to ask how you feel when someone is at the opposite end of the faith spectrum?

[Morphene]

I've recently discovered two separate people I have been getting closer to (professional/friendship wise) are at the other end of the faith scale from me. I have actually felt a little upset and unbalanced by it.

IABU? I mean I know I am, but do other people get this? Does it make a difference if you are the one with or without faith?

I am sure I will still get on just fine with them, but I feel a little sadness that in this important respect we are very far from each others wavelength.

Betrand - I'm not a Christian, and my religion is not remotely in a privileged position, far from it.

So I don't really get your point.

I do work with children. And have never, ever mentioned my religion to a sinle one of them. Because, unlike you, I think of faith as an entirely private matter.

Why have you come on a public forum to talk about it then?

That you'd like to ban religious people from teaching, is of course of a piece with your previous comments.

When did I ever say that? I dont know why I'm asking...you never answer.

You're clearly rather gutted that you're not allowed to hang, draw and quarter us as untermenschen. I'm sure you'd be gutted to have my religious children alongside your pure atheist children. Their presence might corrupt your perfect children, after all

Yawn. God what an absurd and unhinged thing to say. You don't even know if I have children.

Bertrand my lack of response doesn't mean i don't have one, just that i can't see the point in going round and round in circles, so i'll leave it there for now.

Myro -

What is it that you think I do to disallow people from living in accordance with their beliefs?

I didn't say you did? I said your post labelling other people as delusional and religion as an infection was arrogant and prejudiced.

skerry, you can't possibly say, with any certainty, what position newborn babies are in regarding faith. They cannot tell us in language.

Faith can involve more than a verbalised thought, it can involve a compunction or an emotion for which there are no words. Would you say babies feel no emotions or preferences?

if what you're trying to do on this thread is persuade religious people of the wrongness of their views and how great atheism is, can I just say I have never, ever read anyone doing a worse job of it.
You make all atheists look like madly intolerant nutjobs. Very offputting.

Making it all about you. Someone made a claim- I called them out on it. Thats literally all that happened. You are actually incapable of not generalising.

ollieplimsoles - you seriously struggle with logic. And denial of what you said on the previous page is not actually a valid defence. Gaslighting people doesn't really work as a tactic when your previous post is on the page before.

Try harder. Because with every post, you're making atheists look a bit more dim-witted.

cvbn

Do you actually understand that someone might hold the view that religion does not deserve automatic respect? If you do, why are you struggling with it. You seem to be the one trying to force me to respect religion.

Oh, right.
Just so long as we're clear.
Because I also posted about being unbothered by people's faith. I like people in general and if they turn out to be religious, it's a 'really?!' reaction from me rather than what I would think of as arrogance. Of course I think I'm right about there being no god/s, but that's because of the weight of evidence and not because I think I'm special..

The thread title asks about what we feel - and there it is. I feel there's a cultural delusion (not the same as a mental illness, I also said) at play.

"skerry, you can't possibly say, with any certainty, what position newborn babies are in regarding faith. They cannot tell us in language."

Clarity, I would say that they all start out with the same faith as their parents would be a bit of a giveaway. It would be quite exciting if a baby born into a Christian family showed itself to be a Muslim as soon as it could talk.............

April you said no i've never come across it, where does it happen? I don't think its easy for some people to just ignore street preachers, young children, the elderly, vulnerable people etc might be very bothered by some of their rhetoric.

Sorry to use you as an exmaple but your "perhaps God is pursuing you, just a thought" comment (sorry to paraphrase) came across as goady, petty, patronising, superior and disrespectful. Its comments like that which really get people's backs up, I'm religious and my first thought reading it was odfod.

you seriously struggle with logic. And denial of what you said on the previous page is not actually a valid defence

See, I've read what I put on the previous page and it doesn't match up at all to what you say I said.

You are still generalising, its logically fallacious. Stop doing it and answer my questions.

I was baptised a catholic, when i was 13 i publicly announced that i had no faith and was therefore an atheist

I wasnt born a catholic

"Bertrand my lack of response doesn't mean i don't have one, just that i can't see the point in going round and round in circles, so i'll leave it there for now."
A very sensible position to take when one finds oneself in a logically indefensible position.

ollieplimsoles -

No, I'm not trying to force you to respect religion. Why would I do that? Religion is just a belief system. It doesn't have feelings.

I'm trying to point out out to you that you should respect people with different beliefs to you. You don't have to agree with them, not remotely.

But you have no right to call other people delusional, stupid etc just because you disagree. Because that is rude. You can disagree with their views politely and tolerantly. Or better still, just not discuss it, as you're unlikely to agree.

For example, a pp mentioned a belief in Jesus as irrational. Well, I don't believe in Jesus either. But the difference between us is that I wouldn't dream of insisting to a Christian that they were wrong, delusional etc and I was right. Because neither of has any 100% irrevertible proof and I'm not as arrogant as you are. Or as rude.

Myro - so, in a nutshell, you acceot that you are arrogant and prejudiced, but that's OK because the OP did ask.

Oh - kay.

Wow, there are literally thousands of things that people could say they believe, and I emphatically would not respect those beliefs.

When someone says they believe Prince Philip is a ten-foot lizard in human form - is that worthy of respect?

(Doesn't mean I'd stand there and mock them openly, I'd just raise my inner eyebrow.)

Bertrand Russell - A very sensible position to take when one finds oneself in a logically indefensible position.

Yes, I see the OP has very sensibly taken that position and run away!

On that subject, are you going to reply to my previous post to you? Not all religious people are either Christian or forcing you to accept their faith? So what was the meaning of your previous post?

Why do you not acknowledge all the billions of religious people who have no interest in converting you at all, but would just like to be left alone in peace to believe what they believe?

lol cvbn, you're a card

Myro - does someone say that then? Is that a part of a major world religion?

Or is it instead what is commonly known around these parts as a straw man?

Even the pope doesnt believe you can be born a catholic

And he has a hotline to god

Like a bat phone

Rufus just choked on my coffee at that!

PS My religion makes me happy.

PPS It is noone else's business but mine.

Does he Rufus? What a lovely mental image.

Sorry loup