A few weeks ago, my friend wrote a column about science and religion, asking why so many people reject scientific evidence to cling to their beliefs. As an opioned atheist, she sent me an email to get my thoughts on a study that suggested religious people have lower blood pressure, and asked I believed the cause was because religion was comforting/less stressful. I said that yes, it can be comforting and that could be why some are reluctant to release their views and face a reality where we may not have a special plan for us etc - Something that I felt when realising my own atheism. I was worried about this given the recent anti-antitheist sentiment at my college.
The backlash came in the form of a scathing article deconstructing my comments as 'derogatory' and 'degrading' religion to that of a 'mere comfort'. I am so shocked and upset by this. My comments were answering the question of whether religion can be comforting, and there was no derogatory language, no attack, no negative connotation. I'm a moderate atheist in the sense that whilst I have strong opinions, I still believe in freedom of religion and don't like it when atheists attack/ridicule theists, cos it makes us all seem like total intolerant douchebags.
I don't know what to do - should I write a piece defending my comments? Should I email the writer myself? I just can't believe the editor of the paper allowed an article that was such a personal attack on me to go to print.
The backlash came in the form of a scathing article deconstructing my comments as 'derogatory' and 'degrading' religion to that of a 'mere comfort'. I am so shocked and upset by this. My comments were answering the question of whether religion can be comforting, and there was no derogatory language, no attack, no negative connotation. I'm a moderate atheist in the sense that whilst I have strong opinions, I still believe in freedom of religion and don't like it when atheists attack/ridicule theists, cos it makes us all seem like total intolerant douchebags.
I don't know what to do - should I write a piece defending my comments? Should I email the writer myself? I just can't believe the editor of the paper allowed an article that was such a personal attack on me to go to print.
