(January 2, 2013 at 8:45 am)whateverist Wrote: I'm just not that hot to convert (or de-convert) anyone. Want to activate for secular discourse in government? I'm in. Want to change what people think? You're on your own.
Yes and no. I think it is a bad idea to live in a bubble and not pay attention to the beliefs of others. In a real evolutionary physical sense, there is no way to avoid your thoughts and actions once you express them, from not affecting others. As such, while we cannot achieve a godless utopia where all 7 billion of us will be atheists, anymore than the believer can create their utopia, it is a bad idea to say "don't question others".
I do want to change what others think. At a minimum I want atheists to be as much a part of the mainstream as any other group, instead of being stigmatized. I also want more people to value education in place of superstition. Will life ever be perfect? No. Will everyone de convert because I make an argument? No. But I'd rather spend my life making noise, than to allow superstition to run roughshod over my life. You can't change the world, that part is true. But you can keep fascism at bay, which in a pluralistic society, would be in everyone's best interest.
I am tired of pulpit politcs. Our country over the past 50 years has been severely damaged by the likes of Falwell and Robertson and their ilk. When you have believers calling a college student "Slut" because she values reproductive rights. When you have believing politicians talking about rape, and states forcing utra sounds on women, you cannot ignore these vile tactics.
They are the reason we have a duty to question, even if we cant force people not to believe.
