RE: Question For Fellow Atheists...
January 19, 2017 at 7:59 pm
(This post was last modified: January 19, 2017 at 8:03 pm by Ohhellno.
Edit Reason: spelling error
)
Autolite:
Thoughtful question. I have suffered second degree burns from the same experience myself. Personally, I have come to the conclusion that there are fundamental differences in the thought processes between atheists and theists. Our minds are somehow different, one screening all incoming information through the filters of logic and reason and the other screening all incoming information through the filters of faith and the words in their chosen holy book. Theists also seem to lack anything even approximating a bullshit meter, let alone a hair trigger bullshit meter.
Consider, as an example, the YouTube videos featuring the debates between various theists and some of the more prominent atheist personalities such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, etc. Maybe you will notice, as I have, that two completely different languages are being spoken between the debaters, neither of which is understood by the other and as a result, the outcome is always the same: neither side was moved or persuaded in any way by the arguments of the other.
I have no idea why some people just instinctively question everything as a 'given' prerequisite for finding the truth while others are perfectly willing to accept, on faith, the teachings of others, especially if those teachings are underscored by promises of heaven or threats of hell. I consider the latter as an abdication of personal responsibility, which, I am afraid, is a common defect of our species. And that abdication goes far beyond religion, as we witness that most people give the responsibility for their personal health to their doctor and give the responsibility for their personal finances to various iterations of Bernie Madoff. We let our teachers tell us what to think as we graduate into modern society with our straight "A's" and our degrees, without ever having learned or been taught how to think for ourselves, and therefore never having had an original thought. We let our politicians tell us who is good and who is evil and in need of killing in the world. We let the corporate media tell us what to buy and how to dress, and all this and more without ever once suspecting that we have willingly allowed ourselves to become enslaved, and then informed by our religious indoctrination to enjoy our enslavement because help is on the way. How does one remain asleep through all of that? I have no idea.
The bottom line is that it is not easy being awake and conscious in a world that is mostly still asleep. To the status quo, truth is the most dangerous and threatening thing imaginable: it can get you killed. Trying to awaken others is no exercise for the faint of heart. Frustration, futility and burn-out are a result of actually thinking you can change what another person thinks. The truth is that most often you cannot. The answer to these frustrations lies in unconditional love and just plain letting go.
Thoughtful question. I have suffered second degree burns from the same experience myself. Personally, I have come to the conclusion that there are fundamental differences in the thought processes between atheists and theists. Our minds are somehow different, one screening all incoming information through the filters of logic and reason and the other screening all incoming information through the filters of faith and the words in their chosen holy book. Theists also seem to lack anything even approximating a bullshit meter, let alone a hair trigger bullshit meter.
Consider, as an example, the YouTube videos featuring the debates between various theists and some of the more prominent atheist personalities such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, etc. Maybe you will notice, as I have, that two completely different languages are being spoken between the debaters, neither of which is understood by the other and as a result, the outcome is always the same: neither side was moved or persuaded in any way by the arguments of the other.
I have no idea why some people just instinctively question everything as a 'given' prerequisite for finding the truth while others are perfectly willing to accept, on faith, the teachings of others, especially if those teachings are underscored by promises of heaven or threats of hell. I consider the latter as an abdication of personal responsibility, which, I am afraid, is a common defect of our species. And that abdication goes far beyond religion, as we witness that most people give the responsibility for their personal health to their doctor and give the responsibility for their personal finances to various iterations of Bernie Madoff. We let our teachers tell us what to think as we graduate into modern society with our straight "A's" and our degrees, without ever having learned or been taught how to think for ourselves, and therefore never having had an original thought. We let our politicians tell us who is good and who is evil and in need of killing in the world. We let the corporate media tell us what to buy and how to dress, and all this and more without ever once suspecting that we have willingly allowed ourselves to become enslaved, and then informed by our religious indoctrination to enjoy our enslavement because help is on the way. How does one remain asleep through all of that? I have no idea.
The bottom line is that it is not easy being awake and conscious in a world that is mostly still asleep. To the status quo, truth is the most dangerous and threatening thing imaginable: it can get you killed. Trying to awaken others is no exercise for the faint of heart. Frustration, futility and burn-out are a result of actually thinking you can change what another person thinks. The truth is that most often you cannot. The answer to these frustrations lies in unconditional love and just plain letting go.
