(September 5, 2022 at 4:56 pm)Duty Wrote: At work today I met a man who spent his whole childhood in care and later prison, including for murder. He is in his late sixties and his face and demeanour reflect his tragic and tortured life. He did not have to disclose this information to me but clearly felt he trusted me enough to be honest and open. He wears a crucifix around his neck and today I decided the LAST thing I'd want to do is proverbially "snatch that chain from around his neck" - the thought that he is forgiven for the "sins" of his youth/past and that salvation awaits is likely all that keeps him going. There are doubtless 100s of thousands of others like him in the same boat.
My outspoken atheism/anti-theism is a thing of the past. If anybody asks me from now on, my reply will simply be "I'm an agnostic."
Let me add, that not all atheists are antitheists. In fact, I know a couple of theists, Deists specifically, that are antitheists, in that they vehemently oppose religion, yet they believe in a god. And most atheists live their lives without too much thought about religion.
So, do not equate atheism with antitheism.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
