Religious Persecution

[_Goya]

But that's a very different thing than wealth redistrubution through government taxation. When you are coerced to provide free labor and services how is that different from slavery?

You're right, because paying sales tax on a box of Cheerios is exactly like, um... you know, slavery. And when I bump into the wall and bruise my nose, it's just like the holocaust.

[_huckelberry]

But that's a very different thing than wealth redistrubution through government taxation. When you are coerced to provide free labor and services how is that different from slavery?

You're right, because paying sales tax on a box of Cheerios is exactly like, um... you know, slavery. And when I bump into the wall and bruise my nose, it's just like the holocaust.

Goya,
I like the color of saying it the way you did.. I was going to state the plain jane version. There is great benefit to all in living in a fairly orderly society. There is a cost involved in the upkeep of that society which we all should contribute to by paying taxes. To reject paying that genuine debt(taxes) is a form of stealing from society.

[_Some Schmo]

Either religion makes people stupid, or stupid people gravitate toward religion. It's probably a vicious circle.

I'm sure you know plenty of smart people who also maintain religious beliefs. Perhaps these people aren't stupid but rather just aren't as cynical as you are.

Smart people do stupid things. Religion seems to be one of them.

They aren't smart because of religion, they're smart despite religion. Just think how far they could go if they let go of that baggage.

But that doesn't change the fact the religion is a stupid person magnet. Smart people come and go. Stupid people are there for the long haul.

[_Gray Ghost]

If you want to see religious persecution, try running for President as an atheist. Atheists are truly one of the most underrepresented groups in the country. Interesting think piece in the Post making the case for an atheist President.

The current President is an atheist, despite his weak Christian cosplay.

[_Some Schmo]

The current President is an atheist, despite his weak Christian cosplay.

Hmph. I thought he practiced Orthodox Doucheism.

[_ajax18]

They aren't smart because of religion, they're smart despite religion.

You can have a high IQ or low IQ and still choose to believe or not believe. It really is a spiritual thing more than it is an academic thing. You can't really experience the spiritual world without first having the faith or even desire to believe. You can't really know the spiritual world through your five senses. And yet without knowing the spiritual world, you'll never find lasting happiness nor the answers to life's deepest and most pressing questions.

[_Some Schmo]

You can have a high IQ or low IQ and still choose to believe or not believe.

Strike one.

You can only choose to believe anything if evidence is meaningless to you. People bound by the power of evidence don't choose to believe anything where evidence is available.

"Choosing to believe" (and thinking it's meaningful with respect to truth) is a stupid person's game. It's a euphemism for "kidding yourself."

It really is a spiritual thing more than it is an academic thing. You can't really experience the spiritual world without first having the faith or even desire to believe.

Strike two.

Whether you want to believe something or not is irrelevant. All you're describing here is how nonsensical beliefs get started.

I could decide today I wanted to believe Star Wars is a written history. The only motivation behind it is the desire for it to be true. That would have no relationship whatsoever to reality, but I can't start believing in it without faith a desire to believe.

You can't really know the spiritual world through your five senses. And yet without knowing the spiritual world, you'll never find lasting happiness nor the answers to life's deepest and most pressing questions.

Strike three.

There's no such thing as "lasting happiness." It's a nonsense goal encouraged only by pie-in-the-sky religions. Happiness, like all emotions, is fleeting, just like sadness, anger, excitement and boredom.

If your religion is telling you that you can have lasting happiness, ask for your money back.

[_subgenius]

Religious freedom is meaningless, unless it includes the freedom to choose no religion at all, with no adverse legal, political or prejudicial consequences of any kind.

No, it isn't.
No one really cares about the attention seeking atheists..."atheists" suffer consequences because they are otherwise tools that most people don't like irrelevant of their lack of theism; just a coincidence that most pr!ck$ are atheists.

[_Chap]

... just a coincidence that most pr!ck$ are atheists.

But yours at least is Mormon, surely?

Perhaps you should send it on a mission to convert its erring brethren.

[_Some Schmo]

... just a coincidence that most pr!ck$ are atheists.

But yours at least is Mormon, surely?

Perhaps you should send it on a mission to convert its erring brethren.

It takes a real prick to encourage people to be Mormon; that is for certain.