# Why do we have to put up with Religious People? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474 "2020-08-07T06:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/202 "2020-08-07T19:18:41Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > What really confounds them is when you give them more respect than they give you Trite answer that doesn’t really ring true. It sounds more likely that it validates the opinion that one doesn’t need to show respect to get respect-that respect towards them is expected. Remember that, according to the example given the opinion is that I have no sense of right or wrong because their deity is not guiding me and that I capable of committing the most heinous acts for that same reason. This isn’t just a theoretical scenario because I have been told this by religionists online and in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/203 "2020-08-07T19:23:14Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Shit, how many Catholics have you met that think people turn into angels? Seriously? Not one. Not ever. Your post is the first time I’ve ever heard that bit of silliness in my whole life. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/204 "2020-08-07T19:24:23Z")
I’m really confused as to what the point of this exchange is. Yes, there are those out there who do not believe that I have any sort of morals, since I do not subscribe to a religion. I’m not sure what action it is that you are insisting that I should do because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/205 "2020-08-07T19:27:49Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > > [@Lobohan](#): > > > > Shit, how many Catholics have you met that think people turn into angels? > > Seriously? Not one. Not ever, in my whole life. My mother. my mother-in-law, and probably a dozen others in my life who have said something along the idea of, “God has a new angel.” People are stupid. Seriously. It’s common enough that there is a page on [Catholic.com](http://Catholic.com) about it: [https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/theyre-no-angels](https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/theyre-no-angels) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/206 "2020-08-07T19:28:54Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yes, there are those out there who do not believe that I have any sort of morals, since I do not subscribe to a religion. I’m not sure what action it is that you are insisting that I should do because of this I don’t recall insisting (or even asking you) to take any actions. I just pointed out the triteness of the response you gave me. Do with it what you will. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/207 "2020-08-07T19:31:07Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Seriously? Not one. Not ever. Your post is the first time I’ve ever heard that bit of silliness in my whole life. Mommy died? Where is mommy now? She’s an Angel in heaven sweetheart. Unless you are a Catholic Theologian, you might take this into adulthood as what happens when you die. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/208 "2020-08-07T19:37:18Z")
- America is not 70% Christian; as some may claim; a great many of those are Christian in name only. The actual figure of genuine serious Christians must be only a fraction of 70%. An answer. Note the % is always trending down. **Christianity** is the most adhered to religion in the **United States** , with 65% of polled American adults identifying themselves as **Christian** in **2019** , down from 75% in 2015, 78% in 2012, 81.6% in 2001, and 85% in 1990. About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation. [image] Wikipedia › wiki › Christianity\_in\_t… ### [Christianity in the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/209 "2020-08-07T19:38:30Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I’ve ever heard that bit of silliness in my whole life. let me get this straight…its silly to think people to turn into angels after they die, per Catholic doctrine? But all the rest of it is perfectly reasonable? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/210 "2020-08-07T19:40:56Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > My mother. my mother-in-law, and probably a dozen others in my life who have said something along the idea of, “God has a new angel.” If (and that’s a big “if”) they meant that literally, the state of catechesis where you live is astonishing. Seriously. Your bishop should be looking into it. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/211 "2020-08-07T19:42:14Z")
You’re right. We’re all idiots. Thank you for showing me error of my ways. The scales have fallen from my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/212 "2020-08-07T19:44:30Z")
Certainly not all religious people are idiots. But you seem to think that being religious makes you not be an idiot. As an aside, care to reference my previous post that explains your question? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/213 "2020-08-07T19:45:07Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > You’re right. We’re all idiots. Thank you for showing me error of my ways. The scales have fallen from my eyes Would you rather be thought of as an amoral monster? ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/214 "2020-08-07T19:45:21Z")
Or you could explain why one silly idea is silly but another silly idea isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/215 "2020-08-07T19:46:08Z")
As you said, in order to get respect, you have to show respect, so in order to gain respect, you have to show more respect than you are given. That’s not trite, that’s actually good advice for any situation, religious or secular. You said: > [@](#): > > if I were to give them the same respect as to what they believe as they do to what I believe, that amount of respect would be…? Did you care to answer your own question? How much respect would you give them? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/216 "2020-08-07T19:47:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Would you rather be thought of as an amoral monster? The religious people I know wouldn’t think you were an amoral monster (at least not because you’re an atheist). If some religious people have call you an amoral monster because of your lack of belief, to the extent I’m able to speak for them, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/217 "2020-08-07T19:47:40Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > > [@Lobohan](#): > > > > My mother. my mother-in-law, and probably a dozen others in my life who have said something along the idea of, “God has a new angel.” > > If (and that’s a big “if”) they meant that literally, the state of catechesis where you live is astonishing. Seriously. Your bishop should be looking into it. There is a page on [Catholic.com](http://Catholic.com) about it. Do you think that they make pages for stuff that isn’t at least fairly common. I don’t see a page about whether the pope is a lizard person. You think everyone is as serious as you are. You’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/218 "2020-08-07T19:49:21Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > There is a page on [Catholic.com](http://Catholic.com) about it. Do you think that they make pages for stuff that isn’t at least fairly common. I don’t see a page about whether the pope is a lizard person. You think everyone is as serious as you are. You’re wrong. I’m not wrong that I’ve never heard this before. As to other things, well, I’ve been wrong before. I’ll be wrong again. Also, [Catholic.com](http://Catholic.com) does not speak for the Catholic Church. It may or may not do a good job at apologetics - I don’t know – but it ain’t the Church. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/219 "2020-08-07T19:49:54Z")
Me too. Just never on the internet. 🙂 ETA: I know [Catholic.com](http://Catholic.com) isn’t from the Pope. I’m just saying that they think it’s an issue. Highly educated Catholics may not, but lay Catholics are as dumb (at least) as the population at large. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/220 "2020-08-07T19:54:16Z")
The problem, for all of us, is that when we think of “Religious People,” we think mainly of the religious people we’ve known personally, and/or the ones we’ve seen on TV or read about in social media. And they’re quite probably not a representative sample of all religious people everywhere. (Plus we don’t usually have the full picture of how they think, act, and believe.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474/221 "2020-08-07T19:56:22Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Did you care to answer your own question? How much respect would you give them Religion be damned(sorry about that)-If someone, because of their religious beliefs, calls me an unguided-by-supernatural-deity amoral monster, I tell them where they can shove their religion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-put-up-with-religious-people/917474.md?page=12)