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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (3138)	11/4/2000 2:14:39 PM
From: cosmicforce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Here's how I see it - you are in a room with delusional people each claiming something odd and irrational. What is the best way to bring them to reason? I think you have two choices: tolerate the insanity and ignore it or continue to speak the truth and challenge each insane claim. There is also a middle ground where you choose your battles. This is the root of your problem. Neither extreme "solution" is effective. How on Earth would you get Jewish or Arab people to reject their philosophy and religion today? All you can hope for is to wear them down and corrupt their silly philosophies by continuing to provide an alternative and draw them to the calm it provides. Zealots are deplorable because they have abandoned reason. You have no "in" with them and no common ground. Railing against their madness does nothing for you and tends to make them retrench deeper into their madness. I've gotten weary of forcing my ideas on people. I continue to hold my principles and try to passively proselytize about the virtue of reason but there are 80% of the people who are holding some belief and will never review it. They won't question their motivations, reasoning, precepts or principles. What do you do about them? If you wrote your ideas in a book and published it, it is unlikely you would sway any of them. However, I'm sure you'd be on Nightline and maybe have fatwa put out on you. Other than that you would not have much impact. I agree with X, as hard as it is you can only teach compassion and tolerance is by showing compassion and tolerance. There is no way to force it on people like some sort of bug spray treatment for lice.