Same here. But he’s right.
I don’t care what anyone wants to believe provided:
It harms no one else
They don’t try to impose it on anyone else
They don’t claim special treatment or consideration
They don’t hide behind it to fuck over anyone else
When they don’t seem capable of doing that anymore, fuck 'em.
That includes HobbyLobby types, dominionists, reconstructionists, and Pence types.
The OP could be talking about so many religions. What possiblities have been listed so far -
There are also Wiccans or other neopagans or new-agers. The Rapture is also new.
Nice. Might need a broomstick or some crystals, but nice.
And it’s not like being old will save a religion from claims that it’s fake. Anything that can be described as “your religion” is open to accusations of fakery. The important thing is that no one is going to appreciate being called WRONG and no one is going to appreciate jokes about their religion. Try changing the subject if their talk about their religion bothers you.
Well, yes, repeat, no. If a sincerely religious person wants some consideration, I’m willing to accept it, or at least consider it. Amish don’t want any military service, I can adjust. Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to pledge allegiance, well, no biggie, so long as no actual treason is contemplated. Refuse medical efforts for yourself, ok, you’re nuts but that’s your prob. Refuse on behalf of your children, no, no way, no day, full stop.
Not strictly rational, there is no proof that I owe this to them, or that they owe it to me in return. But reason is not rationality, reason is informed by a generous and accepting spirit. Let us reason, together, it really isn’t that damned hard.
And no, I can’t prove that spirit, either, which is as much religion as I’ve got and as far from religion as I’m likely to get.
I’ve been an atheist some 44 years or so now. Since I was about 12, anyway. I believe in no gods, no afterlife, nor in anything supernatural. You know, though, I don’t consider atheism the defining facet of my whole life that many non-believers I encounter on the web seem to do. In addition to not believing in any gods, I also don’t believe in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause or that people get picked up by space aliens for purposes of bum-probing. There’s an incredible raft of shit in which I do not believe. In day to day life, this has no impact on me whatsoever. It’s enough for me that I don’t believe. If other people do, well, that’s their lookout. If they begin to bore me or attempt to convert me, it’s easy enough to politely change the subject. Evangelical atheists are just as annoying as evangelical believers.
Obligatory xkcd:
And a much easier position to take when you’re not (say) an LGBT teenager living in the Bible Belt.
Am I the only one who read the OP and thought of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?
Your experience is what it is. My experience as an atheist in a devoutly Catholic family is what it is. One of the many things I don’t believe in is that there is any point in “who had it harder” arguments. Your little comic strip was amusing. It is funny, in a meta kind of way, that you have found a way to feel superior to me through someone else’s work.
I for one resent that the Flying Spaghetti Monster cult replaced the Church of the Sub Genius as the quintessential fringe religion.
Some of that was, I think, because the Church of Sub Genius got too far up its own ass with being transgressive for the sake of being transgressive. I first encountered Bob as an undergrad. I read the books and attended a few devivals. It was fun for a while, but everybody involved seemed just so pleased with themselves for being so edgey and iconoclastic.
Well, only in the sense that a parody mimics reality.
According to Poe’s Law, there’s no way to tell the difference.
The argument against your patronizing attitude is not a “who had it harder” dispute, it’s that you occupy a privileged “I’m all right, Jack” position. The compelling reason to push back against the privilege of religious views is not to make yourself look smarter, it’s to oppose active ongoing harm.
The argument against your patronizing “you don’t know how hard I’ve had it” attitude is that your are gaysplaining my own experience to me as if you know, not only your own experience, but also mine. You believe you had it harder? Fine. If that sends you, it sends you, and doesn’t cost me a dime.
Look, if Bob had been willing to sell indulgences for parmesan use he’d still be god.
Neither of our personal childhood experiences are relevant here. The point is that it’s only from a comfortable privileged position that one could possibly make the patronizing claim that religious fundamentalists and militant atheists are equally annoying. If you’re an LGBT person growing up in the Bible Belt or living in many Christian African countries or many Muslim countries, where religious piety is the vector for propagating bigotry, I doubt that you’re really too concerned about how annoying vocal atheists can be.
Eris wept.
Before clicking I’d assumed it was this obligatory xkcd:
No. There are such things as ‘good’ ideas. Notably different in that simple regard from religion. Other than that little quibble I don’t see much wrong with the OP.
I was going to ask if CoSG hadn’t nudged out Discordianism. It certainly developed later.
“Sorry, that accusation expires after one use per conversation” 