On Mon, Jun 09, 2003 at 08:11:55PM -0500, Reggie Bautista wrote:
> They are simply being completely closed-minded about religion, and
> judging every religious person based on a stereotype.
You are being close-minded and irrational, and underestimating William
and Fool. Their opinion is based on clear thinking and a lot of facts.
> Sure, you can say that many of class x do a certain thing, so maybe it's
> reasonable to assume that anyone from class x will do that thing.
No, that is not what I am saying, I am saying something much more
specific. I am saying that anyone who associates themselves with
religion, which is known for its irrationality, is very likely to have
a great deal of irrational tendencies themselves. Like it or not, it is
true, and I have a lot of respect for rational people, and the converse.
All of your analogies are poor, since they fail to capture this
fundamental quality. Also, you ignore quantitative differences. If 1%
of a group is "bad", I probably would not judge such a group harshly
(although it depends how "bad" the 1% are). But if 60% of a group is
bad, then I will very likely judge someone who associates themselves
with that group harshly.
> So just as it's an incorrect stereotype to say that all science
> fiction fans like Star Trek, and just as it's an incorrect stereotype
> to say all African-Americans are criminals, it's an incorrect
> stereotype to say that all religious people are irrational extremists.
All "true" Christians are irrational. After all, the foundation of the
religion is faith, not reason.
> And anytime I see someone discriminating against any race simply due
> to color of skin, I try to help them see how incorrect they are and
> how irrational they are being.
A person does not choose the skin color they are born with.
> And anytime I hear you or The Fool or William or anyone else saying
> that all religious people are irrational, or extremist, or evil, I
> will point out to you or them how irrational you are being.
Unfortunately, you are the irrational one. But I guess your mind has
been too conditioned by religion to realize it. That is another one of
the evils of religion, it destroys the mind ("but if I had a backup
copy..." -- Marvin Minsky)
--
"Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.erikreuter.net/
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