why can't people let them be?

Question

why can't people just leave all beliefs alone.
why is it so hard to exept that some believe in magic and some in god some belive in budha others in evolution etc.. can people agree to disagree? why do so many push their beliefs on others, some to the extent of physical war and death.
its like convincing someone they like tomatoes when they dont pointless!!!

i dont think ideas, beliefs, religion, science etc.. should not be taught and preached. i just think that you can only give someone the info and then let them decide. and if they choose not to belive or whatever thats their decision. you may not agree but people should then respect that decision and then leave it alone. dont continue to say they are wrong or they will go to hell. all you can do is give them the knowlege, what they do with it is all their own.

Answer 1

We are here to answer questions.and ask questions.

Answer 2

>why can't people just leave all beliefs alone. ... can people agree to disagree?

Even if we could, it wouldn't be a good idea. If we look at it logically, we know of course that among many conflicting beliefs, a maximum of one can be correct, and all the others, naturally, are incorrect. What is perhaps less obvious is that, in acting upon their beliefs, a person with an incorrect belief can do AT MOST as much good as a person with a correct belief- they CANNOT do more so long as only that belief is taken into account. Of course this becomes somewhat complicated due to one person being able to hold many different beliefs on many different subjects, but ultimately we are still faced with this fact: Holding false beliefs CANNOT do you any good in itself.

>why do so many push their beliefs on others, some to the extent of physical war and death.

Oh, but that is something else entirely. See, there are two quite different ways to get your beliefs to be the only set of beliefs in the world:
1. Convince everybody else that you're right.
2. Kill everybody who thinks you're wrong.
So, which one do religious wars fit into? Well, unless you think physically hurting someone is a good way to convince them that you're right, it's pretty obviously the second one. And as most rational people can agree, the first one is not infringing on anybody's rights (so long as you do it through pure argument rather than, say, drugging them or something) while the second one most certainly is (provided they weren't the ones who started it; self-defense is another issue entirely).

>its like convincing someone they like tomatoes when they dont pointless!!!

NO, it most certainly is NOT like that. Liking tomatoes is a preference, but what you've been talking about are beliefs, which are not the same thing as preferences. It's like the difference between saying 'I enjoy eating pizza' and 'that pizza there doesn't exist'; the former is a preference, but the latter is objectively false. Similarly, the existence of God, Buddha, evolution or whatever are also matters of objective fact and cannot be changed just by people believing in things that don't exist or not believing in things that do exist.

In short, you're right that religious wars are pretty pointless, but you're wrong that it's a good thing to leave everyone else's beliefs alone.

Answer 3

I agree with part of your point, the non-violence part. But here's the thing: beliefs have consequences.

For thousands of years people did not know what caused disease. They didn't know about bacteria, viruses, parasites, forms of cancer, leukemia, poisoning, even to keep their feces out of their food. Some cultures still don't know this. They thought if you were sick, perhaps evil spirits or black magic was the cause. Certain African nations still have the predominant belief that AIDS is caused by witchcraft.

These beliefs are not benign. Left unchallenged they can cause great harm, death, even as you point out, violence. So it really isn't responsible to sit back and let some Baptist trailer trash force my local science teachers to teach the earth is 6000 years old and all species were created in a few days. With this understanding of biology our medical sciences will revert to beads and rattles and exorcisms, which could lead to my death, yours, my children's.

I'm not going to go beat hell out of some Muslim because they think Mohamed rode to heaven on a winged horse. But I'm also not going to refrain from pointing out how utterly ridiculous the claim is, because some wish to impose their deranged view of reality on all humanity and take us back to feudalism.

What you propose is capitulation to those you have most to fear from, the ones who will not leave others beliefs or persons alone.

Answer 4

I accept that not all believe like I do. I have no problems. IMHO, it's because I'm secure in my faith. I don't feel the need to put anyone's faith down. In fact, I like learning what other faiths believe, and learning it from those that actually believe. That's why, when I wanted to know why Moslems put PBUH or Peace Be Unto Him after the names of Biblical prophets, I asked MOSLEMS to answer. I figure, the best people to know why Moslems do something are MOSLEMS! I don't need to put them down, or tell them they are wrong, or going to hell or whatever, JUST because they don't believe like I do.

Answer 5

False preaching...
There is no compulsion in religion...
In true religion the followers choose their own faith whole heartedly and it's nobody's business to interfere with someone's acceptance of their faith. People can educate but not force acceptance.

Answer 6

Yes, that's the truth! There is no compulsion in religion and this is coming from Islam. Religion or atheism should come from your brain rationalizing that this is what you want to believe in.
Not from somebody in your face screaming, believe or your going to hell!

Answer 7

Because there will always be ignorance in the world, and it will never stop unfortunately. Me personally you can believe in Godzilla but if you are cool then thats fine with me.

Answer 8

tell the christians to stop trying to convert people and stop trying to take over countrys and stop causeing holy wars then we will leave them alone

Answer 9

Are you trying to convince me to like tomatoes?

Answer 10

It can't be done. Religious people aren't happy till everyone lives the same delusion that they do.

Answer 11

yes so true I dont like tomatoes and forcing me to eat them will only get me annoyed