Immanuel Can wrote:There is no "religion." The word "religion" is a construct imposed from an external perspective, not one internal to "religions."
People who have beliefs ordinarily say, "I am a Deist," "I am a Hindu," or "I am a Mormon," or "I am a Catholic," "I am an Agnostic" or "I am a Jew." By these things, they signify that they hold to a particular set of beliefs concerning the real, the Supreme Being, morality, and so on. They are positing universal truth claims, claims about history or moral precepts. None of them is content simply to say, "I'm religious."
Only religious skeptics are content with such a superficial, shallow category as "religion," usually because they've already categorized the world into two simple-minded classes: the "religious" and the "reasonable." People who are not "religious" are, of course, presumed to be the reasonable ones. "Religion" is just a secular catch all term.
The categorization is dismissive, not analytical. They don't bother to take it any further, because their blithe assumption is that all "religions" are bunk anyway -- or else (to use their skeptical tactic) they claim "open mindedly" to believe that "all religions are equal," meaning that it is equally true of them all that they can be mined for a few humanist truisms (always conveniently turning out to be the same as those precepts the skeptics have already decided to adopt personally) and largely discarded afterward, which amounts to the same thing as outright dismissal anyway.
Wow, my butthurt meter just broke.
A common definition of the word "religion" goes something like this: A set of beliefs attempting to explain the meaning and origins of life and universe and provide people with rules for life (moral and amoral).
Almost exactly the same as your description.
Also, it's not true that people who aren't religious are presumed to be reasonable, it's that to be religious is to hold an irrational position on something (dismiss logic and reason and just believe without evidence). One can not be religious and still hold some irrational positions (various forms of superstition, scientology etc.).
I think you've possibly mistook a "skeptic of religion" for a "religious skeptic"(which sounds a little oxymoronic) so I won't address that until you make yourself clear.
The categorization is dismissive? Even most religious people would disagree with you. Religious people make up about 80% of the overall human population, just Christianity and Islam alone make up about 50%. AFAIK religious people are PROUD of being religious. They often discriminate and are dismissive of others who do not share their religion, especially agnostics and atheists. Some non-religious people do use the word "religious" negatively, just as religions (predominantly Christianity) have made the word "atheist" to have extremely negative connotations. And so what? I don't care, as long as I have the RIGHT to be an atheist. And do you know why I don't care? Cause I know that I'm holding a justified, rational position. I am intellectually honest with myself and others, and I do "believe" that truth wins in the end.
Just like contemporary scientists picked on Einstein a lot and mocked his theories. But he didn't care much. Cause he was right, and he proved it. The reason religions are so sensitive is that their fragile beliefs shatter easily under careful, rational, logical scrutiny and are too prone to being made fun of because if the kind of stories and rules that they usually include.
Being open-minded doesn't mean accepting any idea without questioning it. It means being willing to consider new ideas. However, if an idea proves itself unable to hold up to scrutiny I act rationally and reject it.
I find religious people to be much more close-minded on average, f.e. the 2 major religions which make 50% of the world population find faith (belief without evidence) to be a virtue and questioning your beliefs forbidden by threats of death and infinite torture after death.
Most of us atheists and agnostics have very flexible, rational and adaptable belief and knowledge systems. If some religion provides some valid evidence I'm willing to consider and view it, even though I'm EXTREMELY skeptical of any religion being "right". I don't just believe what I want to believe, my beliefs depends on rational conviction and no matter how much I wanted there to be an afterlife or a good god the reality proves me otherwise.
