Re: Just A Reminder About Religious People
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

good point, i agree. by extension, picking the parts that you like most from various logical philosophies and discarding the parts that you don't like, to make a nonsensical jumble that you really like, should be frowned upon. i guess people do actually do that.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't get this. Why would it be wrong to accept things that make sense to you and throw out those that don't?

[ QUOTE ]

also, for the same reason i can't know that what someone else percieves is nonsense, he cannot know that what i percieve is nonsense. so, all religions that claim to be "right" or claim that others are "wrong" are out of line. i think i agree with you guys on that one. but you will never hear me ridicule someone who makes assumptions that i don't, as long as that person does not claim to be 100% sure he is right.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the key point IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it is wrong to pick out only the things that benefit you and hum really loudly when people mention the flipside of that coin.

Politics is rife with this type of blindness, where we care about freedom but only when it suits US, we care about rights but only in cirumstances that arent too much of a hassle, stuff like that.

Re: Just A Reminder About Religious People
 

[ QUOTE ]

Well, to be fair, I dont start OUT ridiculing them for making assumptions that I dont make. And really at no point is that WHY I might ridicule them. More, I ridicule them for having no idea what assumptions they are actually making until forced to name them, and then pretending like these assumptions for some reason dont apply to everyone else. IOW, "I use my own personal experience as a way to find truth but Muslims are misguided heathens."

[/ QUOTE ]

While i still don't think this is worthy of ridicule, I think it's much less objectionable to mock someone for this reason.

What happens when you point out the implications of their method of reasoning? How does ridiculing them help matters?

Re: Just A Reminder About Religious People
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Well, to be fair, I dont start OUT ridiculing them for making assumptions that I dont make. And really at no point is that WHY I might ridicule them. More, I ridicule them for having no idea what assumptions they are actually making until forced to name them, and then pretending like these assumptions for some reason dont apply to everyone else. IOW, "I use my own personal experience as a way to find truth but Muslims are misguided heathens."

[/ QUOTE ]

While i still don't think this is worthy of ridicule, I think it's much less objectionable to mock someone for this reason.

What happens when you point out the implications of their method of reasoning? How does ridiculing them help matters?

[/ QUOTE ]

Two seperate questions, so I'll address them seperately. What happens when I point out the implications? For the most part, hemming and hawing and special pleading. Rarely, they admit that they've never thought of these implications and they soften their stance, or modify their assumptions slightly.

In the first case, I dont care what happens when I mock them because they arent going to hear a word I have to say. Maybe peer pressure will make them change their minds, but probably not and who cares. At this point I'm just not interested in dignifying their dishonesty and treating it like it belongs in the discussion. In the second case, I dont ridicule them so I dont have to worry about it.

I hear what you are saying about my motivations having at least SOMETHING to do with making myself feel better or big and strong or whatever. I cant claim that plays no role, I dont feel like it does but I'm probably not a great person to ask, right? I can only claim to be AWARE of that possibility and try not to let it take a huge role in my actions.