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So, there is a lot of talk about this preacher that said something to the affect of " gays should be locked away behind electric fences to die out" This question got me to thinkng. "what if we were to propose doing this to Christians"? It was a knee jerk reaction to the complete ignorance displayed by this sorry excuse for a human, but then it evolved into something more.... a serious thought.
My question to you is this; As Atheists, knowing about all the harm that delusional beliefs in the irrational CAN cause, would we support a complete eradication effort to disolve for good from our planet all religions? Locking away those who militantly defend their unfounded and unsubtantiated claims? Banning and destroying any and all religious dogma and making possesion of such materials a crime in the highest degree? I don't know if you've ever seen the movie "Book of Eli" but picture a similar scenerio.
Would you support a war on religion such as the above described?
Would society as a whole ultimately benefit? Would such a scenerio make us just as bad as those who support this pastor?
What are your general thoughts?
{ While I AM looking for serious responses, this hypothetical is for entertainment purposes only, NOT a serious suggestion on my part }
Just a thought.
Last edited by WhipperSnapper 88; 05-25-2012 at 09:43 PM..
So the original person was "ignorant" and "a sorry excuse for a human" - but this thread doesn't reveal the same thing, even IF for entertainment purposes?
I guess it's okay to promote discrimination, as long as it's OUR favorite discrimination, eh?
So the original person was "ignorant" and "a sorry excuse for a human" - but this thread doesn't reveal the same thing, even IF for entertainment purposes?
I guess it's okay to promote discrimination, as long as it's OUR favorite discrimination, eh?
I didn't say I was in support of it, hence my asking " wouldn't it make us just as bad?"
My question to you is this; As Atheists, knowing about all the harm that delusional beliefs in the irrational CAN cause, would we support a complete eradication effort to disolve for good from our planet all religions? Locking away those who militantly defend their unfounded and unsubtantiated claims? Banning and destroying any and all religious dogma and making possesion of such materials a crime in the highest degree? I don't know if you've ever seen the movie "Book of Eli" but picture a similar scenerio.
Would you support a war on religion such as the above described?
Would society as a whole ultimately benefit?
Would such a scenerio make us just as bad as those who support this pastor?
What are your general thoughts?
I value greatly religious freedom, which is the freedom to believe or not believe in any religion.
So no, a war on religion is every bit as undesirable as a war on atheism or homosexuality.
Would you support a war on religion such as the above described?
Not in a million years.
Would society as a whole ultimately benefit?
Ultimately yes. But it would take generations for the damage that this type of forced action would cause.
Would such a scenerio make us just as bad as those who support this pastor?
Yes.
What are your general thoughts?
The eventual eradication of religion is a slow burn. Will the idea of a creator ever completely die? Probably not. But I think that dogmatic religion will.
Try as we might we could not kill an idea. Even if we burned every holy book and professor of a religion, there would probably still have some secret basement practice and oral tradition. Over time they may morph into misshappen form of the original. Even if we were to take away any significant threat to atheism I imagine religious stories would give rise to martyrs possibly making new religious icons.Also, I imagine this place would be terrible, something like The State in The Twlight Zone episode The Obsolete Man.Even if religion was utterly destroyed what's to stop some clever politician from using this animosity saying his rivals want to bring religion back,or are creating a new religion under an atheistic brand? Also, I would think from the securing of power to the eradication of religion would be bitterly fought for both sides. Even if the militant atheists never lost sight of thier goal for peace, and achieved, the end doesn't justify the means.
The eventual eradication of religion is a slow burn. Will the idea of a creator ever completely die? Probably not. But I think that dogmatic religion will.
I think you have something here. While I can see organized religions eventual death, the idea and concept of a creator will be everlasting, at least in our present evolutionary state. Believing in a creator seems to be a return to our primitive ways of thought, needing an explanation for what is, while unable and/or unwilling to accept more accurate explanations on offer.
I value the free expression of thought over repression of even the most misguided ideas.
There is a Darwinistic evolution of ideas, where good ones naturally replace bad ones. The only reason some really silly ideas have been able to hang on so long is because we give them special protection by calling them religious. For some reason, If they are religious ideas, we're supposed to respect them, irrespective of how silly they are. If we were able to mock silly religious ideas just like we do every other, religion would die out on its own.
You want to worship a cow god? That's fine, but I'm going to laugh at the stupidity of it all.
You believe 2 of every animal in the world was able to fit on a ship? You become the subject of ridicule.
The answer, I think, is to stop protecting illogical ideas from ridicule just because they happen to be called religion. I don't think there should be any formal prohibition.
In their minds their is a war afoot anyway. The lastdayists think that all the porn online, the legal abortions and gay marriage issues are an affront on their beliefs and a sign of the times yet are the ones most guilty of supporting porn and abortions - gays of course grow on trees
Keeping idiots front and centre and giving them their 15 minutes of fame is what will get folk to leave organised religion. Many may still elect to believe but these are the harmless types and probably make up the majority of CINO's.
Since Obama slipped that he is for gay marriage (a brilliant political ploy seeing so many states have recently passed laws banning this) has all these folk up in arms and protesting as if the president is supposed to be some type of pope or king that can put forward a decree. One need only look at the P&C forum to see what has emerged from the woodwork. I am sure he or no one else has a quick fix for the economy.
The end of religion will be by natural attrition.
At Ex-Christian.net, most of the newer members are teens and twentysomethings so the future looks good. The religion that needs to die is fundamentalism and these are the more vocal types.
I grew up with religious assemblies at school which amounted to singing CoE hymns like onward christian soldiers, a rote prayer from a prayerbook and a short scripture reading. It was a vanilla and not really a churchy thing. Religious studies were and hour a week but we learned real science with none of this creation waffle. Most friends I made contact with on FB after 30+ years are godless or cafeteria christians, very few are fundamentalists and even those, you can still have a conversation where god is not injected into every conversation; they still respect the golden rule of not discussing religion and politics in polite company.
Then again, no political candidate in the three southern African countries I have lived in ever ran on religious issues, that aspect was always separate although we probably did have mild sodomy laws way back. Abortions and gay marriage are legal and the sky did not fall, the Chicken Littles are now quiet as are the gays. No church has ever been shut down by government even though their numbers have dwindled.
America is unique in this regard.
I leave you with this which illustrates it better than I can articulate it.
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Shine the spotlight on them
