The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #150071   Message #3503999
Posted By: Steve Shaw
15-Apr-13 - 07:30 PM
Thread Name: BS: Militant atheism has become a religion
Subject: RE: BS: Militant atheism has become a religion
Your questions make a lot of assumptions about what people do that are not necessarily true, and beyond that, you assume that their choices have the same meaning to them as they do to you.

If my assumptions are not true then it shouldn't be too difficult for you to tell me how. But you haven't. As for choices, we are not talking about grown-ups making choices for themselves. We are talking about them making choices for their children before those children are old enough to make the choices for themselves. Well, that's parenting for you, but in the particular areas we're talking about here the danger is that of making a choice for them predicated on a blend of accident of birth and denial of evidence. That sounds quite serious to me. As far as I was able, I wanted my children to know what was true and how they could learn to verify truth for themselves, not have some unsupportable doctrine poured over them. I don't doubt for one second that many people of faith make those choices with the best possible intentions, but in no way does that guarantee their rectitude.

The questions that you ask, in addition to being leading and prejudicial, have an inquisitorial tone, which causes one to smilingly reflect that you haven't really gotten over that Catholic upbringing.

You are misusing the word "prejudicial". Selecting random pejorative adjectives does you no credit. My questions were not an opinion poll or drafted for a referendum. They are intended to be challenging to the mindset typical of millions of believers who feel rather safe in their cocoons of church/society. I suggested that you honestly confront them. But I'm not bothered if you won't, or can't, really. And your tired and lazy reference to my upbringing, which was probably as benign as Catholicism comes, is just desperate. Not something that thinking people need to resort to. There isn't much thinking beyond the spleen of your whole post, though, is there?   

Beyond that, your questions have very little to do with either the way I've brought up my kids, or what any of us believe.

Which sounds like denial to me. I'd love you to prove me wrong.