For the last few months, however, I have noticed a steady stream of diaries, and comments, that disparage anyone who believes in G-d. It all started with this winner, accusing me of being mentally ill, because I have faith in G-d. It is nice that my Reply received 22 recc's, but please note the seven recc's for the original comment. Here's another great one stating a mathematical fact that faith=ignorance.
Unfortunately, the list goes on.
It culminated with this diary today, which contained the lovely comments accusing me (and I would presume to say "us") of child abuse, of being like a "gang member", and still yet another entry in the faith is ignorance category, this one with the special addition of accusing people who believe in G-d of being conspiracy theorists.
For purposes of reference, here is the original comment:
Reason, analysis of empirical evidence and science can explain (or at least effectively address) virtually everything in the physical universe around us. Two thousand years ago, perhaps religion was necessary to help illiterate humans contending with a frightening and mysterious world. The European enlightenment revealed a better way, and the founding fathers of this country followed the same spirit of empiricism and reason in crafting a government that addressed the realities of human nature.
Today the looney religious right is trying to rewrite history and claim that the founding fathers were basically fundamentalists. This turns reality on its head. I guess you could call it history for Bushites.
The religion=child abuse thing:
I would say that it is child abuse for a parent to indoctrinate a child or force them to believe in a religion. i can understand why parents would (my parents taught me to be a Christian), because they believe it was the best thing for me. It is kind of child abuse out of ignorance and good intentions. kids should be able to make their minds up for themselves when they are old enough. however, when they are indoctrinated from the time they are little kids, it is hard for them to break free of that indoctrination. it nooks me a long time to fully leave Christianity and feel at peace with it. kids believe what their parents say. that is why if you go to Afghanistan 99% of people believe in islam, because that is what they are taught. that is one of the main reasons that i stopped believing in christianity. i thought that a god would have to be extremely cruel for sending someone to hell, because they believed in another religion due to the fact that that religion dominated his/her culture.
He wants to know how you deal with it. I think the best way is to state your position frankly, openly, argue the points that need arguing, and if you reach an impasse, agree to disagree and then move on. For those who just can't let it go, though, you shrug your shoulders, shake your head, and, again, move on. In either case - you move on. I have grown weary of these kinds of discussion because they are become a bit repetitive, and neither side, in the end, really listens to what the other is saying (I must admit that I try, but the level of bile I have had thrown at me usually shuts down my cognitive functions).
