Is it ok to mock beliefs?

[MysticSang'ha]

I mock people & their beliefs regularly.
Has anyone ever been offended by this?
I'm sure someone has, but I'm curious to know of examples.
(Of course, I won't stop.)

I'm offended you don't mock me more often.

I like your limericks though. Even when you don't include me as much...

 

[Sunstone]

BTW, you're a dirty old man who likes to rip off younger women.

If by "rip off" you mean "rip the clothes off". then how am I suppose to argue with you without condemning myself as a liar? Guilty as charged. But I plead for mercy on the grounds that only a dead man in his grave could be insensible of your inner and outer beauty.

I say that with love and respect for you too.

You have respect for me? We seriously need to talk. Now, I'm worried about you.

 

[fantome profane]

I mock people & their beliefs regularly.
Has anyone ever been offended by this?
I'm sure someone has, but I'm curious to know of examples.
(Of course, I won't stop.)

Your references to Canuckistan use to make me cry, but that was before I figured you out. You are like one of those homophobes who are actually gay. Revoltingest is actually a closeted Canadian.

It's all good my brother.:rainbow1:

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm offended you don't mock me more often.
I like your limericks though. Even when you don't include me as much...

In response to your previous quip
I will mock you & then I will rip
you a brand new one,
but only in fun,
lest you brandish your leathery whip,

 

[Revoltingest]

Your references to Canuckistan use to make me cry, but that was before I figured you out. You are like one of those homophobes who are actually gay. Revoltingest is actually a closeted Canadian.
It's all good my brother.:rainbow1:

The clue to our brotherhood is the same suffix for Revoltingistan & Canuckistan.
We "stans" stand together.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

In response to your previous quip
I will mock you & then I will rip
you a brand new one,
but only in fun,
lest you brandish your leathery whip,

:hearts:

 

[tempter]

Is it ever ok to mock religious beliefs? Or even non-religious beliefs?

Are there some beliefs that are just completely off the table?

If there are some beliefs that are immune to mockery, which ones? Why? How to we distinguish between beliefs that are ripe for ridicule, and those that are immune?

It's OK if you're familiar with the religion or belief you're mocking. Some religions though mock themselves.

 

[Road Warrior]

This thread is not about Dawkins!

True. It's about the merits of mockery of which Dawkins is merely a supporter along with other New Atheists.

Do you disagree?

 

[MysticSang'ha]

It's OK if you're familiar with the religion or belief you're mocking. Some religions though mock themselves.

Pastafarians and the Church of the Subgenious both come to mind.

 

[Road Warrior]

LOL <-----laughing out loud at this thread

Laughing is a good thing.....but laughing at others is not always good.

Still, I appreciate you attempts to see the humor of the situation. I'm guessing that you are young, say late 20s or early 30s, and much prettier than you think your are.

It's good to laugh at ourselves, but there is harm in laughing at others. Better to reason with them.

 

[Revoltingest]

Laughing is a good thing.....but laughing at others is not always good.
Still, I appreciate you attempts to see the humor of the situation. I'm guessing that you are young, say late 20s or early 30s, and much prettier than you think your are.
It's good to laugh at ourselves, but there is harm in laughing at others. Better to reason with them.

Wow!
Just wow!
It reminds me of when Sojourner guessed that I was a teenager. (Well, it was several years ago. I was younger then.)

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Awww, I take it as a compliment.

Got four teenaged kiddos - 19, 16, 14, and 13, and currently being given hormones due to menopause symptoms. The added estrogen and progesterone look great with my thigh high boots, though.

I've learned not to sweat the small stuff. Parenting teens is like trying to nail jello to a tree, so personal ridicule and mockery of my beliefs - religious, political, and parenting - simply doesn't bother me. 37 years of working in show business has also rewarded me with an unintended tough skin....I always assume myself to be more sensitive than I wind up being.

If y'all see me as young and naive, I would only hope it helps you sleep at night.

 

[fantome profane]

True. It's about the merits of mockery of which Dawkins is merely a supporter along with other New Atheists.

Do you disagree?

I think I have made my position clear in these series of threads. Yes, I think there can be great merit in the art of mockery. I think it is perfectly acceptable to mock ridiculous ideas, and I go one step further and state that in certain instances it is a moral obligation to mock certain ideas. I have said this over and over again. Yes I believe that mockery can be a powerful and effective tool. I am a big supporter of the merits of mockery, and I don't even consider myself a "new atheist".

 

[ChristineES]

I only feel OK laughing at someone if they are laughing, too. Otherwise, I feel mean. Like if someone were to slip in the mud, I'd make sure the person was all right, make sure the person was laughing, before I even think of laughing.
Once I was taking a connection off a torque wrench, and when it came off, the torque wrench hit me in the face. No one laughed until they saw me laughing. I felt stupid and I was laughing at my own stupidity (I should have held the stupid wrench at a different angle, and no it didn't really hurt all that bad.)

 

[jarofthoughts]

Better to reason with them.

And what if they will not listen to reason, not to mention overwhelming evidence, but instead keep pushing their nonsense agenda onto society?
What if they are dishonest or wilfully ignorant?

 

[lunamoth]

So, was Dawkins encouraging mocking of religious beliefs and those who hold them, or not?

 

[Straw Dog]

So, was Dawkins encouraging mocking of religious beliefs and those who hold them, or not?

It's hard for any of us to say what exactly his experience was and how he interpreted it in his particular flow of being. The only way to really resolve the issue would be if he personally decided to come online onto this specific site and expressed his views on the whole ordeal. Even then, we would all still have to interpret our perception of his views. Either way, that would be pretty hilarious if he came on here to debate the naysayers.

 

[lunamoth]

It's hard for any of us to say what exactly his experience was and how he interpreted it in his particular flow of being. The only way to really resolve the issue would be if he personally decided to come online onto this specific site and expressed his views on the whole ordeal. Even then, we would all still have to interpret our perception of his views. Either way, that would be pretty hilarious if he came on here to debate the naysayers.

But who are the naysayers?

 

[Sunstone]

So, was Dawkins encouraging mocking of religious beliefs and those who hold them, or not?

I read him as encouraging mocking of religious beliefs -- which is an interpretation that I've noticed people close to Dawkins have put on his words.

 

[Straw Dog]

But who are the naysayers?

Whomever Dawkins views as his naysayers. I'm not really picking sides here. I cannot speak on behalf of his experiences.