All right, now the definitions are getting somewhere. I would have to say that most atheists are more willing to consider new/competing ideas than most theists (this is a very general statement and many exceptions will exist). Now let's turn our attention to the earlier mentioned scientists; they must, by definition of the word science, consider all proposed ideas in light of all of the available evidence and come to a conclusion that logically fits everything (of course they also can admit that they cannot tell which of the ideas, if any, are correct). So because scientists are willing to consider new ideas and opinions they are open minded. Because they have an open mind they are free thinkers. QED (hoozah!).
What I mean when I say that I wasn’t forced to attend I mean that nobody made me go to the thing (and I didn’t). Had I wanted to see my friends graduate (and had time permitted my to stay there for a few extra days) I would have had to sit through it all; I could not watch my friends graduate in a non-religious service. I didn’t personally get dragged into it, but other non-christians have in the very recent past.
Yes, Rep. Monique Davis is probably an outlier in this case but you were asking for an example of where I have been hurt, and this applied.
Yes, obviously calling the site “the American Taliban” is a rhetorical move but that does not undermine the validity of the rest of the site. That aside, that group is very similar to the Taliban in that they are religious extremists that would like to use government resources to impose theocratic rule on people. The main difference is that in America there is a much heavier moderating influence than there is in Afghanistan. Oh, and that group does contain members of the government (note the president).
I suppose you might have a point with the whole preaching thing. I just can’t really imagine trying to convince people of something that they already agree with me about. The other thing is that these religions have many beliefs whereas atheists only share a lack of a single belief (not really enough to preach about).
Why is my being a Pastafarian something that is to be questioned but your being a christianity isn’t? If we had two isolated individuals one of whom was a christian and one was a Pastafarian, would a completely neutral observer (either an atheist or a member of a different religion) have any reason to suspect that one of the individuals was more likely to be lying about their religion?
Ok, on to that last bit. I’m glad you don’t hate me. It’s sometimes hard to tell over the internet if people are really mad or what. I know I certainly don’t dislike you, I am very against many of your arguments, but I think that it is good that a christian will talk so extensively about his religion (most just seem to ignore any conversation on the issue and a lot of others just make stupid threats).
p.s. Why do you use asterisks in "so******t"? Is that a forbidden word on this forum? Do you think it is in some way profane? Do you just like hitting Shift+8?
