Is this disrespectful? (Faith)

[GodsGodsGods]

(I have name changed as I have talked about this IRL, I have been around on MN for about 6 yrs.)

The other night DC(14) asks casually what is the collective noun for gods (in relation to homework). We are at home and just the three of us.

I reply jokingly that it would be a fiction of gods. (It's actually a pantheon)

DC reckons this is disrespectful to people of faith.

I am an atheist. DH and DC are also atheist. I am fully supportive of the rights of those with faith to practice their religion unfettered and I only mention my absence of faith when directly asked, so it rarely comes up. I have always discouraged my DC from blasphemous exclamations to avoid offending religious people.

I think that as an atheist it is expected and accepted that I believe gods are fictional and that although a bit flippant, my comment was in a private setting and not directly challenging or disrespecting the beliefs of anyone else, rather just reflecting my own beliefs.

I don't really understand how one's faith is invalidated by someone believing (or not) in something else (although as an atheist I may be missing the point?) Surely if I were eg Christian or Sikh, my belief would not be disrespectful or felt to invalidate the faith of eg Buddhists or Muslims?

AIBU?

If it was a public comment it would be unreasonable but as a private I don't see the issue.

My friend who is a vicar always has to say, " as a Christian I believe..." at schools etc. so equally you should say, "as an atheist I believe..." however I imagine my friend would state things as fact when speaking to her own family.

If there's were people of faith there, then it would be, but there weren't (unless your dc now is). It's kind of like asking if a tree falls in the wood and nobody's there does it make a sound....
Or maybe it isn't, if you make a joke that offends gay people and there wasn't a gay person there, that would still be disrespectful.
It's an interesting question, you should praise your ds for raising it!

I had a similar conversation with our ndn. Ndn is an Atheist,his wife a church going and practicing Baptist and DH and I are Muslim.

We concluded with a ‘line’ from a Quranic verse...” To you your religion and me mine”.

If Atheism is your belief then I respect that and would not find offence in what you said. Also agree with pp, you made the comment in private and with no intention to cause offence.

There are religions that are not monotheistic but I would assume eg a Hindu person would not take offence at your comment as they would respect your belief.

The fact that you are posting/concerned shows you would respect the opinions of others.
YANBU

Absolutely, it's why I'm wondering!

I agree that if a comment is racist, homophobic etc, it doesn't matter whether someone who is of that race or is gay is there, it is is offensive regardless of the audience and I feel I have quite a track record of challenging such comments as inappropriate.

And I agree I wouldn't have made the comment in the company of others

Keep I like this To you your religion and me mine”.

Me too : )

(For clarity the absolutely... in my last post was for the ones before because crossover)

(DC is unlikely to have become religious, but if has should know we would be benignly indifferently supportive, in the same way we were when they temporarily became a Christian fundamentalist under the influence of assemblies when starting school)

It is disrespectful to imply that the Christian pantheon (which is not real) is in any way related to other pantheons (which are not real) therefore it is highly offensive.

In the UK protestant religions have a christian privilege within law and should not be criticised. The Muslim pantheon is also protected but for different reasons (ie terrorism) so is also immune to being compared to pantheons that dont actually exist.

I think: you’re overthinking this and your DC is doing what teenagers do very well- wind you up!

We concluded with a ‘line’ from a Quranic verse...” To you your religion and me mine”.

If Atheism is your belief

Atheism is not a belief or a religion. If you said that to me imposing a religion on me.

I think: you’re overthinking this and your DC is doing what teenagers do very well- wind you up!

^This, but I think it’s nice your DD has such a strong sense of tolerance (for people who aren’t her mum ).

Atheism is the very opposite of belief! One would say "As an atheist, I think..."

Nope, your beliefs are your beliefs. Religious people do it constantly and nobody batts an eye

No one has given you credit for that joke OP - I thought it was very witty and funny!

"I like this To you your religion and me mine”.

But religion can't be compared to homophobia or racism or transphobia. No one has been harmed by someone else being gay or black and only on MN are trans seen as the enemy.

Religon however is extremely harmful. Sometimes it's harm is small but it poisons everything. The smartest move religon ever made was making (or trying to make) itself above question and reproach and scrutiny and from being the subject of jokes. Thankfully that's nearly over with only a few clinging on to this notion.

"People of faith" can try to defend their evil beliefs if they want but I personally don't care if they're offended.

Do you OP? Do you and your husband really sit around discussing whether x is offensive to people of [whatever]? So woke you're asleep?

I think you have every right to say that and you don't have to restrict your own freedom because of the beliefs of others. There's no right not to be offended. Taking offence is a choice. Like you I believe in the right of people to practise and express their religion, but only so far as it doesn't restrict other people's rights. What I think is problematic about religion, is that believers so often claim that their views have to be respected, which is illogical and unreasonable. No-one's views can demand respect; freedom to express those views is what should be respected, and defended, but those views should be challenged and verifiable evidence provided. We all deal with conflicts large and small in everyday life often without having to think seriously about it; it just needs respect and compromise to resolve those conflicts. This is what's usually missing from the discussion when religion is involved.

We women, especially, need to remember that the three monotheistic Abrahamic religions are entirely male constructs, designed to establish a dominant patriarchy, suppress any opposition by its enemies, and characterised by a hatred of women. There is no evidence for the existence of any god. Mohammed is known to history, but there is no one individual identifiable as the biblical Jesus, nor is there any evidence for the existence of any of the major names in the bible. The ancient civilisations of the Middle East were educated people, and traders, they had language and libraries; we've even managed to read the long-lost Hittite language now, and none of those discoveries reveal evidence for a Jesus of Nazareth among the many illiterate itinerant preachers that existed then. It's a lie, all of it.

Respect for religion itself and the evil it enables, is an unjustifiable tyranny and interference in our lives. I don't know how to link to it, but the AIBU thread To be offended gives an excellent illustration of the problems it causes every day which just should not arise. Religion should be extinct in the 21st century, we're much too weak-minded about the damage it does. Someone (John Loftus or Jerry Coyne?) said that an individual creates god for themselves to meet a psychosocial need that cannot be met in any other way, which is about as logical an explanation of something so daft, as I've heard.

The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey is a good book on the history of the damage done by religion.

If you've read this far, thank you. I'd just add that I have a deep interest in this because it was a major part of my degree course in Berlin. So was tramping around the Middle East for a year.

I think: you’re overthinking this and your DC is doing what teenagers do very well- wind you up!

Your DD has such a strong sense of tolerance (for people who aren’t her mum

I think Tiger and IWas may have it

(and thank you Hundred)