(February 1, 2016 at 7:04 am)Emjay Wrote: I am an antitheist inasmuch as I wish it (Christianity) had never existed for all the damage it's done, cumulatively, to the world over centuries of cruelty and impeded scientific progress, all caused by meddling. So yeah, I would prefer that people did not believe in it because in most cases it seems that meddling is inextricably linked to it. But as far as they are not meddling, I can and do hope that they will 'see the light' someday and become atheists - my dad for instance - but it has to come in their own time, if at all, because people only change when they are ready, in themselves, to change. Just as someone telling me to quit smoking will not work until I'm receptive to the idea. So change comes from within, not without. Or at least real, lasting change. But in my dad's case I very much doubt that he will ever become an atheist, and though I wish that weren't the case, I do accept it and don't fight it (any more) and I think if he got ill I would not want to deprive him of the comfort he gets from it, even if I see it as a delusion, and so wouldn't rock the boat.
Smoking is not exactly the same as believing untrue things about the world. Come on now... I smoke as well. I only feel guilty about it to the extent that I pollute the air and sometimes let other people experience second-hand smoke. It's also bad for me. I have to deal with that. I don't think its quite the same however as religion. It might be in the same league, if you look at it from a certain perspective, but it's a lot less harmful, like a lot.
