# A new atheist's regrets **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626 "2011-04-16T17:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/81 "2011-04-19T00:34:25Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > My point is that there is a tremendous amount of brainpower, money, and time being squanderred on religious pursuits. That’s what you don’t understand. Contemplating the meaning of life is not squandering thought - regardless of the conclusion you, as an individual, eventually reach. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/82 "2011-04-19T00:38:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Yeah, look at how Gregor Mendel wasted his intellect by becoming a monk! Imagine how much could he have taught us about genetics if he’d pursued that instead? > > Okay, bad example. Yes, bad example. Mendel did his work, and read at a local meeting and published in an obscure journal, where it was referenced three times in the next 35 years. He went from peas to honeybees, then got promoted and spent the rest of his life as an administrator. His work was not rediscovered until long after his death. If he had been a bit less faithful, and was at a university instead of an abbey, he might have pushed it more and the study of genetics could have moved along faster. Who knows, we might all be immortal now. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/83 "2011-04-19T00:51:47Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > My point is that there is a tremendous amount of brainpower, money, and time being squanderred on religious pursuits. I imagine that there have been many Sir Francis Bacons, Michael Faradays, Robert Boyles, Rene Descartes(es) etc who have sat in the pews all their life debating if women should be silent in church, or the meaning of the book of Revelation, or creating excuses for Methuselah’s old age and Noah’s zoological feats. So enamoured were they with the promise of status in the church, or the promise of a righteous life today and eternity at the feet of their beloved sky-king that they never leveraged their formidable intellect againt things that would make a difference. Imagine if message boards existed then. They could all be pitting their formidable intellects against each other to argue about whether a particular word is spelled correctly or if a comma should be placed in a sentence at a particular spot. Or they could be spending their precious time and brain power to argue about what they should squander their precious time and brain power on. And they could be condescending about what the other people decide to spend their time on. Forget about religion. . .let’s do away with message boards and then tell everyone else what idiots they are for spending time there! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/84 "2011-04-19T00:59:14Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > That’s what you don’t understand. Contemplating the meaning of life is not squandering thought - regardless of the conclusion you, as an individual, eventually reach. Studying the Bible is not studying the meaning of life. It is studying an iron age tribal mythology. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/85 "2011-04-19T01:03:13Z")
I’m trying to keep you from becoming so arrogant in your new found view of life that you can still accept other people’s views of life. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/86 "2011-04-19T01:10:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Studying the Bible is not studying the meaning of life. It certainly can be. Did you ever read Ecclesiastes, for example? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/87 "2011-04-19T01:15:14Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/88 "2011-04-19T01:19:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It certainly can be. > > Did you ever read Ecclesiastes, for example? Now to be fair, I think there are parts of the bible that can be studied as literature. In fact I think there is much in the bible that DOES stand as great works of literature. And if you can glean some meaning from the book of Ecclesiastes, that is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/89 "2011-04-19T01:21:22Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > And if you can glean some meaning from the book of Ecclesiastes, that is wonderful. So you agree it’s not a waste of time? ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/90 "2011-04-19T01:22:40Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I’m trying to keep you from becoming so arrogant in your new found view of life that you can still accept other people’s views of life. There are as many views of life as there are people. Some are more worthy of respect than others. Some are to be derided and others lauded. Just because I don’t fawn over christian thought does not make me arrogant or suggest I take issue with EVERY way of life that doesn’t mirror my own. Only those that have no basis in fact or evidence. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/91 "2011-04-19T01:27:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Just because I don’t fawn over christian thought does not make me arrogant or suggest I take issue with EVERY way of life that doesn’t mirror my own. No one is asking you to fawn, just don’t cast aspersions. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/92 "2011-04-19T01:34:13Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > No one is asking you to fawn, just don’t cast aspersions. I am casting apersion upon something that is worthy of casting aspersions upon. One of the main reasons people have such difficulty breaking with the ridiculous beliefs you must maintain to remain a christian is that people feel it needs to be treated so delicately. I cast aspersions and I have said why. Take issue with what I said, don’t ask me to just play nice. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/93 "2011-04-19T01:41:14Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > I am casting apersion upon something that is worthy of casting aspersions upon.. Incurable arrogance. I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/94 "2011-04-19T01:41:56Z")
I apologize that I have come off so angry and like such a jerk. Obviously I have some things to work out on my own. I wish you all joy and peace. Especially **Monkey with a Gun**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/95 "2011-04-19T01:43:44Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Incurable arrogance. > > I’m done. Please, let’s remain civil. In what way have I been arrogant? I disagree with christianity, but I feel it is for reasonable reasons. Is that arrogant? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/96 "2011-04-19T02:45:46Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Incurable arrogance. > > I’m done. **Monkey** , what I’m seeing from **newcrasher** doesn’t look to me like arrogance. Rather, it reminds me of the attitude of someone who’s just divorced or broken up with a long-term relationship, and is venting about the worthlessness of their ex and all the time they wasted being with said ex. Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a fair assessment of the objective worth of the ex as a person or of the value of the time spent together or of the real reasons for the relationship’s downfall. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/97 "2011-04-19T02:54:56Z")
Congratulations, in all sincerity. A progressive society is a secular society. My only advice is pay your taxes and don’t waste your new found leisure time debating religion. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/98 "2011-04-19T04:22:41Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > I apologize that I have come off so angry and like such a jerk. Obviously I have some things to work out on my own. I wish you all joy and peace. Especially **Monkey with a Gun**. > > 🙂 Apology wholeheartedly accepted. Believe me on that. I genuinely like you. Go be an atheist - just don’t be a prick about it 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/99 "2011-04-19T14:25:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Yes, bad example. Mendel did his work, and read at a local meeting and published in an obscure journal, where it was referenced three times in the next 35 years. He went from peas to honeybees, then got promoted and spent the rest of his life as an administrator. His work was not rediscovered until long after his death. If he had been a bit less faithful, and was at a university instead of an abbey, he might have pushed it more and the study of genetics could have moved along faster. Who knows, we might all be immortal now. Of course, that raises another question… who FOUNDED most of the great universities you wish Mendel had been at? Might it have been the supposedly anti-intellectual Church? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626/100 "2011-04-19T15:28:20Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > I’ve been a hardcore atheist for 14 years. My atheism never makes me sad. In fact, the world is so much more beautiful and exciting than anything religion ever tried to teach me. Baby atheists, your atheism doesn’t have to make you bitter and sad. I think your approach is certainly ideal, and I’ve found that happy place in some ways. There are certain freedoms I definitely enjoy untethered from the idea of religious doctrine. But religion did once play a role in helping me feel comfortable with the unknown. It made me feel safe, protected, loved. The specific part that makes me sad is that buffer no longer exists. There is ambiguity, and pain, and meaninglessness, and we’re pretty much on our own to sort it all out. That’s actually terrifying. On a lighter note, now I’m imagining little baby atheists running around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-atheists-regrets/578626.md?page=6)