[extropy-chat] Putting God to Rest

[Lee Corbin]

Anna writes

> Robert wrote:
>>The goal before transhumanists is to displace "belief
>>in fantasy" with "belief in science".
> 
> I agree but simply saying Religion and the existence
> of God is bullshit will not convince people of faith. 

Well, Robert's motive is to speak the truth frankly, and
exactly as he sees it. Of course that is to be not only
welcomed but embraced.  Within the limits of *civility*,
of course, (see below).

> The main point of my post was to imply that I don't
> believe in judgement and that I *respect* other people's
> choice of belief.  

I'm not sure that I would go THAT far  :-)  (italics added)
but other people certainly do deserve to be treated with
respect as fellow human beings engaged in polite discourse.

That's why

>> I'm curious, are there any other great lies you
>> think should never be challenged, any other
>> great evil? That statement is quite simply
>> ridiculous.... I'm just making what I believe
>> is an objective statement when I say
>> religious ideas are asinine. 

No one enjoys that writer's posts as much as I do, I'm
sure, but still!  Here we have the intriguing conjecture
that certain ideas are objectively asinine!  Surely very
few objective statements are so loaded with insult and
emotion.

Listen, I think that it's perfectly all right for black people
to tell jokes about white people, and vice-versa, but 
only so long as none of the "targets" are within listening
range. Insults, derogatory remarks, and even jokes put
people into uncomfortable positions, where often they
even have to decide whether to be confrontational about
the slights received.  Sensible and courteous folks simply
DO NOT say such things in mixed audiences.

For all the derogatory remarks I've made about either
religious or political views, I must apologize to my targets
insofar as they feel that they have been placed in such an 
uncomfortable position. Knowing now that some religious
people are interested in transhumanist ideas and are even
here participating in these discussions requires that I---and 
everybody else---adhere to decorum, and find ways of
saying what is true without being insulting about it.

Lee