That's funny, I thought you were dead set against publicly humiliating ones beliefs, especially through pictures and films? So, I suppose you'll be shutting the fuck up now when pics and films of Islam and Muhammad are depicted?
While I generally agree with the thrust of this entire post, I thought the cartoon itself was fairly sarcastically directed against theists?
I understand, the point was directed towards Sam's hypocrisy of posting pictures or creating films that humiliates ones beliefs. I guess that too is a double-standard.
Did you not give a sermon on ridiculing the belief is not ridiculing the believer? Have you changed your mind? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Oh yes, I did change my mind. I think its a good idea to try it out. Clearly, there must be advantages to it, since it has been firmly established that ridiculing beliefs not consonant with your own is the right medium of freedom of expression. I hope you will support me in this endeavor. I'm planning to practice it as often as possible to get the hang of it. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Calm down you two or I'll have to put you on a time-out...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
No, I am not, and I don't understand how you read that into my post. I am contrasting the caring, deep commitment of strong faith with the rational "I don't believe in faerie folk" attitude of many atheists. It is precisely my point that a belief that there is no God is not necessarily a faith-based commitment - which is why it is not necessary to try to redefine "atheism". Atheism means the belief that there is no God. Atheism is not a faith-based commitment.
This is pretty funny in two ways - To theists, it's funny because it reinforces the idea that atheism is precisely the faith-based commitment that atheists deride. The guy still doesn't believe in God, despite the robust evidentiary support in front of him. To atheists, its funny because it illustrates the baggage people associate with the "atheist" label. The poor guy is being stuck with a label that no longer applies - he's finally given the evidence he's been asking for, and it turns out that not only does God exist... he's also a bigot!
Greenberg good question BTW if you have the time, what do you make of this It is a three hundred year old refutation of buddhism - seems that buddhism is something else these days ...
"Worship Kim-Il-Sung"? That's fundamentalism Marxism or Nationalism. The atheism aspect is incidental.
I disagree. What matter to these people is that: a) They're imprisoned and perhaps threatened with death b) They're told to renounce their religion and worship Kim Il Sung I think pretty much anything else is incidental, including the precise beliefs of their captors. But I think that the people doing this to them are doing it not because they are atheist and want everyone else to be, but because they worship Kim Il Sung (or at least the Juche ideology), and want everyone else to do the same.
Nope, its very significant. Because its not just the Christians, its also Buddhists, Muslims, followers of any religion or God apparently.
This conflict isn't between atheism and Christianity - it's between juche and Christianity. There is an argument here: NORTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS.com that Juche does not even include atheism, but that: According to Juche, there is no god but Kim Il Sung, the country's "Eternal President", which makes North Korea the world's only country governed by an embalmed dead body. Juche attributes divine powers also to Kim Jong Il, the sole author, editor and interpreter of Juche.
Except Kim-Il-Sung. It's Juche vs everyone else, not atheism vs everyone else. How do you think an atheist who denigrated Kim-Il-Sung would fare in North Korea?