Quote:
Originally Posted by vienna
Repercussions beyond the grave are of little effect in the real, secular world and the addition of a religious element does nothing to determine the veracity, or lack thereof, of an attester in legal proceedings. We might just as well have a witness cross their heart and hope to die or "pinkie swear" before giving testimony or taking an oath; it would have just as much effect and import in real secular life as a religious component...
|
You see the world through Atheist eyes and I understand that to you swearing to God is no different a pinky swear but don't make the mistake of thinking that a person of faith would feel the same about it.
Quote:
|
You are correct: the actions of weak, deceitful individuals do not invalidate the ideals to which they supposedly adhered and demanded others so adhere. This does not dismiss them from any responsibilities for their actions and those who defend them do nothing but cheapen and dilute those high ideals. Again, if there were actual real world repercussions for such actions, there would probably be less instances of such actions...
|
Of course it doesn't excuse the deceitful but those who defend them do so for many reasons, not the least of which is because Atheists tend to use language that includes their whole group. "Thumpers", "religious nuts", "holy rollers" and similar disparaging terms are never applied to just a few TV evangelists but to the entire religion. So it's easy to understand why some might get defensive in the face of constant and mean spirited attacks upon their cherished beliefs.
While society thinks of itself as more inclusive these days it really is just more inclusive of certain things and far less inclusive of many others. If it gets the religious people on board I have no problem with allowing "In God We Trust" on our currency. They are after all still 70% of the population. BTW neither do I have a problem with letting the south retain some minor connection with their confederate history with the occasional display of the stars and bars or by naming a few military bases after their famous generals.