So atheists....

[MisterVeritis]

I have checked, it seems that Christians are all but extinct in the middle east:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...op-canterbury/
What harm did they do?

Now you are proving you are not only a troll but are also ignorant. Good job. Do you have any more to add?

[Ann Fann]

Huh, I don't hate anybody really, not because of their religion anyway. Me thinks you need to meet a different class of Atheists.

I'll get right on that. I think that's why I'm here.

[Ann Fann]

Now you are proving you are not only a troll but are also ignorant. Good job. Do you have any more to add?

Thanks for making my point.

[Ann Fann]

It isn't atheists that are in conflict with Christianity in the Middle East.

You're missing the point. We had no beef with those guys, either.

[Ann Fann]

Ah, now I think I understand, why didn't you just come out and say this in the OP?

I was building up to it.

[Cletus]

Huh, I don't hate anybody really, not because of their religion anyway. Me thinks you need to meet a different class of Atheists.

Bigotry is bigotry. He cloaks his in his religion and in doing so, does his religion a disservice.

My view toward religion has always been a simple one. I don't need a deity to tell me what is right and what is wrong. I don't need threats of damnation or promises of salvation to make me try to live in relative harmony with those around me.

If people find peace and strength in their belief system, it is a good thing. Religion can become oppressive when it is forced on those who do not wish to embrace it and most major religions, including Christianity, have gone through that phase at some point in their history, but most outgrow that as Christianity has. I have lived and worked all over the world and have been exposed to, interacted with, and lived among people of many different faiths and religious beliefs. Most of them are not much different from each other. They want the same things for themselves and their children. Most wish you no ill will. Some will slit your throat in your sleep if they get a chance. It is the same everywhere, which is why it is wrong to paint people with such broad strokes, be they Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Atheist...

I see religion as a crutch. That is not necessarily a bad thing. A guy tried his best to kill me a few years ago and as a result, I spent a year on crutches. I could not have made it without them. Crutches serve an important purpose. They can help you make it through the most difficult of times. What some don't quite get though, is that not everyone needs or wants to depend on them. I think this thread was based on that lack of understanding.

[Cletus]

You're missing the point. We had no beef with those guys, either.

Actually, there is a long history of "beefs" with those guys. Neither side has been clean in that conflict.

[Ann Fann]

Actually, there is a long history of "beefs" with those guys. Neither side has been clean in that conflict.

I'm talking about the people who died last year, not a thousand years ago, stay on point.

[Ann Fann]

Bigotry is bigotry. He cloaks his in his religion and in doing so, does his religion a disservice.

My view toward religion has always been a simple one. I don't need a deity to tell me what is right and what is wrong. I don't need threats of damnation or promises of salvation to make me try to live in relative harmony with those around me.

If people find peace and strength in their belief system, it is a good thing. Religion can become oppressive when it is forced on those who do not wish to embrace it and most major religions, including Christianity, have gone through that phase at some point in their history, but most outgrow that as Christianity has. I have lived and worked all over the world and have been exposed to, interacted with, and lived among people of many different faiths and religious beliefs. Most of them are not much different from each other. They want the same things for themselves and their children. Most wish you no ill will. Some will slit your throat in your sleep if they get a chance. It is the same everywhere, which is why it is wrong to paint people with such broad strokes, be they Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Atheist...

I see religion as a crutch. That is not necessarily a bad thing. A guy tried his best to kill me a few years ago and as a result, I spent a year on crutches. I could not have made it without them. Crutches serve an important purpose. They can help you make it through the most difficult of times. What some don't quite get though, is that not everyone needs or wants to depend on them. I think this thread was based on that lack of understanding.

And like most atheists, you don't bother cloaking yours.
Tell me, when was the last time anybody "forced" religion on you? That would be in your lifetime, not 1000 years ago.

[Ann Fann]

I just found out this was a thing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Atheism