Atheism and being Armenian

[Sip]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

I think I have said this before in that atheists and the religious pretty much tend to behave in the same ways about thinking they are right about what they KNOW to be True. The only difference of course is that the athetists are probably right since there is absolutely nothing, 0, none, zilch, null, nill, vochich, nada to support any claims made by the religious people where all of those would support what the atheists are saying 100%.

Of course I have no clue whether either one is right (no one can know) but I do know with very very high confidence that the Christian claims and the Bible stories about Creation are absolute bullxxxx ... and if Creation, a fundamental piece of the religion is sooooo fricking wrong, what chance does the rest of it have really?

[Mos]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

I think if you asked believers if they feel superior in some way to non-believers, you'd get about the same proportions answering in the affirmative as if you did the reverse. This hasn't been done though, so rather than claim that one side tends to do this to the other, perhaps we can acknowledge that it seems this way to the opposite side.

See, the problem is that there's not agreement about what's demeaning. People tend to be offended by any criticism. Being critical of the church isn't necessarily disrespectful. Also, why should the church enjoy that position of privilege to be above any scrutiny?
Should we respect all religions or only the one that our people tend to subscribe to? Is it okay to "demean" or be critical of the church of scientology, by comparison? For less odd comparison, what about Islam? Should that be protected too or is it just that we tend to want to protect our religious organizations only?

Well obviously I believe we should be respectful to both sides. That being said, Armenian society is not an atheistic society in nature. Rather, a society that has in it the Christian values of the Armenian Apostolic faith. So the burden falls on the non-believers more to be respectful and yield to society that is. I see any person especially an Armenian demeaning the Armenian Church and outwardly attacking it and the Armenian faith in general as an attack on values that have played key role in our culture and history. So it is attacking part of the Armenian nation, which is unacceptable on behalf of a fellow Armenian. It's the same feeling one would have if a fellow Armenian was attacking our heroes in our history.

We should respect other religions and any criticism should come in academic form. That being said, it doesn't give excuse for fellow Armenians to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Siggie]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

Well obviously I believe we should be respectful to both sides. That being said, Armenian society is not an atheistic society in nature. Rather, a society that has in it the Christian values of the Armenian Apostolic faith. So the burden falls on the non-believers more to be respectful and yield to society that is. I see any person especially an Armenian demeaning the Armenian Church and outwardly attacking it and the Armenian faith in general as an attack on values that have played key role in our culture and history. So it is attacking part of the Armenian nation, which is unacceptable on behalf of a fellow Armenian. It's the same feeling one would have if a fellow Armenian was attacking our heroes in our history.

We should respect other religions and any criticism should come in academic form. That being said, it doesn't give excuse for fellow Armenians to shoot themselves in the foot.

You're repeating that we shouldn't demean or be disrespectful, but you're not adding much to address what I was saying which was what is disrespectful or demeaning?

I don't think the argument that the culture has values that are Christian values and so non-believers have to yield? What values are you talking about that are exclusively Christian?

[KanadaHye]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

I don't think the argument that the culture has values that are Christian values and so non-believers have to yield? What values are you talking about that are exclusively Christian?

There are no "exclusive" values. Values are universal, what a person is taught to value isn't. Think of it like this. Money is what you pay. Value is what you get.

[Siggie]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

There are no "exclusive" values. Values are universal, what a person is taught to value isn't. Think of it like this. Money is what you pay. Value is what you get.

I think what I was asking is clear. Not playing semantic games.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

I think what I was asking is clear. Not playing semantic games.

I though my response was pretty clear..... you can ask every Christian what they value and you'll get a different response. There might be some things that they all may agree on like the fundamentals but generally it's not carved in stone... well the 10 commandments are but that's besides the point

[Mos]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

You're repeating that we shouldn't demean or be disrespectful, but you're not adding much to address what I was saying which was what is disrespectful or demeaning?

I don't think the argument that the culture has values that are Christian values and so non-believers have to yield? What values are you talking about that are exclusively Christian?

It's disrespectful and/or demeaning when you personally attack someone for their beliefs, you look down upon them for those beliefs, and attack the church as a whole.

As a Christian people, Christian values have naturally transferred into our culture and values. The Armenian Apostolic Faith is part of the Armenian Nation. We are not like Holland, where the Christian faith has become rather far removed from Dutch society and culture. Non-believers should heed this fact and be respectful to it.

[Siggie]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

I though my response was pretty clear..... you can ask every Christian what they value and you'll get a different response. There might be some things that they all may agree on like the fundamentals but generally it's not carved in stone... well the 10 commandments are but that's besides the point

Menag du ashkhati indzi khentatsnes!
Your response is clear, but seems more to do with what Mos said than my post which you quoted. I'm asking him a followup using the same word he did because I understood what he meant.

If they get different answers then do you disagree with Mos's statement?

[KanadaHye]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

Menag du ashkhati indzi khentatsnes!

Short answer yes. Long answer yessssssss.

[Siggie]

Re: Atheism and being Armenian

headdesk

Thankfully it's time to go home! Not going to succeed today. *plugs fingers in ears and runs away* Lalalallalalaalalaaaalala