Don't you really think we should all have the equal right to believe or not believe?

Question

Honestly how many of us think we should force others to believe as we do? Don't we all believe in freedom to choose who or if we will believe and follow? I am not saying stop reaching out or stop discussing and debating. I am just tired of posts about hate and abolishing ANYONES choice concerning religion or lack of it.

So many posts have been concerning "should we make Christianity illegal" or should we "expell all atheists"

And for the record I do believe I am a Catholic Christian.

Here we go again can we not debate and discuss without insulting? Are human beings not capable of common courtesy?

Yes evangelize but not judge or insult.

I think there are problem on both sides of the fence. I have seen believers calling atheist stupid and I have seen atheist calling believers brainwashed or zombies. It takes to to argue or fight.

My stance on anything has nothing to do with politeness and common courtesty. I do not go out and preach "you are going to hell." And by the way I have seen many answers and questions that were unintelligent on purpose or that were intended to insult.

You are indeed entitled to your opinion but you should not have the right to make your opinion legally required to be mine.

Now see I do not believe homosexuality is right but I do not think the government has the right to arrest you or to prevent you from living as you please.But I have the right to disagree with it.

But I am too busy with other pursuits to spend my energy trying to persuade homosexuals to change. They already know the Bibles position and they have chosen not to believe in it. That is their choice.

Point made Mr. Bad L. and I concur but their have been numerous rock throwing and insult hurling on both sides. Wouldn't you agree?

As I said I have no problem with Evangelization I have a problem with insults and rude comments.

Answer 1

huh?

what a stupid question...of course we should have freedom to believe or not believe!

Answer 2

To believe is not a right. No one can force a belief on another. There are those in other countries like Iran, Iraq, China, chechnya, who force people to convert, or insist on them believing nothing, but that isn't true here.

What you may really mean is does anyone have the right to dominate the beliefs of others in that you must abide by their laws and codes.

It isn't a question of rights. It is a matter of history that this country was founded on Christian-Judeo principles, that is basically the ten commandments and the first five books of the old testament and the torah.

Do not lie, cheat steal, commit adultery. We all know these but they are the laws based on the teachings of both of these religions. You cannot escape that. There are or were bigamist in this country. It is outlawed. Should we have a belief system that says this is ok because a minority says they want it to be ok?

How about we can have many wives and have sex with goats in public! Let's have a belief system like that so we can do what we want regardless of what everyone else think!

This isn;'t about forcing someone's beliefs on another but codifying a set of laws that we all think are good...so society and exist within some boundaries.

No one abolishes another persons "right" concerning religion. Ignorance may influence certain people's comments but they are the uneducated radical few who are easily misled by others seeking power.

And usually I found that those who hate those that are religious do it out of fear that a God may really exist and if he does it isn't very good news for them. Wish it away and god won't judge you. Well, they may in for a big surprise.

As a matter of fact those who say you shouldn't judge are those4 that hope anything they do will be acceptable. They don't want to be judged. That's why. Know right from wrong and don't let the ignorant have their way.

Lastly, the funniest thing about these people and their rights is that if you read the Declaration of independence, it says that these very rights that people claim they have are GIVEN by the very god they deny!

So, if there is no God they have no rights!

Answer 3

I couldn't really see any reason to join this discussion because our freedom to believe what we wish is intuitively obvious. A better question, if I may, would have been, "What justification is there, in a free society, for trying to change the way others believe?" But that's for another time.

Bill Compugeek however exemplifies the kind of individual who fears to confront anything but the views he already holds. If you know anything at all about atheism it should be obvious that atheists have a deep interest in religious matters, because they hold strong views about relgion. As has been said elsewhere, atheists do not believe in "nothing" - we firmly believe, with our reasons, that there is no deity. In order to do this we've had to consider the same questions as theists, such as, where do we come from? What is morality? What happens after we die? If asked we will participate in discussions about these questions. They are religious questions which, for us, religion is not the answer. A forum called "Christianity" might be more exclusive. One called "Religion and Spirituality" is an open forum for exactly the kinds of ideas discussed here.

Perhaps there are some atheists who want to "convert" Christians, but my view is that that pursuit would be pointless and merely harrassing, and I don't think there are nearly as many atheists on this forum trying to convert anyone as there are theists attacking them (if it's your view that someone whose views you are attacking, who then defends those views, is "trying to convert" you, you really need to feel more secure in your beliefs.) There are NO atheistic evangelists. We embody the view that a person's beliefs are their business and no-one else's. EDIT: I think I already did agree.

Answer 4

Of course we have the right to believe what we like. I think the problems arise when those beliefs find their way into action. No matter how hard you try to be neutral, your beliefs form you into who you are, and consequently inform your actions.

So, at the end of the day, on the one hand, we have people who believe the human race will end in a dreadful war,and some final judgement being passed on every person who ever existed. No good choices there. On the other, people who think our future is anything we want to make it, and it can be as bright and wonderful, or as dark and terrible, as the people making it happen.

See, in practice, it never stops at belief. Human nature won't let it. And since long-term human survival is at stake, the struggle to get everyone on the same page continues. Given how many people have died/are dying in religious wars, over the centuries, this probably will never become the benign discussion you are hoping for. But I wish you well.

Answer 5

If everyone could live in peace this way, freedom of religion is a great idea. However, this isn't working. If you look into the past and present, there are religious wars. People want their religion/ religious lands to be recognized. Everyone wants to be right, and no one wants to be told they are wrong. Not one person can trully say someone is wrong because no one knows for sure. The freedom must stay until religions can be proven to be false/true.

Answer 6

There is a pretty big difference between a non-believer, which is someone who simply doesn't accept any of the popular religions but (usually) isn't trying to convert others, and a believer (and certainly not all are like this) who feels that he and those who agree with him are the only ones with the truth and all others are evil. Non-believers don't think that believers are wrong, evil, damned, or anything else, for the most part, only that they believe in something that non-believers don't agree with. It is, in my opinion, those rather obnoxious people who try to force their "one, true, holy" point of view down the throats of all the other "evil" people in the world that make me sick.

Answer 7

We can all believe what we want to. You can't however expect everyone else to believe you too. Since we can believe what we want to believe we subject ourselves to everyone else's opinion when we post our questions on here. If you don't want to know and you are too sensitive and may get your feeling hurt...you should know by now to keep your questions to yourself. There are no stupid answers just stupid questions. If we do have equal rights then you should be able to say what you believe in a nice way. That is just a matter of not having manners. If you want to share your opinion you should be able to do so.

Answer 8

I think we all have the right to believe what we want because if God wanted it any other way He wouldn't have given us freedom of choice. I think it is healthy to debate and ask questions, but only with an open mind not to try to shove it down someones throat. You don' t change opinions that way.

Answer 9

That depends, love. What's your stance on homosexuality?
If you consider it wrong because the bible says it is, then why don't you also think it's wrong to wear clothes of different materials?
How many xtians do you know that are active in trying to stamp out homosexuality in their clothes made from mixed materials? A sin is a sin is a sin, isn't it...?
Basically, what I'm getting at is I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE, JUST THEIR HYPOCRISY!

:)

Answer 10

We are supposed to have equal rights to believe or to not believe as citizens of secular democracies anyway but Christians especially keep claiming privileges for themselves and forcing their religious rules on everyone else who are not Christians, it can't be allowed to continue...not all Christians think it is right to impose Christianity on all...so we must make our voices heard louder whereas in the past we remained quiet...things are becoming too political and are more threatening nowadays.

Answer 11

Unfortunately God given freedom include the freedom to spew hatred. Most do it for attention. Just like children (milk babies) if you ignore their tantrums and embrace their good behaviors they will eventually stop the vileness. As long as you engage their hatred they get the attention they desire and will continue.

We all could take a lesson from Super Nanny when it come to cottecting anothers bad behavior.