On 29 Aug 2005, at 9:06 pm, Warren Ockrassa wrote:
For a while I was an angry atheist too. But as sincerely as you
might believe there's abundant evil in religion in general --
certainly the *capacity* to forgive vicious behavior exists in
religions, as well as the capacity to suggest, even promote such
behavior -- the argument is simply going to be better made with
less vehemence.
Specificity helps as well, rather than making generalizations. As
an example, if you draw a parallel between hijackers flying planes
into buildings and True Believers blowing up abortion clinics, you
make a point that can deeply shake even committed right-wing
fundamentalist believers. If you point out that al-Zarqawi's calls
for destruction of infidels are very, very similar to Pat
Robertson's recent endorsement of annihilation of radical Muslims,
you've got a strong case that most people will be unable to ignore.
Debating with these people simply lends credibility to their
ridiculous gibberish. Religion needs to be ridiculed and mocked or
ignored.
Most of all it needs to be banned.
--
William T Goodall
Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
_______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l