oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Brian T. Coughlin) (09/27/90)
Re: Terry Coatta In article <Sep.26.02.53.48.1990.1605@athos.rutgers.edu> coatta@cs.ubc.ca (Terry Coatta) writes, in response to Joe Buehler: >> I think that sort of thinking is worthy of ridicule. Don't steal his >> car, but feel perfectly free to convince him that God doesn't exist? A >> case of slightly disordered values. I think. >You forget the converse... You are also free to convince him that God >does exist. And therein lies the only CHRISTIAN means you possess of >spreading the Christ's message. Hi, Terry! Well... just as a logical side note, I'd like to assert that the above example (i.e. the "converse" of atheistic promotion) isn't quite logically symmetric. Closely analogous to that would be, "Feel free to steal his/her car, but also feel free to buy him/her one"... and such a condition wouldn't do your argument much good. From what I've seen, I think Joe was asserting that the promotion of atheism should strike theists as undesirable, and that theists should make a concerted effort to prevent it (within the bounds of reasonable behavior, of course). -- Take care! Sincerely, Brian Coughlin oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
ps%ucsd@ucsd.edu (Patricia Shanahan) (10/01/90)
In article <Sep.27.03.48.27.1990.14816@athos.rutgers.edu> oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Brian T. Coughlin) writes: ... > From what I've seen, I think > Joe was asserting that the promotion of atheism should strike theists > as undesirable, and that theists should make a concerted effort to > prevent it (within the bounds of reasonable behavior, of course). > Many atheists, myself included, find the promotion of theism undesirable. Should we make a concerted effort to prevent it (within the bounds of reasonable behavior, of course)? If so, what do you think should be the bounds of reasonable behavior? I have generally assumed that there is really very little that can or should be done to prevent people from promoting their sincerely held beliefs, however much one may disapprove of them. -- Patricia Shanahan ps@fps.com uucp : ucsd!celerity!ps phone: (619) 271-9940