This isn’t Pit worthy, but not Mundane. Seems like everytime I mention God in a post (in general, not just SDMB) people make comments with the underlying attitude,“Ain’t that precious, you believe in some Invisible Guy in the Sky.”
I believe in Athena on Mondays, Thor on Tuesdays, Morgoth on Wednesdays, Aslan on Thursdays*, Superman on Fridays, and Athena on Saturdays. On only Sunday is my atheism pure.
Curiously, I have independently come to the conclusion that to believe something merely means to, er, believe it, without the process that led you to that belief playing into it. And “knowing” something is about certainty, not correctness: you can “know” things that are false merely by having dispelled all doubt in their truth.
The fact that I’ve had too many theists telling me that they “know” things may have led me to the conclusion that the word does not imply correctness.
Oh, what? The OP? Yeah, there are other theists on the internet. However, this particular forum is perhaps not the best place on the internet to find them.
Or have their car trashed or lose their job or be disowned by their family or any number of other unpleasant consequences. Atheists are one of the most hated and distrusted groups in America.
You’re on a board dedicated to fighting ignorance and you’re surprised to find that religious posters are in the minority here? It IS taking longer than we thought!
I feel terrible that you’re part of a persecuted minority of merely 96% of the American population, a population that rates the other 4% at about the same level as child molesters in terms of character.
You’re on a message board that’s much more laden with intellectuals than the general internet or the general population. It’d be surprising if it weren’t more atheistic than average.
Anyway, the OP has expanded his frontiers and found a countryside that not only doesn’t believe as he does, but feels no incentive to even pretend to believe as he does. I imagine that was shocking, like finding out Santa Claus wasn’t real or something, but necessary for real growth.