I must agree with you that some portions of Islamic law looks like it was copy/pasted from any random medieval European country in the 5th century, but is that a reason to hate them for it?
Another problem with religious people, is that they always equate criticism to hatred and persecution
I'm thinking you misread Rvlion's post. He wasn't talking about religious people being problematic, he was talking about the "bad apples" within groups of religious people. I'm a very religious person. But I only see spite when there actually
is spite. For example, when someone makes a negative blanket statement about the people of a religion, it bothers me. Rvlion's post, however, was wonderful, for it did not place blame over a group, but rather expressed an understanding that all these things have "bad apples," and that it doesn't make all in the group bad as well. (where does the phrase "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch" come from anyway? It just doesn't make much sense).
Say, people keep bringing up fundamentalist interpretations of the bible. Does anyone else wish to discuss non-fundamentalist interpretations for something new? Even if you don't believe in the Christian God, it can be quite interesting. Especially when one takes into acount how the bible was originally written in a very old language that has had plenty of time to change, if only in the connotations words have.
Take the "Seven Days," for example. A teacher of mine once pointed out to me that looking at fossil records, the order in which things come to be is remarkably similar to how they are listed as being created in the bible story. Not a perfect match, of course. Sun, moon, plants (maybe one or two things before plants, can't remember of the top of my head), then after that I can't remember until you get to mammals and man. Man came after animals in the "Seven Days," not to be confused with "Adam & Eve," in which animals were made for man. The word "days" as it was originally written might have once been read as "ages," "stages," "days," or all three. Languages, especially old ones, can change. Just look at US English vs. UK English.
This is just one example of what, combined with the fact that despite what people think, the world is better than it used to be, makes me think that God may quite literally be a father figure (assuming he does in fact exist). A good parent does not hold the child's hands its whole life, does it? Perhaps God only came in ever so often, checking in on us, maybe trying to give us a little inspiration or advice (through certain "messengers" one might say) to get us to go in the right direction (one in which things are getting better for people). It's really once we're past the dark ages that the previous zeal of the world's religious seemed to be starting to fade (slowly). So perhaps God's not an explanation - perhaps he's a guide, trying to get us to the human race's equivalent of graduation, to get us to be able to get along and handle problems
ourselves (as a whole, although as individuals would I imagine be a bonus). We seem to be progressing that way on our own at this point (if a bit slowly), so why should God bother coming to help us when we can do it ourselves?
A lot of this is, of course, assuming he exists. Which we can't actually do except in explanations like that above. But that's a portion of what I believe.
I must also disagree with RAM's statment that religion opposes science. This is a foolish idea. There have been religions that have encouraged science, and people who pursued science in the name of their religion. Was it Einstein who said he "wanted to know how God made the world," or someone else (regardless, it could potentially apply to me)? Do not mistake this for an implication that religion automatically encourages science; it is entirely possible for religion to do so. Yet there is a type of person, so narrow-minded and who very nearly believe in science. Now, if one such person becomes, say, a physicist, they will be unlikely to make any helpful or revolutionary discoveries. Why? They lack the open mind to think of such ideas that might lead to these discoveries. Atheism, like religion, can strengthen this stubbornness. It can also loosen it, or just have no effect at all. Much like religion.
I meditate on such matters quite a bit. Intolerance bothers me, and I long for a day when people don't put so much value on what a person is and more on who they are.
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Topic: Atheists (Read 408529 times)