last one about religion for a while, I promise

[miriam_e]

It would be nice if the different religions would stop jostling each other for power over people's minds and just let us atheists alone. We don't try to force our beliefs down religious throats, I don't see why they have to hassle us so much. I don't know how many times I've been brought to my door early on Sunday morning by religious people wanting to convert me.

What is really weird is when I'm at social gatherings and the religious ones start to go on about god this and pray about that. If I stand up for my position and point out the mistakes in their logic they become insulted. It is like the old days when people polluted your air with cigarette smoke they'd get annoyed if you objected. Likewise religious people feel they can pollute the mind-space with impunity, and become annoyed if asked not to. They somehow think it infringes upon their rights.

I'd like laws that prevent people from spouting religion in public places and law suits against those who would damage the impressionable minds of youth by contaminating them with toxic religious memes. It might finally force moslem, christian, and other religious zealots to put a sock in it.

No more from me about religion for a while. I find I get too depressed by it.

Comments

I'd like laws that prevent people from spouting religion in public places

[greylock.livejournal.com]

I agree.

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

I think they're all barking. [Mad, that is!] Sometimes I wonder where they get it from. I mean, there's no proof. Nothing. A random event happens and religious types interpret it as they please. Like that storm which has taken out New Orleans will be termed an Act of God in insurance policies.

There are glimmers of sanity which give me hope, here and there. No more than glimmers. I've made something of a study of the Inquisitions and came across the writings of one Alonzo Salazar de Frias, an Inquisitor of Spain in the 1600s, whose job was to travel around and look for witches. He made a report which helped to end the Inquisition at least in that time and place. When given stories by people that they were witches and had held a sabbat at such and such a place (yes, there were often confessions)de Frias knew for sure they were lying - because he and his people happened to have been camping on that site on the night in question :-) So he wrote that there were no witches until they had been talked about! Only hysterical people wanting attention.

Ratfan

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

You know the really warped thing about the whole witch thing is that the original texts don't say anything about witches at all. It was a mistranslation. If properly translated the meaning is more correctly that you won't let a poisoner live among you. Nothing about killing even. The implication is more that they should be turfed out of the village. No witches, just poisoners. And for that silly mistranslation heaven knows how many people (mostly women) got it in the neck. Truly disgusting. If there really was a god it would either be very embarrassed about us absurd creatures or would be a psychopath.

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

By original texts do you mean the Bible? Sounds like the mistranslation which stands at the root of the Christ tale. The Hebrew term for "young woman" was translated as "virgin." I have that from a Hebrew-speaker :-)

What I meant by telling the de Frias story, though, was that if a Spanish Inquisitor could actually be that sane, perhaps there's hope for even the religious weirdos of the modern day?

Salutations


Ratfan

[(Anonymous)]

first you say you don't force your beliefs down others throats,
then you say you want a law to shut others up who don't say what you like to hear.????

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) I know it sounds at first like a contradiction, but it isn't.
I feel everybody has a right to free speech, but they don't have a right to propagate poisonous memes.
I feel everybody has a right to do as they wish, but they don't have a right to pollute my air with cigarette smoke.

I won't ever force atheism down anybody else's throat, but I resent others continually trying to ram religion down my throat. But what is worse than trying to convert adults is when religion targets children. I'm old enough to be able to see the lack of logic in religion, but how is a child to fare? They should be protected from mind-warping religious memes until they are old enough to be able to think clearly.

Of course this kind of thing is wishful thinking and I know it is not likely to happen for perhaps 50 or even a 100 years from now. But if nobody ever says anything to stop the religious people tearing this world apart then it will just carry on that much longer.

Hmmm... I wonder why you hid under an anonymous ID. Do I know you and you are embarrassed to say who you are? Believe me, I won't be annoyed. Many good friends of mine are religious. I dislike the religion, not the people.