A Call to End Religious Intolerance on ATS

At virtually any given time you can find a thread deliberately established for the soul purpose of mocking the religious beliefs of some group of people. Though it is clear to see that many of these threads are created for the purpose of trolling, these Trolls who promote this form of intolerance are truly violating not only the terms of ATS but the very spirit of ATS.

Legitimate questions about the religious beliefs of others are posed in a respectful tone, not in a tone of mockery or accusation accompanied by words such as hypocrite, liar, warmonger, or any other defamation designed specifically to invoke negative connotation.

Any moderator that allows this type of trolling and intolerance should be removed from their position as moderator, as this form of intolerance is no less abusive, offensive, and vicious than any other type of assault. I sincerely hope that the members and staff of ATS will in the interest of harmony and cooperation put and end to this injustice immediately.

UPDATE: It appears that this thread was almost immediately moved to the RANT section of ATS, no doubt to burry it from the eyes of general discussion. By burying this thread in the RANT section it does not allow other members to star the thread, doing this gives the false impression that there would not be a great deal of agreement which would have been measurable had it not been moved. The switch in itself clearly illustrates the very intolerance that the thread is pointing out but adds the element of the "Activist Moderator." My guess would be that the moderator who moved the thread would most likely be one of those who were called out in the original position statement.



[edit on 28-10-2009 by factbeforefiction]

reply to post by factbeforefiction


We are moving into an age of truth.....

Religions are beliefs of what you were told is true when you were a child.....

It's time to grow up........It's time to start believing in the truth!

PEACE and LOVE...

Religious intolerance is all over the world. What makes you think people will stop just for ATS? Sorry this will always be around IMO. Nobody will ever agree on the same exact idea of what religion is.

reply to post by factbeforefiction


Got to love freedom of speech, Should we be mindful of what we say every day, to risk offended someone’s ears? No, Who wants to walk around quietly everyday. Here is an idea for you if you don’t like the topic of a thread or if it is bashing your religion or beliefs state where they are wrong back it up with facts. And if you still can’t get your point across leave said thread, you can’t fix stupid, and it serves no purpose to censor someone because they feel a particular way about a religion or a subject. There are already a lot of restrictions here on ATS, some good, some bad.

That old saying if you don’t like what’s on TV change the channel.

There is a big difference between attacking a religion and expressing dis-belief in that religion.

I have not seen what you are speaking about for a long time. Intolerance would mean that we would attack the individual for his beliefs, if we simply attack the religion, that is the person's opinion.

Now nobody should be subjected to any form of abuse on these forums or anywhere else, but you can't expect the staff to be everywhere at the same time.

It's as much your responsiblity to alert posts that have this sort of rhetoric as it is the staff's to actively monitor them. If you see something which is not within the realm of the T&C, then you should report it and if it is a clear break of those rules, the mods will do something about it.

~Keeper

Originally posted by rainfall
reply to post by factbeforefiction

 

We are moving into an age of truth.....

Religions are beliefs of what you were told is true when you were a child.....

It's time to grow up........It's time to start believing in the truth!

PEACE and LOVE...

I believe thats the type of trollish behavior the OP was referring to.

reply to post by factbeforefiction


I could NOT dissagree moar..

Religions should be mocked along with the people who preach them! Why the hell (pun intended) should we accept millions of disillusioned hacks running around and spreading their insanity to the younger generations and other gullible people?
Religion has NEVER done anything good in this world, quite the opposite. It is a disease and should be mocked, fought and eradicated [SNIP]!

Mod Note: General ATS Discussion Etiquette – Please Review This Link.
We do not threaten people with 'eradication' at ATS


[edit on 10/28/2009 by TheRedneck]

Thank you, thank you. 2 of the major things I try to instill upon My children are *empathy for others and *tolerance & acceptance of others religion, sexuality, beliefs etc. Just about all religions basic principle is 'Do Unto Others' so I dont understand where or why the hatefulness comes in?? Religious intolerance may be around the world, so is inequality, racism, war...doesnt make okay at all. It's unfortunate that u say religious intolerance will always be. It will, only if u allow it. I choose to accept and embrace diversity in all forms and so can u-it is a choice. Diversity, my God, what a beautiful thing!

Peace. K*

If you mean hate and intolerance for people with different religious beliefs, then yes I agree with you. No one should be treated as subhuman for having certain beliefs, even as ridiculous as they may be. This should apply to both ATS and the outside real world.

If you mean we can't be intolerant to the idea and religions themselves, then I will have to disagree greatly with you. I am a big-time critic of religion, and I call them for what I am positive they are: lies created to control big groups of people with the intent of keeping the majority of humanity ignorant. Note, however, that I do not speak ill of my fellow human beings who happen to be Christian, Taoists, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. In fact I respect them, just not their religious beliefs and ideas. I make it VERY clear that I am criticizing their beliefs, but not them as individuals.

If you don't want people to mock or speak ill of religious beliefs, then to be fair we shouldn't speak ill of communism, capitalism, globalism, corporatism, creationism, evolution and string theory, and any other philosophy, belief, and idea that exists out there.

I hope you can clearly see what problems arise if our freedom to debate ideas and beliefs are limited.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


Whatever your beliefs on religion are the OP has a point. People who put themselves in threads and discussions that have nothing to add are a problem.

I am not saying people can't get offended. I am just saying when people play this "Christians are all Hypocrites" bull we keep hearing is nothing more than malicious bigotry.

We have forums to discuss religion and philosophic debates are welcome there, but when we start generalizing whole groups of people and cutting them down, personally, for their beliefs is wrong.

This also goes for those of a faith out there make personal attacks against atheists.

Debate is welcome, bigotry is not.

It's time to grow up........It's time to start believing in the truth!

Do you mind enlightening us, or do you just enjoy sounding vague.

Religions should be mocked along with the people who preach them! Why the hell (pun intended) should we accept millions of disillusioned hacks running around and spreading their insanity to the younger generations and other gullible people? Religion has NEVER done anything good in this world, quite the opposite. It is a disease and should be mocked, fought and eradicated along with the people who preach it!

What you are saying makes you sound like a sociopath. I don't think many Atheists would even want to try to back you up. Calling for eradication of people based on their convictions is insane and Orwellian.

UPDATE: It appears that this thread was almost immediately moved to the RANT section of ATS, no doubt to burry it from the eyes of general discussion. By burying this thread in the RANT section it does not allow other members to star the thread, doing this gives the false impression that there would not be a great deal of agreement which would have been measurable had it not been moved. The switch in itself clearly illustrates the very intolerance that the thread is pointing out but adds the element of the "Activist Moderator." My guess would be that the moderator who moved the thread would most likely be one of those who were called out in the original position statement.

It is a rant. Rants are valid. Don't blame the moderator because you wrote a rant and they put it where it belongs. It is a rant and it is just as valid here in BTS. If it was complete and total trash, it would go into the trash bin. I think the moderator did the right thing. Welcome to BTS have fun and stay a while. It's a nice place to visit.

To your point. I think there shouldn't be religious intolerance on ATS. Why? Because people have the right to their own religious beliefs. Now if I were to engage in giving you my personal religious opinion, I would expect that if yours differed from mine it would be respected.

It won't but it's a nice thought. Religion like politics gets messy. People have different views on what these things mean to them. And when they don't agree completely a debate ensues. But that is a good thing as well. Dissenting viewpoints offer us a new sense of learning. With it, hopefully comes a new appreciation and understanding.

reply to post by DINSTAAR


um...dude, you do realize that you are replying to me, yet using quotes from a completely different users posts!!!

My post got removed for apparently not following rules, but how can you get away with putting another persons words in my mouth. Even if thats not your intent, thats the way it comes off. So please clarify. If you want to address me and another poster thats fine, but don't do it in the same post. Thats very misleading. PLease don't do that.

um...dude, you do realize that you are replying to me, yet using quotes from a completely different users posts!!!

I am sorry for the confusion. The first part of my post was directed toward yourself. I was responding to you in the beginning and responding to those other quotes after.

My apologies. I did not mean to distort the content of my post in a way to seem disingenuous.