Is Atheism an Intolerant Belief?

[@geezzerboy]

If Atheism is a religion, then not collecting stamps, is a hobby.

[@jeffjodoin7882]

i LIKE If Atheism is a religion ABSTINENCE IS A SEX POSITION.

[@redholm]

But what if I make a real effort in not having any stamps? To the point of burning letters if I see one?

[@antmanatthemoment7233]

Atheism isn't, but new atheism definitely is

[@hasanoguzhandemir4534]

@@redholm Then not having any stamps is a hobby too.

[@forfar4fife5]

Atheism is a belief like OFF is a tv channel

[@keyboarddancers7751]

That is pure brilliance!

[@lagaman11]

Oh how I wish Christopher Hitchens were on this panel.

[@brettperry3737]

His head would've exploded after the first thirty seconds.

[@thenotrealjesuschrist205]

another hitchslap would of ensued

[@GabrielaaCOLOMBIANA]

Is atheism an intolerent belief?" - Atheism is not a belief, poorly constructed question

[@fullbirdcorporal]

*ATHEISM IS NOT A **_BELIEF SYSTEM_* *ATHEISM IS A **_LACK OF BELIEF_** IN ANY GOD OR GODS*

[@pw7225]

David Behrens There is a nice German word, called "Weltanschauung" that is lacking in the English language. It means something like world view or the way you see and think about the world. In German, a religion and also a "non-religion" (the lack of a belief in any god(s)) are a "Weltanschauung". Because if you don't think there is a god (like I do as an atheist), this still - to some extent at least - is part of how you see the world around you.

[@fullbirdcorporal]

PW Welt·an·schau·ung ˈveltˌänˌSHouəNG/ noun a particular philosophy or view of life; the worldview of an individual or group.

[@iwilldi]

David Behrens Yes. It is only an attribute that goes with personal worldviewswhich may in all other aspects differ and vary in its material/spiritual contents. One stereotyped argument is as follows: Because atheists are not restricted by a believe in god, they will at some point do what any favourite historical dust devil did. That is defamation. Yet those defamations get their windows and shows. If that is not tolerance, i do not know what is.

[@tanvi7532]

David Behrens athiest i think are believers just as any abrahamic religious person. as u believe in something u hold to be the absolute truth. i think hindus, buddhist, jains etc are non-believers )not all but many idenify as athiest hindu. obviously the rest do not have any god. since we seek to learn the truth of our existence for ourselves (Not others but its ur own liberation/moksha). this makes us seekers of the truth we do not belive we are absolute. its like an agnostic. athiests have only one belief so it is just as dangerous. science itself is surpassing the material world with quantam physics (which we used to call the spiritual world- does not mean god but there is a bit more) athiest claim that science has solved it all, but true scientists know that being caught up in the material world is not enough- this is quantum physics. in the old days technology lackd but ppl knew of it. now we can try discover more thats it. seperate religion and god. not all religions have a god

[@fullbirdcorporal]

Tanvi Are you a CHILD? Or. is your level of education so low, as an adult, that you seem to be a functional illiterate?? I wish there were a cognition test before posting here, to keep people like you, a very stupid person, from posting.

[@wiet111]

It's so annoying to hear people call atheism a faith. It's not a faith. It's the absence of a faith: just look at the word. Are there some atheists who are ridiculous in debates? Absolutely. However, atheism is in its core not intolerant at all, because in its core it's absolutely nothing. Religions are often intolerant , because the have a set of rules which excludes people. Atheism doesn't have rules. It doesn't claim certainty. It doesn't make anyone less of more important than others.

[@fullbirdcorporal]

wiet111 Well said.

[@zolniu]

+wiet111 You confuse (as most people) atheism with agnosticism. Atheism is a belief that there is no God. Absence of belief is agnosticism.

[@wiet111]

zolniu That's simply wrong. Theism is the belief in god. The letter a in front indicates that the meaning is the opposite (Social-asocial. Sexual-asexual, etcetera). An agnostic says that he doesn't know, and both options are equally plausible and makes no assumption. An atheist simply doesn't believe because there is no evidence, but assumes that there is no god. To show what I mean, let's make up a word: Fairyism. Fairyism is believing that fairies exist, much like theism is believing that god exist. An afairyist in this example would be someone who just doesn't believe, like pretty much everybody else. An agnostic says that we can't know whether or not fairies exist and is strictly neutral. Atheism doesn't mean that you have to be entirely certain that there is no god. It just means that you assume that there isn't because there is no reason to believe that there is.

[@zolniu]

+wiet111 Yes, you are right. What I was trying to say, is that very often people with agnostic view declare that they are atheists. "I don't know nor care if there is a God, I'm an atheist" - I hear this way too often.

[@staffankarlsson1428]

+wiet111 I agree. The mistake is to call "absence of something" a name. It shouldn't be named at all. We don't have "aunicornism" so why do we have atheism? When the label disappears then the "ism" disappears as well as the mistake to call it a "faith". It's really nothing, as all "absences" are.

[@QuantumDice]

Not collecting stamp is not a hobby Not playing hockey is not a sport Not believing in god is not a belief How hard is it to understand...

[@jeffc5974]

Bald is not a hair color. Off is not a tv channel.

[@mackdmara]

'I believe there is a God.', is a belief about God. 'I do not believe there is a God.', is a belief about God. One is affirmative & the other is negative, but both are about the subject 'God'. You have a negative belief. You also have a faith, but that is for another time.

[@jeffc5974]

Lack of a belief is not a belief, no matter how much you want it to be.

[@mackdmara]

Jeff C Anything you have an opinion about or a fact you claim is stated in a belief about that thing. You may not have a religion, but you believe something about the subject God.

[@tinaspringer651]

+mackdmara you are right. I believe there isn't enough evidence to believe

[@bejitah]

Um... first off. Atheism is not a belief.

[@telikunigussiehailu9998]

The sarcasm is that when an atheist believes that a religious person is dumb, the religious person believes that the atheist is going to hell and put into that flame of 'the loving God'.

[@PinupSarah]

So much misunderstanding of atheism. Ask yourself the question: do you believe in Bigfoot? If no, should you be held accountable to prove he doesn’t exist? You are likely not even asserting that he DOESN’T exist, just that you lack the belief that he does. Atheism is a belief in the same way that not believing in Bigfoot is a belief / it isn’t! It’s a lack of belief!

[@redheadedgamer88]

The only thing I can't tolerate is when theists insist that a disbelief is somehow a belief in the contrary. A disbelief is simply that. It does not mean we atheists believe their is no god. Instead we say there is no evidence to prove the existence of a god so therefore we reject the premise.

[@jeffc5974]

I don't believe in "no god", but I do believe that every one suggested so far doesn't actually exist.

[@mackdmara]

I do not know if that is universally true.

[@daan260]

But lets be honest most atheist are pretty sure there is no god

[@tinaspringer651]

+daan well I've seen the exact same amount of evidence for god as I have for pixies and leprechauns but pixies and leprechauns are even less unbelievable than a god because a god is infinitely more powerful and complicated therefore even more improbable. I still don't claim certainty just lack of belief due to lack of evidence

[@NibberKSmooth]

Try reading and analysing The Quran, it has excellent advice and guidance. Please do not ignorantly state that you have no need to read a book from centuries ago, without actually reading and studying it. If you don't want to then fair enough, but if you want evidence you will surely at least read it.

[@AneurysmXX]

Being tolerant to religion is like being tolerant to drunk driving

[@avedic]

*_Well...said._* I'm a very tolerant person....I think tolerance is a virtue; and a subtle one at that...meaning it takes deliberate thought and reflection. But....my tolerance does *_not_* extend to _intolerance_ itself; that would be absurd. Religion, by it's very nature, is divisive and intolerant(unless you're in the "in-group" of course).

[@notbob8252]

AneurysmXX lol funny

[@fionagregory5873]

yes that is a good one.

[@williamparks867]

avedic only group think religious people fall into that description of being intolerant just like group think atheists.

[@a.thawkser6627]

William Parks you know communism and atheistism isnt the same right? 😂😂

[@eatmylogic]

Atheists in America and Europe today do not call for the abolition of religion, but some of the hard core religious fundamentalists would eagerly use police power to suppress all religions but their own.

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

The rational world sighs when a public broadcaster even poses this question. Atheism is always the nonacceptance of the god claim and sometimes it's additionally the claim that there is no god, which is a separate position. Why are we trying to prosecute those who don't accept a particular supernatural claim?

[@jameskennerley6308]

As for bringing up religion in schools, I absolutely DO think it should be kept off the curriculum. The problem with teaching religious theories in school is that it teaches them as factual. I was taught religious studies at school, and not once did any teacher ever tell us "oh, by the way, these aren't verifiable facts, you'll have to make your own mind up". No. It was taught as fact, and it's taken in as such because many young students are too impressionable to consider that they might be getting taught a pile of bullshit. At the very least, if religious studies are to be taught in schools, it should be made very clear that the content being studied isn't verifiable factual information, and the class should be *optional* rather than mandatory. I ended up studying for, and taking an exam in a subject that I now recognise, as an atheist, as a complete waste of time.

[@gandaruvu]

+- TheVeganHeathen - I don't know where you came from, but thinking that children are too impressionable to such informations are a bit condescending towards the students. I grew up in a muslim majority 3rd world country, and went to catholic schools from kindergarten till high school. Yeah, we were taught the creation story in our religious study class, but we were also taught the big bang and the evolution theory in science class. None of us had the impression that the earth was literally created in 6 days. None of us had any problem with these two stories because one is a factual scientific record, while the other is just part of theological statement. I also don't feel that religious study is a complete waste of time, even if you're an atheist. Religion has been an important part of society and tradition of many cultures around the world. Understanding religious view will give you a more complete view on how a culture evolve from its ancient form, to how is it today.

[@ZER0--]

+- TheVeganHeathen - What school did you go to ? And which particular religion did "they" teach as fact ?

[@jameskennerley6308]

I'm rather sick of people claiming that atheism is a "faith" position. It's quite literally the opposite. A theist believes that there is a god, or gods, and that belief stems from their particular faith/religion. An atheist does not believe in any gods, simply due to there being a lack of evidence for one. Atheism simply means lacking a belief in a god, rather than claiming to *know* that there isn't one.

[@ryanawilson8549]

- TheVeganHeathen - belief without evidence is faith. You say you believe there is no God. That's a belief without evidence.

[@lylecrawford2794]

Ryan Wilson As the gentleman at 7:13 says, how can you prove that something doesn't exist? Can you prove the Easter bunny or Santa Claus don't exist?

[@dionettaeon]

Ryan Wilson; The burden of proof lies on the one who makes a claim of truth, not the one who isn't convinced it's true. Religion claims there is a god or gods, Atheism doesn't buy it. It's up to the religious to prove what they claim is real, and all too often they can't. Even when they try it often contradicts other religious claims, leads to the god/bible roundabout, their "evidence" is only circumstantial, and/or they give god the credit for what's just human ethics and work, which shows a lot less gratitude than they like to think. Short and simple, they require of science what they barely require of themselves.

[@mackdmara]

Atheism(n): One who denies the existence of God. How can you deny existence without knowing? If All you have, that tells you atheism is correct, is Blind Faith, then what do you have? An empty guess. If you hate that in others, why would you want to be that guy? Skeptics (the philosophical stance) could never say anything existed. They doubted, so they denied. They still drank & ate daily. There was no reason to do that IF you deny food & drink exist. It was pragmatic to act as if food & drink are Real. Denying on doubt alone makes NO sense. The same is true here. If you are truly in doubt, not denial, I encourage you to find out about God. Christianity has a large amount of evidence based reasons to affirm God is real! I am happy to engage the honest questioner. Knowing is always preferable to not knowing. It puts the power in your hands. Think about it, God Bless

[@mackdmara]

Lyle Crawford Think of the tea pot that Dawkins uses. We do have evidence to deny that does not exist. We have no human that put it there as evidence. We have no known alien that put it there. We know such things have no other mention of existing in Any other source historically. We in fact only have Dawkins word to think it is there & he is not affirming it either. All the evidence we have points to no. We can conclude that the ethereal teapot is not there from the Evidence present. Thusly, IF you deny God, you should be able to defend that with evidence. Just saying it is to hard for you to disprove is not a valid argument. If calling your Blind Faith that God does not exist as sufficient, then what can I safely rule out of existence anywhere? The argument that you can deny without evidence is self defeating. You could affirm the teapot above is real on the same set of reasons. It reduces your truth claim to whim. I respect people to much to imagine that you just decide on a whim what is real. Shalom

[@ObeMossop]

Atheism is to a religious belief is what "Off" is to a TV channel. You can sit in front of the TV and watch it....if you want to, but you can't honestly call "powered off" a TV station/channel.

[@michaelmcguire5155]

4.00 ....How the hell was he allowed to get away with a statement that is totally untrue? A-theism is NOT a bluddy faith. It is purely a LACK of belief in a bluddy god.

[@AndroidVageta1]

I love how people talk about faith as if the fact that they have it that it makes it OK. Faith is not OK. Just because you have it and believe in it as billions of people do doesn't make it right or not fucking crazy. There were plenty of people that thought killing Jews during WW2 was OK...does that mean that it's OK to do? Now I'm not directly comparing faith to killing people but the comparison is all the same. Millions of people have died due to other peoples faith. Look at the Crusades, witch hunts, Middle Ages, Middle East, etc.

[@jayd4ever]

+Logical Reason yes but it is not always religion that is the influence for atrocities many atheists have killed millions as well but because atheism doesn't teach anything it probably didn't influence people to kill

[@tinaspringer651]

+Baji Scipio Dārayav Aurelius “Hemu Rawal Domitian” Julian Venizelos Nalwa exactly atheism has no scriptures or dogma. It is only a response to the single question of do you believe in God. Atheist like any other people have good and bad but it takes an ideology like religion to make good people do bad things

[@ateoforever7434]

Logical Reason Have you noticed that, God never intervened to stop ANY war ? massacres ? he probably giggled when it happened.....sadistic b.........

[@Keesha_Hardy]

Logical Reason Do you even know what faith is?

[@nicejungle]

Since, atheism is not a belief, this vid is a fail

[@crashoppe]

+Seishiro Sakurazuka lol. if atheism is not a belief, what is it? Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty.

[@aantoniou96]

+crashoppe Not thinking unicorns exist is not a belief.

[@nicejungle]

Αλέξανδρος Αντωνίου "Atheism is a religion like abstinence is a sex position" - Bill Maher :)

[@lilahdog568]

Tolerating religion is like tolerating child molesters. Weird, twisted, horrid, vile, and plain disturbing.

[@MP-ux1dn]

On atheism... "They don't really seem to take into account that... they just think it's like, like, the opium of the people, you know." Solid, solid argument, that...

[@zuralias10]

If religion sees we atheists as intolerant, they should imagine how intolerant we see them!

[@mariolis]

2:20 Thats because religious people tend to have more kids (especially muslim families) Not because atheists are reconverting to religion

[@Indie9999]

.......actually, you make an excellent point. Hallelujah!

[@fionagregory5873]

What would happen if a religion was started today saying that Father Christmas was a real man who live in the North pole, drove reindeers and popped presents for kids down the chimneys on December 24th? People would think you were mad, but we teach children this and then expect them to grow out of it aged about ten or before. To me, the same can be said about religious beliefs. They might be a comfort, but life is not a bowl of cherries, and so on and so forth.

[@raysafar1]

to believe or not to believe a religion is not such important. the important is to believe in humanity & save the planet & it's existence

[@Indie9999]

I have practiced various Buddhist meditation techniques over the years. Now I meditate using a very simple method, following my breath for 108 breaths constitutes one session. I do this to improve awareness of my own mental states and mind. I've never read anything about Gnostic Christians, but now I will! Peace brother!

[@Indie9999]

It's true that quantum science holds a lot of mystery. But wherever there is active science there is mystery, the unknown is the best place for the scientific method to be applied. I hear many people saying things like "science thinks it knows everything" when really, science is about admitting what we don't know and then trying to understand.

[@fionagregory5873]

Oh yes they can say now in 2017 that Genesis was not meant to be literal. Well how did the ancient men thousands of years ago think of it? They believed in a virgin birth which goes against all biology knowledge. I never heard of them saying that "oh this should not be taken literally".

[@davidroberts1689]

Religion lost its best argument when we took away their ability to burn us at the stake.

[@davidroberts1689]

The debate continues...

[@MegaBlackman001]

"Think about it. Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time! But He loves you." -George Carlin.

[@1toniah]

"Stop teaching fairy tales in school as if they are true. Teach them for what they are: irrational human beliefs used to control how people behave. Use your own mind, not crazy ideas people force into your brain"

[@ashmetcalf3757]

So why is it the highest levels of intolerance (homophobia, sexism, different thinking) as well as child abuse, murders, civil wars, low income, infant mortality, low human development index, exist predominantly in religious countries (i.e. nearly, if not all countries in Africa, Middle East, South America)?

[@fionagregory5873]

Quakers are good, but their oats are even better.

[@markymarkbb]

The whole problem with people is the fact that they look at evolution and then say you can't prove that, so god exists, not taking into account that the opposite of evolution is not god.

[@freezinfeet]

my main problem with religion in general is that all religion believes to be the one true religion

[@freebeing6952]

+freezinfeet which makes religious people the intolerant ones, not atheists.

[@zeropulses9180]

+Free Being That is not how you spell tolerant. Anyway, why would they not believe their religion is the only correct one? That makes no sense whatsoever. Are you saying that they should believe it, kind of? And then not believe it is the correct religion, but still follow it? That would be stupid. If they believe theirs is the correct one, which they should, if they are smart, and they still tolerate other religions, that makes them very very tolerant.

[@freebeing6952]

Dragon Slayer I didn't "spell" tolerant. I spelled intolerant. Not sure what your point is there. As far as the rest of your comment, in my experience and study, those who are truly tolerant understand that they may indeed be wrong. They can comprehend the possibility of their own fallibility and the fallibility of their ideas. Intolerant religious nutters are so convinced they're right about it all that they miss this point. In doing so, they promote hatred, violence, ignorance, and oppose progress. Above all this, religious beliefs are simply that -- beliefs. They are not empirical facts. The more we learn, the more we realize just how wrong religious beliefs are about almost everything. So my question becomes, why do we not approach life from a more scientific methodology rather than a faith-based ideology?

[@zeropulses9180]

***** Why are you talking about me personally? You do realize that the words coming from my fingers does not have to relate to my life, right? It is almost like you think that the second someone defends black people, they must be black. Nice mentality you got there buddy. Not that I was defending religious people. But I bet that is what you thought, so I give you this reply. But you are so far off that I don't even need to give you a better reply. This will do. Want to try to read my comment again, with an open-mind? No? No worries, carry on. Take care.

[@freebeing6952]

Dragon Slayer I simply replied to your comment. I never accused you directly of anything...if YOU care to reread MY words. It seems to me the accusatory one here is you.

[@fionagregory5873]

What a brilliant invention Father Xmas was too. Guaranteed profit for all shops and stores in the winter.

[@jomen112]

The root of intolerance is not religion in it self but segregation in groups and the alienation of outsiders; "we" and "them". In this respect anyone, regardless of beliefs, are intolerant to varying degrees. The key, imo, is to try to understand each other to have a dialog with out trying to judge each other, unfortunately dogmatic beliefs, religious or not, makes this processes harder for some people, even myself sometimes.

[@HarpalSingh-uy4zj]

We need to get passed whether God exists or not. What is more important is to discuss does this "God" play an active role in our real world that we live in. If we have that discussion, then we can be more focused on providing real value and improving people's lives in the here and now.

[@steveg5074]

I was raised catholic but i choose to be Atheist because of studying and research of Both all religions and Science , Common sense is that Science will always Win...its proven facts not supernatural thoughts..

[@iamtherealrenedescartes]

[Part 3] Similarly, with the question of God loving us: in order for God to value anything, it will have to a. be able to produce things that are of benefit & b. be limited; this is just like money (see part 2). If God has ultimate power, he can create an infinite amount of things (universes, people etc.) which would negate b. Everything that his creation brings, he will look at with indifference (because he can create as much as he likes) so now a becomes negated. God cannot value anything.

[@Chiungalla79]

The main problem is that people at some point stopped to realize what tolerance is. Most people fail to distinguish between tolerance and respect. If someone is not acting with respect they are blamed for being intolerant. We need to be tolerant and live peaceful with people of different beliefs. But that is not the same as respecting beliefs. Respect can never be required it can only be earned. And some beliefs just don't deserve respect, they need strong, heartfelt but peaceful and tolerant opposition. And some beliefs don't even deserve tolerance. Especially all those beliefs which are intolerant in their very nature.

[@SagesseNoir]

Atheism is the absence of belief. Actually, if you tell me that you're an atheist all I really know is that you don't believe in god. Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Nietzsche, Marx, Feuerbach, were all atheists. But they didn't have the same beliefs. Different philosophical positions. In short, what they BELIEVED was different. Their NON-BELIEF in God may be the only thing they share in common.

[@awepossum1059]

When an atheist says "Scientifically prove God!" It's like a religious person saying "Religiously prove evolution! Use the Bible and religion to prove evolution!" Anyone else get this a lot?

[@Chiungalla79]

That's a strawman and a reductio ad absurdum fallacy. How many atheists ever demanded to prove god scientifically? Very few tops. Many would demand evidence for a certain believe in order to take it seriously, but that is absolutely reasonable and on a completely different scale than scientific prove. And what you try to do here is to reason against a reasonable position in favor of an unreasonable (aka faith-based) position. Not saying that reason is everything there is or should be, but if you try to use reason, logic, and arguments to go against reason... good luck with that. Do you even see the irony?

[@zeropulses9180]

The unicorn challenge is rather simple really. You just ask the guy that asked you the question: "How do you know they exist? Since you can't prove to me and show me how you are aware of their existence, I will assume that you are a lunatic" easy as that. Now, religious people do not do as he did. Which is why his question is a fallacy. He assumes for some reason (because he is ignorant really) that religion popped up from nowhere all of a sudden. That is not how it went down, and I think he knows it, but who knows. Religions have scriptures, that is basically their evidence (one of which, as there are others, such as messengers, and the like). I am not saying it isn't man-made, but a book/scripture is an actual thing that can be refuted, so his example is foolish. Just read their holy texts, refute it, then you'll sleep knowing that you tried, and it was written by some old men or something. Geez, does it have to be so hard to think? P.S: I am not saying that they are all man-made, just because 99 out of 100 was, doesn't mean that the 100th isn't actually from God. You'll just have to research on your own buddy.

[@QuantumDice]

I know, I know.. I was using the word agnostic in the popular understanding of it most people describe an agnostic as a person who is not sure that god exist and would rate the possibility to be 50%. Real definition is this: Positions of knowledge gnostic: knowing A-gnostic: not knowing Position of belief Theist : Believe god exist A-theist : Do not believe god exist. Which can also be describe as someone who don't hold any belief towards the existence of god So yes I am an Agnostic-Atheist

[@familymanjim]

That's an extremely closed minded point of view! I just love how Christians are always told that they are the ones that are closed minded and then we witness comments like yours. I'm a Christian. And to be completely honest with you, I couldn't care if I live on after death. I do not follow out of hunger for heaven or fear of hell. I follow because I believe. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[@nword234]

You'll never convince God that he does not exist. He still loves you. He still wants you. And his door is still open. If you'll call on Jesus, he'll take good care of you. Be ready for the rapture. God Bless.

[@5eek3r0fknowl3dg3]

History has proved that it is not a tolerant belief system too!

[@fionagregory5873]

Why should we respect ignorance? This is why we have education and universities for goodness sake. If we want to be a historian, then yes, we should know and try to understand the world in the year minus 0.

[@tchevrier]

Its not about what you believe or don't believe. Its about what is true. Some people define truth as being that which has objective verifiable evidence. Others define truth as having faith in the absence of objective verifiable evidence.

[@santiagoabliterature]

Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told.

[@JDdaDJstressed]

How do you know or decide what is right? There are people who do evil despite what they are told who think they are taking the moral high ground.

[@santiagoabliterature]

***** easy what,makes,most.people.move.best.and.have.betering.life.quality. that.is.good .Dont page your.argument on Some people that do Bad Things

[@JDdaDJstressed]

But that's a self contradictory answer because bettering life quality often comes at the expense of someone else. The human race has proven that it cannot establish as a whole what is right and what is wrong. And life quality is often measured solely on how much economic wealth people have, not necessarily what makes society better.

[@santiagoabliterature]

***** no discovering,a.new.technology.beterens.the.quality.life.of.everybody airplanes.better.life.laser.radar.and.it.costs.work.doing.that.and.materials.aswell.thats.what.yo.are.paying.the.producers so.they.pay.you.for,.your.betterig.life.for.everybody,,

[@e521soediv]

I prefer science and the scientific method for establishing fact, not truth. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Anyone can examine the conclusions of science and interpret it in different ways.

[@jamesjahavey1681]

Revelation 22:12.Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to repay each one according to his work.

[@pomegranatepip2482]

Why should anyone believe that?

[@charlotteelisabeth561]

I prefer agnosticism. I don't know if there is a greater spirit or none. But I am not so insane judging people by their personal belief. I am glad there are different beliefs, because it's evidence of freedom.

[@Aeroldoth3]

If asked if they believe in gods: Theist = yes Atheist = any non-yes answer If you don't believe in gods, the proper term for yourself is atheist, not agnostic.

[@awepossum1059]

Ah, I think I heard what I needed to know all along: Atheists think they are in a neutral position by saying there is no God, however they are in fact going directly against religious people... therefore when an atheist says "There is no God" it is actually an insult, because he or she isn't in a neutral position in the first place.

[@Chiungalla79]

+ ABC 123 So if theists say there is a god are they insulting the atheists? Are they intolerant?

[@Chiungalla79]

+ User 0 Most agnostics actually are atheists. Some are theists too. Agnosticism just indicates that you are not absolutely sure. As long as you don't believe in god you are an atheist. That's what the word actually says: not a theist. So if you are not a theist you are an atheist. No matter what label you would prefer for yourself.

[@XiagraBalls]

Show should be called 'The Big Nonsensical, Stupid Questions'.

[@ncmggr]

I'm not atheist, but I'm currently questioning my beliefs

[@RATIONALMIND001]

In a world with no religion, good people do good things and bad people do bad things, whether they are religious or atheist. The price an individual pays for belief in a conceptual entity, is the relinquishing of their critical thinking in favor of an unverifiable doctrine. This would not be a problem if people were not dying and being killed because of such doctrines.

[@sacredlunatic]

Yes, *I* am open minded. *I* do not claim to KNOW the answer. I merely suggest one Possible answer. *YOU* claim to KNOW that God is the answer. So don't talk to me about openmindedness, when you don't seem to understand it's very definition.

[@eddiegonzalez2]

it amazing how believers get desperate to support their faith. they come up with crazy ideas but they dont seem to be honest and say i believe in this stuff because of indoctrination and influence.

[@patbrennan6572]

at least athiesm dont commit horrible acts against thiests the way thiests did against heritics during the spanish inquisition. it shows we athiests have a higher standard of tollerence toward people with rthier own views.

[@horacesilver5238]

James O'Brien is awesome. I'm an atheist, but he's the coolest and most intelligent, and rational believer in god I've encountered.

[@astrofrk]

I couldn't have explained that better. Yeshua has got to be the most misunderstood person in history. If he were to appear today, his own followers would crucify him again. With the Love of Yeshua and Sophia: Peace.

[@paztafarian]

"Atheism does not equal logic" - Would you care to enlighten us, as to how you have reached this conclusion? "I hear atheists attacking religion FAR more often than the other way around. " -Does having your believe challenged, make you feel uncomfortable? When was the last time an atheist flew a plane into a building?

[@sauniz1]

Not with violence...it will die out slowly because of it's own complete irrationality.

[@Indie9999]

Your right in saying that it has a lot of prejudice, but it is up against a willful ignorance, I see people sticking their head in the sand on a daily basis. They do this so obviously and then have the arrogance to argue that their ignorance is correct. What I see is people being called intolerant because they are simply asking questions that believers should have already asked themselves.

[@astrofrk]

I am an avid ameture Astronomer and the sky is my temple, it makes all Religious institutions combined very puny. For me, it is a place where science and spirituality come together because I believe both are required if we are to ever contemplate wisdom. Take either out and I for one am not compleate. Yeshua said the greatest commandment is that we Love others and sadly, many going to Church missed the point and therefore, waste thier time. God is within all of us.

[@kitsuneokami2583]

... invented another significant digit. It's the final symbol of this ingenious system for which we remain indebted to the ancient Brahmin priests. The number Zero! In Sanskrit the word-symbol representing zero is called 'Shunya' which translates as “Nothing”. Once this concept became a numerical symbol mathematical computation was born. The scientific impact of Hinduism's long history with the number zero can be felt across our modern hi-tech world. No zero means no Binary system & no ...

[@SovereignChancellor]

An evidentiary approach is not exclusively "atheist" as such. Rather, it is the approach of an intelligent human. An intelligent human looks at the world. He enquires. He questions intelligently and rationally. Having done such things, he would then come to the conclusion that there is not enough (indeed, no such yet) evidence for God or anything similar. Many religious people have no evidence and would not fit into the category of an intelligent human.

[@Tooopper]

True. We are intolerant of countless things, but the reason most are intolerant of people causing harm to others is because it affects the people around us negatively, but for others to hate people for personal beliefs (both sides) is totally absurd.

[@hasanoguzhandemir4534]

What did he say at 12:56 and repeat at 12:58? I could not understand like girl could not. She did on second time but I still don't. please help

[@awepossum1059]

It's not whether a religion is tolerant or intolerant. It's whether you yourself are tolerant or intolerant to things

[@erockerock238]

Assertion of something to justify the structure of society (religion) requires evidence. Gods existence doesn't require evidence. Believe in what you want. The supposed backlash from atheists is a response to the imposition of a belief system that often manifests itself in the legal system and popular morality. Until you can prove that god exists you are in the wrong to bother others with your faith. You can't tell me what should be allowed or not allowed based on the ideas of a divinity that you can't prove.

[@fionagregory5873]

why do all of my negative comments about this particular broadcasting company fail to print?

[@e8tballz]

You imagine a religious person saying an atheist is intolerant? Wow

[@SovereignChancellor]

An intelligent standpoint is to assess the evidence. It is to question intelligently and rationally and then assess the world. When this is done, an intelligent and rational human would not go to believe in something unproved. If he does however go on to believe in something unproved, it does not mean that he is unintelligent - rather he seems to have chosen to believe in it regardless of the lack of evidence. However, many do believe it and are unintelligent.

[@levi2234]

Be tollerant to religious people as long as they don't force their beliefs on ANYONE else

[@talkindurinthemovie]

Beliefs are, on most occasions, not intolerant people are.

[@erikalulea3608]

"particular faith" "yes , I have the right to wear the hijab when I am outside my home. And to have option in shcool to not eat pork, And have a building to practice my faith. That is part of a democracy.

[@vicquinonez1966]

The question being asked is wrong. it shouldn't be "Is atheism an intolerant belief?" Atheism isn't a belief, it's simply a statement saying "I don't actively choose to believe in your God(s)" or even so far as to say it is a lifestyle, but definitely not a belief, the question that should be asked is, "Is atheism intolerant?"

[@ref4nej2]

Religion is taught in schools, it's just not biased like you want it to be. A good way to spark rationality/open-mindedness is by teaching children about many religions in an objective light so they can see how contradictory their coexistence is and how equally they all fall to logical fallacies. In my opinion, from what I have observed, the two main factors that affect the likelihood of atheism in youth are: Intellectual capacity x Objective education of religion

[@robertlight5227]

Atheism is not a belief. It is the lack of a belief.

[@familymanjim]

I don't know anything about a building at the red sea. What I was hoping you would come across are the coral encrusted chariot wheels at the bottom of it. Ive done much research on all of the things that you have noted about. I would suggest you do the same. But don't just look at a skeptics research findings. Look at an honest believers too. I've done the same from my end. And thankyou for the compliment on how I've handled the debate. You've done so as well.

[@nathanglazier7460]

elements, protein chains, amino acids, abiogenesis, theory of evolution, tree of life, natural selection, common descent, singularity, big bang theory (you may have to look past media for that one.) black holes, etc.

[@tiagoscherer1158]

Here is an honest question: How would you include religion in the government ? There are thousands of religions, can you envisage having them all represented ? Its ok to be nice and say "i'd like to have a debate to see how can we include religion in the public sphere". But is that viable at all ?

[@iamtherealrenedescartes]

[Part 2] Not once did I say God values money; I was using money as an analogy because it is something we as humans value. I guess you have no idea how to interpret analogies. "There is a realm of love far beyond the natural human scope." - If it is "far" beyond the natural human scope, being human yourself, by your own submission you could not of possibly known this "realm" exists. Ergo, by definition, to state as fact, that which you cannot possibly know is a lie. You defeated yourself.

[@fionagregory5873]

Personally I do not trust a lot of what the BBC puts up.

[@e521soediv]

With that said, if your going to debate people atleast take the time to know what your talking about, because it is pointless having a debate just because the other person did not do his/her homework or studied the matters.

[@b991228]

Atheists most often would not mind being called agnostic but others challenge that identification and choose to label non-belief as atheist. So be it. Most non-believers say there is no evidence for a god. Believers do have answers for everything but many of these answers are filled with supernatural belief. Should such implausible answers be taken seriously? Russel’s Teapot.

[@chan51944a]

Sorry that I can only read and write in several languages, so sometimes I am confused. Lets start from the beginning - Where do we come from?

[@chan51944a]

Opened minded is a mind that accepts there is other answers, not only one's idea is correct or perfect. The topic of this discussion is about what ? do you remember? It is just that human were created with a reasoning mind and knows how to think and listens to others opinions.

[@TheTheotherfoot]

The only time I am intolerant of the religious amongt us is when their sales persons at my door trying to sell me their band of god.

[@KevinLockard23]

There is nothing 'intolerant' about that, I want people to keep their nonsense to themselves in every way.

[@veganath]

To Atheist & Theist here is something you can reach consensus on. "NOTHING IS BETTER THAN GOD" ......lol

[@SNORKYMEDIA]

except chips - thay are much better

[@chan51944a]

Ok. Tks. because we both asked each the same question and we could not give each a satisfactory answer. The reason is very simple, both of our questions are religion related.

[@seanwood8883]

It's not intolerant at all. I'm an atheist and think that everyone should be entitled to their own beliefs. Live and let live. Each to their own.

[@QuantumDice]

Here a definition of belief. Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. Whether it is true or not. I don't hold ANY proposition or premise to be absolutely true. Or in other words, I don't believe anything. I accept scientific theories AS LONG AS they match evidence. SO FAR the scientific method as been the best way to acquire information about the world around us, if we ever discover a more effective method I am all ears...

[@robertmcelwaine7024]

Faith is hardly reliable. You can have faith in someone you know, who you have trusted but they then betray you. Of course, no one can predict with 100% certainty, but the point remains that faith cannot be trusted when it comes to believing in God.