Gozit

If people are passively religious, it doesn't bother me. If people try and voice / force their beliefs on me, it does. I have a friendship that is withering because of that. I also can't have a conversation with one set of grandparents without religion being brought into it. Which is really annoying...

If my doctor/plumber/whatever is religious, it doesn't bother me.... Now, if they started playing Christian / whatever other religious radio in my house, that would bother me

Me, (as my caption says ) i'm an atheist, I don't see how with otherwise perfectly rational people, their brains go completely out the window as soon as creationism/religion is brought up. I don't understand how people believe that there is some sky fairy up in the sky entering their soul and enlightening them. Or telling them what to do and what not to do. I don't understand how some people can go and waste their time in a church for an hour a week, think they are the best people in the world because of that, and then go on to be some of the most judgemental, mean people around.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of religious people are nice, but a lot go right against what they apparently believe as soon as they walk out of church.

Sally Redux

When this life is seen as unimportant the rest of us have a problem.

kimilseung

Sam Harris argues that these people are the enablers of the more problematic kind of religious follower. I am not quite convinced by his arguments, but can not fully reject them either.

Sally Redux

You also get the 'Of course we don't believe, but it's nice to have the tradition' people (probably mainly a C of E thing).

So the congregation is sitting there humouring the vicar in this madness

Sally Redux

The World according to Norman

Alan2005

To be fair, xmas is pretty cool.

bats

I think the vicar is more likely humouring the congregation.

Shard

Living in the UK, one forgets that such utter nonsense (quasi psychosis indeed) is alive and well in America.

Shard

I'm convinced. He's saying if you didn't have the benign layer then the extremists would have no legitimacy whatsoever. This is particularly so within Islam where disputing the (perceived) Koranic authority of the extremists could result in death. It's the benign layer of decent (but misguided) human beings which prevents society as a whole from tearing down the extremists. Believers are hesitant to do so as it undermines their own belief - for example a mild Christian would only dismiss not belittle a Rapture-proclaiming fellow Christian - and is the problem persists. Equally, some atheists will be hesitant to criticise the problem end of religionists as they fear being seen as intolerant by their benignly religious friends or family. We even have someone like that on here!

Gozit

I agree... Passively religious people don't bother me in that I can be friends with them / tolerate being around them if they are family, but I totally agree with that.

caretaker

I like these.

Sally Redux

It's not even his real birthday.

MikeUK

too true...

its the slightly docile.. that buffer the dangerously barking

scrubbedexpat098

What you lot are failing to see, is that it's the agnostics giving the moderates their platform, and the non believers giving the agnostics their platform with which to give the moderates theirs so they can enable the nutters, so it's all your fault.

Novocastrian

Eh? Existentially of course.