Atheists are often extremists

Religions have indeed triggering violence in the world particularly when they are in the hands of fundamentalists. To say religions have always been harmful is an extremist idea. Religions have often taught us compassion, forgiveness, kindness, charity also. No atheists can oppose it. I wonder why atheists think religion is a disease. Religions at times can heal also.

 

Religion has done many positive things especially for the poor throughout history. Religious people are more motivated to be charitable as a whole than atheists are.

 

most violence in the world is at the hands of Theists, not Athiests

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disagree, theists just brag about it more

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Theists believe in imaginary mythical creatures. This is irrational, and prevents them from thinking clearly. It makes them dangerous, regardless of how many good deeds they claim.

 

I think there are more people who worry about religious extremism....than "think religion is a disease." A lot more.

I also think there are a lot of supposedly "religious" people...who tout their religion...even equate their POLITICS with their religion and claim their politics as "ordained by God".....yet who show few of the positive qualities of the religious.

As for the use of the word "often" in the Subject Line......from fundamentalist Islam to fundamentalist Christianity....

how many terror attacks have we seen from the "fundamentalist atheists"????

 

Yet many do.

Bias based upon anecdotal evidence which either focuses upon the extreme or typifies all as equivalent with said extreme. I think most atheists just don't give a damn though and take a live and let live attitude. Both religion and atheism have its extremists.

 

I am a theist, what mythical creature do I believe in?

 

Often? I know many people who are atheists, including myself. I don't know a single one I would characterize as an extremist. I wouldn't say most theists are extremists either but I would say a much larger percentage of theists are extremists compared to extremist atheists. Where do you get this **** from?

 

Thor ?

 

I've alway been wary of the words "all", "none", "always", "never", "everyone", etc, when talking about groups of humans. Very few statements about a group can truly encompass everyone in the group.

 

No, Thor is mythology as far as I know.

 

As a theist, you believe in one or more gods, correct? This is what I was referring to.

 

Religion is not a problem, faith is, and is an inferior epistemology based on no evidence and based on no sound reasoning leading to truth. If people want to have a church as a social center for rites of passage and to socialize fine but steeped in faith its built on weak thinking.

And before you get angry I know faith has done good it kept slaves going when they had nothing else in America and in the freedom when surrounded by discrimination churches helped. But the other side of the coin faith fueled the Spanish Inquisition and has not helped Iran or Saudi Arabia or the Taliban show justice and mercy. In fact in the last it makes complete sense they enslave and imprison half their population the women and suppress their rights and its perfectly acceptable using their faith interpretation to do that. Hell Hitler was a deist and believed in the divinity of Christ and it didn't help him be a better person now did it. That's faiths weakness it hides in its strength its a weak path to knowledge but hands authority to others far to easily devoid of reason in many cases.

So do good but you don't need faith in imaginary beings to do that or kneel to some authority, just be "nice" and "make the world a better place" and your fine.

 

I believe in an undefined power greater than I is out there that some label as God but I prefer the label of theological intangible. I believe that those who speak for or against theological absolutes are speaking from a position of ignorance as said statements are based upon incomplete evidence. When one does a regressive analysis of matter, one will inexorably reach a point where one is forced to admit that they just do not know how or what created the universe and sparked life.

So show me how the above is my believing in a myth.

Your signature, Iron Maiden right?

 

An undefined theological intangible is what you hang your hat on? You don't want to be pinned down, I see.

Here we agree.

I'm quite comfortable saying "I don't know", especially when I don't.

I think you created your own myth, that of the undefined theological intangible.

It's from the surrealistic 60s tv series, The Prisoner. They lifted it from the same place!! My avatar is from the show too, every character/prisoner wears their number in a pin. Now I do, too.

 

What is the "it" that no atheist can oppose? That good has been done?

If we are able to identify the good religion does from a non-religious context, then we should be able to produce it in a non-religious context. For instance, if consider charity to be good, we can make charity happen in non-religious contexts (as many of the most efficient and corruption free non-religious charities like doctors without borders have done).

That being said, religion isn't a disease, and while there certainly are non-religious people who have called it such, to assume that that is the prevalent opinion might be premature.

 

We really can't compare a world without religion to make a opinion of what harm religion has done when we always had religion.

 

No, I just find it unwise to base absolutes upon incomplete evidence.

Yet you previously spoke in absolutes in reference to God. I make no absolute claim.

A strange claim to make when you previously said "I am quite comfortable saying "I don't know"".

kool. I am betting the song I am thinking of is based upon that series.

 

I see what you did there...always wary of always

 

And don't forget my use of "everyone"!

 

This sounds a bit extremist. Let us be cool. Yes violence has happened at the hands of theists and but there are so many theists who are devoted for humanity and you can come across such people even in your community. Stop and see there is no dearth of charitable jobs done by religious people. If you cannot see I am sorry.

 

This is an opinionated comment. Religions at times do indeed what you say but religions mostly do things opposite to what you claim barring the instances of fundamentalists and fascists who have made religions tools

 

your the one that started a thread titled "Atheists are often extremists"

 

I don't see anyone denying that. I'm not sure why you think people are. FreshAir correctly said that most violence in the world is at the hands of theists, not atheists. That's not the same thing as saying that most theists are violent. Saying that most cowboys are white is not the same thing as saying that most white people are cowboys.

Is someone claiming that there is such a dearth? Where?

 

Well, atheists in Russia killed 50,000,000 people and Mao in China killed 60,000,000 people.
Hitler did a big number too.
That is three atheists just there.