Noobtastic

[MTL]

Hello Everyone ,
  I hope everyone is well.  I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and let you why I am here.  I was out with my wife, best friend and her boyfriend.  It was a good time until we
brought religion into the conversation.  I am a atheist and my best friends boyfriend is a Muslim. In regards to the actual conversation I wont say much unless your interested.  The point
here with no outlet for me to express my atheistic views I bombarded a liberal Muslim with intense and provoking comments. After getting home, my wife implored me to "take it down a notch" when I speak about my views because of  my passion.  I didn't burn any bridges, which is a good thing  but I made a pact with myself to not bring up my non-theist views unless provoked.  My hope is to be humbled by learning where others passion for atheism comes from.  I would like to converse with many of you as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and be well.

Welcome, Banks!

You want to know where our passion for atheism comes from?

There are different categories of atheism; and varying degrees of "passion" attached to it.

Personally,

I was raised in a devout Baptist home.  I rebelled.

Eventually, I arrived at a point where I realized that the idea of "god" isn't really what bothers me,

....so much as the idea of Religion and Dogma.

God may or may not exist.  (I can't know, so I don't care).

The point is,

Religion doesn't serve God.

Religion serves Religion.

So, for me, personally,
my "passion" is really more about Anti-Theism:  Opposition to Religion.

However, I can choose to be civil to Theists.

If a Theist chooses to open the subject with me,
how I respond depends on the situation.

(I don't know how much you want to read, so if you are interested in continuing,
click the "Show Content" button to see more of what I wrote):

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If they just met me, through an acquaintance, for example,
and try to eventually open the topic,
I'll probably put them off, politely,
out of respect for our mutual acquaintance.

I'll tell them that I don't discuss my religious beliefs.  Full stop.

They can talk if they want to, but I won't respond.

If pressed for an answer, i'll repeat that I don't discuss it,
as many times as it takes,
until they get the idea.

I am actually quite willing to discuss it,
but I'm just trying to show courtesy for everyone affected.

However, if Theists from my old church come knocking at my door,
trying to get me back into the fold,
I will show them no mercy.

They think they act with good intentions,
so they will think my hostility is unwarranted.

But their act is the hostile one,
and the fact that they don't realize that,
is not my problem.

They need a wake-up call,
and they came to the right place for it.

I consider their act of specifically trying to recruit me as a hostile one
because their ideology is highly fluid and open to interpretation
and can be very dangerous,

plus it is ultimately unsubstantiated theories
being passed off as undisputed truths.

Anywhere else in life and we'd call it false advertising.

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In any event, welcome to the Forum and I hope you'll find it helpful!