Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

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I recognize the fact that there are countries with quite a few frustrated people that would like nothing better than to be able to control the rest of their fellow human beings and to tell them how to live and that in such countries one could easily get in trouble with the law for behavior that is perfectly ordinary elsewhere.

My way of dealing with that is to refuse to do business with places that are set up like that. It seems to be the easiest way to deal with this problem, then I don't need to wonder what to say/do/not say/not do in order to avoid giving offense to someone with an ax to grind.

There are countries where it is illegal to write certain words, paint pictures, teach women, get an education, complain that you've been raped and so on. The list is long and makes for very sad reading because it shows us how far we as humanity still have to go to get to a more enlightened level. Some people would happily revert to the stone age if that meant that their bearded invisible friend gets to call the shots.

In the end, it's all just little people wrecking it for the rest of us, and this makes me slightly sad that I'm an atheist and not a Roman Catholic because then I'd be confident that all these little men (the pope included) would one day burn in hell.

I agree that we live in a very sad world, but your remark is also very sad that you believe forcing other people to your view is also correct same as a religious person. Not to Believe is as religious as someone believing in something, just like not to take a decision is also a decision.

Change has to come from within and cannot be forced because we believe it is right or wrong else we create resistance to change, which perpetuates the injustice which we want to remove.

Freedom and Slavery are one and the same thing, it is the level of restrictions which defines whether you are in a Slave environment or Free Environment and it is also complicated by the fact that one person's view of slavery/freedom is different from another person's view.

Avoiding to deal with it does not make the problem go away, it still exists and when intelligent people do this, it will still exist for ever.

It is never little people wrecking it for the rest of us, it is us, the little people wrecking for everyone in the name of dogmas without understanding the consequences of our own actions.

Refusing to do business with certain countries is not the same as forcing others to believe as I do.

I take issue with your statement that "not to believe is as religious as someone believing in something".

Being atheist myself, this is inaccurate. I consider the existence or non-existence of a deity to be a non-issue, so it is not that I am actively refuting something that is disputed.

The best way to understand this is to look at the "cosmic teapot" anecdote (or the "flying spaghetti monster" to be more current). It is impossible to disprove that there is a giant teapot floating in orbit near Mars which is impervious to all forms of human detection. Does this mean that you or I are members of an anti-teapot religious group? Of course not - the question of whether or not the teapot exists simply has no relevance for us and is therefore ignored.

someone who has just been convicted for offending another religion inside their own country is talking about enlightenment. im loving this.

You suffer from serious reading comprehension failure.

you just offended a religion. how different are you from the OP?

> you just offended a religion.

I did? Oh my.

this is freedom of speech. blunt offense and apathy.

I guess the most striking difference is that jacquesm hasn't been convicted of anything.

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