SHOULD we respect each other's beliefs? What makes a belief worthy of respect?

[GiveMeABreak]

Sure, Jonah swallowed the "big fish" would be true if it was in the Bible. Nothing but respect and loosen his straightjacket some.

It was the a huge fish that swallowed Jonah not the other way around. And it is figurative language that Jonah was left for dead after being tossed over the side of the boat.

So bit me with your disrespect. Learn a little about what you disagree with before you state what it beliefs.

[minorwork]

It was the a huge fish that swallowed Jonah not the other way around. And it is figurative language that Jonah was left for dead after being tossed over the side of the boat.

So bit me with your disrespect. Learn a little about what you disagree with before you state what it beliefs.

Not you. Was referencing that ex-communicated Volcon who made the statement that if the Bible said Jonah swallowed the whale then he/her would believe it. You see any thing to respect in such a belief, how 'bout cluing me in.

[Senor Hoint]

Again, if "respecting someone's beliefs" means standing by while they murder millions of people then I'll pass.

[arX]

My wife is Black. The fact that some think of her as a nigger is meaningless to me. I may think them ignorant, seek to change their mind, shun or ignore them if they don't. Their belief is their's to hold and mind to accept.

It's obviously not so meaningless to you if you seek to change their minds.

[Darklordabc]

Action requires reaction, not belief

But belief motivates action. If you can change somebody's belief you can prevent the bloodshed that those beliefs lead too.
To not confront a negative belief is like to not confront a leak in a dam.

[BlackSheep]

Okay let me put it this way. You guys state that it is with the subject of religion that people act like is should not be criticized or ridiculed, and held with disrespect. That if you do you are breaking some moral code. Yet religion is ridiculed, criticized and held with disrespect all the time. As far as I'm concerned it is persecution and that's okay with me as part of Christian belief is that we will be persecuted and when it comes to accept it with joy.

Assuming you live in the western world you have no idea of being attacked if you are a Christian. The main "attacks" on Christians are to remove things they should never have had. Symbols and words in the government that should not be there. Things they take for granted.

I understand that atheists are treated badly at times. But hey if you want respect you have to give respect also. I charge that if one takes the view that only my belief system deserves respect and other do not. You have just begun moving into the dangerous area of destructive beliefs.

Most atheists understand disrespect very well, far better than Christians. Christians have been disrespecting other faiths in the western world for a long time. One of the things to need to realize is that as atheists we don't believe what you do and if you engage and we expalin why odds are you will find it insulting as it attacks the core of your belief.

Now one person pointed out that Nazism does not deserve respect thus implied is that other believes do not deserve respect. Funny thing with that illustraion - part of Nazism in the 1930's holding their belief system was based on there belief they were following scientific fact that there are differences amongst the races and thus some were superior to others. This led to the thinking that the Nazi beliefs only deserved respect that led to restrictive laws and further more led to a lot of deaths. (Please do not take from this statement that I support Nazism or White supremacy. I think racism is deplorable and I find it hard to keep my cool when people propose it, or I see them practicing prejudices.)

A bastardization of Darwin's work was used to support their actions yes, but realize those actions were very long standing biases that were mainly religion based and went opposite of what Darwin wrote even if one could demonstrate that there was any basis to show their targets as inferior.

We become arrogant when thinking only our belief system deserves respect and others do not.

I don't believe I am arrogant and in terms of religion I have no beliefs. I do think that people's religious beliefs are not based on any significant evidence and have more to do with making them feelgood and that is fine by me.

Based on your reasoning if I belief I am following fact and you are not then I can disrespect you. In other words there is a paradox to your approach and possibly a logical contradiction. (And from that statement please do not read into it that I do think sciences laws, prepositions, theories, discoveries, etc. lack facts.) But there have been times in human history when something was declared a fact and later we discovered it was not. So it comes back to who decides what deserves respect and what deserves disrespect? I say that is a dangerous road to follow.

I admit I am likely wrong about many things. I believe we need to go with what seems the most plausible solution and be willing to change our minds if new evidence comes forward. I think the worst think in this regard is to know you are right with no real evidence and that is what religions have tended to do.

[ruksak]

I understand that atheists are treated badly at times. But hey if you want respect you have to give respect also.

I have never told a Christian that he/she is going to burn in hell for all eternity. Showing genuine concern for my soul, I have been told before (many times as a child) that I will do just that if I don't change my ways and become just like them.

Based on your reasoning if I belief I am following fact and you are not then I can disrespect you.

Fact and belief are mutually exclusive. Your beliefs cannot change fact.

[Apeman81]

It's obviously not so meaningless to you if you seek to change their minds.

The list are option I "may" do. Among the choices is ignore them.

No need to seek significance where none is offered.

[Apeman81]

But belief motivates action. If you can change somebody's belief you can prevent the bloodshed that those beliefs lead too.
To not confront a negative belief is like to not confront a leak in a dam.

Thus any belief that can inspire negative action must be confronted and eradicated?

[GiveMeABreak]

I have never told a Christian that he/she is going to burn in hell for all eternity. Showing genuine concern for my soul, I have been told before (many times as a child) that I will do just that if I don't change my ways and become just like them.



Fact and belief are mutually exclusive. Your beliefs cannot change fact.

Do you allow a child to believe in Santa Claus? If you do than you are contradicting yourself. You should be teaching the child the truth.

Not according to most philosophical views of epistemology on how do we know what we know. You have a belief system based on only things you can proof beyond a shadow of doubt. You belief in facts. The two do work together. There is gravity that is a fact, I believe it to be true. There is a particle called a graviton that is not a fact, yet I can believe it to be true, until proven otherwise. I think there is a high possibility of a God, that is not a fact, yet I can believe it to be true, until proven otherwise. But if I stick to only proven facts as most atheists propose we would never question and experiment to discover new things. Because we first make an educated guess then proceed to do research to see if it is fact.

But according to atheists I cannot do research through philosophy and logical premises in order to justify my belief in a God. Why? Because to atheists the premise of a god existing is just illogical. But that is not the only premise, research, and experience a theist may have.

Personally I'm starting to get the impression Atheists have the same prejudices they accuse religious people have.

[Cephus]

Do you allow a child to believe in Santa Claus? If you do than you are contradicting yourself. You should be teaching the child the truth.

Childhood isn't all about truth and reality, there are lots of things that we just don't tell our children to shield them as long as possible. There are things that are fun to believe, at least temporarily, while the children are innocent. There's nothing really harmful about letting them believe in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy. These are harmless beliefs and so long as the child knows the truth by the time they're 8-10 and can accept it, no harm done. Parents don't teach their kids about Santa Claus with the understanding that it will be a lifetime belief. If a parent did, it would be harmful.

However, religious parents don't teach their kids about God for the short-term, they don't want their kids to ever give up the childish belief in an imaginary friend. That's where the two ideas sharply diverge.

Not according to most philosophical views of epistemology on how do we know what we know. You have a belief system based on only things you can proof beyond a shadow of doubt. You belief in facts. The two do work together. There is gravity that is a fact, I believe it to be true. There is a particle called a graviton that is not a fact, yet I can believe it to be true, until proven otherwise. I think there is a high possibility of a God, that is not a fact, yet I can believe it to be true, until proven otherwise. But if I stick to only proven facts as most atheists propose we would never question and experiment to discover new things. Because we first make an educated guess then proceed to do research to see if it is fact.

There's no such thing as proof beyond a shadow of a doubt. There is objective evidence however and no one ought believe anything without it. You believe in something for which you can offer no objective evidence, why should anyone take your claims for the existence of this entity seriously when you can't even explain why it is that you believe in it? You simply WANT it to be true, much like a child WANTS Santa Claus to be real, because they benefit from it's reality. But like Santa, there's nothing much more to it than that and when a child realizes that wanting something to be true doesn't actually make it true, Santa belief goes away.

But according to atheists I cannot do research through philosophy and logical premises in order to justify my belief in a God. Why? Because to atheists the premise of a god existing is just illogical. But that is not the only premise, research, and experience a theist may have.

Because that's exactly what you're doing, you're trying to *JUSTIFY* a belief, you're not actually concerned with whether the belief is factually true or not. You get an emotional benefit out of believing something and whether or not it's true doesn't enter into the consideration. The most comforting lie in the world is still a lie and the most uncomfortable truth is still the truth. What really matters is believing as many true things as possible and rejecting as many false things as possible. Whether you're comforted with what's left is irrelevant, one major component of the maturation process is actually dealing with reality as it exists, not as you wish it was.

[ruksak]

Do you allow a child to believe in Santa Claus? If you do than you are contradicting yourself. You should be teaching the child the truth.

I'm glad you mentioned that, actually.

I wrote a thread on this website several years ago about the potential psychological affects of teaching our children to believe in magical elves, generous gift giving rabbits and fairies that fly in through our windows to exchange currency for our disused teeth. How do we teach our children that there are no monsters hiding under bed, no bogeymen in the closet, in the face of all this? To say the messages were mixed is an understatement.

Though, you're correct. I succumbed to the pressure of not being a stick in the mud and letting my kids have the experience of believing in supernatural beings.

You belief in facts.

Guilty! I know, crazy, right?

Personally I'm starting to get the impression Atheists have the same prejudices they accuse religious people have.

I'm not an Atheist. However you're correct. They do.