If you KNOW you could convince a very close relative AND friend(father) that thier beliefs were not logical and they would accept it, should you do it, even if it would totally destroy all hope they have?Is it better to die in denial than to live without any hope?
2007-07-06 13:23:37 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
i don't see how it would destroy all their hope.
i mean, sure it would destroy their hope in an afterlife and and all that. but that doesn't mean they would lose all hope in everything.
you seem to be saying that no atheists have hope. this is just not true.
and besides that, i don't run around trying to un-convert people.
and also, if i could convince the guy this easily, he obviously wasn't very firm in his beliefs in the first place, which would mean i wouldn't be destroying his hope. he was already on that path himself.
2007-07-06 13:28:26 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion does serve a purpose in life. It a lot of cases it gives those who need it, a purpose and hope. There are a lot of people that need that kind of above power. With out it they would be lost in life. If this is your friend and it would destroy him to not have his believes then just respect what he has. If he is not pushing it on anybody and doesn't use it as a tool to launder hate then just agree to disagree.
2007-07-06 13:30:42 · answer #2 · answered by usefulidiot230 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have friends and family who cover a wide range of religious beliefs. If their faith gives them comfort and helps them get through life, why would I want to try and take that away from them? You seem to be suggesting that that's what atheists and agnostics are all about and you couldn't be more wrong.
2007-07-06 13:32:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If someone is aged and/or on their deathbed, you leave them alone.
It's the young and the next generation that should be given free access to all the mainstrean scinetific principles and understandings that define the natural world.
However, those who indoctrinate children with religious dogma should be made aware that it's a form of child abuse, and denies them the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of the intellectual giants before them..
2007-07-06 13:31:24 · answer #4 · answered by Commonancestor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not interested in selling my worldview to anyone else. If someone wants to discuss belief, I'm happy to share my ideas with them; and if anyone tries to push his beliefs on me, I'll push back.
But I think you've made a couple of erroneous assumptions in your question. Faith, in my experience, is impervious to logic. If you can talk someone out of his beliefs, he was not very attached to them to begin with. Secondly, losing your religion does not necessarily involve losing hope. When you replace theism with humanism, you gain the hope that humanity will make progress in its quest for understanding, and the sense that your own thoughts and beliefs are a valuable part of that process. For someone who is ready for it, shedding religious belief can be a joyous liberation.
2007-07-06 14:09:30 · answer #5 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think if the cost would be their utter despair, then no. But there's no reason to believe that realizing the falsity of religion would lead to that. It didn't in my case, nor in any other atheist I know. We're all pretty positive and forward-looking I find. If I could pass that on to anyone else then of course I would.
2007-07-06 13:27:45 · answer #6 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you go as far as to change their lives like that then the least you could do is to remain a source of support and knowledge for them. Which I'm sure you would. Good Luck
2007-07-06 13:28:04 · answer #7 · answered by Miss Candi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they base their life completely on their beliefs and hopes, i wouldnt do it. It doesnt hurt to die believing in something false. I would just let them keep on with their beliefs, it doesnt hurt anyone, and you dont want them to be completely depressed. You'll feel bad too for making them upset.
:)
2007-07-06 13:28:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I generally dont try to talk people out of their faith. I try to keep the discussion to how their faith affects those of us who do not believe and that aspects of their faith should not forced on me. My wife of 15 yr is a Christian and I think with the proper argument I could make her see thing differently,yet I have done so.
2007-07-06 13:36:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically this would be the equivalent of would you kick the crutches out from someone. If I knew it would destroy all hope then hell no I wouldn't tell them.
2007-07-06 13:27:10 · answer #10 · answered by meissen97 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋