quote:

ORIGINAL: fucktoyprincess

quote:

ORIGINAL: thishereboi

Did she say she was talking about you? I must have missed that part. I thought she was talking about some of the athiests on CM who seem to feel that christians are as described in her post. Are you saying that has never been implied here? No one has ever implied that "religious people who talk to that imaginary guy in the sky" are less intelligent than those who don't? 

Not sure who you are referring to as I had always thought dc was male, however, I will respond to this.

Here is what I said earlier on this thread:

quote:

I feel some people need religion, and I feel everyone should keep their faith personal to themselves and not allow their own personal faith to dictate how others in society lead their lives.

In addition, I have an entire post on this exact topic of religion and need.

So I consider myself perfectly suited to respond to this even if dc's comment was also referring to others.

Again, all of you can define "need" however you want. But if you are going to assume things when others use the word "need" you might want to stop and consider how they are using the term first. Because I'm not implying anything other than religion is something some people need but others do not need.

My mother doesn't exercise. She doesn't feel a need for it in her life. I feel a tremendous need for exercise in my life. We have a great relationship because I don't ask her to exercise and she doesn't ask me to stop. And she doesn't promote social policy to prevent me from exercising and I don't promote policy that forces everyone to exercise regardless of whether they want to or not. Some people need things more than others. Simple fact of life. Those of you who want to read all kinds of things into the fact that people need certain things in their lives, but others don't need those same things are simply not being respectful of individual needs.

That is all I'm trying to say. Very simple, really. [&:]

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice
The denial of an elected official's Constitutional right to take office unless they swore an oath to the Christian god comes to mind, as does the US military and court systems forcing religious oaths on people for many many years.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice
The denial of an elected official's Constitutional right to take office unless they swore an oath to the Christian god comes to mind, as does the US military and court systems forcing religious oaths on people for many many years.

That's an interesting example about which it would be cool to know more. The only oath of office I really know is the presidential one prescribed in the Constitution--which doesn't, if memory serves, actually include the words "So help me God." I think Washington supposedly said that spontaneously, and it became a tradition. And I don't think a Bible is actually required. John Quincy Adams wanted to underscore the separation of church and state, so he used a book of laws instead. Have people actually been required to swear oaths specifically to Christ or the Trinity?

quote:

My understanding is that the laws requiring it to hold office have been over ruled:

quote:

ORIGINAL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_against_atheists#United_States
In the United States, six state constitutions officially include religious tests that would effectively prevent atheists from holding public office, and in some cases being a juror/witness, though these have not generally been enforced since the early nineteenth century.[41][42][43] The U.S. Constitution allows for an affirmation instead of an oath in order to accommodate atheists and others in court or seeking to hold public office.[41][44] In 1961, the United States Supreme Court explicitly overturned the Maryland provision in the Torcaso v. Watkins decision, holding that laws requiring "a belief in the existence of God" in order to hold public office violated freedom of religion provided for by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[41][45][46] This decision is generally understood to also apply to witness oaths.[47]

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel


Sorry about the misquote.

quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

quote:

You've come onto this thread just to be antagonistic. Why am I not surprised by this. Just plain sad. Very, very sad. Look into your heart and ask yourself why you feel the need to antagonize on a thread that is not yours and where many of us have been expressing inclusionary statements.

Two thoughts:

(a) Is "a thread that's not yours" an example of your "inclusionary statements"?

(b) "I always know I've made a good point when someone begins to diagnose me." -- Faust in Friedman's Fables

quote:

But then I thought, I regularly meet and socialize with people from a wide variety of faiths, or lack thereof, and always have a nice time. Our differences do not prevent me from forming friendships, or being able to socialize with people regardless of the source of the differences.

Sometimes the philosophical debate masks the facts that most atheists have to deal with religious people in almost every context of their lives, often even family. And most of us do it very successfully. And we do it by simply not making a huge issue about it. Too bad the world didn't operate that way in general. The world should be like a nice neighborhood pub where we can all share a pint.

quote:

A Christian and an Atheist walk into a bra...

The Christian declares the woman to be a harlot!

The Atheist hopes so.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kirata

quote:

ORIGINAL: vincentML

"Sorry, but I don't see any difference."

A materialist world view excludes the existence of insubstantial beings right at the get-go, from faeries all the way to the top. Contingently, therefore, someone who holds such a world view will not believe in the existence of a God or gods. But Atheism does not require that one hold a materialist world view, or for that matter any particular world view at all. So a claim of no difference is disingenuous on its face.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel

Study: Atheists distrusted as much as rapists

So if you see a certain zeal on the part of atheists to get our positions out there, it may just be that we're understandably rather motivated to dispel certain misconceptions the faithful have been spreading about us.

quote:

ORIGINAL: GotSteel
Does anyone here actually know anyone who describes themselves as a materialist?
Anybody?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto
Sent to me by my son, a research chemist:
[image]local://upfiles/42188/838D52AE70D84A9B8AEB59D289770D9C.jpg[/image]

quote:

I don't understand your post.

quote:

You are right, DC is male. My apologies to him.

quote:

So if you see a certain zeal on the part of atheists to get our positions out there, it may just be that we're understandably rather motivated to dispel certain misconceptions the faithful have been spreading about us.