Educated readers: how do you react to people who make comments such as these?

D

das Buch

New member
Especially if they are family members. I try to just smile and shrug it off, but it's very frustrating at times. I really have to bite my lip or contain my anger sometimes. The following are actual comments.

"The Earth isn't that old. No more than 10,000 years."
"We never went to the moon. Those photos are fake."
"They'll never find a cure for cancer. There's too much money involved in the cancer business."
"How do we know if George Washington ever existed? It could all be made up."
"I haven't read 'Animal Farm,' but wasn't George Orwell a liberal hippie type dude?"
"History's a waste of time. Who cares about all those dead people?"
"It's a sign of the end of times. In Revelations (insert verse) they was already talkin' about the (insert recent political/social event)."
"They used to castrate boys to make'em sing better?? [Referring to the castrati singers]. That's the DUMBEST thing I've ever heard of."
"No really intelligent person can be an atheist. Einstein said 'There IS a God.'"
"There's a purpose for everything. When it's your time to go, it's because God has decided."
"New Orleans was punished. Don't question the Wrath of God."
"Shakespeare sucks."
 
It is really annoying, but some people will come back with an argument (no matter how stupid), no matter what you say, and they will refuse to see any differently. The people mentioned above are already doing this, so I doubt anything you say will cause them to change their mind. I would clamp my mouth, or you could also nicely say "I don't bad mouth your beliefs, please don't bad mouth mine."
 
I'm not sure if I'd be considered an 'educated reader' but I absoluetly don't like those statements at all. Being the black sheep (atheist) of my family, comments such as "The Earth isn't that old. No more than 10,000 years." and "No really intelligent person can be an atheist. Einstein said 'There IS a God.'" do irk me sometimes.
I think the majority of this would be better off in the Religion and Spirituality section :]
And some made me laugh...
 
Sometimes I can't help but start telling them what I think. Then, I usually go into a long story or explanation and by the end I've wasted my time becoming frustrated and angry by their ignorance because their mind is set. So, I usually just ignore these comments and move on. What's the point in arguing if a person really believes these things? If they've been taught in such a way from parents/teachers, then it's not their fault. Again, sometimes people are just plain ignorant and have no desire to even pick up a book and learn before they say something, but that's their decision. If they truly believe so, nothing I say will make a difference/
 
I know exactly what you mean! I just kind of pretend I don't hear them and move on...I've found it's pointless to argue!

=)
 
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