<DIV>Chas,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I agree there is nothing wrong with being a member of a "largish" (must be a Bush term) minority. Soon, we probably all will be.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think of extremist in a different way than you and Ted. I think of extremist as being a group that who has practices that are not held by a significant number of people or are dangerous to others that disagree with their political/religious view point. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Extremist can simply mean going to edge of human tolerance. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In all honestly, I believe Atheism is dangerous. A belief in God or supreme being I think is necessary for a healthy society. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In basic form, the Ten Commandants are crucial for any society to survive, and certainly a benefit to any society that follows them. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best Regards,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan<BR><BR><B><I>Chasuk <chasuk@gmail.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">On Sat, May 31, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Donovan Arnold<BR><DONOVANJARNOLD2005@YAHOO.COM>wrote:<BR><BR>> If by your logic Christians are extremists because their view is not held by<BR>> the majority of the Earth's inhabitants, then you must also by that<BR>> definition accept that you are radical extremists because the majority of<BR>> the world beliefs in one God, the same God, the God of David and Moses, not<BR>> as you do. Only about 5-10% of the world is Atheist. So if Christians are<BR>> extremists in their views, Atheists are the dangerous radical nut cases.<BR><BR>Your first assertion is correct. Ted and I are logically extremists,<BR>as we are in the minority. Your second assertion is also correct,<BR>but barely. There are now over 6.8 billion people in the world, of<BR>which
roughly 3.6 billion fall into the Islamo-Judeo-Christian<BR>category.<BR><BR>However, our numbers aren't insignificant. Approximately 16% of the<BR>world's population is non-religious, and 6% are Buddhist, who aren't<BR>"religious" in the sense normally accepted in the West. This gives<BR>nontheists and nontraditional theists a 22% wedge of the world pie.<BR>Islam only possesses a 21% wedge.<BR><BR>Yes, we are extremists. I don't personally find extremism a useful<BR>word. It is loaded with pejorative connotation that other, equally<BR>suitable words, such as uncommon or rare, lack. Even "uncommon"<BR>carries too much weight. Atheism, agnosticism, nontheism, and all<BR>flavors of nonreligious theism are less common beliefs, but we still<BR>consist of between 1,088,000,000 and 1,496,000,000 persons, which is a<BR>surprisingly large number, considering our easy demonization and<BR>dismissal.<BR><BR>To revise, then: Ted and I are members of a largish minority.<BR><BR>There
isn't anything wrong with that.<BR><BR>Chas<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p>