Certain religions that are fun to slam:

[Anonymous]

From DCUM, I would have to say Catholicism and the LDS Church.
Do we feel more sophisticated when we look down at these faiths? From reading DCUM, I suspect that the atheists put themselves above everyone, then the Humanists, then come the Quakers and Orthodox Quakers.

We could try to be be a bit more considerate. I am an atheist and was raised agnostic as were my parents, but I have respect for everyone's faith or lack there of. I endured severe intolerance to my lack of religion which ironically has made me more tolerant of religion.

[Anonymous]

But this is DCUM where people are not considerate or tolerant of anyone. Why are religious people more deserving of respect on this forum?

[Anonymous]

WTF is wrong with you, OP? And you have kids? Thanks for the warning.

[Anonymous]

I respect an atheist or agnostic (or a jew or muslim) much more than a mormon, and I am a main-stream christian. I LOVE every mormon I know. So clean cut, pro-family, hardworking, etc. But I just think the origin of the religion is so bogus and I don't understand why they follow it. I know its just because their family practices it, but still, I don't get it. Just like I don't respect a scientologist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTF is wrong with you, OP? And you have kids? Thanks for the warning.

I'm confused. Why is there something wrong with OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I respect an atheist or agnostic (or a jew or muslim) much more than a mormon, and I am a main-stream christian. I LOVE every mormon I know. So clean cut, pro-family, hardworking, etc. But I just think the origin of the religion is so bogus and I don't understand why they follow it. I know its just because their family practices it, but still, I don't get it. Just like I don't respect a scientologist.

Thanks for giving us the official list.

[Anonymous]

Any religion could be seen as wacky, in the right context 17:08. The religions that you feel are bogus are in their early stages which might have something to do with how you feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I respect an atheist or agnostic (or a jew or muslim) much more than a mormon, and I am a main-stream christian. I LOVE every mormon I know. So clean cut, pro-family, hardworking, etc. But I just think the origin of the religion is so bogus and I don't understand why they follow it. I know its just because their family practices it, but still, I don't get it. Just like I don't respect a scientologist.

I hope none of you small minded people ever travel to Africa outside of the sanitized confines of a guided tour group. You will find the beliefs of an entire continent to be bogus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I respect an atheist or agnostic (or a jew or muslim) much more than a mormon, and I am a main-stream christian. I LOVE every mormon I know. So clean cut, pro-family, hardworking, etc. But I just think the origin of the religion is so bogus and I don't understand why they follow it. I know its just because their family practices it, but still, I don't get it. Just like I don't respect a scientologist.

I hope none of you small minded people ever travel to Africa outside of the sanitized confines of a guided tour group. You will find the beliefs of an entire continent to be bogus.

well, raping virgins to prevent or cure AIDS is fairly bogus in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From DCUM, I would have to say Catholicism and the LDS Church.
Do we feel more sophisticated when we look down at these faiths? From reading DCUM, I suspect that the atheists put themselves above everyone, then the Humanists, then come the Quakers and Orthodox Quakers.

We could try to be be a bit more considerate. I am an atheist and was raised agnostic as were my parents, but I have respect for everyone's faith or lack there of. I endured severe intolerance to my lack of religion which ironically has made me more tolerant of religion.

As an agnostic, I look down a little on atheists, too. Of course, they just look at me as noncommittal.

I noticed that you seem to use respect and tolerance roughly interchangeably. I'm tolerant of religions...I guess. I don't try to convince believers they're wrong or anything. But I'm intolerant of their intolerance,* as I bet you are.

Respect is a different issue. I don't respect irrational belief. There's nothing admirable about conviction per se - mental institutions are filled with people of deep conviction.

I generally dislike irrationality and it's impact on society, and therefore on me and my family, irritates and scares me. It's been harder to keep this civil as some Christians in this country have gotten much louder. If you're going to your idiocy out loud, it's not "just your belief" anymore. That doesn't mean that I can't be civil, though, so I appreciate the reminder.

* Not that I'm saying all believers are intolerant. They're more likely to be, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:well, raping virgins to prevent or cure AIDS is fairly bogus in my opinion.

Yeah. Female genital mutilation, too. That's a little bogus-y.

[Anonymous]

I have respect for almost everyone. In my heart, I truly believe that those of us who are religious worship the same God. And I believe as we become more enlightened and eventually meet our creator, we'll realize how ridiculous all the petty arguing is. Different paths to the same destination.

I can respect the agnostic. I don't see anything wrong with saying "I don't know" or "I can't know".

I've never met an atheist that was even worthy of debating. And that says a lot because I enjoy intellectual debate. But seriously. To simply say that God doesn't exist because "you can't prove it" is insane. A few hundred years ago we couldn't have "proven" the existence of most of our galaxy. Yet it's there. I can't imagine how any intelligent person could be so self-important that he thinks he knows all. There are so many things that we don't understand. So much we can't see yet. To dismiss the possibility is conceit at it's highest form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:well, raping virgins to prevent or cure AIDS is fairly bogus in my opinion.

Yeah. Female genital mutilation, too. That's a little bogus-y.

Like aborting and embryo or fetus. Or circumcision. Or blood transfusions. Or pedophile priests. Or ...

[Anonymous]

Since you asked, in the confines of my head and never to leave, I "look down" on Islam. I cannot deal with the gender inequality as evidenced in Sharia law, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have respect for almost everyone. In my heart, I truly believe that those of us who are religious worship the same God. And I believe as we become more enlightened and eventually meet our creator, we'll realize how ridiculous all the petty arguing is. Different paths to the same destination.

I can respect the agnostic. I don't see anything wrong with saying "I don't know" or "I can't know".

I've never met an atheist that was even worthy of debating. And that says a lot because I enjoy intellectual debate. But seriously. To simply say that God doesn't exist because "you can't prove it" is insane. A few hundred years ago we couldn't have "proven" the existence of most of our galaxy. Yet it's there. I can't imagine how any intelligent person could be so self-important that he thinks he knows all. There are so many things that we don't understand. So much we can't see yet. To dismiss the possibility is conceit at it's highest form.

Actually, my objection to the existence of god is not the proof thing. I believe in lots of things of which we only have theoretical "proof" and no real experience. No, my problem is that belief in a god who loves us and is involved in our lives means believing that white men from the global north are actually the holy favorites. Or put another way, that females from the global south have somehow incurred his wrath. I mean, many of them live lives of utter religious devotion, and tailor their every move to the dictates of their religion. Yet "god" continues to disdain them, to allow their continued poverty and opression-- while allowing their men, the ones who whore around, beat them, take advantage of their labor-- to live lives of relative ease. If there were a god, inequalities would have more to do with individual behavior, and less to do with geography and race and sex. And it would have ever been so.