Religion is Different

I am sure many atheists that like to debate theology (like me) have been called intolerant because they openly criticise religion. People are as defensive about religion as they are about race, gender or place of birth. I contest this. You cannot choose any of those things so questioning them would be stupid. But you can chose religion so it makes seance to question it.

If I said I was a communist. People would question my reasons, and rightly so, communism has never been applied correctly so being a communist is stupid. If I said I was a monist people would question it, and rightly so. The idea that I am the only person in existence calls into question how important I consider other people. But if I say I'm Jewish, no one will question it. Even if they are an atheist, a Christian, a Muslim or a Hindu, even if their who outlook on religion and the life was different from Judaism they would think questioning it would be intolerant.

Another place were religion gets a special place as opposed to other world views is with children. Most children are automatically viewed as being part of the same religion as there parents. Even children who are too young to understand how the world works are automatically branded as being Muslim, Jewish or some other religion. If I were a communist my child wouldn’t be considered a commonest.

Now I'm not saying go around and start questioning peoples religion on the street. But, if you are debating theology or in some other argument don't be afraid of pointing out flaws in there argument just because you will be declared intolerant.


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