2nd July 2010
“We respect people's rights to their beliefs, however we also believe those rights should be extended to those who do not have religious beliefs.”
Bob McKay
“We respect people's rights to their beliefs, however we also believe those rights should be extended to those who do not have religious beliefs.”
Bob McKay
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:59
You’d THINK this would be a no brainer, until you get to the cultures that believe that non-believers have the right to have their heads chopped off.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:20
Its better off to have their heads chopped off coz’ they did’nt know how to use it. They can simply refute they are not created. I just wonder on what explanation they claimed that.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:35
what Edmond said!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:58
sol, I’m still waiting for a meaningful quotation from the Koran so I can find you a pre-existing reference from Greek or Jewish literature.
Or are you just full of bullshit?
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:12
I like to think that I have respect for the views, beliefs and opinions of all my fellow human beings. However, my respect is on a sliding scale. If someone explains his/her beliefs/opinions clearly, logically and show that they have at least tried to find evidence in support of their view, whatever that view may be, my degree of respect will be at the higher end of the scale. On the other hand, those who propound a viewpoint ‘because it says so in a book’ will end up rather lower on the scale of respect. In fact, so low on the scale of respect that it could more properly be described as ‘pity’.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:24
Yes. When a theist or new ager or whatever says to me “respect my beliefs” I usually say that I respect their right to hold those beliefs, but not necessarily the beliefs themselves or their reasons for holding them.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:49
Actually I don’t respect all people’s rights to their beliefs. I regard much of it with disgust and despair.
I tolerate them because I have to. With our present knowledge, any practical means of dealing with them would make us as bad as they are so for now I put up with the idiots.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:14
Agreed, Atheist MC. Sorry I didn’t elaborate sufficiently to make my point clear.
July 2nd, 2010 at 17:16
It’s pretty difficult to respect this kind of behavior. Muslim father and brother of Harry Potter star charged with threatening to kill her
July 2nd, 2010 at 22:33
Islam is an exception for a number of reasons beyond the fact that nearly all Islamic countries are fascist, autocratic or theocratic. Islam has been at war with the world since it was created, fanatics rule Islam & almost every country that borders Islam is at war. So called “moderate” Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. In a world in which WMD will become more & more available the chance of a WMD falling into the hands of one (or more) of these fanatics is something the world cannot tolerate & we must use whatever means necessary to prevent this from happening.
July 2nd, 2010 at 23:46
Sol, why are they better off with their heads chopped off? I assume you believe that Allah is all-knowing, so he’d know in advance what someone is going to believe. If he didn’t want them walking around holding those beliefs, he could’ve just prevented their birth. Or, if he couldn’t do that, well, he could at least kill people HIMSELF when he doesn’t like what they believe. I assume you also believe that Allah is all-powerful, so he could give anyone he wants an aneurysm or a heart attack if they offend him. Maybe he can’t do that either? Is there a good reason why you call him “god” at ALL if you have to do all his work FOR him?
I suppose our explanation for why we don’t believe we were created is that we don’t all come with a big “Made In Heaven” label hanging off of our asses. There’s no evidence at all of any of the impossible, supernatural claims that ANY religions make. The best evidence around us shows that NATURE is at work here, doing its thing, not really caring if babies are born deformed or if famine sweeps across an entire continent. Gods are either causing things like that to happen, or they are powerless to stop them (which really means they’re not gods). The best belief you can have is that no one really knows the answers to life’s big mysteries, but that we’ll find out when we find out, as long as we uphold the values of inquiry and discovery.