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Look, I'm an atheist, and I think religion is mostly a bad thing for humanity. But you are off-base here. The parent was in no way proselytizing. It was apropos

by rquantz 11y ago

Look, I'm an atheist, and I think religion is mostly a bad thing for humanity. But you are off-base here. The parent was in no way proselytizing. It was apropos to the current discussion. Are you so sensitive that you can't handle someone mentioning that they have a religion?

nitrogen 11y ago
Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the culture of the particular religion mentioned. Every member is expected to proselytize at every oppprtunity. They are told by their leaders to "plant seeds" everywhere, and to use social media to spread their gospel. Every mention has an ulterior motive. Trust me, I used to do exactly the same things. It's a particularly insidious strategy because anyone who catches on and speaks out will be accused of being overly sensitive.
- swsieber 11y ago
  You are right that we have a culture of missionary work. And my post probably does double as subtle proselytizing (Props on using the right word - Mormons have come up with some not quite word). On the other hand, my comment seemed completely appropriate. My other comments hacker news make no mention of, although in them you can see I have principles and I do quote religious leaders once in a while (twice besides this I think), generally unattributed, and paraphrased/adjusted for clarity. I'll leave it to you to decide whether I'm here to preach or not.
- bargl 11y ago
  I am very familiar with the "particular religion mentioned" the Latter Day Saints aka Mormons. The OP was obviously just bringing up an anecdote from his/her own life and in a very harmless way. Your comment was rude and your meta note is off base. Bringing up religion on HN is fine if done in a sane and approachable way. I've done this multiple times in an attempt to learn and to offer my opinions. I feel it has been beneficial for both myself and others here in the community and I've never received negative feedback from anyone like what you've posted. I feel as if you've done a disservice in misrepresenting the respectful nature of our community regarding religion in most cases. If the op is trying to use his account to convert people on HN it's pretty obvious from his past comments that he's not doing it enough. I've seen polls on here about religion, articles about religion, and other comments about religion. It's part of our history as a species and shouldn't be ignored, even if you feel that further practice of any religion is detrimental to society. Writing anything out of history tends to be bad practice. Side note: I'm not Mormon but I was raised as one.

by rquantz 11y ago

nitrogen 11y ago

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the culture of the particular religion mentioned. Every member is expected to proselytize at every oppprtunity. They are told by their leaders to "plant seeds" everywhere, and to use social media to spread their gospel. Every mention has an ulterior motive. Trust me, I used to do exactly the same things. It's a particularly insidious strategy because anyone who catches on and speaks out will be accused of being overly sensitive.

swsieber 11y ago
You are right that we have a culture of missionary work. And my post probably does double as subtle proselytizing (Props on using the right word - Mormons have come up with some not quite word). On the other hand, my comment seemed completely appropriate. My other comments hacker news make no mention of, although in them you can see I have principles and I do quote religious leaders once in a while (twice besides this I think), generally unattributed, and paraphrased/adjusted for clarity. I'll leave it to you to decide whether I'm here to preach or not.
bargl 11y ago
I am very familiar with the "particular religion mentioned" the Latter Day Saints aka Mormons. The OP was obviously just bringing up an anecdote from his/her own life and in a very harmless way. Your comment was rude and your meta note is off base. Bringing up religion on HN is fine if done in a sane and approachable way. I've done this multiple times in an attempt to learn and to offer my opinions. I feel it has been beneficial for both myself and others here in the community and I've never received negative feedback from anyone like what you've posted. I feel as if you've done a disservice in misrepresenting the respectful nature of our community regarding religion in most cases. If the op is trying to use his account to convert people on HN it's pretty obvious from his past comments that he's not doing it enough. I've seen polls on here about religion, articles about religion, and other comments about religion. It's part of our history as a species and shouldn't be ignored, even if you feel that further practice of any religion is detrimental to society. Writing anything out of history tends to be bad practice. Side note: I'm not Mormon but I was raised as one.