This bothers me...
Offline I recently had a conversation with a friend, and I discovered he was an atheist. He told me that didn't "believe in god, heaven or hell." I said "me neither, I'm an atheist"
my friend replied with "well, i wouldn't go that far myself"
he added: "when people ask me, i tell them i'm jewish"
to which i explained that "you're either a theist, a belief in god, or an atheist, no god belief, and that's pretty much all there is to it", to no avail
my friend holds a libertarian platform politically as do i, is very open-minded and non-religious. however, his take on religious identity is not new to me. i've heard other freethinkers and atheists claim that when surveyed or questioned, they prefer to take on a religious identity despite their actual views.
disturbingly, our society seems to view "atheist" as having negative connotations. many are afraid of being looked at differently or ridiculed for it. my freethinking mother even told me, "i'd be careful putting evolve fish emblems on your car...people might pop your tires"
this issue is bothering me greatly. why is it that it's okay to be religious yet, even to non-religious people, bad to be atheist?
your thoughts..
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
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A lot of people are afraid of the big bad "A" word, and a lot of people consider themselves culturally Jewish, but don't believe in a God. I have a big problem with the libertarian position, because it tends to be to capitalistic- I tend to be Socialist, leaning almost toward Communist.
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Further, why is it that one cause of this thinking is the common misconception among theists that we are immoral, amoral, or less moral, yet WE fear immoral acts directed against us by those purporting moral superiority?
It's whacked...
Religious people see atheists as being corrupt and without morals, since, in their minds, morality is a gift from their god. Little do they realize that morality is a human trait, not a godly one. In fact, religious belief often corrupts morality.
Way too often.
I could give a fuck less if someone considered me "evil" or whatever because I don't believe in God.
I have the self satisfaction of knowing they are fuckin idiots.
It's almost a fair trade. I'd rather be evil than an idiot. Plus, i know myself that i'm neither.
God is the omnimax creator by definition of major religions. If there is evidence that the religion is incorrect about the nature of reality, then there is evidence that the God the religion defines does not exist.