AlAyeti wrote:I have had many, many connversations with "atheist professors" that have no problem with my being a "Christian" as long as I do not take my religion seriously. Of course they don't.
Yet, science backs up the Christian views on abortion being murder and sexuality being defined by anatomy, physiology and biology. They will refuse to believe in science every time they are challenged by it.
That is called closed-minded bigotry. Devoid of logic.
You still don't get it. This professor
knew that I took being a Christian seriously. He had no problem with that, so long as I could defend my position on a logical basis. He didn't demand ideological conformity, only a willingness to question our previous assumptions on a logical basis.
The course, after all, was entitled 'Logic and Reasoning'.
Also, you are confusing the realms of knowledge and reasoning to which science and religion pertain. Science is of the realm of the material and is responsible for describing the ways in which the physical world functions. Religion is of the realm of the ethereal and of the moral - every bit as real as the realm of science, but completely different in its focus.
Science can describe biological growth patterns and functions of a human being in great detail, but it cannot describe or formulate moral behaviour. Such things are the purview of religion and ethical philosophy.
Murder and sexual morality are qualitative ethical-philosophical - not scientific - concepts. As such, it is ridiculous to claim that 'science backs up' any particular moral position; science deals with quantifiable data, ethical philosophy and religion with qualification.
AlAyeti wrote:It is clear from listening to the inclusive secular-atheist-freethinker-humanist perspective, that Christians have freedom to believe what they want as long as they don't really believe what they believe.
They don't mean us any harm or discrimination as long as we agree with everything they say and do.
It is clear that you are speaking out of ignorance, because secularism, atheism and humanism are three distinct and separate perspectives. Secularism, particularly Western secularism, is very firmly grounded in early Christian thought, being one of the few religions that saw formal state sponsorship as unnecessary. Western humanism also is founded in Judeo-Christian principles (though it is mirrored in almost all other major world religions) as seen through the eyes of the Enlightenment. Atheism has all sorts of influences and precedents, though formal atheism is really mostly a post-Enlightenment phenomenon.
'Freethinker' can apply to a lot of different positions, so the term as applied here seems well nigh meaningless.
The Enlightenment would seem to dictate that religion is a matter of personal conviction and should be practised on a personal level without interference from an external temporal authority. Conversely, temporal authorities in the interest of their respective populaces should not be beholden to any religious authority.