No More Anti-Theists

[Mister Agenda]

You almost certainly have encountered them, many times, without realising. Your experiences have been mainly positive because you're inside the bubble of the religion. Religions almost universally have plenty of benefits for the in-group but are automatically divisive with penalties for the out-group. This is the type of instiutionalised religious tribalism that leads to things like the xenophobia of fundamentalists. Because it's been ingrained to you, probably since birth, and so many people share your religion in your society, you may not have noticed it until it was pointed out to you. You may even have been horrible to non-believers without realising that you're being so.

I feel lucky that I was born in to a society that doesn't grant religion such privilege.

Respectfully, I don't think anyone here can tell me who I have and have not encountered, and whether I would or would not be able to get a vibe for what type of people they are. Furthermore, I'm not so cold hearted and unaware that I wouldn't "notice" that myself or my group were "being horrible" to other people.

I love ya, but I gotta be honest, I did not appreciate this comment very much.

I think the point attempted was that none of us know all those things about the people we meet. When I was 42, I had knowingly met two atheists my whole life. That realization prompted me to start a group in 2003. I scheduled meetings and the first three or four, I was the only one to show up. Then two people besides myself came to a meeting. And I knew one of them, I just hadn't known they were an atheist. Eleven years later, I've met hundreds of atheists. But if I hadn't made a special effort, it would be a lot less...at least knowingly.

I met a serial killer in the eighties, also unknowingly, didn't find out until months later. Unless we live in a very closed environment, we're going to meet a lot of people we don't know much about.

I can't even tell who I have and haven't encountered, 100%. I've probably met pedophiles and heroes without being able to tell the difference because people don't present everything about themselves, sometimes not even when you've known them a long time.