Is everybody equal in atheism? An analysis of two different paths for the movement
September 3, 2012 at 8:44 am
Are atheists inherently against religion? I think this is the question that is really being asked. As others have mentioned, there is a continuum. Some atheists see religion as able to peacefully coexist in society. Others would argue that religion is a form of control and should thereby be demolished and undermined. It's about one's personal beliefs and experiences.
It has been my personal experience that there are instances and even individuals whose experience and memories of 'reality' are quite different from what I perceive. For me, this is exemplified in my strained relationship with my parents. I recently took a statistics class, and got an A. When I told my mother she was shocked and said, "I'm surprised, you were never very good at math." Which is simply not true. I was always in honors math at school. In fact, I took the ACT exam when I was 12, after scoring in the 99th percentile on a standardized test in, you guessed it, math. Her perception of reality is very different from the actuality of what happened. The why of this incongruence is debatable and a fascinating psychological topic. The fact remains, that 'X' could have definitively happened, but some would say it never did, and still be able to pass any form of lie detector, because they truly believe their view of reality. Reality, even if it's the question of whether or not it's raining, is a subjective experience.
It has been my personal experience that there are instances and even individuals whose experience and memories of 'reality' are quite different from what I perceive. For me, this is exemplified in my strained relationship with my parents. I recently took a statistics class, and got an A. When I told my mother she was shocked and said, "I'm surprised, you were never very good at math." Which is simply not true. I was always in honors math at school. In fact, I took the ACT exam when I was 12, after scoring in the 99th percentile on a standardized test in, you guessed it, math. Her perception of reality is very different from the actuality of what happened. The why of this incongruence is debatable and a fascinating psychological topic. The fact remains, that 'X' could have definitively happened, but some would say it never did, and still be able to pass any form of lie detector, because they truly believe their view of reality. Reality, even if it's the question of whether or not it's raining, is a subjective experience.
