RE: Conversions
November 23, 2013 at 9:58 am
(This post was last modified: November 23, 2013 at 10:07 am by Whateverist.)
(November 18, 2013 at 11:11 am)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: Nononono! I'm genuinely not trying to make any point, I'm actually asking a question! I know the position of Christians on atheists, to try to convert them. But the concept of a whole community of self defined atheists is new to me. I'm curious to know what, individually, people's feelings about theist conversions are.
Is there quite satisfaction? Complete indifference? Desire to set people free, morpheus style? The feeling that the world would be a better place without religion (which of course means you would be improving the world by converting or deprograming a theist)?
I like diversity. If every last man wore a white shirt and tie and carried the book of Mormon, the world would be much the poorer, less interesting place. I wish the heavy duty proselytizing religions would back to fuck off. Hindus are the best in this regard.
That said, I'm in no rush to lose the varieties of religious expression we see today. It is fascinating to observe what people do and wonder at how this scratches some itch within the human psyche. There are snake kissers, tongue speakers, those who seek visions through pain, those who fast for guidance, those who get together weekly to chant things in a dead language and some who wear animal heads while attempting to channel their spirits. As much as I would hate a homogenized Mormon or Catholic world, I would be no happier to see a purely rational human world.
(November 18, 2013 at 11:41 am)Tonus Wrote:(November 18, 2013 at 11:11 am)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: Is there quite satisfaction? Complete indifference? Desire to set people free, morpheus style? The feeling that the world would be a better place without religion (which of course means you would be improving the world by converting or deprograming a theist)?
I think that there is a sense that the world would be in better shape without religion, but I think most atheists would also recognize that it's not likely to work that way. Religion is one of the many ways in which humans separate themselves into social groups that allow them to identify friends and enemies. We use things as important as politics and social ideals and as unimportant as sports teams to create those groups and define those boundaries. My fear is that in a world without religion, we'd find something else to take its place as a great and terrible divider of people.
In my day-to-day life I make no effort to convert anyone, but even as a Christian I was careful to respect people's desire not to be preached to outside of the organized activity (yes, I was one of those annoying JWs who always managed to ring the doorbell when it was most inconvenient to do so). Since I don't go door-to-door for atheism, it's not a subject that comes up very often.
You are such a reasonable person. Every time you mention having been brought up a Jehovah's Witness, I am shocked all over again. Says something good about the elasticity of our minds and human potential generally.
