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Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:09 pm
I'm curious why people who have never believed in religion would come to an atheist forum.
I was raised as a Christian, but I don't know if I would care about atheism if I had been raised as an atheist. (Of course people discuss all kinds of things besides atheism.) Just curious.
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:11 pm
(January 7, 2015 at 2:09 pm)watchamadoodle Wrote: I'm curious why people who have never believed in religion would come to an atheist forum.
I was raised as a Christian, but I don't know if I would care about atheism if I had been raised as an atheist. (Of course people discuss all kinds of things besides atheism.) Just curious.
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:21 pm
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2015 at 2:22 pm by Regina.)
I don't think you need to have been part of a religion to feel affected by it. This is especially true if you're an atheist from say, Southern Europe, Latin America, The Middle East or Africa, where religion is still incredibly pervasive to where everyone is affected whether they believe or not.
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"Ironically like the nativist far-Right, which despises multiculturalism, but benefits from its ideas of difference to scapegoat the other and to promote its own white identity politics; these postmodernists, leftists, feminists and liberals also use multiculturalism, to side with the oppressor, by demanding respect and tolerance for oppression characterised as 'difference', no matter how intolerable." - Maryam Namazie
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:28 pm
I don't know? Maybe I like the company?
Seriously, I came because I'm surrounded by theists and I wanted to talk to someone else. I stay because I like it here.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:33 pm
It's seductive and dangerous to never question ones basic beliefs.
From the reasoned give and take here I hone and polish my arguments and firmly held truths.
While continuously considering the proposition that my self congratulatory preening for being right all the time is simply confirmation bias.
So how, exactly, does God know that She's NOT a brain in a vat?
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:41 pm
In 'murrica we are surrounded by xtian fuckheads. AF is an island of sanity in a nutty world.
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:44 pm
Because people's beliefs inform their actions. Beliefs don't live in a vacuum. Many religious beliefs lead to real world negative consequences.
Many atheists that have never been theists still live in societies that may be largely theist. If the theists in that society try to get pseudoscience taught in public school science classes, prevent stem cell research, try to get "Scriptural Morality" based laws passed, etc never-theists are effected along with those that were once theists.
Having a place to come and discuss these issues is important. Especially if they live in areas where it may be dangerous to have your atheism be known.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
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RE: Why do never-theists come to atheist forums?
January 7, 2015 at 2:49 pm
I'm not sure, if I can be counted a never theist, since of my 52 years I probably didn't give a shit about god for about 40 if not more. As far as I can remember, I always was the I don't care about religion guy.
It's the first atheist board I joined. And honestly, not because of atheism in it's label, but because of hoping to find like minded people to have interesting discussions with. And I haven't been dissapointed. It's true that atheists can believe in pretty much anything besides not believing in god. But my personal experience showed me, they're usually more open to most every issue in life, once the intellectual god-brake is removed.