are you closed minded?

[quizlixx]

i was called closed minded yesterday, i normally wouldn't give a comment like that a second thought, but i started to think about it. are atheists just as closed minded as fundies? i mean, i am certain that there is no god or supernatural being. i am sure of it. but am i just being closed minded?

[curiosityandthecat]

i was called closed minded yesterday, i normally wouldn't give a comment like that a second thought, but i started to think about it. are atheists just as closed minded as fundies? i mean, i am certain that there is no god or supernatural being. i am sure of it. but am i just being closed minded?

Closed minded assumes you aren't willing to hear alternatives, much less consider accepting them. Atheists, by and large, have arrived at their stations in life through a great deal of introspection, observation and research. If atheists are closed minded, theists are mindless.

[myleviathan]

I was called closed-minded recently, too - in fact I posted about it like you did. It bothered me. If you used to be a Christian (or any other religion for that matter), and then after thinking about decided you just didn't believe in mythology anymore, then you're not closed minded. That's a reasoned decision. Being brave enough to adopt a new world-view based on your convictions is indicative that you're very open-minded.

[Asmodean]

If atheists are closed minded, theists are mindless.

 

[Whitney]

Atheists are just as closed minded as those who do not believe in invisible pink unicorns  

[Msblue]

I've been accused of being closed minded by a Christian. When asking the person that was calling me closed minded to consider Atheism or even other religions, he said that was "insulting"

[shadowdancer]

I think Open or closed mind is always in vague.

Some open-source geeks categorized themselves as more open minded than people using windows. But of course that is not the point of open or close mind.

I also never think that atheists are in always in an open-minded condition. Somehow, there are still something that we cannot accept at all. Probably religion, for us? See, we are closed-mind too..  :hmm:

[McQ]

It's a pretty lame thing for a christian, especially a fundie, to use the term "closed minded". First, they don't even really know what the hell they mean by it. To them, it just means, "You don't believe in my god, so you're wrong." They also misuse the term cynic as well, calling skeptical people cynics.

If anything, skeptics are more likely to utilize the scientific method to determine what they will believe, instead of some book of thousands-of-year-old tales.

[LARA]

What this person was trying to do was dominate you and force their mindset on you and get you to associate something you believe with a negative trait. Atheists are people who don't believe in a god or gods.  It's a pretty simple set of parameters.  People who do not believe in a god or gods may or may not be close-minded.  They are not mutually inclusive or exclusive traits.

An atheist can say they don't believe and still listen to a person's input.  They can ask questions and find out about the other person's beliefs.  When an atheist starts to tell the other person they aren't allowed to think a certain way or try to force the person to share their own beliefs through some physical means, then they are being close-minded.

All that is unproven is, for all practical purposes, imaginary, and all things being equal, my own personal imaginary ramblings are just as valid as anyone else's.  To be truly 'open-minded' we have to accept the idea that every single imaginary belief is an equally valid unprovable possibility.  Some atheists will believe this way, some won't.

Religion is far more close-minded than a person who says they don't believe the imaginary is real.  Religion is actually trying to take over the imagination and limit it to only a few religiously viable options.  

In my mindset, I don't try to limit what I think, instead I make the distinction between reality and imagination and give parameters for what can be real or imaginary, based on science.

As far as I am concerned, I have to make some distinction at some point as to what I'm going to believe is possible in this reality, which I have at least one big toe firmly planted in at all times. I choose to base my beliefs on the perceivable, testable evidence of what reality is rather than what I actually want it to be.  I don't believe the imaginary is real.  That doesn't mean I won't let myself or others be free to discuss it, entertain it, illustrate it through some artistic means, become rather immersed in it or daydream about it.  I would hardly consider myself close-minded because of the fact that I don't think God is real.

[PipeBox]

If no sound argument of reason or direct evidence could change that certainty of yours, then you are being close-minded.  A situation rectified typically by reminding yourself that you don't know everything about everything.  Now, you're not likely to get that sound argument or evidence, but if you do come share it with us!     But, in the most general sense, if you won't even hear the justifications or reasoning of people on the other side, then you're being very close-minded.  Sure, there are time constraints, but I mean for the sole reason that you don't want to hear a conflicting worldview.  I really doubt that's the case, and this person that called you close-minded was probably just trying to take a shot at you.  Chastise (don't insult) them for such tactics, people can be better than debating through ad hominem.

[Sophus]

I confidently doubt that anyone can persuade me but I am not close-minded. I will listen to what others have to say so long as they are not cliches. Ha. I'm a poet and didn't know it!

[Kyuuketsuki]

i was called closed minded yesterday, i normally wouldn't give a comment like that a second thought, but i started to think about it. are atheists just as closed minded as fundies? i mean, i am certain that there is no god or supernatural being. i am sure of it. but am i just being closed minded?

Saying to a rational atheist (by which I mean someone who intelligently evaluates the universe in which they live on the basis of science & reason), "You are closed minded" is simply another way of saying, "You're not open-minded enough to believe the utterly unsubstantiated mythical rubbish I believe" ... frankly I think you should consider it a compliment  

Kyu

[Enlightened777]

A lot of people bash Christians on this sight and whine about shit. You can be an affiliate of any religion and still be opened minded, it's just most of you are like me, you don't buy bullshit and refuse to sit in a church and hear someone run their mouth about how you should give them money because god wants you to. I don't see myself as an Atheist because it's just a label.

[MariaEvri]

although from what I saw on this forum I will agree you guys are NOT closeminded, but i beg to differ
I believe that I am. I do not want and will refuse to listen to anyone who talks to me about religion or their "reason"

[DennisK]

I've been thinking about this lately. Ultimately, what close-minded means to me is the lack of reason.  If you refuse to incorporate reason into any subject, you probably are close-minded to a certain degree.  Most who are not theists have usually gotten there by way of problem solving involving reason and a lot of common sense.