
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My apologies. That was Yakk, not you. I can't keep this thread straight anymore 
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I understand that there has been a lot said by a number of people in this thread...