RE: Looking for Blog Posts on Atheism
August 11, 2011 at 7:07 am
(This post was last modified: August 11, 2011 at 7:19 am by Anymouse.)
(July 27, 2011 at 2:19 pm)Shell B Wrote:
I am neither an atheist, nor do I like to write (that's why I edit Romances instead of writing them). While I don't think you would want any writings I might offer on various topics surrounding "the atheist experience," I can offer my services as an editor to help writers polish their submissions on the topic, and I have a meter thick stack of style and grammar manuals just itching for use.
I am quite aware of the misconceptions surrounding atheism, such as those you listed above. Atheists are not immoral, as morality and ethics do not derive from a religious outlook or lack thereof.
Likewise, evil can be done by anyone; atheists, yes; religious as well. Evil is actions, not a religious worldview.
Are atheists more intelligent? That might be up for debate, but one could certainly make a case for atheists being better informed about religious choices in their societies, and being more open to weighing evidence and drawing conclusions based on fact, not assumption; at least regarding religious points.
(A religious person can be just as concrete about evidence and assumption as an atheist, except regarding their faith. To that I would tend to believe they are not less intelligent, but perhaps a bit too close and personally involved with that question to make a completely reasoned or dispassionate conclusion.)
As to hatred, it is a powerful emotion, and blind hatred can certainly convey evil, regardless of religious alignment. While I do not doubt there are atheists who hate Christians (or other faith groups) simply because they are religious, I have never met such a person. I have, on the other hand, met many religious people that truly hate anyone who is a declared atheist, or other religious faith (especially my own).
I have met atheists who could care less what another believes, others that do care and don't say anything, and and still others that do care and try to move (any, not just Christians) to think about what it is they believe; even if in the end it does not shake the foundations of their faith.
There are those who mind a great deal when someone makes a religious reference, thinking it anything from callousness to outright display of "superiority," and those who just consider it another's view of the world and "everyone is different."
I do not believe I have ever met an atheist (or an agnostic, however one defines it) who will sit still for brow-beating, either of themselves or another person. "Freedom of religion means all religions, or no religion, else it is not freedom."
And I have met atheists who will cheerfully engage all comers with questions (even if they have heard the same question forty times before, because to the questioner it is new to them), and others who have no patience answering the same questions over and over again. One that specifically comes to mind is one you pose above, rephrased: How can atheists have a moral compass without religion to guide them?
That one seems to rile up many people. To the person asking it, they may be simply trolling, or they may truly not know. A biting retort will certainly do nothing to improve the understanding of the latter, and it hurts nothing to be polite to the former.
It does me no good to respond to someone on the street wishing me a "Merry Christmas" with "I don't worship as you, but have a happy Yule and Solstice." I can respond to them in kind and truly desire they in fact have a merry Christmas, or any other day on the calendar. I have no desire to cause strife or wish discontent on someone because they made an assumption in what is arguably a Christian nation.
The only time I might even mention something about that would be if a person knew me and knew my religious background. In that case, I would not expect their blessing, but I would expect equal treatment. That has nothing to do with religion, that is a humanist sentiment, that all people are good in and of themselves.
Boy, I certainly digressed; the point was, while I probably have little to offer on atheist thought, and much of what I do have would probably not be representative of the atheist community (which is something like herding cats, anyway), I can and would be most happy to offer to the community a skill I do have, editing and polishing proposed posts to the blog.
On the other hand, if you'd rather I just mind my own business and get bent, I can do that too.
James.
"Be ye not lost amongst Precept of Order." - Book of Uterus, 1:5, "Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her."
