Would somebody answer this for me?
I take a dim view of all theistic religions and can truly say that the only religions I think are useful to study are the Eastern ones, Hinduism and Buddhism, as Buddhism does not require a god & is a distilled version of Hinduism that threw out the gods and kept karma, dharma and reincarnation. I look at the gods of Hinduism and think of them as archetypes of different human characteristics. I consider myself a secular humanist who likes the UU church because they accept atheists with no problem, and I study Buddhism. I will not set foot in a Christian church.
The Eastern religions don't have contradictory rules in them. There is nothing in the Tripitaka or any of the Nikayas where a Buddhist monk would have to say, "Siddhartha Gautama said you should kill your disobedient son, so we will just ignore that part" unlike the Abrahamic religions. I don't know as much about Hinduism, but I see no moral contradictions in what I have read about it.
I point out to Christians on DU that the Bible has lots of hateful stuff in it. I ask them what parts of it do they accept or not accept.
They don't answer me and accuse me of insulting their beliefs. I have not insulted their beliefs, because they won't tell me what they are in the first place. They have not told me what their beliefs are. I pointed out the difference between the book and asked what their beliefs are. I got ignored. I've been hounded out of Interfaith for carefully watching my language and being told to watch my language. They thought I wasn't already being careful to not insult them.
It seems to upset them greatly that I separated the book and their beliefs and they curl up into little balls or attack me with a strawman. I know what the book says. What do they believe?
One of them has also demanded to know what my beliefs are. I said that was irrelevant to what I was asking. I have a law degree. I have a pretty good idea of the rules of evidence.
They are deflecting big time by not answering and throwing the question at me what my beliefs are.
I think they are dishonest. Why won't they tell me what they believe even though they say they are Christians? They tell me I have too rigid a view of Christianity as they refuse to commit to anything in Christian doctrine. I ask them if they believe in the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed, and I can't get an answer about that simple question.
The problem is that their book is a ridiculous mishmash of stuff edited by orders of Emperor Constantine to unify his empire under one religion. I learned this in religion classes in college (Presbyterian). If anyone literally believed in doing what it says, they would be in jail for murder.
Do they know they look foolish or not? They look completely dishonest to me. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
"The default position in logic is the non-existence of god. They should prove that god exists."
I had to do the same college logic drill long ago, but don't remember any discussion of a god entering into it.
The prof was probably an atheist herself and just didn't see the sense. 
Anyway, agree 100% with your assertion that the burden of proof rests with the believer. And I have no use for the typical "but just look at the miraculous world around you!"
That's circular reasoning--accepting one's own proposition as evidence to support it. Also demonstrates an inability (more likely unwilligness) to grasp basic scientific concepts.
...could be the starting point of a debate about what they believe and why they believe it.
And strictly in my personal, grumpy opinion, that's the LAST thing a lot of believers want. I should probably say I'm basing this on my observation of certain DU groups. And not this one.
Oh, everybody will SAY they welcome questions and debate about their beliefs. Because not saying that makes one look like an authoritarian, my-way-or-the-highway kind of person.
The tactics you mention have been played out over and over here on DU. What amazes me is how supposed believers will deny the core beliefs of Xianity. For example:
"How can anyone believe a man rose from the dead?"
"Not all Xians believe that literally."
"Are you a Xian?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Well, belief that a man literally rose from the dead is a central part of your faith. It's in everything from the Nicene Creed to the sermons of Pope Francis and Creflo Dollar. What do you mean, not all Xians believe that?"
"Not all Xians believe that literally."
"Well, thanks, Android Unit X-13. Well, then, as a Xian, what exactly DO you believe?"
"I believe we have exhausted all the possibilities of this conversation..."
Rinse and repeat...
Since you mention Buddhism, there's one example where a branch of that religion may have contributed to an atrocity - Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.
Yes, as our Xian friends will helpfully remind us, the KR were officially atheist. Like all good mass murderers.
But Cambodia's official religion was Theravada Buddhism, and Pol Pot himself studied to be a monk of that religion in his youth.
One of Theravada's beliefs is the idea that the good, pure REAL people live in the country, mostly working as farmers. Everything corrupt, evil and generally bad comes from the cities.
The world saw that played out when the KR took over in 1975, and immediately emptied Phnom Penh and other cities. Millions of clerks, accountants, secretaries and people raised in cities were force-marched to the rural areas to farm rice. Where many of them died. So the atheists appear to have adapted some tenets of the religion directly into their non-religious schema.
A great book on the subject is by Phillip Short, with the very descriptive title "Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare."
http://www.amazon.com/Pol-Pot-Nightmare-Philip-Short/dp/0805080066
I'm not ignoring you, but I need to review a bit because I know that I would look foolish.
I had a course in Intro to World Religions my first semester at Southwestern. The class was at 9 a.m. on MWF and nearly everyone taking the class were first-year students who couldn't find any other classes since we didn't get the pick of the litter during registration. The course was taught by a professor who had taught in Japan for several years and he was quite disappointed in how his American students performed.
The things that I remember from the class are that the professor owned only two shirts (one white and one blue), he wore a straw hat, he was boring as hell, and when we discussed Shinto he made a reference to cleanliness and described one of the sayings as if "the toilet was as clean as if it had been licked by his tongue." 
Needless to say, he ended up curving everyone's grades by at least ten points (probably closer to 15) and I scraped by with a "C."
I'll try to get back later after I delve into your post a bit more.
Have you ever given philosophical Taoism any study? The Tao Te Ching was one of the religious texts that finally broke Catholicism hold on me. It is pretty much a book of fortune cookie saying but at the time I found it very enlightening. Especially the fact that in around only a 100 pages it manages to lay out an entire religion without all the absurdities or promoting the barbarism found in the bible. No saying everyone who disbelieves should be put to death. Nothing on homosexuality or denials of science.
At least when it comes to the Tao Te Ching. The rest of religion beyond that is filled with the usual superstitions and bigotries. But if you are interested in Eastern Religions that might be one you would like to check out. It is my understanding that it was a large influence on Zen Buddhism, and again its less than 100 pages long and can be read cover to cover in a single sitting.
I think this quote sums it up:
There is no way to push the question without making them defensive. These are their most valued beliefs and they will get angry if you press them till you get an answer that makes sense to you.
As for a certain group about religion other than the religion room, its best for non-believers to stay out of there. They say the group is open to both believers and non-believers to discuss religion with an emphasis on tolerance so long as you don't criticize individual beliefs or non-belief, or debates about the existence of higher powers. However, many posters treat that room as if it were safe haven solely for believers and they will attack you without provocation saying your very presence provoked them.
Some of them are dishonest.
They say they are for tolerance and not being divisive, and then put out blatant divisive flamebait just to piss us off. We make long lists of things they could do to make us feel like were on the same team, and then proceed to ignore every item on the list.
We tell them things they are saying about us are wrong or offensive and they continue to say them anyways. They talk of civility, and having respectful discussions, and then proceed to insult and give overt support to those who agree with them but who are anything but civil.
Some people can't deal with the fact that this life is all we have.
My grandmother was raised Baptist in Mississippi. When she married my grandfather and they moved to Texas, he said "I'll be goddamned if I'll be a Baptist." He must have been a cool guy. I think they were Presby being Scottish but lived in such little towns they went to the Methodist church. Really small towns don't have Presby and Episcopalian churches, probably because they are among the most liberal and educated Christians.
My parents took me to the Presby church and sometimes to Methodist churches, but they were casual about it. Dad would say, "Are you gonna put a quarter in the collection plate or are you gonna be good for nothing?" as a joke. I was very good friends with the Presby minister's eldest daughter and another girl there. There are 2 Presbyterian colleges in Texas. They went to the one in Sherman, and I went to the one in San Antonio. The religion courses were extremely valuable at opening my mind.
My maternal grandmother, my mother and my father were all atheists when they died. They believed that when you die, that's it, there is nothing more, no afterlife, and they were down with it. They were at peace, and I think that was the most important thing.
When I called my mother's little sister to tell her my mother had died at age 81, she gave me a commercial for Jesus, saying "I urge you to believe" and all that. I said something along the lines of, "Nope, doesn't work for me." I told her about her mother and my parents not believing in an afterlife and she was shocked. I guess she would have wanted them to die in terror of going to hell. She was a Methodist. She also said, "Whenever you have a funeral, I want to be there." I was so pissed at her commercial for Jesus that I did not have a funeral for my mother. I just had her cremated because that is what she wanted me to do.
Yes, AC, you know who was offended over in the non-religion religion forum when I asked him what he thought of the horrific shit in the bible, like I was insulting him. Then I tell them I graduated from a Presbyterian college and they seem stunned. I did not have any doctrine shoved down my throat, so I was perfectly fine with going there. Your average half-assed preacher couldn't pass the religion courses I took. I know that. I made Bs in them.
