How do atheists do life?

[Belacqua]

And plenty of insulation from the nonsense that Christians enact here in the States.

That's what I said of myself in my intro thread. I'm aware that there's a lot of nonsense I can avoid. I'm lucky that way. 

Look at it this way: 99% of most things are terrible. My real focus is on art and literature, and I am an extreme snob about those things. Since Lucian Freud and Balthus died, I don't think there are any really good painters left alive. And for fiction, no one is really first rate since Proust. 

But that doesn't mean that I want to say "painting is stupid" or "novels are all dumb." There is more than enough for us to work on from past ages. It's the same with Christian thinking. I disagree when people lump it all together and imply that just because the preacher down the street is an idiot that therefore Christianity is idiotic. Much Christian writing is brilliant -- a challenge to anyone who reads it. I am glad that you, at least, recognize that. 

Secondly, I don't think we on this forum have any influence at all on the quality of the world. If we think we're working to protect America from idiots, whether they're Christian or anything else, by posting here, we're flattering ourselves. We affect almost nothing. Ourselves, if we're lucky. So razzing the OP here about his "imaginary friend" is a waste of time. It won't make him a better person, it won't protect any innocent children. Some people actually want to write things just to make other people feel bad. And in my opinion, anyone who writes things just to make someone else feel bad is a bad person. 

As for Buber, I and Thou is where it all starts. Are you into Christian existentialism at all? Kierkegaard, etc.? Buber is Jewish but will be familiar to you if you're into that.