Wanting some feedback from the atheists

[Catholic_Lady]

So these questions are for the atheists. Now that AF has this section for civil discourse, I feel I can ask this and get some honest answers from posters who are serious in talking this out.

What are your opinions about us theists in this forum?

Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not?

What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us?

Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views?

What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists?

[vulcanlogician]

What are your opinions about us theists in this forum?

I like you guys. You really round out the place. I mean "you guys" as Alpha, Steve, RR, Drich, GC, Neo... not transient trolls. I have a much different opinion of them.

Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not?

Yes, because anyone who thinks they have the right idea, including atheists, must submit their ideas to challengement. (I thought that "challengement" was a made up word, but spell check disagrees. So much for trying to be cute.)

What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us?

Just be you.

Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views?

Yes.

What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists?

Discussions that aren't punctuated from insults by people that have no interest in challenging their own positions or the positions of others. Also, I always try to see if another point of view can force me from my convictions.

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[arewethereyet]

So these questions are for the atheists. Now that AF has this section for civil discourse, I feel I can ask this and get some honest answers from posters who are serious in talking this out.

What are your opinions about us theists in this forum? I can better answer from my experience at TTA.  We had some great theists on there.  And those people were well-treated and -respected because they treated the atheists in a like manner.  The theists there only to preach and not to get to know us as people weren't treated quite as well.

Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not? As long as someone isn't trying to convert me and isn't throwing random religious teachings all over the forum when it doesn't even make sense then I can get along fine with a theist...the same as I do in the real world.

What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us? Answering questions is great.  Pushing an agenda for some sort of conversion, not so much.  I think it's important to understand the name and the nature of this forum...it is an atheist forum and usually they are a place to escape preaching.  

Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views? It's seldom I agree 100 percent with anyone in my life.  That's kind of what makes it interesting.  I like to learn about different things...not just a person's beliefs.  I think it's good to have a place that doesn't become a name calling, you're stupid, who you calling stupid...mess.

If I decide that I need religion in my life there's a church on every corner and plenty of religious information on the Interwebz.


<raised Catholic btw and lived in the deep south long after leaving any sort of faith.


What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists? Oops, missed one...To learn about you (the global you) and maybe learn some things about other belief systems that I didn't know before.

[Angrboda]

So these questions are for the atheists. Now that AF has this section for civil discourse, I feel I can ask this and get some honest answers from posters who are serious in talking this out.

What are your opinions about us theists in this forum?

I don't tend to evaluate people on that basis. I am aware that, or should say I believe that, when people with divergent views collide, there is a tendency to attribute behaviors to dishonesty, mental illness, ignorance or stupidity, or ego problems, and I can't say that I'm immune to that effect. But as near as I'm able, I try to take people as individuals more than slot them into readymade categories or attribute behavior to the relevant differences. I find that harder to do regarding political or social opinions than religious ones. I don't really have an impression based upon religion. I will say that I'm somewhat troubled by the seeming formation of theists on this forum as a bloc which, for whatever reason, is inclined to act as a group.

Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not?

I'm fascinated by religion and religious philosophy. In as much as theists are more inclined to discuss and debate these topics, I find their contribution invaluable from a personal standpoint. Insofar as their participation on other subjects is concerned, I tend not to group people that way as noted, aside from what seems to be strong correlation between religious belief and political conservatism, which causes me some consternation and, frankly, occasional resentment. I'm not a big fan of conservatives and unfortunately a lot of theist/conservative discussion regarding politics and society has been constrained to repeating conservative talking points and so hasn't amounted to much other than to get my dander up.

What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us?

I suspect the answer to that lies somewhere in the vicinity of treating yourselves and others as people first and ideological positions or beliefs second, but I don't know how practical or even desirable that is for all concerned. Easier said than done, especially when you have strong beliefs or ideological commitments. It's one of those things where some folks have it, and some folks don't. You, like Kingpin, for whatever reason, seem to have it. Others, not so much. Cloistering oneself in threads devoted exclusively to religious discussion, IMHO, is likely to aggravate tendencies to think of people as their beliefs first, and as people second.

Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views?

I enjoy debate. I'm not particular about the ground rules. I'm pretty flexible. So from a personal standpoint, it makes little difference to me. As to whether it's good or bad, that remains to be seen whether some of the good and bad things which have been voiced about it will come to fruition or not. I'm inclined to view it as a good thing, not least of which is that enforced civility tends to benefit my presentation as much if not more than it might my opposition. Yet at the same time I'm wary and know all too well that the best intentions can easily go pear shaped. So for now, I'm just keeping an open mind.

What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists?

A few notches on my cudgel. Seriously though, I come here for entertainment. If I find that in civil discussions, and given my personality, I strongly suspect I will, then that will be its own reward. I haven't found discussions, civil or not, generating as much light as heat, and I don't expect this forum subsection to be, in that respect, remarkably different. We all find ways of avoiding confronting uncomfortable realizations and avoiding inevitable conclusions, whether by deflecting, intransigence, or simply disappearing from the discussion; the tools at people's disposal in a civil discussion to accomplish that aren't fundamentally different from those outside of it, so I suspect in terms of "getting something out of" such discussions, the results will be largely unchanged by the change of venue. I don't have high expectations in that regard for either side. I may be something of a pessimist. I don't know.

[pocaracas]

Questions for atheists... Somehow I expected a different sort of questions

So these questions are for the atheists. Now that AF has this section for civil discourse, I feel I can ask this and get some honest answers from posters who are serious in talking this out.

Do you think you couldn't get honest answers before this civil discourse section existed?
I think I've always tried to provide my honest opinion in equivalent "questions for atheists" threads, even on those that looked like some form of homework.

What are your opinions about us theists in this forum?

Most of you guys are alright.
A few are not.
Like in any group of people, I guess...

Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not?

Yes, why not?
Although it is good to know that there are people who, like me, don't believe that the universe requires a pre-existing entity, it is also good to have discussions with those who do believe it.
I highly doubt that I'll ever come to believe in the existence of any god, but I have, on occasion, found myself unable to counter a particular argument and that sort of thing gives me the awareness of just how powerful a flawed, but hard to spot, premise can be... Of how difficult an average person would find it to understand such flaws.
So yeah, I want to understand what makes people believe in something that, for me, is unbelievable. And that can't be accomplished with discussions solely with atheists...

What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us?

Each person is an individual. I don't think I can make a broad statement on how to improve everyone, but my best advice is to be honest.

Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views?

Yes.

What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists?

Ooops, it seems I already answered this...hehe.
As a sort of amateur psychologist, I like to try to understand what makes people think the way they do. What sort of life experiences lead people to think in particular ways that don't really conform with reality as I perceive it.

But, of course, there is also the awareness that only a particular set of theists take the time to register on an atheist forum. So I know to expect some skewness when looking at theists here and extrapolating to most others out there. I guess that's why I end up treating each person as an individual and try to understand that individual's path that made her/him believe.

[vulcanlogician]

How did you put colin + P in your post and have it not be a smiley?

[Losty]

How did you put colin + P in your post and have it not be a smiley?

:p

I don’t know how but neither becomes a smilie for me

[pocaracas]

How did you put colin + P in your post and have it not be a smiley?

Oh no!! The forum is broken!! Run for the hills!

[Losty]

•What are your opinions about us theists in this forum?

I don’t have an opinion on theists as a whole.

•Do you generally like having us here? Why or why not?

I think it’s good to have people with varying beliefs, otherwise it would get boring.

•What can we do to improve and to make it easier/more enjoyable for you to have discussions with us?

Theists in general can do things like not proselytizing and not making assumptions about atheists as a whole.

•Are you in favor of this civility section to have more productive discussions with theists and other people of differing views?

I neither in favor nor against it. We will see in time how it goes.

•What do you hope to gain from productive discussions with theists?

I like a good discussion so the discussion itself is what I gain

[Astreja]

How do I feel about theists? It really depends on the person. I'm okay with people saying "I believe..." but frustrated by scriptural literalists and by people of the "believe or burn" persuasion.

It's great when we can talk about everyday life and discover common ground.