I don't mind people of faith. Often, it is a source of comfort and grounding for them, and if they are happy, I think that's all that matters. Most of them are not in my face about it. I would say that 3% of all believers are radical about converting others, or pushing faith to drive law and policy. 3% is not a lot (and no, I have no data to back this up, it's an opinion), but if you took 3% of the theist population on earth, you'd still be talking millions of people. The other 97% are passive believers, or closet agnostics, keeping appearances for the sake of fidelity. I think that most people fear the idea that they could have been duped their entire lives, and are too embarrassed to admit it. I think that 50% of all believers are closet agnostics.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Problems start when theists try to influence government policy.
Ellatynemouth
Level 8
July 5, 2018
0
I have friends all across the spectrum, from devoutly religious to vociferously atheist and between us no one gets judged or condescended to — although there can occasionally be that gentle, British thing of merciless piss-taking. But frankly — and this is just the impression I've formed — I would say that most of the Christians I know personally are completely agnostic. They like the idea of Jesus as some iron-age hippie, and assume that he just told people to be decent to one another, and that's good enough for them to call themselves Christians... But they don't particularly believe he was divine or would put money on there actually being a 'God'.
DaveMania
Level 6
July 5, 2018
1
I agree with you about people of faith. My mother gained great comfort from her Catholic faith and I would never have wanted to take that away from her. I am not anti theist,but, I have no patience with anyone who tries to put their shit in my face!
tymtravler
Level 6
July 4, 2018
0
Lots of I thinks and made up percentages for my taste. Most they Belivet I know is an in your face type of person even if their passive aggressive about it.
ashortbeauty
Level 8
July 4, 2018
0
Comment is based on my experience. Your experience may differ.
But, as Christopher Hitchens pointed out ("God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" ), the more-or-less decent 97% enable the other 3%. They make excuses and explain how the radical fringe doesn't "really" represent their religion, but don't understand that the religion itself is the problem. Its very existence allows anyone to pick and choose what they want to believe and how they want to act on it, because there's supposedly an authority figure in the sky who said all these things.
For example: Until the Vatican comes out and disavows all its former papal teachings, cardinals will still teach that birth control is a sin, and unplanned pregnancies and AIDS will continue. And even then, the church would schism and there would arise a "true" faith. Religion itself is the problem.
Paul4747
Level 8
July 4, 2018
0
Can only respond to my experience. Given our limited shelf lives, we must pick and choose our battles.
No doubt, but white evangelicals are the ones who voted for Trump and who rabidly support his fascist-style reign.
To me, white evangelical = white supremacist, since I can't tell them apart on my Facebook page.
birdingnut
Level 8
July 4, 2018
0
White Evangelicals are a subset of the group that voted for Trump. Other subsets include registered Republicans, suckers, and the very wealthy.
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