[ExI] Atheism again

[Giulio Prisco]

Of course I am aware of the violent authoritarian practices of
organized religions in history. But looking at the more recent history
of the West, I find that the religion of atheism, when sanctioned by
state power, has been more authoritarian. Here in Eastern Europe
everyone has horror stories to tell about how someone in their family
was violently harassed (I am talking of real harassment, sticks and
stones, not words) by a state atheist regime for wearing a cross or
going to church.

This confirms my main (actually only) point: That atheism IS a
religion because it acts like one.

Re "a big difference between 'policing someones belief' and 'arguing
for or against a viewpoint'" - I agree, and I enjoy polite and
respectful discussions with atheists. But my experience tells me that
nobody will change their mind after discussing these things. So I tend
not to participate too much in these discussions, and I don't try to
convert atheists. Better live and let live, and work together on
common goals.

On Tue, Apr 21, 2020 at 7:23 PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> On 21/04/2020 15:21, Giulio Prisco wrote:
> > To those fundamentalists ... who can't live without policing thoughts, my message is: What business of yours is
> > policing the belief, or the lack of belief, of others?
> > I believe in everyone's right to pursue meaning and happiness in their
> > own personal way
>
> Amen to that. As long as it remains a private matter.
>
> The trouble begins when the beliefs or convictions of one person tell
> them that they have the right to dictate the beliefs, convictions,
> behaviour, etc., of others. These don't have to be religious beliefs or
> convictions, of course, but in practice they usually are, to an
> overwhelming extent.
>
> The trouble becomes especially bad when beliefs are wormed into
> legislation, affecting whole populations. I don't need to give examples,
> almost every country in the world suffers from this, but some are a lot
> worse than others.
>
> There's also a big difference between 'policing someones belief' and
> 'arguing for or against a viewpoint'. That includes satire and ridicule.
> I think everyone has the right to be offended, but no-one has the right
> to prevent others from giving offence, as many muslims, christians, and
> others are constantly trying to do.
>
> --
> Ben Zaiboc
>
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