My Thoughts On Militant Atheism

[Celestine]

I haven't read the whole thread, but I just had to reply to this:

I have, when I was 13 I gradually began to lose my faith, when I was 15 I became an agnostic and when I was 16 or a few months before I turned 16 I was a full blown atheist. It took an entirety of 3 years for me to become an atheist, I unlike some people did not have the benefit of the internet or people who I could engage in dialogue with and ponder the existence of a god. When I became an atheist I thought I was the only one in the entire world, such was my isolation, I became an atheist entirely on my own. With only a handful of scientific theories and my own philosophical inquiries.

Me TOOOO!!!!

But I was about 10 and it happened over the course of a car trip to my grandmother's.
Of course, the initial realization then required some further tuning, but I also spent years thinking I was the only one in the whole world who was even pondering the possibility that there is no god.
Then I learned there was a word to describe this kind of people, atheist, and I thought I wasn't alone anymore... then I heard someone saying that some 20% of the population are atheists.... and it felt good!
It's always good to think you belong to a group... the human psyche is a strange thing...

Regarding the topic of the thread itself, I think you're being too harsh, but it also depends greatly on the definition of "militant atheist" that you're using... and, by the end of the 3rd page, I haven't seen you define it... maybe you already have...

Anyway... I'm going to read the remaining 13 pages of this thread and will... come back.

Oh, almost forgot: Welcome aboard, I see you're already having fun!

I might be a little to harsh, but I am only hard on others because I am hard on myself.

I will admit I should not have insulted others, even though I did not feel as though I was insulting them nor was I trying to I should have payed closer attention to what I was saying. I must remember what I myself would not find insulting isn't necessarily something that others would not.

This newcomer is sharp and dull at the same time. The thing is, she likely thinks the same of us. If we focused more on what we share in common, rather than where we differ, I believe that prejudice can be overcome, and bridges can be formed.

Never mind me... I'm an old naive fool. Carry on.

I am a man. Not a she.