Heart of Dorkness, I feel what you’re saying…maybe I’m kidding myself that anyone will have their minds changed about religion by interacting on the SDMB.
But I for one have learned all kinds of things by engaging (not foaming-at-the-mouth style engaging, but not pussyfooting either) in certain religion-themed discussions. At the very least, I have learned things which help me confront the real world, and give me facts and talking points I can use when having dialogues with people like my wife or (someday pretty soon) my child.
I like to say I’m a “small ‘a’ atheist”. I don’t really care what you believe unless you are in my face in some way, and don’t tell folks what I believe (or don’t) unless asked.
I’ve worked at the same place for 14 years and people are surprised when they find out. It has come up a few times though.
One lady said to me “But, you go to church?!”. Another attacked me once because I’m “not a Christian”, but she has issues, so I forgive her- LOL!. Once, one co-worked reacted with alarm, saying “Oh my god. What happened to you.” but mostly religion is not a big topic at work.
Live and let live atheist checking in. I’ve got enough love for everyone. I find nothing inherently problematic with religious belief and actually admire it a little bit. There is absolutely nothing to lose by being more accepting of other people.
I think the problem with the ‘‘fighting ignorance’’ argument is that too many people think the purpose of the board is to fight other people’s ignorance. There should be a greater investment in fighting one’s own ignorance, and if more posters took that attitude, people would probably get along better.
I couldn’t in good conscience vote for any of the choices. If you wanted to get my vote it would have been for a fourth option: I disregard all threads and discussions that involve my religious persuasions.
It’s none of your goddamn business what I believe or don’t believe, and I’m not about to waste energy discussing it. In that sense I can get-along just fine by ignoring the issue. And I don’t label myself with binary labels.
I am a theist, and I like people who have consciously chosen and live by their moral code. I think slightly less of lazy, I-was-raised-this-way, unthinking people.
The title was catchy and I expected to find a proposal I could go along with. Not seeing a poll option I could vote for with some level of conviction, I chose to post a reply without voting. I would gladly vote for removing all threads and discussion of religious matters from SDMB. Not expecting such a thing to happen I was giving my view on how relevant they are to me. I avoid them. This was an exception to that basic approach.
I responded to your question since it looked like a serious one. But I don’t really want to debate it. I avoid Great Debates even more than religious issues.
So, once the poll closes and we all join hands and sing, are we go and tar and feather the people that don’t want to get along with us? Sorta like the U.N., but with crowbars?
By knowledge I am agnostic. Moreover, I don’t see how anyone could be otherwise. We cannot know either that gods exist or don’t. But it seems unlikely to me at least, so by belief I am an atheist. But it is a matter of belief, not knowledge. If you want to believe in gods, go right ahead; just don’t bug me about it.
I have nothing against you poor, benighted, miserable, misguided, doomed fools who refuse to recognize the universal soveriegnty of Athena. I figure not knowing Her is its own punishment.
The above should not be taken as a repudiation of any bloody crusade against the heathens. That’s up to the Goddess.
Atheist checking in. Can’t allow theists to have their way, unfortunately, until they stop thrusting their beliefs onto the government and me. I’m perfectly content to let theists be content as long as they worship privately and let me remain content in my heathen godlessness. But I get pretty loud and obnoxious when they try to lobby for religion-fueled public policy.
Atheist son of atheist parents, so I never had all that much to rebel against ;). My usual tag-line is that I’m ‘non-religious, not anti-religious’ and my friends run the gamut from firm atheists to the fairly devout.
In my younger years I was bit more openly/rudely contemptuous of woo-type stuff like crystals and whatnot, but I’ve learned slightly better manners as time has gone on.
I’m a get-along atheist. The only person I’ve only intensively debated/discussed my beliefs was with my fiancee. The only issue I currently feel strident/disgruntled about is the fact that it seems easier for us as a society to accept a type of belief in god (be it Christian, Catholic, Jew, Hindu, etc) than the disbelief in god.
I’ve never demanded theists prove God exists. But I’ve had theists (rude ones, I suppose, not all) demand I prove how God can’t exist. I’ve debated it a lot with my fiancee, but it often devolved into a circular argument. The other thing that bugs me is that I feel that Atheists often have to lie about being Atheist due to the judgements/questioning they’ll get, but many theists aren’t under nearly the same scruitiny.
My fiancee claims Catholics get just as oppressed/critisised as Atheists do, and to ‘play the victim’ is to show a lack of understanding for other beliefs. Somehow I’m a bit skeptical on that. She is a ‘cradle Catholic’ and defends Catholicism more in how deeply rooted it is in her Mexican culture.
But getting back on-topic, I’ve learned this adversarial approach doesn’t do any good. It doesn’t get my points across any better, it doesn’t fight ignorance but rather entrenches the other person in their beliefs. If I’m irritated others question my beliefs/I feel I have to hide/lie about my Atheism, why should I sink to their level to make them feel the same? I’d rather rise above it, and since then have felt happier. I can be smug without bringing other people down.
I’m an apatheist.I consider the existence of any sort of supreme being to be totally irrelevant to my life, and the beliefs of others on this issue does not affect my opinion of them, unless they attempt to either impose those beliefs on me or society as a whole, or feel obliged to convince me of the rightness of those beliefs, in which case I reserve the right to treat them with the same contempt, abuse, or opposition that I would apply to people who do the same with other beliefs.
