So my last question was to the conservatives who are also atheist. I was hoping to find some clarity but it did not happen, from the conservatives that is. So this one is for the liberals. Considering all the damage monotheism has done to civilization over the centuries should we, as rational thinking adults, immediately quarantine all monotheists and their children indefinitely until a cure for the disease can be found. Also should we consider sterilizing all the Male monotheists. We would have to declare monotheism a pandemic and begin testing immediately to determine the source of the disease. Once we determine the cause we can develop an inoculation protocol and hopefully in two generations wipe it out altogether. What do you think. Be honest now.
Please remember that religion has already been stamped out in various places, and the children indoctrinated into the tenets of atheism. So far as I can tell those places are no better than religious places, and in some ways they are worse.
It’s been tried already.
What an incredible totalitarian nightmare you’ve come up with. I hope you never get any kind of power.
That's a little harsh, isn't it? Anyone can change, and I'd prefer trying to be an agent of that change, at least in part. However, I believe in tough but fair. When being fair doesn't work out and you see these kind of tactics being deployed against you, your approach should be considered.
@Ciravolostone No, I'm not. I give everybody a chance and try to be a positive influence. If someone comes after me, I mean literally comes after me, I respond in kind. There are conservatives who so despise liberalism and its adherents that they really do think the approach you describe is warranted. I won't stand still for that. The approach you described is not how I'd do it, but I won't run away either.
I think that’s crazy. What’s needed is education in science, math and philosophy and advocates who actively critically evaluate religion.
You’d do better to sterilize the women. A single man is capable of impregnating every woman on the globe.
Are you suggesting that polytheism is the correct belief to have? Hmm... Please explain.
If I lean toward the idea of universal consciousness at a 95% confidence level, are you going to quarantine me? I don’t need sterilizing.
@Ciravolostone I read it as a joke and was just playing along.
We need to think of all the good religion has done too. Then we could think about freedom and one man's poison is another man's meat. We could also think about our inability to know the future and how the socialist revolution became a nightmare instead of a utopia.
Nah. Just limit their ability to make policy decisions that effect large groups of people.
There should be religious tests for politicians. If they are religious they cannot serve
@jab60
It's nobodies business one way or another the state should be secular & indifferent.
The right track if you are fixing to be an authoritarian dictator keen on thought control or an dystopian writer, but not a very original one.
Slightly playing devils advocate here but I beg to differ on " Considering all the damage monotheism has done to civilization over the centuries." Much of the reform in our societies have come from the christian church. They were prime movers in the abolitionist movement (amazing grace). In my country at least Sunday schools were at one time the only source of education for the working classes. Darwin of course came from an Anglican background and even considered the clergy as a profession. It is only as late as the 1970s when the christian lobby (in the USA) began to take over the alt right. Think back to the civil rights movement and Dr Martin Luther king or Americas favorite Muslim Mohamed Ali. In my own life (admittedly in the UK where the climate of debate is less heated) it was Methodists that ran the local youth club. Yes we had to attend prays but we mostly just put up with this for the sake of somewhere to meet. I did not see many secularists getting of their arses to run one. Recently I have been working in a church. One of their main endeavors is running a food bank, where families left impoverished by our conservative, austerity driven govt. have been forced to seek help.
Bible thumping TV evangelists give christians a bad rep. but I am sure that many of us know one or two good ones who care about people more than dogma and more importantly do something about it.
I disagree with theistist thinking but i do have to say that often their actions are better than ours.
Gosh, I enjoyed that post!
@Ciravolostone The radical viewpoint is seldom a wise course to steer. Whether it be in religion or politics. Often it very appealing to the young, offering easy answers to complex questions. Where the middle ground is less of a straight line. More a balancing act, leaning one way then the next.
I personally would like to see arms manufacturers carry a warning on all their bullets and explosives. "This product uses gelatin. May contain pig." Lets see how they explain that when there are telling them theyll be bonking 98 virgins in heaven. Not if your shot or blown up you won't matey but that might affect sales mmm
@Ciravolostone I do thank you Ciravolostane. However I feel compelled to point out that far from receiving a classical education. I failed sand-pit. Fyi "bloke" is more of a 3rd person term as in "he seems a decent kind of a bloke?" Whereas "mate" is more 1st person, as in drunk in a bar "yer know what...Your my mate you are." or "scuse me mate. Got any spare change?" This is bearing in mind local colloquialisms. In Liverpool "mate" will and can be used but "la" (as in the band the La"s) and "kidder" also functions. "Pal" in Glasgow, "Chuck" in Manchester etc.
The principles of religious freedom have been hard fought over the centuries, I don't think we should give up on them so easily. If you ban religious schools, introduce sound secular education materials, and limit the opportunities for indoctrination, then you'll end up having a big swing towards a secular state in a few generations.
@Ciravolostone it is difficult enough to muster the political will to hold on to a secular state in the face of so many Christian politicians in Congress, I imagine. Change can only come slowly, and I think atheism or agnosticism in politics will have to wait for its time.
As I am - in US parlance - a "liberal", why limit the plan to monotheists; why not go large and pick up polytheists, wiccans and tarot readers? I mean, if you're going to do something, do it properly, right?