A post that ought to be required reading...

[Zenlitened]

... for everyone whining about religion and us mean ol' atheists:

(Hats off to The Magistrate! :) )

Let us suppose, for mere purposes of demonstration, that there exists a person who, after study and meditation on the matter, reaches the conclusion that the basic creeds of a religion are false, and that the most common effects of adherence to them have a pernicious effect on that person's own life, and on society as a whole. Suppose further that this person has come to the belief that there is a positive virtue to people not incorporating falsehoods into the structure of their mental and moral lives.

It seems to me, you would expect such a person to keep silent in your presence. And yet such a person may very well feel a deep sense of offense at the confident statement of belief in the credal materials that person feels to be false, and a deep sense of offense at claims that living by them is good and virtuous, when doing so is wholly counter to what that person believes to constitute positive virtue. That person might just a rightfully, it seems to me, expect you to keep silent, and proffer exactly the same grounds for the feeling you might.

http://www.democraticunderground.com//discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2922460#2930285

[trotsky]

1. Wow, excellent.

I gotta save that link. Too bad you can only nominate thread-starters for the "greatest" page.

[BiggJawn]

2. The Magistrate scores a bulls-eye.

The best I've ever been able to come up with is the "If 10,000,000 believe a stupid thing, it's STILL a stupid thing" counter...

I can't understand that. WHY is it I'm expected to let them just spout their faerie tales, but i'm not supposed to spout mine?

I actually said once "How about if I claimed divinity for Winnie-the-Pooh and got 10,000,000 followers for HIM?"

I was called a "Blasphemer" and told how horrible it was to try and suggest that a "fictional character" could be a God....

[Book Lover]

3. I love The Magistrate

and I do not care if he knows it or not. He is one of the most coherent and concise writers I've come across on DU.

[Az]

4. The real question

Is how does this individual convey his difference?

Naturally everyone believes their particular take on the world around them. And there is also a natural desire for others to share in this view to varying degrees. Its not a question of whether we differ in world views. Its a matter of how do we discuss these differences.

PS It is a very cogent quote.