On the aforegoing

[avevale_intelligencer]

I apologise to those to whom I have given offence. I did not mean to imply that they did not grieve or feel loss like any human being; of course they do. I'm sorry.

I stand by my reaction to the fragment I quoted: calling belief in human survival an "obviously illogical assumption" struck me at the time as smug, insensitive and contemptuous, and it still does. The fact that I have here been equally insensitive does not make it any less so.

I agree with melodyclark's comment, apart from the "idiotic" bit*. One believes what one needs to and respects the beliefs of others. "Evidential strength" is irrelevant in these areas, as important as it might be in others.

*And I quite liked the first two Mummy movies, obviously.

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree with that modification. There are some beliefs I don't respect, but I respect the /person/ enough that I won't say anything about it in their presence. And although I will generally extend the same even to people who don't respect my beliefs (or those of my friends) there are certainly some who really push the limits (and there are reasons why they aren't on my flist -- I haven't yet gone as far as banning them, but I could be tempted), and some of those beliefs (for instance "My race is better than some other race") do need to be challenged in public.

[batyatoon]

There are some beliefs I don't respect, but I respect the /person/ enough that I won't say anything about it in their presence.

I would agree with this, with the addendum: there's a difference between not agreeing with a belief and not respecting it. There are plenty of beliefs that I don't share, but I respect them as internally consistent and beneficial and powerful, and that's completely separate from respecting the person who holds them. Regarding those beliefs I will either keep silent, or discuss them in a non-confrontational manner with anyone who doesn't mind the fact that I don't (and won't) agree with them.

There are other beliefs that I can't respect -- the "my race is better than some other race/s" example that you give is a very good one; another, much milder one I can think of is "reading/writing science fiction is pointless and a waste of time" -- and it can be really, really painful to discover that they are held by a person that I otherwise respect. In those cases I try to challenge them, with whatever degree of vehemence seems appropriate, depending on factors like how public the circumstance is and whether or not it seems like challenging the belief will be useless/counterproductive.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand and agree with your clarification. Actually, the "reading fiction is a waste of time" belief is one I can respect (but with which I don't agree), as it is logically and internally consistent as long as it applies to all fiction (someone who says that reading fiction is a waste of time but who also watches soap operas is not consistent). I've known quite a number of intelligent people who don't see any point in reading fiction, they only read nonfiction and then for work and find their relaxation in things like watching football (which /I/ find a waste of time!). We agree to differ.

I also find that I can respect a person for some of their beliefs and behaviours while deploring others. Not just a person, for that matter, it also applies to religious, philosophical and political views and movements. As G&S said, when a felon's not engaged in his employment he may be a very nice chap...