Question For Fellow Atheists...

[Autolite]

I'd like to ask Auto if he visits religious forums ...

No, not really. I checked one out once, but only because I was curious. I wouldn't dream of ever seriously trying to convince a die-hard Theist that they're wrong about their beliefs. I've argued with Theists on a very limited basis on-line, but the purpose was indirect. I was hoping to cause any lurkers such as Agnostics or 'weak' Theists just to think. Other than that, I see debating directly with a Theist as just venting really...

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I think some people are naturally sceptical and are constantly questioning things, and some people are comfortable taking things as they are presented. If you're in the former category, it's going to take a lot of very aggressive indoctrination to subdue you enough so that you don't think your way out of it.

I think one of the best explanations that I've heard for Theism came from James Randi (IIRC). He calls it the "need to believe" implying that Theism fills an emotion driven need. We all think using a combination of logical driven thought processes and emotion driven thought processes. Some people will allow their emotion driven thought process to 'override' their logic driven thought process and visa-versa. When emotion overrides logic you get Theism. When logic overrides emotion you get Atheism. This would explain why otherwise rational and intelligent folks can also be Theists. But why one would allow their emotion to override their logic to such an extreme as Theistic belief is still a mystery to me.

This may sound somewhat extreme, but it might also be interesting to consider that intelligence and mental stability are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Nobel Laureate Professor John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) could be an example of this. Nash was evidently brilliant but he was also delusional. At least Nash was smart enough to know that he was nuts...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash_Jr.

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I'd suggest you read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.

 

Perhaps I should do that.  I started the book about a-year-and-a-half ago but I put it down after getting about a quarter of the way through.  It's still here on the top shelf staring down on me as I type this...   

[Catholic_Lady]

Be respectful to CL, or I will be forced to hit you with a very large stick... 

(BTW, being told that I'm "closed minded" because I'm unable to believe in a magical, invisible flying sky-daddy for me is a massive personal insult. But as an Atheist I've just learned to suck it up.)

Um i made it perfectly clear on at least 3 different posts why I called you closed minded, and it's not AT ALL bc of that. But I'm pretty sure you're well aware and continue to misrepresent me on purpose.

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I think religious people are crazy

Gotta say I'm surprised/disappointed to see this coming from you specifically. You always seemed more reasonable than to think all of us who disagree with you about God's existence are mentally ill.

The more you know...

[RetiredArmy]

People who believe in imaginary friends,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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Are fucking nuts

[Thumpalumpacus]

Seems like a lot of people in this thread lack even a passing familiarity with the concept of compartmentalization.

[Whateverist]

This is my first visit to your forum.  I have been a full-hard-right Atheist for at least twenty five years but I would like to ask a question that I think only another Atheist might be able to help me with.

I've spent several years discussing religion both on and offline but I think I have reached a point of 'Atheist burn-out'.  I don't think it would be a surprise to any Atheist here that such discussions rarely actually accomplish any tangible results reference changing the mind of a Theist and far more often than not usually only end up in generating a considerable amount of animosity between both parties. 

I would like to know how you other Atheists deal with and view Theists?

It seems to bother me more and more that there are so many people who continue to buy into the B.S. that is Theism.  I recently watched the 'Jesus Camp' documentary and found it unsettling and even a little depressing.  How do you fellow Atheists reconcile the fact that most of the people that you know are basically mentally 'screwed-up'.

A few weeks ago a christian neighbour of mine made a religious comment so profoundly absurd and ridiculous that it almost sent me into shock.  How do you cope knowing that many so people are this messed up?  I sometimes feel like I'm trapped in some sort of surreal 'Twilight Zone' type of parallel universe that is controlled and run by total nut-cases...

To answer your question, I deal with them pretty much the way I always have .. as people who disagree with me about something they hold to be very important but which I hold to be a curiosity at best and of no consequence at worst.  In other words, I just gravitate toward people with similar interests and sensibilities without regard to religion - unless they harp on about it.

I don't agree that anyone who believes in god must be "mentally messed up".  Surely you've noticed that not every atheist is Einstein and some seem even to have a screw or two loose.  I don't find god belief in the modern age distressing, just curious.

Suppose it turned out -for unspecified reasons- that god belief was reasonable for reasons entirely unrelated to gods existing as what believers think they are.  If it turned out that god belief was merely a predictable outcome given a certain kind of upbringing and that it resulted in no serious impairment to their mental capacities, would you still be distressed by the existence of believers?


Oh and I haven't read any other posts yet, just your OP. But I look forward to doing so after I finish a project.

[RetiredArmy]

Compartmentalization Thump? As in, staying on topic?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Compartmentalization Thump? As in, staying on topic?

No. Compartmentalization is the act of cordoning off certain ideas from being addressed by this or that mental outlook inside one's own thought processes.

My comment is topical, considering that it addresses the views being espoused.

[RetiredArmy]

I'm still lost Thump. Is that fancy-speak for calling someone an asshole?

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm still lost Thump. Is that fancy-speak for calling someone an asshole?

Nope. You'll learn soon enough, when I want to call someone an asshole, I make it perfectly clear.

If you can't follow my explanation then perhaps google it? It's a fairly common concept in these sorts of discussions. Not trying to be rude -- I'm just on my phone and long posts are a PITA.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I'm still lost Thump.  Is that fancy-speak for calling someone an asshole?

No, it's a way to avoid the conflict between diametrically opposed views in your own head - you put conflicting ideas into 'compartments'. This is the basic idea, anyroad. I'm not a psychologist, I just play one on message boards.

Boru