Some Abers Go On And On About Religion...

[Paigntonian]

Couldn't a little respect for our opinions, as Christians, be appropriate? Why do atheists and agnostics continually knock our churches. It is to justify their opinions, that is to say that they feel in some way superior and that they can only justify themselves through attack. I wholly respect others' views about religion so please allow Christians to have theirs. It does seem that some can only maintain their views by attacking that of others.

[youngmafbog]

"Couldn't a little respect for our opinions, as Christians"

Well maybe if the respect was reciprocated you might find more tolerance (from the majority). As Naomi pointed out above some of the religious (and not all by any means) on here write some pretty nasty things and get back what they dish out. We rarely see any turning of the other cheek on here.

I too love Church buildings, once spent two weeks touring small ones in Kent area.

And yes, I'm an Atheist, no idea what 'grade' as I dont really care.

[archibaldy]

drmorgans // Yesterday there was a thread on the spread of religion. One regular contributor described Islam as "a cancer".//

That's fine because this thread is about specifically knocking Christians, all the other beliefs aren't true so it doesn't matter what we say about them.

[naomi24]

PP. Dear God! If I didn’t know what secular means I wouldn’t have typed it. Still, this is AB so by your constant reckoning I’m not surprised you’re permanently confused.

[pixie374]

PP, secular is "without religion". So, it does mean atheist, even if the people aren't.
Paigntonian, I don't think anyone is "not allowed" their beliefs here. But also, statements given as if they are facts, might be challenged. That "is" respectful. It means people are engaging and taking other views seriously.
In my view... each to their own....providing it doesn't negatively affect others. Unfortunately, all religions have done and many still are.

[pixie374]

Cross-posted, naomi.

[Atheist]

Secular, as in 'secular state' means that the stated does not legislate and rule on the basis of any particular religion. Religious people can be part of a secular government, they simply don't use their powers to further the dogma of a particular religion.

[pixie374]

And paigntonian, reading your BA, the fact you see different views as "white noise" and worth ignoring, shows far more about your closed-mindedness and disrespect of other views, than you probably realise.

[Mamyalynne]

Paigntonian, could you please remove/change your best answer choice - I have no wish for my words to be a side topic on this thread.

Myy poibt was not about reasoned discussion but about the mockery and personal attacks that are made within threads.

There is no need for example to be called 'a mental case' 'a reta*d' or 'a child abuser' (one I received personally) within a reasoned debate on belief.

[pixie374]

Sorry, mamya, it wasn't a dig at you. You have a valid view. It was just out of 68 posts, from somebody who chose to have a discussion, the favourite answer is to ignore people with different views.
I agree, abuse, harassment etc has no place. It just seems an odd response from an OP who wants to discuss it.

[Mamyalynne]

I don't think this thread needs a best answer, like all threads it needs give and take and understanding.

I live in hope.

[pixie374]

You never know... in any case, apologies again. I read the posts in proportion... and knew what you meant. We'll see if there is any reply x

[andy-hughes]

Paigntonian, respect is earned, and the Chrstians we regularly suffer on here neither show respect to anyone else, or do anything to earn the respect of others.

We have four regular fervents on here, two simply quote swathes of bible tracts and ignore any attempts to engage them in meaningful dialogue, one has the standard superior "I'm better than you because I have something you don't ..." attitude that a lot of Christians exhibit, and one, ironically the most regular, alternates between spitting poison at Islam, snarking at anyone who disagrees, and then crying wounded tears of martyrdom and pretending just to be a regular guy.

Therefore, if as a Christian, you want respect for your faith, you have it on here, provided you are are willing to argue in debate properly, but perhaps you need to think about the lack of respect that your fellow Christians exhibit to people who think differently from them.

There is one atheist on the site who regularly posts questions about faith, the rest are from the fervents. It is they who create the arguments with their attitudes, which are entirely against the teachings of the faith they profess to embrace.

Unfortunately, your faith is seriously badly represented on this site by the Christians who post about it - maybe you should look to them to show some respect - because they don't.

[rowanwitch]

Nicely put.

[pixie374]

I agree, Andy... except, in my view, respect should be automatic. It's trust that is earned.
Either way, religious people don't always give the best impression here. It's just as well that we know everyone is not the same.

[idiosyncrasy]

Peter Pedant @ I don't see your point of Luke 16 v 1.
Perhaps you could explain!