Reply #169: Exactly.

[varkam]

And I certainly don't think atheism is a religion. What would be the tenets of such a religion? Good luck agreeing on them, lol.

No doubt. It would be like herding cats.

But I have encountered some whose zeal for proving their case resembles that of a particularly persistent evangelist - or door to door salesman, for that matter. And when you add to that line a fair amount of name-calling (delusional, etc.), I guess I'm not entirely surprised when people begin to respond with their own name-calling.

Again, no doubt. I'm not saying that atheists are well-behaved little angels. I think we all have dirt on our hands, myself included. However, as the old adage goes, two wrongs do not make a right. I think it is wrong to compare religion to a mental illness or to call believers delusional, as do several other of my brethren here - but the fact that such behavior exists does not then give theists (or anyone else for that matter) the right to dump on us.

As I've said elsewhere, what's lacking in the sort of interactions I've described (and I think on both sides, they involve a very few of our posters here) is a basic respect for the other poster, and the other poster's view being legitimate *for that person*.

I agree with you, though I think that is incredibly hard to do - especially in the realm of a pseudonymous message board. I think the main point though is that there is so much at stake for people in this discussion. Religion and religious beliefs are so closely tied with personal identity that many people seem to take it that attacking ideas is the same as attacking people. I think it is entirely possible to think that certain ideas are without merit, but not think that the people who hold those ideas are without merit.

It's possible to question someone without insulting them, and it's possible to explain your point of view without needing to win people to your way of seeing things.

Exactly.

IOW, I don't think we're disagreeing here.

I don't think we are, either.