How do you reason with religious people?

[Chibz]

I live with a Devout Christian, and I study Archaeology which they don't believe in...

You Can't Reason with them.. We just have a laugh and banter about it.. Just try not to get into a serious argument and you'll be fine

He's a young earth creationist? Oh, gross!

 

[AWDMANOUT]

You can't throw every religious person in the same group.

Just because somebody believes in God or whatever deity they prefer, it doesn't mean they totally disregard logic and reason. There are plenty of athiestic or simply anti-relgious people who equally disregard reason.

It's unfair to say something like "all relgious people ignore logic". Because it's simply untrue.

 

[OwainGlyndwr1000]

You reason with a religious person just like you would with any other person. If they don't want to use reason, their loss. If they cannot come up with good reasons for why they believe the things that they do, either their method is deficient or their faith is. Saint Aquinas' Summa Theologica does not consist entirely of threats and cajoling, and St Augustine did not defend the Church by refusing to engage in debate.
And it is also illogical to claim that a theists arguments are not worth listening to because they're the equivalent of treatises on Fairies, Unicorns etc,so it's good to see that you consider a rational debate something to engage in. Truth matters, and if you really respect someone you wouldn't let them hold a deficient view of reality.

 

[lacktheknack]

I tell them keep your views to yourself and i won't attempt to show you mine other than that i prefer to avoid them which being in britain is easy cause i barely ever meet religious people here... seriously where are they all

They're keeping their views to themselves. Just as you wanted.

 

[lacktheknack]

The argument SHOULD be:

The bible says "Don't judge people. Leave it to God."
The WBC judges people and doesn't leave it to God.
Therefore, the WBC is wrong.

That makes sense until you realize that the WBC is not the only group that judges people. Almost every single person in the world judges people (with the exception of very few, if at all) including you and me. Does that mean that we are all "wrong"?

If I said "yes", how would you respond?

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

Thats not really reasoning, thats just saying I can prove your god doesnt exist because you cant answer these questions. Also I can answer that right in the second. God's malevolent. You can tell that just by reading the Old Testament.

OT: Hm... I guess it would depend how religious they are. There's people who are religious by can listen to reason, then there's people who are religious and wont have conversation. basically youre at the whim of their level of faith.

 

[pwnzerstick]

How could you not side with someone who has over 9000 sins?

 

[teebeeohh]

i gave that up long ago. most reasonable religious people are just that, reasonable and when trying to talk to fanatics they have 1 argument and repeat it again and again and again, just phrase it differently.
a very wise man once said:
Everybody should treat their religion like their balls: don't have them out in public and don't shove them down your kids throats.

 

[RobCoxxy]

I can get along with religious folk, but disagree with their beliefs.
And Christians are more in-your-face and annoying about it than any other.

And they seem to have a tendency to try and brainwash/shove it down children's throats more. Which I despise.

 

[Mr. Eff_v1legacy]

You don't. Some people are stuck in their ways. Don't bother.

 

[EllEzDee]

Other worthwhile questions:
How do you reason with a furry?
How do you reason with a blind-patriot?
How do you reason with an idiot?

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

you cannot reason with religious people simply because their faith is not based on reason to begin with. you disprove a mathematical theory with reason because it was formulated with reason and falls within the confines of reason. religion is based off of faith and a belief in something outside the realm of reason and physical proofs and thus you cannot reason with a person when talking about something that lies outside of its realm. this is why atheist dont make any headway when trying to disprove the existence of a higher power, they try and prove it with science and reason when that is not the foundation a persons religion is formed.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

I think you need to edit your title from "How do you reason with religious people" to "How do you reason with ignorant people". Because I can reason just fine with religious people. It's not like they abandon logic and clear thinking in favor of superstition and faith. Now some of them do, but there are atheists out there who don't really follow well-thought out logic themselves. Religion and reason are not mutually exclusive.

It all comes down to your interpretation of the world around you. Some people look at the world and feel that there has to be something out there that we can't see that's affecting everything. Others feel like everythings just random and there is no purpose. And some can't yet decide. To religious people, believing in their religion is logical from what they've seen in life.

So seriously, all just because you're friends ignorant, don't think that it's due to his religion.

 

[starkiller212]

In my experience, people will generally think/argue whatever is necessary to preserve their own beliefs. Once someone is indoctrinated into religious beliefs, they pretty much have to experience and verify their doubts independently for any changes to occur. Unfortunately I don't think this is limited to religion, it's just human nature in general. It might be best to simply present your side/evidence in whatever discussion you're having, so they are at least aware of it, and then withdraw before it becomes too hostile. Hopefully they will eventually realize the truth, but there's not much else you can really do about it.

 

[HT_Black]

"Hi, there, religious person!"
"Hi there, Harry!"
"Did you know that I'm religious?"
"Oh, get out of town! So am I!"
"Are you insane?"
"Nope! How about you?"
"Neither am I!"
"That's great! Why the hell does this question even need to be asked?"
"Beats me, religious person! Beats me."

It goes a bit like that.

 

[Bugerion]

A lot of people here where I live are ''religious'' but I have a feeling they never really go to church or anything like that only one guy asked me what do I think happens after life I answered and he said ok so that was the end they don't really bug you here.

 

[standokan]

You can´t and you shouldn´t, leave unreasonable people alone, I´m not saying that religious are unreasonable but you get the point.

 

[SkellgrimOrDave]

You can't.

 

[Whitenail]

As a Catholic I'd like to think that I don't adhere to the stereotypes of being unreasonably undeterrable and disrespectful of the beliefs of others and I suppose my method for stepping around people who probably would scream and shout when their faith came under fire is simply to try and not bring it up.

Don't get me wrong, being able to have a mature discussion about religion with others is something I'd love to do, but at the end of the day considering how deep-running and personal someone's faith is I see no real reason to bring it under scrutiny, come face to face with someone who does scrutinize the beliefs and practices of others (unless it's something extreme, like some cult of baby-eaters) like a judgemental asshole (believe me I've interacted with hundreds of these types in the past, offline and on) I just try to ignore them, their beliefs probably aren't going to change under such conditions and neither are mine.

 

[Paksenarrion]

This is a little embarrassing, but us religious people have a quota, kind of like highway patrol officers do. If you pay attention to when we try to convert you, you'll notice we do it at a particular time of the month.