Strong in their faith, but refuse to tell me exactly what they believe.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

And then tell me I'm the one that's dogmatic.

You guys know the drill.

I'm not making fun of them, I just want to know what they believe.

[bvf]

1. Well, I was just informed

elsewhere that blasphemy is not a religious offense, for one thing.

It's a start.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. I missed that. Seriously? Even for the most ridiculous posters that is a bit much.

[bvf]

10. Here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1218157787#post3

[Warren Stupidity]

18. I have the usual suspect on ignore.

[bvf]

19. As do I, henceforth.

As a relative newcomer, I've been pretty reluctant to do that before now, but if ever there were a reason . . .

[LostOne4Ever]

12. The people in that room scare me

Last edited Mon Oct 20, 2014, 06:49 PM - Edit history (2)

I have seen them compare gay marriage to wanting to marry a bicycle, contraception to rubbers, claim that interracial marriage opponents were not really racists, defend arranged marriages, deny religion's role in the salem witch trials, and now justifying blasphemy laws as treason.

They really need to take a step back and re-evaluate their position on these issues. There is a big difference between standing up against unfair criticism and rationalizing away every wrong doing ever done by or in the name of religion.

[bvf]

17. Well put. Nothing surprises me

but it's always interesting to see how some people will either lose themselves in pretzel logic or resort to sticking their fingers in their ears and responding brainlessly with "Wrong! Wrong!" when asked to justify things they've been told from the age of three.

[onager]

2. Standard tactic, and just a big...

[dballance]

3. How can one be strong in their faith....

How can one be strong in their faith if they are not able to tell others about it when asked what they believe?

Seems a bit contradictory to me.

[Heather MC]

4. It just means no amount of information will change their god fairytale belief

[AlbertCat]

25. Some people will do anything to be part of the flock.

After all, it's an instinct evolved back when we were fish in a school..... or maybe insects in a hive. I mean, for a social animal, it's a scary thing to be ostracized. As long as you go with the flo.... you don't need to understand it.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. They just don't want you to know.

I am very sure that they know exactly what they believe, and all the reasons why they believe it, but they don't want to bother your pretty little head with all those details.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. They've seen what happens when they do actually state their beliefs.

When it gets down to exactly who is going to roast in hell and why, things get very uncomfortable.

[LostOne4Ever]

8. They probably don't know themselves

They know that they know, but they don't know what they know. So the question is do they know what they don't know or do they not know what they don't know. Sometimes its hard to know.

You know?

[EvolveOrConvolve]

14. And sometimes there are "other ways of knowing"

Because our lard and savor works in "mysterious" ways.

[AlbertCat]

26. They know that they know, but they don't know what they know. So the question is do they know what t

"They know that they know, but they don't know what they know. So the question is do they know what they don't know or do they not know what they don't know. Sometimes its hard to know.

You know?"


Uh...No.

[Silent3]

9. But, but... I has to be *experienced* to be understood!

No one can just tell you. If you don't understand, it's your fault for not being open to the experience!

[onager]

16. Yep, you gotta have experience...

[edhopper]

11. I had a 500+ reply thread

awhile back where I asked what believers thought of other religions, whose beliefs where incompatible with theirs.
500+ responses and I don't think I got a clear, succinct answer.

Mostly, "people are free to believe what they want to", which was not the question at all.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

15. I remember that thread - it made my muscles sore just reading it

The gymnastics involved in religious belief is tiring even reading about it. The amount of cognitive dissonance in some people is astounding.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Calling intolerance of religion "hatred" of religious people pisses me off more.

Criticism of the the Catholic Church and its new pope's misogyny and homophobia is met with personal attacks.

Even though none of us have condemned catholics.


Religion's victims are not served by attempts to silence its critics.

Even personal testimony from people whose lives have been severely affected by the Vatican's policies is met with hostility.

WTF?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. The usual suspect outed herself as an agnostic.

After she said she didn't have any dogma and I said "Sounds like you're an atheist."

Who'da thunk it after all that going round and round???

[LostOne4Ever]

21. If you are talking about the person I think you are

That poster, the one who insists that everyone should be respectful of other beliefs, also likes to refer to themselves as an....



an...



an...



an...apatheist!



You know, the type of atheist that has the most disdain and lack of respect for religion of any type of atheist.

[deucemagnet]

22. Thanks for the link.

From the way I've seen the term "apatheist" used, I thought it was a bogus term appropriated to declare sour grapes, as in, "I cannot counter atheist arguments, so I declare the whole matter unimportant." By the definition that you link to, a true apatheist would have no interest at all in posting about religion or atheism.

[LostOne4Ever]

24. Pretty much

Even anti-theist care enough about religion to see it as a threat. An apatheist wouldn't give a shit either way. That is why they are called apatheists....they are completely apathetic to religion.

Could you imagine an apatheist group on DU?

"Lets sit around and talk about how much we don't care about religion."

"Ah, screw that. I don't give a shit!"

[Leontius]

23. Try asking about their beliefs not telling them what they must believe

based own your knowledge and experience. Then listen to what they say.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. I did that.

I said "Don't you have to believe A, B, C, and D to be a Christian?" and I got answers like "I never heard of original sin" and "Oh, we don't believe in blah blah" and I ask them where it says in the doctrines it says the things they say they really believe, and I get silence and they say "Oh you can believe whatever you want to believe" which is BS.

[Leontius]

30. pm your top 3 questions and we'll see where it goes.

[Arugula Latte]

27. I think they like keeping things hazy, murky, undefined

because it all falls apart if the specifics come out, and they probably know that deep down at some level. But they'd rather hold on to that special magicalicious feeling.

[Iggo]

28. Doesn't sound that strong.