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Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
For me a true atheist shouldn't be bothered what other people believe as they have made up their minds.
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This contradicts what you said earlier, some people think that religious indoctrination and thought is harmful to humanity, and then you say they shouldn't be bothered by what other people believe.
You answered your own question.
Plus we're a social species, we depend on communication with others to live let alone be mentally healthy, communicating our thoughts and ideas to each other are what we do. Why is this all of a sudden a bad thing when someone tries to communicate something some people don't agree with?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
As for atheism being a harmless belief what about Communism?
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This canard is so old and tired it's sad it still gets trotted out. It's about as relevant as all these "atheistic" madmen all having mustaches. Fear the evil mustache!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
This however is no indictment against atheists just as so called religous wars do not equate to religion being evil. It isn't that simple.
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Wait, I just thought you lined up a bunch of regimes and tried to imply that they had atheistic roots.
"Hey I'm going to paint everyone over here with this broad brush, but don't paint these guys over there with a broad brush ok? It's not that simple".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
The human condition is selfish if it does not have a moral compass.
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Good thing that it has a moral compass then isn't it? A moral compass that is independent of any particular religion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
Look to the aid work that was done in Haiti. What would it have been like if Christian aid charities had not been some of the first helpers on the scene? Not only did they help physically but did so spiritually by giving the people hope.
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"Some of the first helpers", by some you mean among the other non-Christian aid charities that were also there among the first helpers, or the other non-Christian aid charities that have had a long established presence in Haiti?
It doesn't sound like actual information you are providing here, just propaganda.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
How could the cold hard message of atheism have lifted those people out of their sorrow and gave them the encouragement to rebuild their nation.
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How absurd can you be?
Do you think Doctors Without Borders is like the Christian charities, preaching atheism to the victims while providing aid?
You think that only people who believe in god or gods can help other people? Can encourage other people?
Look at the nations in the world that are much more secular and atheistic, they must be filled with despondent people with no moral compass that are in continuous sorrow and are incapable of encouraging each other.
In actual fact, the opposite is the case; the less theistic a nation is the better it tends to be in measurable terms such as violent crime, life expectancy, teen pregnancy, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smelly Fred
In such times people look to a higher power to comfort them and help them.
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Sure they do, because they were raised to do so from an early age. Just because someone tells someone else something that comforts them doesn't mean that there's any truth to it.
You want to know why some of the new atheist authors write the way they do? Reading your post it is filled with implicit negative judgments and assumptions about atheism that are untrue and unwarranted. Atheism needs some advocacy to overcome that kind of garbage.