Who has changed their minds about religion on this forum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have discussions on this religion forum influenced you either away from or towards religion? If away, how? And if towards, which religion and why?

The bias I’ve seen on this forum has driven me further away from religion. I’m generally a “live and let live” kind of person and I try to assume the best about people. But this forum feels toxic. What I know about what Christianity is supposed to be, and what supposedly Christian people are showing here…it’s a wide gulf.

Can you provide examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

+1. Also, the existence of fairies and monsters cannot be disproven either, but I bet you don't believe in those anymore. Also, you can have all the things you mention - community, etc, without religion.

If you want to believe because it makes you feel good - go ahead, but don't try to rationalize it please. It's irrational, like belief in monsters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

----Silence ---- because there is no evidence for the supernatural

Do you believe in other minds? Can you demonstrate conclusively that such a belief is rational?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

You also can't prove fairies and ghosts don't exist, do you have such reverent belief in them as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

Actually, the definition of irrational is:
"not rational: such as
a (1) : lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence
(2) : not endowed with reason or understanding
b: not governed by or according to reason"

Plenty of religious people have perfectly fine mental clarity and coherence. The world is not black and white. People are complex. Insisting that anyone who is religious must therefore lack critical thinking skills is ignorant and reductionist. It's this kind of atheist mindset all over this forum that paints all atheists as narrow-minded and angry. Which is not to say that there aren't angry, narrow-minded religious folks on here as well.

Mostly, to get back to OP's point, people on this forum too often paint with a broad brush in ways that only showcase their own ignorance of others and of human nature in general. There is rarely compassionate, open discussion on here. It's always "gotcha" comments and accusations. The internet isn't really built for compassionate, open dialogue; it's so much easier to just be nasty to each other.

[Anonymous]

It's affirmed my Christianity many times. I realize the people trying to talk me out of my relationship with God are from the other evil side and I'm not interested in that side at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

Actually, the definition of irrational is:
"not rational: such as
a (1) : lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence
(2) : not endowed with reason or understanding
b: not governed by or according to reason"

Plenty of religious people have perfectly fine mental clarity and coherence. The world is not black and white. People are complex. Insisting that anyone who is religious must therefore lack critical thinking skills is ignorant and reductionist. It's this kind of atheist mindset all over this forum that paints all atheists as narrow-minded and angry. Which is not to say that there aren't angry, narrow-minded religious folks on here as well.

Mostly, to get back to OP's point, people on this forum too often paint with a broad brush in ways that only showcase their own ignorance of others and of human nature in general. There is rarely compassionate, open discussion on here. It's always "gotcha" comments and accusations. The internet isn't really built for compassionate, open dialogue; it's so much easier to just be nasty to each other.

PP doesn’t sound “angry” at all. She was simply pointing out that some people don’t use facts/reason all of the time.

Nothing about supernatural forces is rational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's affirmed my Christianity many times. I realize the people trying to talk me out of my relationship with God are from the other evil side and I'm not interested in that side at all.

Yup. This forum affirms my observations that people look to religion for dumb ahh reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

Actually, the definition of irrational is:
"not rational: such as
a (1) : lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence
(2) : not endowed with reason or understanding
b: not governed by or according to reason"

Plenty of religious people have perfectly fine mental clarity and coherence. The world is not black and white. People are complex. Insisting that anyone who is religious must therefore lack critical thinking skills is ignorant and reductionist. It's this kind of atheist mindset all over this forum that paints all atheists as narrow-minded and angry. Which is not to say that there aren't angry, narrow-minded religious folks on here as well.

Mostly, to get back to OP's point, people on this forum too often paint with a broad brush in ways that only showcase their own ignorance of others and of human nature in general. There is rarely compassionate, open discussion on here. It's always "gotcha" comments and accusations. The internet isn't really built for compassionate, open dialogue; it's so much easier to just be nasty to each other.

“Not endowed with reason or understanding”. Your post proves my point, that it is irrational. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

There is one troll here who constantly copies and pastes entire pages from random christian websites. I'm now convinced they are actually atheist (or at least not christian) and are doing whatever they can to make christians look bad/weird/crazy.

My personal faith (or lack of) is not impacted whatsoever by this site or what other people post.

[Anonymous]

Nothing has "changed my mind" but a muslim woman did and AMA and it was informative and I learned a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

Actually, the definition of irrational is:
"not rational: such as
a (1) : lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence
(2) : not endowed with reason or understanding
b: not governed by or according to reason"

Plenty of religious people have perfectly fine mental clarity and coherence. The world is not black and white. People are complex. Insisting that anyone who is religious must therefore lack critical thinking skills is ignorant and reductionist. It's this kind of atheist mindset all over this forum that paints all atheists as narrow-minded and angry. Which is not to say that there aren't angry, narrow-minded religious folks on here as well.

Mostly, to get back to OP's point, people on this forum too often paint with a broad brush in ways that only showcase their own ignorance of others and of human nature in general. There is rarely compassionate, open discussion on here. It's always "gotcha" comments and accusations. The internet isn't really built for compassionate, open dialogue; it's so much easier to just be nasty to each other.

PP doesn’t sound “angry” at all. She was simply pointing out that some people don’t use facts/reason all of the time.

Nothing about supernatural forces is rational.

She didn't qualify her statement with anything about "all the time." PP's statement was that "normal, rational people with critical thinking skills are atheist," implying that anyone who is not atheist must also not be normal, rational or having critical thinking skills. It's unnecessarily judgmental. Maybe I'm wrong about them being "angry" but it certainly comes across that way to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any normal, rational person with any critical thinking skills is atheist,

I think what some of you are objecting to is those who are anti-theist. I don’t like them either — unless they can make the case what harm does religious belief do?

Thank you for this example of judgemental atheists on this forum. I know plenty of "normal, rational" people who are not atheist. There's so much black-and-white and Evangelical-Christian-focused on this forum.

Are they rational when it comes to the question of the supernatural?

Please demonstrate the evidence for that claim you are making.

I can't prove God's existence, but God's existence isn't disproven either. So it's not irrational to believe in God anymore than it's irrational to declare definitively that God doesn't exist. Your claim might be more defensible if you were talking about agnostics. But, regardless, there are many reasons beyond belief in God that someone might be religious - community, values, meaning/purpose, etc.

It is irrational to make a claim for which there is no supporting evidence.

That is essentially the DEFINITION of "irrational".

Actually, the definition of irrational is:
"not rational: such as
a (1) : lacking usual or normal mental clarity or coherence
(2) : not endowed with reason or understanding
b: not governed by or according to reason"

Plenty of religious people have perfectly fine mental clarity and coherence. The world is not black and white. People are complex. Insisting that anyone who is religious must therefore lack critical thinking skills is ignorant and reductionist. It's this kind of atheist mindset all over this forum that paints all atheists as narrow-minded and angry. Which is not to say that there aren't angry, narrow-minded religious folks on here as well.

Mostly, to get back to OP's point, people on this forum too often paint with a broad brush in ways that only showcase their own ignorance of others and of human nature in general. There is rarely compassionate, open discussion on here. It's always "gotcha" comments and accusations. The internet isn't really built for compassionate, open dialogue; it's so much easier to just be nasty to each other.

“Not endowed with reason or understanding”. Your post proves my point, that it is irrational. Thank you!

I feel like we're not speaking the same language, or you're purposely ignoring me when I say that people are complex and that belief in God who isn't proved or disproved doesn't negate their ability to be reasonable, understanding, rational people. Do you not hold space for people to be more than one thing? Or do we all just have room to be one-dimensional?