Wow. I can hear the sarcasm and irony in what you wrote Martin. We can all come
up with examples of stupid religiosity, or psychotic beliefs, but what are we
going to do about it? I was talking about so-called "proper" systems, not any
old shit from Africa or South America. That is a criminal matter, and just
another example of the power of Belief. Please notice, I say Belief, not Faith
or knowledge. I also find people who have a blind belief in Science equally
pathetic, for the same reasons. If you reply, please do so in a way which might
make me want to engage with you and everyone else who is loged on here. Do you
have any constructive comments to make? If so, we would be glad to hear them.

Martin Henderson <hendersonm@...> wrote: Hello Paul,
Re 'We do not have the right to ridicule someone else's beliefs'.
Many in Africa think they can be cured of AIDS by having sex with a virgin.
(Usually an infant).
I used to think this was worthy of ridicule, but you've put me right now, Paul
----- Original Message -----
From: paul miller
To: atheismuk2@...
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Atheism UK] mad mad mad


Religion has no basis in reality? How do you know? Are you the ultimate
arbiter in Reality? Religion means everything to some people, and, whether I
like it or not, it IS their reality, and neither I nor anyone else has the right
to say that is right or wrong. We can have an opinion, that's fair enough, but
we do not have the right to ridicule someone else's beliefs, nomatter how weird
we may think they are. Tolerance is the key to any civilised society, whether
group size or nation size, not ridicule, because sooner or later, some bastard
like Stalin or Himmler will come along and convince everyone they have the
answers, and then the executions begin, all over again. It is depressing to see
the moronity of human beings conducting their affairs like spoiled children, but
it happens again and again. The biggest obstacle to human advancement is belief
itself, not religion - people believe in this or that, and then begin to kill
each other in the name of whatever crap they
have dreamed up. Communism is in this sense exactly the same as Hinduism or
Islam or Christianity. You don't have to have a god at the centrre of your
philosophy to send millions of people to their deaths. To finish. If you don't
like anyone to come and give their point of view without calling them merely a
distraction, then I'll fuck off now and leave you alone with your thoughts.

oeditor <bjordan@...> wrote: --- In atheismuk2@...,
"kevuk67" <kevuk67@h...> wrote:
>
> --- In atheismuk2@..., paul miller <pwmkeys@y...> wrote:
> >
> > I can understand your frustration Kev, and to some degree I agree
> with what you say. I am not an atheist, but my view of God is wildly
...irrelevant. Snip religious waffle...

> >mate the idea that you laugh off the insanity is to give the
> insanity a basis in reality and im sorry but religion has no basis >
> > in reality. But this insanity still rules the lives of all
athiests > > and i find it hard to laugh of what i feel is THE great
injustice.
Well said, Kevin. Paul might be well-meaning, but he's nothing but a
distraction. I've just seen the secular_newsline group destroyed, with
a significant amount of help from pointless discussion about
"philosophical" matters. If this group is to pull itself out of the
doldrums, I think a clear policy is needed: believe in a god? Then go
bother it and leave us alone. (To put it politely :-)

Thanks Kevin, for trying to put a bit of fire into peoples' bellies.

Brian






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