Quote:
Originally Posted by msmith
Can everyone see the difference between an advertisement being PRO religion, or God or spirituality and an advertisement ATTACKING the same by saying "There's probably no God"? That is like taking out an ad saying "athiests are morons". There is a big difference between being FOR something and ATTACKING something in an offensive way, which was the point of my original post. Even DixieGal expressed her faith in an honest an open way, complemented the people in this forum as being "good people" and then the "good" people in this forum proceeded to attack her and mock her beliefs. I don't get it.
My only point was the preloaded material should be NEUTRAL and tolerant to all points of view. I really do not think that is so radical an idea.
I have been called "intolerant" numerous times here, but I do not think that I have been the one who has been intolerant. I simply and respectfully brought up a topic that was not addressed on this forum for discussion, and there have been several regrettable comments aimed towards me. I am a new member and do not know anyone here. And now, for merely bringing up an issue, somehow I deserve this sort of treatment.
My ONLY point was to say that in MY opinion (and respecting that others may have a different opinion), it was a curious choice to have a book loaded on the reader that clearly attacks a particular group of people. THAT'S ALL. What if there was a preloaded book that attacks Hispanics or Indians or African-Americans? Is everyone OK with that? If so, then fine. That is YOUR perspective and you are entitled to express it. I would vehemently disagree, and say that I believe NO ONE should be attacked in a particular book that is preloaded. There shouldn't be anti-Obama or anti-Bush books on the Reader either.
Should they be available in the Sony store? Sure. Should someone be free to purchase that book if it was offered? Of course. I just think it is a curious choice to PRELOAD on a Reader to a general audience of everyone. Someone at Sony made that choice, and I was wondering why it was made. Period.
As a new member, I really didn't expect to be tarred and feathered and have a hundred posts after mine in a matter of 24 hours for expressing a simple opinion.
I certainly do appreciate the few members who pointed out that I was ONLY politely bringing up a new topic, and were kind enough to respectfully reply to me. Thank you for that. I wish you all well in the future, and in growing your community. Good luck to all of you.
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msmith, you might very well know that religious belief is quite a sensitive subject which inevitably arouses passions. In my experience, online forums are not the best places to hold such discussions because of the highly complex nature and wide scope of the subject, and also because of the anonymousness. (A discussion like that might not have been your original intent, but it is what this has turned out to be.) This means that any discussion of the subject on an online forum, at it's best, is doomed to to fizzle to a very unsatisfying form. At it's worst, well, it just gets plain ugly. In either case, a "Godwin" would be a merciful event.
I am trying to understand where you're coming from, while at the same time trying to be cautious, because I abhor extremism on both ends. (And, no, based on the limited information in your posts, I do not consider you a religious extremist.) I must admit that my initial knee-jerk reaction to your original post was not very generous, but I bit my tongue. But I think that it reflects well on you that you have tried to argue your side in a calm manner. Reading your posts, I think that I
can understand where you're coming from. However, I still strongly disagree with the conclusions you made about Sony in your original post. I wouldn't give Sony the credit of actually thinking about issues like those you raise. They are out to make a buck (they're a business, after all), and Dawkins's book is selling extremely well.
msmith, I do hope you're not saying goodbye to us for good (which is what you sound l like in your post). I think that diversity is highly desirable in this or any other forum, so I hope you stick around.
And about the "There's probably no God" campaign, I'm curious to know why they have the word "probably" in there. It sounds like the campaign still has some lingering doubts about their belief, and leaves room that there is a finite probability that there is a God. Just sayin'.