Hi. I was Ryantology. I used to post here a lot. Moderated for a little while, technically speaking (I was the laziest mod). Had some fights, called some names, and felt a lot smarter than some people because I thought differently.
Truth be told, a lot of the reason I fell away was I realized nobody is really listening to anyone. A Christian comes here looking to pick fights and trigger the angry atheists by saying things they know will draw a reaction. Then a Christian (perhaps even the same one) will attempt to describe a belief earnestly, and they are met with derision and condescension. We are smarter than they are because we aren't fooled by their ancient desert fairy tales, stuff like that. I was fully into that sort of thing, myself.
Well, I'm still an atheist. That hasn't changed. There isn't any religion for me, and there is no god who is even provisionally compatible with my understanding of the world. I still don't entertain the concept that I should reserve some sliver of possibility for such things, either. But, I feel like perhaps I was badly mistaken to present myself the way I did, to engage with others as I often did, and think highly of myself for it, as I usually did. And at no point did I think to ask why a Christian believes what they believe in the face of what appears to be comprehensive evidence rendering that belief not just invalid, but the believer an idiot for believing. That's not trying to learn, nor is it trying to educate. It's two fans of two rival sports teams going at it with just a few vital differences in rhetoric.
But, if I accept the fact that no person chooses to be attracted to someone who shares their gender as a common trait, I must also accept the fact that no person chooses to believe in something. There are reasons external to that person which inspire that belief. As someone who started on the other side of the fence and then climbed over, I should know that it probably never happens as the result of being ground into dust by someone in an online fistfight.
I've wanted to say this for a long time. And I haven't said it to shame anyone, least of all myself. It's just what the last couple of years have done to me.
Truth be told, a lot of the reason I fell away was I realized nobody is really listening to anyone. A Christian comes here looking to pick fights and trigger the angry atheists by saying things they know will draw a reaction. Then a Christian (perhaps even the same one) will attempt to describe a belief earnestly, and they are met with derision and condescension. We are smarter than they are because we aren't fooled by their ancient desert fairy tales, stuff like that. I was fully into that sort of thing, myself.
Well, I'm still an atheist. That hasn't changed. There isn't any religion for me, and there is no god who is even provisionally compatible with my understanding of the world. I still don't entertain the concept that I should reserve some sliver of possibility for such things, either. But, I feel like perhaps I was badly mistaken to present myself the way I did, to engage with others as I often did, and think highly of myself for it, as I usually did. And at no point did I think to ask why a Christian believes what they believe in the face of what appears to be comprehensive evidence rendering that belief not just invalid, but the believer an idiot for believing. That's not trying to learn, nor is it trying to educate. It's two fans of two rival sports teams going at it with just a few vital differences in rhetoric.
But, if I accept the fact that no person chooses to be attracted to someone who shares their gender as a common trait, I must also accept the fact that no person chooses to believe in something. There are reasons external to that person which inspire that belief. As someone who started on the other side of the fence and then climbed over, I should know that it probably never happens as the result of being ground into dust by someone in an online fistfight.
I've wanted to say this for a long time. And I haven't said it to shame anyone, least of all myself. It's just what the last couple of years have done to me.
