RE: Agnosticism and Religion

Scott, you can say whatever you like. Just don’t expect people to respond favourably when you call their beliefs bullshit. There’s an important difference between “I don’t agree” and “that’s bullshit.”

Scott, I do respect your belief. You are entitled to your opinion; but just as you feel entitled to challenge the beliefs of the religious, I feel it is my right to challenge the way you go about making your challenge.

I am not telling you that you can’t challenge religion, I’m simply telling you that the way you go about it is not going to accomplish the goal you seem to have—which seems to be to make religious people understand and accept the atheist position without putting it down. Words like bullshit fly directly in the face of that goal.

They also belie your feelings. Words like “bullshit” and “absurd” are emotionally charged, they are not objective. For someone who prides himself on his rationality, I have seen you make a lot of very emotionally charged attacks on religion. That’s fine—you’re entitled to your emotions; and I can understand why they are justified. But don’t for a minute delude yourself into thinking you’re being rational and objective when you reduce something as complex as religion to something you consider “laughably foolish.”

The whole bitter argument between religion and atheism is what is laughably foolish, and no one cares who started it. It’s not going to end so long as people let their emotions cloud their judgement. There’s no dialogue going on there—no deep questions being asked, no mutual understanding gained—it’s just insults being traded back and forth. Well what good does that do anybody?

I’m sorry if you think I’m being hypocritical, but I don’t think you’re really thinking with a clear head.