Lol, remember that guy in Kansas who crowdsourced like twice as much money as his opponent but lost because he was a smug internet atheist? Good times
Iâm totally cool religion and using a document such as the bible as a basis for your life.
The cliff notes of the new testament are pretty much peace, love and acceptance of your fellow man.
Yes they are. Rarely have I seen practitioners unstintingly demonstrate those qualities.
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Carl Sagan makes a really good argument and a really shitty dialogue.
Or to put it another way,
The only thing I have left to believe in after hearing him talk is that heâs an asshole.
Also, he tends to blame a lot more historical problems on religion than is necessary. Blaming things like the crusades upon religion is a red herring. It never allows us the oppourtunity to question unfair influence and distribution of power.
Or even more simply:
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Itâs hard to hear anyone over the assholes, but, more likely than not, youâve met someone in your life whose faith in humanity was reinforced by their faith. I meet good people all the time. Most people I meet are actually pretty decent.
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Yeah, an occasional joint might help too.
Ah, Iâm with you - I meet good people all the time. Itâs just they are undogmatic.
To some degree, other people also most likely gave in to the question itself. Maya, you donât even have their excuse of directed wording. Iâm not sure many people have bothered to go see how the poll was worded, and for polling that matters a lot!
The question asked was a three-part question, and was aimed at those who hold the Christian faith. People were asked:
Would you be more or less likely to support a presidential candidate whoâŚ
⢠Is evangelical Christian
⢠Is Catholic
⢠Does not believe in God
Note the negative wording (âdoes notâ).
A neutrally-toned question would have said ⢠Is atheist
While the statement, âdoes not believe in God,â is true about Athiests, it is a statement about their belief set, not the named group of people who do not believe in God or practice a religion. Itâs similar to this grouping:
⢠Is Democrat
⢠Is Republican
⢠Are extreme social conservatives
That third one is the Tea Party. They are extreme social conservatives, but that isnât the name of their party. What it is, is a red flag for many people in the other two groups.
Signed: An atheist, who hates getting the short end of stick for no honest reason.
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Perdition through entrapment. That would be an interesting theological debate. Iâm in Canada, though, so Iâm not sure Iâd catch many faux Christians that way.
Maybe you just need a crappier class of friends.
My personal impression is that atheist is viewed more negatively, as some people read this as being against God or people who believe in God (I am aware that that isnât what is actually means). âDoesnât believe in Godâ seems a bit more broad, as it doesnât suggest that people have necessarily come to a definite opinion on the issue. They could be religious or non-religious; neutral, supportive or against theists and the issue of Godâs (non-)existence may or may not be an important part of their lives. If someone says that theyâre an atheist, I get the impression that they have actually made a decision to reject the concept of God - not because thatâs what the word means, but because many people I hear using that term nowadays come from a Christian background and have moved away from that belief. Again this is just my impression, but when Iâve heard someone say that theyâre an atheist, theyâre often happy to talk about why. If someone says that theyâre not religious, it usually means that itâs not an important part of their lives and theyâd rather not waste any time on the topic.
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That may be true, however thereâs no way to know if it isnât actually ever asked.
After all, there are people who attend church regularly (for social reasons) but donât believe in God. So in truth, this question also says that a person who regularly attends church, but has no real belief, shouldât warrant support. (Some research suggests a good percentage of churchgoers do just that.)
No one was directly asked if they would support candidate who âis an atheistâ.
Also, the very wording of the phrase, with the one option starting as âdoes notâ connotes a negative. It suggests from a multiple choice, thatâs the wrong answer, so answer ânoâ. Thatâs a common lingual trick used by pollsters.
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How exactly does this induce an âexistential crisisâ? Being âin Godâs dreamâ honestly doesnât sound especially different from a basic (Abrahamic) religious worldview, just phrased in a way that would probably occur to someone between bong hits.
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Presumably, looking at the numbers above, most of those Theists who distrust Atheists, very much prefer a candidate who had served in the military. So adherents of a religion which specifically denounces murder and encourages pacifism show a strong preference for candidates who are trained murderers who served to perpetuate conflict. Consistency (or lack of hypocrisy) not the strong point of American Christianity.
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But wait! If you present yourself honestly as one of the âgodless debauchedâ itâll perpetuate other lies (well, truths, in this case). Oh the dilemma!
Likewise with non-practitioners. Sturgeonâs Law applies to humanity across all races, cultures and creeds, I think.
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Well put, George Berkeley
eh? Was that a reframe slipping past my cynical guile?
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