Most people who are religious nowadays know that the stories aren't real or are embellished. It's a story to teach a lesson. The faith allows comfort for people who need it, the community does as well. If you don't need that comfort, fine, don't make fun of people who do. They aren't stupid, they're filling a hole in their heart with community and a shared belief / interest. My wife fills mine, some people don't have that or lost it.
Pro-tip, instead of asking for "proof" like an interrogation, ask for clarification to understand the story or viewpoint. Getting in a fight over something neither side can prove is ridiculous.
But if you want to debate what we cannot know, riddle me this, how do you know we're not in a simulation made by a higher being? Math and science is the reverse engineering of our created universe. It's more probable we were created in some way than a random occurrence.
> Most people who are religious nowadays know that the stories aren't real or are embellished. It's a story to teach a lesson.
This is a thin excuse. These stories were held up as literal truths for centuries. The moral principles they embody are held up as serious until they become too unfashionable, then those are dismissed as metaphor too. If you claim a given religious lesson is good and valid today, what basis do we have for believing that someone in 40 years won't be saying that that lesson too was something that was never meant to be taken seriously?
> Getting in a fight over something neither side can prove is ridiculous.
Note how you're contradicting your previous argument, because you don't have a position beyond throwing a bunch of arguments at the wall and hoping something will stick. The burden of proof is on the one making claims; otherwise we should all take Russell's teapot seriously.
> But if you want to debate what we cannot know, riddle me this, how do you know we're not in a simulation made by a higher being?
> This is a thin excuse. These stories were held up as literal truths for centuries. The moral principles they embody are held up as serious until they become too unfashionable, then those are dismissed as metaphor too. If you claim a given religious lesson is good and valid today, what basis do we have for believing that someone in 40 years won't be saying that that lesson too was something that was never meant to be taken seriously?
It's not an excuse, it's reality. Your perception of religious people is outdated, ignorant, and generalizing. Should we not let any tradition modernize? Should all tradition and culture be discarded because it was once done differently at one point in time? Should we all practice life how you see fit?
> Note how you're contradicting your previous argument, because you don't have a position beyond throwing a bunch of arguments at the wall and hoping something will stick. The burden of proof is on the one making claims; otherwise we should all take Russell's teapot seriously.
A bit hostile there. No one is trying to claim anything, they are practicing their beliefs that make them feel good.
> We don't. Act accordingly.
Exactly, just be smug that you have it all figured out and let people go about their business.
Or you can keep judging something you know nothing about and generalizing billions of people.
> Your perception of religious people is outdated, ignorant, and generalizing. Should we not let any tradition modernize? Should all tradition and culture be discarded because it was once done differently at one point in time?
You can't simultaneously claim that it's valuable because it's a tradition but my perception of it is outdated. Either you're practicing traditional religion - in which case you need to stand by the literal meaning of your religion's teaching. Or you're practicing something new, at most loosely inspired by past religious practices - in which case your new practice should be evaluated solely on its own merits, which are limited to say the least.
> No one is trying to claim anything, they are practicing their beliefs that make them feel good.
Doing something because it makes you feel good is not an approach with a good reputation (indeed it's something religious people often vigorously oppose). If it's just a set of practices and not a factual claim, why do you care about other people pointing out that it's not factually true?
> Or you can keep judging something you know nothing about and generalizing billions of people.
Ironic to accuse me of judging or generalising while falsely and ignorantly claiming I know nothing about religion - I guess it's fine for you to judge and generalise people you know nothing about, hmm.
But yeah I'm judging you, based on your responses, not based on theism. You haven't talked to the billions you are judging and grouping together (generalizing).
Well you never talked to me about what I do know about religion, so your assertions about me are definitely based on some faulty reasoning process; whether that's because you're generalising about atheists or because you're following some other process for making up falsehoods about me is somewhat beside the point.
Pro-tip, instead of asking for "proof" like an interrogation, ask for clarification to understand the story or viewpoint. Getting in a fight over something neither side can prove is ridiculous.
But if you want to debate what we cannot know, riddle me this, how do you know we're not in a simulation made by a higher being? Math and science is the reverse engineering of our created universe. It's more probable we were created in some way than a random occurrence.