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Not political views, but I have passed on overtly religious people as I view religion as a sign of mental illness. Mod me down if you like, but having "faith"

by jawngee 16y ago

Not political views, but I have passed on overtly religious people as I view religion as a sign of mental illness. Mod me down if you like, but having "faith" in invisible people is oddly creepy to me.

InclinedPlane 16y ago
Here's the thing. You gain nothing by treating the religious as idiots. Many of them are very much not idiots. Do you think Einstein and Planck were "mentally ill"? Here's the other thing, we all have our mistaken beliefs. Whether they are part of an organized religion or not. The best way to bring people around to a more robust and more evidence based understanding of the universe is not to revile, insult, and discriminate against them. Rather, it's to engage in open, honest, humble, and compassionate debate. You know, the same variety of debate that advances science itself.
- jawngee 16y ago
  Einstein was an atheist who only identified with Judaism from a cultural perspective: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/word-god-is-product-of-human-weakness.html http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/word-god-is-product-of-... What is there to debate? There is nothing to debate and we waste time even entertaining the thought of doing so, which is why you rarely see Dawkins, Hitchens, et. al. doing so.
  - InclinedPlane 16y ago
    Einstein stated quite bluntly that he was not an atheist, specifically using the phrase "I'm not an atheist." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein%27s_religious_views http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein%27s_religious_v... The notion that there is nothing to debate is insulting. Proof is required, always. And everyone is bettered by an open an honest debate that patiently brings people around by convincing them with a sound argument backed by evidence. At some point it's important to recognize when an intellectual opponent is no longer worth debating, but that doesn't justify shutting down debate entirely, or of refusing to reach out and attempt to convince others who might be more open minded. Indeed, this is quite critical, especially today. Because guess what? Atheists, and believers in, say, evolution, we are in the minority. Even in the liberal and intellectual modern western world. Far more so in the world at large. The world believes in gods, it doesn't believe in science. If you shut off that debate you aren't helping yourself or your beliefs in the slightest.
joshuacc 16y ago
1. Religious discrimination in hiring is illegal in most places. (Unless you are hiring for a religious organization or equivalent.) 2. It seems a bit extreme to regard the vast majority of the human race as "mentally ill". Misinformed or uneducated I could understand more easily, even though I happen to be religious myself.

by jawngee 16y ago

InclinedPlane 16y ago

Here's the thing. You gain nothing by treating the religious as idiots. Many of them are very much not idiots. Do you think Einstein and Planck were "mentally ill"? Here's the other thing, we all have our mistaken beliefs. Whether they are part of an organized religion or not. The best way to bring people around to a more robust and more evidence based understanding of the universe is not to revile, insult, and discriminate against them. Rather, it's to engage in open, honest, humble, and compassionate debate. You know, the same variety of debate that advances science itself.

jawngee 16y ago
Einstein was an atheist who only identified with Judaism from a cultural perspective: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/word-god-is-product-of-human-weakness.html http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/10/word-god-is-product-of-... What is there to debate? There is nothing to debate and we waste time even entertaining the thought of doing so, which is why you rarely see Dawkins, Hitchens, et. al. doing so.
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  Einstein stated quite bluntly that he was not an atheist, specifically using the phrase "I'm not an atheist." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein%27s_religious_views http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein%27s_religious_v... The notion that there is nothing to debate is insulting. Proof is required, always. And everyone is bettered by an open an honest debate that patiently brings people around by convincing them with a sound argument backed by evidence. At some point it's important to recognize when an intellectual opponent is no longer worth debating, but that doesn't justify shutting down debate entirely, or of refusing to reach out and attempt to convince others who might be more open minded. Indeed, this is quite critical, especially today. Because guess what? Atheists, and believers in, say, evolution, we are in the minority. Even in the liberal and intellectual modern western world. Far more so in the world at large. The world believes in gods, it doesn't believe in science. If you shut off that debate you aren't helping yourself or your beliefs in the slightest.

joshuacc 16y ago

1. Religious discrimination in hiring is illegal in most places. (Unless you are hiring for a religious organization or equivalent.) 2. It seems a bit extreme to regard the vast majority of the human race as "mentally ill". Misinformed or uneducated I could understand more easily, even though I happen to be religious myself.