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ORIGINAL: HannahLynHeather

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why is it that those who believe in Christianity, Islam, Wicca, Buddhism should be thought to have a mental disability

maybe because they fucking believe in non-existent things. its pretty much what the word delusional means isn't it? believing shit that isn't real?

the american heritage dictionary has the following definition of delusion: A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence,

seems pretty fucking unequivocal to me.

and it goes on to add the following bit: especially as a symptom of mental illness.

there ya go buckwheat, all in black and fucking white. kindly explain to me how that doesn't apply to religious belief.

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ORIGINAL: HannahLynHeather

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why is it that those who believe in Christianity, Islam, Wicca, Buddhism should be thought to have a mental disability

maybe because they fucking believe in non-existent things. its pretty much what the word delusional means isn't it? believing shit that isn't real?

the american heritage dictionary has the following definition of delusion: A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence,

seems pretty fucking unequivocal to me.

and it goes on to add the following bit: especially as a symptom of mental illness.

there ya go buckwheat, all in black and fucking white. kindly explain to me how that doesn't apply to religious belief.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: farglebargle

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ORIGINAL: BamaD

It is hard to stereotype people if you admit that they are not monolithic.

But it's easy when they're not even monotheistic.

Seriously. "Jesus" is NOT the "Son of G-d". There's no "Holy Spirit" ( although Casper IS a Friendly Ghost! )

That's a violation of the FIRST Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me "

And hanging up and praying to those idols of "Jesus"?

That's a violation of the Second Commandment. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them"

Another Carnegie graduate.

And unh, incidentally... there is absolutely nothing monotheistic about that First Commandment you're citing.

K.

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Wow, is this the kind of sophisticated, open-minded, tolerant thought one can achieve if only one frees one's mind from theism?

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if i were to say that there was a six fucking foot rabbit that only i could see

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ORIGINAL: heyerdahl

One of the funniest, most ill-educated, contradictory remarks i ever read followed an OP i wrote about bigots.

i explained that i had become acquainted with an exceptionally-educated man whose goal was to help people further themselves through education. Our budding relationship evaporated when i realized how mindlessly prejudiced he was toward just about anyone who failed to meet his standards, and how completely blind he was to his own hypocracy.

He was one of a group of students in a Master's level course for career advisors, and complaining bitterly about his fellow students' use of improper grammar. i asked them what he'd do to help them overcome this liability, and he said, "I'd send them back to kindergarten and tell them to work until they get it right." He never did understand the significance of upper-level classroom he shared with them. All he knew was that they were unable to express themselves the One True Way.

i'd already heard enough from him by this point. i was aware that if they didn't speak English well enough, if they couldn't grasp a concept as quickly as he did, if he didn't like the neighborhood they grew up up in, or if any other vague dislike cropped up because of the color of their skin, he switched from a generous, kind, well-mannered scholar into a seriously unpleasant elitist with no empathy for anyone who wasn't like him.

i politely asked him not to contact me again, giving him a limited (if pointless) explanation. Then i worked the rest of my annoyance out of my system by writing an essay about prejudice.

The gist of the essay was a simple demand. If a person is so determined to single out a group of people and hate them, they should at least be able to clearly explain WHY they hate them. (He couldn't. Not once. Instead, he would falter into generalized, sputtered complaints.)

The first comment to follow my post was this, almost verbatim: "That's why i hate bigots and Christians."

O-kaay.... Can't remember writing about any Christians.... Just bigots.

My point?

You folks with the broad brushes.... It seems to me you feel no need to identify your reasons for being bigoted against Christians. As with my erstwhile acquaintance, it's easier for you to sputter out a sadly clichéd metaphor.

It's certainly easier for you to bypass the effort it would take to understand the impact of Christianity's many sects on our history, on Western philosophy, on the mindsets of the people who make our laws and enforce them — or even the way Western thought has evolved to a point where your point of view can be openly expressed.

Do you realize what that means in terms of how well you understand the society you're a part of?

The fact is, regardless of what you consider to be our fundamental disillusioned state, the OP is right. As human beings, all of us believe different things. Some of us (Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, or whatever) opt to express our beliefs through an institutionalized religion that feels right to us.

There's no way to talk about Christianity as a concept without getting specific about which sect believes what. That's because we don't even agree about the root word in "Christianity" — not what Christ stood for, what He wants us to do with our lives, or even how many people will succeed in getting to the Great Beyond.

Perhaps you paint with such a broad brush because it's easier to be a bigot who hates Christians than to look inward and try to figure out what's different between your beliefs and ours. Perhaps it's even easier because whatever it is that we find so satisfying about our mutual disillusionment has eluded you — and that's why it bothers us to see us being happy in our ignorance.

i don't have anything against your ignorance. If it makes you happy, i'm fine with that.

But as a member of one of the many diverse Christian sects, i would ask anyone like you to stay away and not bother telling me i'm an idiot for believing what i do. my reason? It's simple. A one-sided exercise like that would be very boring.

i'd much rather compare my belief system with yours and learn something from you — but only if a comparison of such fundamental values doesn't make you feel threatened and defensive. That gets boring, too.

i try not to hate anyone. But i do have little use for bigots. And, unlike the subject of my essay, i can put my finger on what it is that i find so objectionable about them.

They're repetitive, mind-numbing conversationalists. And negative — don't even get me started on how tedious it is, trying to discuss anything deeper than a football game with people who are so negative about anything they disagree with. Why would i want to talk with a person who looks at the world through such a dark, restricted lens?

Just try not to take it personally, okay? You know you wouldn't be interested in talking with me, either.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: HannahLynHeather

if i were to say that there was a six fucking foot rabbit that only i could see that gave me investment advice, you'd suggest, quite correctly, that i should seek medical help....

Not me. I'd ask how your trading account is doing.

K.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: hardcybermaster

Of course there are differences but they all believe in god so they are all wrong.

Well there are differences on both sides. Among believers, for example, there are those who say, "I believe in God," and there are those who can be counted upon to proclaim at any opportunity, "There is a God," whether their opinion is wanted or not, and most especially if it isn't. Among non-believers, there are those who say, "I don't believe in God," and there are those who can be counted upon to proclaim at any opportunity, "There is no God," whether their opinion is wanted or not, and most especially if it isn't.

In my experience, at least, among both believers and non-believers, most of the world's premier assholes fall into the second category.K.

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ORIGINAL: HannahLynHeather

very pretty sentiments, but you still can't seem to explain why despite the fact that the definition of the word delusion describes religious belief perfectly, you feel it shouldn't be applied.

the fact that it works for them is fucking irrelevant, many mentally ill people find great comfort and meaning in their delusions.

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I'm also curious about the length of a fucking foot.

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: HannahLynHeather

but not before marraige.

Well, true. If it's before marriage, they can't fuck...

They have to fornicate.

K.