# Lobsang, what is it with you and atheism?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lobsang-what-is-it-with-you-and-atheism/269170>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 14, 2004, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lobsang-what-is-it-with-you-and-atheism/269170 "2004-10-14T08:20:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lobsang-what-is-it-with-you-and-atheism/269170/101 "2004-10-16T18:07:15Z")

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Sorry to bump this thread, but I haven’t mentioned the biggest factor in what ‘it’ is with me and atheism -

I am a Brit on an American-dominated message board.

In one of the current flood of atheism/religion threads people mention that most Brits see religion as mythology. whereas most Americans see it as fact.  
In my over 2 years and over 8000 posts here I have made 11 threads about atheism. I think that is not enough to constitute a ‘thing’ with atheism.

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**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lobsang-what-is-it-with-you-and-atheism/269170/102 "2004-10-16T18:18:35Z")

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> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> Sorry to bump this thread, but I haven’t mentioned the biggest factor in what ‘it’ is with me and atheism -
> 
> I am a Brit on an American-dominated message board.
> 
> In one of the current flood of atheism/religion threads people mention that most Brits see religion as mythology. whereas most Americans see it as fact.  
> In my over 2 years and over 8000 posts here I have made 11 threads about atheism. I think that is not enough to constitute a ‘thing’ with atheism.

Heck, **Lobsang** , I’ve only been here 4 months and 700-odd posts, and I’ve managed at least a dozen threads about Michael Moore.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lobsang-what-is-it-with-you-and-atheism/269170/103 "2004-10-16T21:56:43Z")

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> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> In one of the current flood of atheism/religion threads people mention that most Brits see religion as mythology. whereas most Americans see it as fact.

I think that’s putting it a little bit too simply. (And would the statement not be more accurate as “Brits see religion mostly as mythology”? I mean, most religions _contain_ myth, but neither requires the other absolutely.)

The way I see it, is:

A majority of Americans are, or claim to be, believers in Higher Powers. God, the Great Spirit, Earth Mother Goddess, the 12 Powers, Karma, J.R. “Bob” Dobbs. Whatever.

A large fraction of those believers in turn are convinced by their spiritual experience that the divine is not just a subjective perception, but is as real as anything tangible, and they can specifically identify and in leading their lives in accordance with it can point to specific sets of precepts.

A sizeable minority within that group, in turn, are fiercely, vociferously, in-our-facedly committed to the proposition that said precepts are statements of material facts that should be the bases for all civil discourse and legislation. And they invest a large deal of resources pushing that agenda.

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