But the one that sticks out the most:
Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, or put your jewels before pigs, for fear that they will be crushed under foot by the pigs whose attack will then be made against you.

This is a parable, I am not calling you dogs, or pigs. Jesus doesn’t want to waste
our time on people with hardened hearts against him. We still will pray for you,
and one day I know, I’ve seen it, some of
you will change your views. Only passing
through…you can start your attacks now
Peace be to you, Lyn

What would the world be like if everyone where indeed atheist?

I read your original blog posting at the top of your page and started to mellow out on my militant atheistic views.
Then I read all of the responses and now I’m all pissed off again.
I don’t believe there is any point in sharing my atheistic views with religious people. It is possible to live a normal life and be a social person without having to discuss religion with non-atheists (theists, I guess). I feel no need to try to convince people to reassess their beliefs. I also feel no need to put on a show to convince everybody that atheists are kind happy and approachable. Cause I’m not. Come to think of it, what kind of a coalition can atheists form when they only really have one thing in common: they do not believe in something. We could all also form a “we don’t believe in talking bears” group. Atheists are about as widely spread out as a group of people can be. And I for one am pissed off most of the time. And not because there’s no Jesus in my heart either. Just everyday stuff- you know.
I used to have a roommate who would put food in the microwave, start it up, then run into the other room because he was afraid of microwave radiation. I told him “you’re a frickin idiot”. He’s an idiot for believing it would harm him and more of an idiot for continuing to use it anyway. Why can’t I tell my 70 yr. old aunt that because she prays a rosary every day? “You’re an idiot for mumbling to yourself while holding a string of cheap plastic beads for an hour every day”. I could most definitely say to Stephan he’s an idiot but there’s two billion other people in the world who worship his god- why would he care what I think?
Ugh. Maybe I would be happier if I found god. I’m gonna beat my head against a wall until I dumb myself down enough to get suckered into some born-again crap.
God bless you all-

As for the problem of criticism of a religious belief inadvertently resulting in feelings of insult, It has been my experience that it is very hard to avoid. The person challenging another’s belief may be trying very hard to be tactful and respectful, with no intention to insult the holder of the belief, but sadly very often the believer takes offense. Here the phrase “takes offense” is often very appropriate, since even though the offense is not offered or intended, the owner of the belief chooses to be offended and to feel insulted. So insult has happened but in such cases it is the creation of the person who feels insulted. From that point the dialogue usually deteriorates rapidly despite attempts to reconcile things.

I avoid psychoanalyzing people but if the damaged conversation staggers on long enough it often reveals that the person has become so attached to the belief that he or she identifies with it, so that they perceive any criticism of the belief as a personal attack on their very being. This makes any further critical discussion too touchy to continue.

Fortunately this is not always the case and we have enjoyed some very stimulating and informative conversations between believers and those who refrain from believing. I hope that you can continue to engage with others here about topics which you find significant.

As a Christian who has had an interesting faith journey, I would like to say that first, I was really pleased to stumble across this website. Here’s a little outline of my journey to this point, because I think it’s important for us to understand each others journey’s if we are to understand each other.

I was raised in a moderately religious household (i.e. we went to church regularly, and we were brought up on what some might call “christian morals”, but we were also free to choose our own religious paths.) As a teenager, I because one of the angry atheists mentioned here, in part because of some negative experiences I had with the church, in part because I was a more scientifically minded individual, and in part because of the injustice I saw in the world, and the WASP guilt I felt imposed on me. I couldn’t change the WAS part, but at least I could change the P part!

As I matured, and in part due to my moderately religious parents responses to my attempts at teenage rebellion, the recognition that many of my well respected friends were Christian (the horror!) and just my need to become a happier individual, I grew into a friendly atheist with more agnostic leanings. I recognized that we really couldn’t know for sure that God did exist or that God did not exist. That is still a pretty major part of what I believe today.

At university, I started to see the question of God and religion in a different light. Perhaps somewhat ironically, as someone who was originally lead away from belief in God, in part due to science, it was my continued studies of science which lead me back to belief in God. I now find it quite difficult to look at the wonderous universe and not see in it the hand of God.

It is almost impossible to criticize the religious belief without the person who holds those beliefs feeling insulted.

and

I believe there is a different standard applied to religious belief that is not applied to say, politics or any other ideological belief.

I would disagree with the first statement, and agree with the meaning, if not the intent of the second. I think it is possible to criticize religious beliefs without insulting the individual. If someone says to me that they don’t believe in God, argues against belief in God using Occams razor, etc. I don’t get offended.

As for the comparison to politics, as I stated, I agreed, but probably not with the actual intent. Democracy relies compromise and as such, I think there is more toleration and respect for opposing political viewpoints than exists for opposing religious viewpoints.

So how do we move forward? How do we learn to discuss our differences without inadvertantly insulting each other. I think Mike C hit upon the answer. Our way forward lies in not trying to win arguements by annihilating the opposition, but rather in getting others to see the validity of our perspective, even if they don’t actually agree with it.