Shard

Not sure if they are despicable. Either that are true believers (in which case they are innocent in their hocus-pocus trading) or they are businessmen who are simply providing a service to the gullible. There has to be some individual responsibility in all this.

kimilseung

Do you not find any form of fraud to be despicable? Is it all just business services for the gullible?

Alan2005

The line between personal responsibility and victim blaming is very political. You gotta be careful you don't fall foul of SJW's.

kimilseung

I think the French have this right, convicting Scientology for fraud.

Shard

I am unsure. I find most forms of fraud wrong, but somehow when it involves religion my sympathy evaporates. I don't find the dodgy business astrologers or palm readers do particularly despicable or even wrong. If you take a long view, the financial deceit that these organisations perpetrate will only lead to their eventual undoing, and that can't be a bad thing.

kimilseung

Astrologers and palm readers seem to be as much about entertainment as anything else. I do find the ambulance chasing side of things despicable, getting people while they are vulnerable, and people like Peter Popoff. Though how people buy in to him after his unmasking, I do not know.

scot47

Why do you worry about other people's belief systems ?

kimilseung

Education, health care, the right to life...little things like that.

The Iraq war may have not happened if it was not for a minority (but large) section of US citizenship wanting a war in the middle east to hasten Armageddon.
Climate change would not have so much opposition to recognizing its existence if it was not for the belief that God will not let it happen.

Shard

Because their belief systems interfere with the smooth running of society.

JGK

I have no problems with creationist believing what they believe.

However, the moment they start wanting it taught in schools, I'll be in there demanding the same re the flying spagetti monster and his noodly appendage on the basis of equal evidence of both.

Now anti-vaxers are a whole other story

scrubbedexpat091

I don't mind people believing or not believing on religion and the stuff that goes a long with religion as long as it doesn't effect my ability to enjoy life, and they leave me out of it.

My sister turned into a really religious person (no clue why, we were not raised religious, and nobody in the family is) and it takes a lot of patience to talk to her sometimes because of it. Her beliefs and my beliefs conflict with one another, so we can't discuss it without some sort of argument.

I take the view of their might be a higher power and there might not be one, I don't know either way and can't prove it either way, so I just live life the way I want and not what a book says or a pastor etc says to live it.

Alan2005

Those zany creationists.

Novocastrian

Oh my.

Food for thought that.

A-raping he will go
A-raping he will go
Ee-aye adio a-raping he will go.

Sally Redux

Scientology is interesting. It's totally daft, but no more so than other religions, or so they successfully argued to get recognition and tax breaks in the USA.
Same-sex marriage and good old circumcision...
Once again someone with no scientific understanding whatsoever gets airtime.

Novocastrian

Media balance, innit?