Well, like I have said before, they can expect their identities to be
respected when they start respecting other people's identities. The ones
who do give that kind of respect get the same kind of respect from me.
If they don't bring it up I don't bring it up. If they start beating me
over the head with it then they get a response from me. If they
repeatedly insult my intelligence I am happy to show just who really is
the irrational one.
---
Carl Sagan
“ The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be
counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be
consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not
determine what's true. ”
― Carl Sagan
On 3/5/2019 3:27 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I would like to make a neutral observation. The discussions regarding
religion that have taken place among Roger, Carl, and Mustafa, do not lead
to mutual understanding or resolution of issues. Rather, they appear to be
experienced by Mustafa as attacks upon a central tenet of his life, an
important part of his identity, and thus, he attacks back. While Roger sees
these discussions as rational debate, and Carl sees them as open discussion
of personal views, Mustafa does not. Mustafa is not going to stop believing
in his faith. Roger is not going to stop wanting to prove over and over
again that he is the more rational of the two and that his position is
correct. Carl may never stop wanting to make amends for having been an
Evangelical Christian in the past.
Miriam
