Religious or not, you shouldn’t be telling people what to believe or how to believe. That goes for hardline Christian nationalists just as much as it goes for hardline Atheists attacking anyone of faith. If it’s not hurting anyone, let people believe what they believe.
I would agree, but I’ve actually become sympathetic to the opposite viewpoint recently. It is hurting people. Look at the policy decisions in the US that are driven by religious fundamentalism. Heck, just think about the core premise that faith is stronger than reason. That’s an inherently problematic and extremely exploitable viewpoint. I don’t think something like religion can be counted as harmless by ignoring all the examples of harm that it causes. If a belief is only not dangerous when it agrees with other beliefs, and is dangerous when it disagrees, then that is a fundamentally dangerous belief all the time, which only becomes apparent sometimes. I think religion has a purpose, to give community to those who need it, but fundamentally it is not good.
spoiler
If God is reading this, I’m sorry, but I do hope I get points for trying to hold good beliefs from fundamentals. It’s also a reasonable religious viewpoint that organized religion has been taken over by the literal Antichrist. You could say that I hold faith that good acts are judged accordingly regardless of religion.
The thing is that is exactly what I mean by having a problem with people who force their religious values onto others, which is expressly not okay. But I know plenty of people, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or whatever else who practice their faith in their own lives and do not disrupt the lives of others according to their beliefs. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of religious people I have met and know in real life are like this. Christian nationalists are different, they don’t respect the beliefs of others and want to force their faith onto other people. That’s where the line is. What I have a problem with is those who attack people who are not past that line, who are practicing their faith in their own lives without forcing anything onto others.
I think that’s fair. I generally follow that philosophy in my personal life; many members of my family are religious to various degrees, but we don’t really discuss it much, and their beliefs don’t really effect my perception of them, because we don’t try to force our beliefs on each other.
I would agree, but I’ve actually become sympathetic to the opposite viewpoint recently. It is hurting people. Look at the policy decisions in the US that are driven by religious fundamentalism. Heck, just think about the core premise that faith is stronger than reason. That’s an inherently problematic and extremely exploitable viewpoint. I don’t think something like religion can be counted as harmless by ignoring all the examples of harm that it causes. If a belief is only not dangerous when it agrees with other beliefs, and is dangerous when it disagrees, then that is a fundamentally dangerous belief all the time, which only becomes apparent sometimes. I think religion has a purpose, to give community to those who need it, but fundamentally it is not good.
spoiler
If God is reading this, I’m sorry, but I do hope I get points for trying to hold good beliefs from fundamentals. It’s also a reasonable religious viewpoint that organized religion has been taken over by the literal Antichrist. You could say that I hold faith that good acts are judged accordingly regardless of religion.
…I would make a really weird Christian.
The thing is that is exactly what I mean by having a problem with people who force their religious values onto others, which is expressly not okay. But I know plenty of people, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or whatever else who practice their faith in their own lives and do not disrupt the lives of others according to their beliefs. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of religious people I have met and know in real life are like this. Christian nationalists are different, they don’t respect the beliefs of others and want to force their faith onto other people. That’s where the line is. What I have a problem with is those who attack people who are not past that line, who are practicing their faith in their own lives without forcing anything onto others.
I think that’s fair. I generally follow that philosophy in my personal life; many members of my family are religious to various degrees, but we don’t really discuss it much, and their beliefs don’t really effect my perception of them, because we don’t try to force our beliefs on each other.