religious people
They might look normal. They have a normal job. They might dress just like your or I and then suddenly, apparently innocuously they say something like

"Well, I'm not very religious but I do believe in [insert mythical sky being here]"

And my eyes glaze over and all I can hear is

"Burble burble burble flibble"

And I imagine a small child is talking to me, a child who might as well be blowing spit bubbles and describing something they've just found up their nose.
( rofl harris, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 11:37, 6 replies)

To me it's as if they've handed over responsibility for their lives
to someone else, who'll sort it all out for them.

Infantilising. I can't get past that bit with it.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 11:45, closed)

For me, it's just disappointing
I feel sad that this person, who up until a minute ago could have been a potential new friend, has revealed themselves to be an idiot.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 12:14, closed)

True, your heart sinks...
There have been a fair few posts on here about this. I usually just remind the religious nut that they only believe in their God due to an accident of birth.
Depending on where you are born dictates who you believe in. Surely a young Chinese child born in the middle of nowhere wouldn't profess that Catholicism seemed right really...
No believing in anything isn't a religion as some point out (in an attempt to drag you down to their level of stupidity). It's just not being simple-minded enough to believe in something with absolutely NO basis of proof or credibility.
(Kliper Filllets Getting noticed by twats on the internet since, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 13:25, closed)

Is it prejudice though?
I am with you on this one. Seemingly intelligent people who think it is perfectly reasonable to believe in their imaginary friend in the sky. Otherwise sane people that will remain forever lower in my estimation because they haven't the gumption to see through all the religious baloney to realise the needlessness for their belief.

Ooops, nearly went off on a real rant there.

Just use a bit of common sense and figure it out for yourselves. Its all made up a long time ago to explain stuff that we couldn't explain otherwise (but can now) and to give a bit of comfort around the time of the death of a loved one.

I don't think it is prejudice to think less of such people - they have brought it upon themselves by revealing their inferiority to us, the enlightened.
(karnuvap, Tue 6 Apr 2010, 21:10, closed)

Hmm, well I'm not so sure
Religion is so pervasive in society (whether it's there as a crutch or not), that there must be something in all of us that predisposes us to religious or indeed, generally irrational, belief.

We're not as clever as we think we are, or maybe it's simply a good evolutionary strategy to believe in "something" over "nothing".
( rofl harris, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 9:32, closed)

Sure, our brains are wired to tempt us into believing...
and it is by far the easier option but now we have the intelligence to see beyond this primitive instict and there is no longer a need to invoke a religious belief in order to explain mysterious coincidences or devise a meaning for life.
The way I look at it is that it all came about because we are the only species who realise that we are going to die. To all other species, death comes as a complete surprise. The rest follows from an indignant disbelief that "this is all there is".
(karnuvap, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 11:22, closed)