RE: Atheists' Dilemma
October 10, 2011 at 10:56 am
(This post was last modified: October 10, 2011 at 10:57 am by Welsh cake.)
First things first, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
The death of a loved one and/or family member is tragic, but there is at least one small consolation, you see when dealing with theists you can be honest with them that since you've lost your father, you've also lost all faith in a loving god. You can cite the problem of evil and so on if they keep asking why. Usually this provides breathing-space when dealing with fundamentalists inside or outside the household because they -have- to respect your, and by extension their, loss - regardless of your personal reasons for deconverting, unless the relative or friend you're speaking to is a complete arsehole of course.
Theists make appeals to emotion all the time, so that's exactly what you will have to do here if you no longer wish to be a closet atheist.
The death of a loved one and/or family member is tragic, but there is at least one small consolation, you see when dealing with theists you can be honest with them that since you've lost your father, you've also lost all faith in a loving god. You can cite the problem of evil and so on if they keep asking why. Usually this provides breathing-space when dealing with fundamentalists inside or outside the household because they -have- to respect your, and by extension their, loss - regardless of your personal reasons for deconverting, unless the relative or friend you're speaking to is a complete arsehole of course.
Theists make appeals to emotion all the time, so that's exactly what you will have to do here if you no longer wish to be a closet atheist.
