No. Just no. To everything. I know exactly what I did and it's part of a conscious effort to spread awareness of the fact that some people think they're above criticism, ridicule, or being the subject of jokes. They are not.
It is in no way, shape, or form similar to rape, murder, etc. Just because they interpret it as such doesn't mean it is - it just means they put way too much stock in something ridiculous as idolatry.
That picture hurts innocent people like teaching sex education hurts children who's parents only want them to learn about abstinence. The fact that you so readily defend it despite realizing how ridiculous and misguided their beliefs about it are is baffling to me; I honestly thought better of you.
Hey - free speech and all, but .... there's always a but.... one can "spread awareness" without insulting others in what may come across as a very personal manner. I've attempted to make people aware of a worldview I and others hold int this thread without resorting to base level responses.
I said it earlier - when you resort to base level attacks and insults, you have become exactly what you rile against. Being dickish is easy, it takes very little effort or thought, but rarely influences debate or results in someone else rethinking a position..
All that said - I'm all for debating the merits of any particular religion I'm familiar with, I do have opinions, feelings on the pros and cons, but remain open to the fact that quite possibly I just don't understand something fully. Not that any information would change my overall opinion of organized religion, but I'll always listen to try and at least become more informed with information that may very well strengthen my worldview.
PS - I do think the picture in question could be seen as a personal insult to some (not me, but some) and quite possibly could be seen as going against the forum rules and guidelines as they are listed in the sticky thread at the top.
Either way - a good conversation has degraded into the unfortunate result of what happens when a much larger subject gets dragged down by specificity and the I'm right, your wrong type simple mindedness.
The question was "When did you stop believing in god?" - a very open ended question indeed. But in it's openness it seemed logical that some respondents would be believers, not looking to be converted, just looking to add a different view.
It's clear to me that despite what many may see as harsh doctrines and religious guidelines, a majority of believers fall into the pick and choose category of worship. I can only say it again - any belief/non-belief taken too far can become extremism in nature. Just because someone believes does not make them shoot to the extremist end of the spectrum - the majority look over the rules, doctrine, dogma, and incorporate what they feel works for them. As an example, the Catholic church is against contraception, abortion, and homosexuality, yet in recent polling over 54% of American Catholics support gay marriage and I suspect and even larger number utilize contraception at times in their lives. Religions organizations change slowly, but followers tend to adapt to reality as needed.
I also tend to see many people that will call themselves believers in a god, possibly calling themselves Christians, yet really not involved with a particular church or branch or Christianity (I also have friends that were born into other religions, including Hinduism and Islam that fall into this category) that believe in something, just not everything (in regards to doctrine/dogma.
In my first response to this thread I mentioned my mothers break from Catholicism over contraception - a subject she simply disagreed with, enough to make her stop attending church over - but she is still a Christian at heart, she still believes in a god. I see this as a healthy condition in that she is capable of questioning the doctrine and dogma when she feels it unjust or simply wrong in a modern world. That capability in her is also what allows her to accept fully that I'm an unconcerned agnostic/atheist (indifferent to the existence or non-existence of a higher power). It allows us to have open conversations without the need to proselytize the other to our own viewpoint.
All this leads me to not paint people with broad brushes, to accept that there will always be extremists that set bad examples for the vast majority that simply live life.
But hey - haters gonna hate - I'd just rather not
