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Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
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 actually I was that blunt with Yakk days ago.
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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.
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Yes. When you have a well established concept that people have believed in for millenia, I do think it would be awfully nice if you'd have some sort of evidence to back up your side before you trash theirs. You can bring up all the silly BS examples of modern hoaxes and paranoid conspiracy theories, but when you get right down to it there is a difference between that and well-established religion. A difference I'm sure you're praying I don't point out. People who believe in god aren't generally doing it because it's cool, or because they're making it up, or because they're nuts. They have, in their mind, very good reasons for their belief. An atheist who whines about religious intolerance has absolutely no right to be intolerant of religion. You can try to draw comparisons between belief in religion and belief in martians if you wish, but you and I both know that no one here is going to be fooled. You may as well give up that line of attack. It's not gonna work.
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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.
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Why is "I don't believe" conciliatory. You're saying you don't buy in to what they're telling you is the truth. That is not conciliatory. Unless you define conciliatory as "not being a jerk," then you're off base here.
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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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It's essentially the same thing I said.
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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.
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Yeah, I thought we went over it too. If a deeply religious person is trying to infringe on your rights, then go after THAT PERSON. Not everyone who happens to have the misfortune of having you find out he believes in god.
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I tell you at the very end what the point of that paragraph is and you ignore it...
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I didn't ignore it. I reiterated it. So you're unique. Great. Others aren't quite so forgiving in their willingness to consider your thoughts when your words are so abrasive.