WMD? Nope. Oil? Nope. Try Gog and Magog...

[Deckard]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

this post offends me, not only in that you make the implication that all religion is a foolish notion, but that you make the implication that everyone who follows a religion must be a fool.

Don't you DARE put words in my mouth.

I'm SO offended!

Seriously, I did no such thing. I held the notion of Bush's (and Reagan's) apparent beliefs up to that quote from a Greek philosopher, with the only implication being to call one or the other into question.

As it happens I do think believing in such things is foolish. I do happen to think that anyone who believes Jesus to be the son of God, Thor to be the god of Thunder or anything else based on one of the world's many and varied creation myths throughout history (including Gog and Magog) is being foolish. I make no apologies for that. To quote your post, "whether you agree with that or not is irrelevent as it is a personal opinion."

However, believing in foolish things does not make someone "a fool" per se, just like acting stupidly does not mean someone "is" stupid. I don't judge someone's entire being based solely on some beliefs I happen to consider foolish. As such, I do not consider you a fool bryant, I just consider your religious belief foolish.

That distinction is not spurious sophistry or passive aggression, it's how I genuinely try to approach people. It would be crazy to go around dismissing everyone who believes in religion as "a fool".