Is being an atheist important to you?

[Dr H]

Being an atheist is important to me as being right handed, blue eyed, or 6 foot tall...


It only matters when I' m checking boxes on my personal information on some paperwork.



Other than that, I rarely notice.



Oh - and I get to sleep in on Sunday morning.

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

For most of my adult life I didn't go seeking out other atheists, and I almost never brought it up unless someone specifically wanted to discuss it with me.

Ironically, it was a couple years of arguing with an on-line Christian apologist that motivated me to seek out fora like this.  One can put up with only so much.  

[Yonadav]

Being an atheist is important to me as being right handed, blue eyed, or 6 foot tall...


It only matters when I' m checking boxes on my personal information on some paperwork.



Other than that, I rarely notice.



Oh - and I get to sleep in on Sunday morning.

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

For most of my adult life I didn't go seeking out other atheists, and I almost never brought it up unless someone specifically wanted to discuss it with me.

Ironically, it was a couple years of arguing with an on-line Christian apologist that motivated me to seek out fora like this.  One can put up with only so much.  

Was the apologist's initials DM? I used to make him so mad at me.

[Dr H]

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

For most of my adult life I didn't go seeking out other atheists, and I almost never brought it up unless someone specifically wanted to discuss it with me.

Ironically, it was a couple years of arguing with an on-line Christian apologist that motivated me to seek out fora like this.  One can put up with only so much.  

Was the apologist's initials DM? I used to make him so mad at me.

LOL.  As a matter of fact, they were.

[fredd bear]

Being an atheist and recovering Catholic is important to me.--Stating my position to my late father resulted in a lot of unpleasantness. My father could be
a real crunt. In my family, it was always a lot easier to go with flow'

[EgoDeath]

Being an atheist and recovering Catholic is important to me.--Stating my position to my late father resulted in a lot of unpleasantness. My father could be
a real crunt. In my family, it was always a lot easier to go with flow'

I find the term "recovering Catholic" interesting... It's a testament to the fact that many people find living in religion to be a traumatizing experience. I was met with a lot of resistance whenever I asked questions as a kid, even though, looking back I was just a curious kid who was asking questions natural for any kid to ask. It's strange now to think how dick-ish my parents could be, especially my dad (mostly my dad actually) when I would just ask honest questions about god or religion or the Bible. Goes to show that many parents are simply afraid saying, "I don't know."

[900ft j]

"What worries me is people's tendency to define themselves in terms of what they oppose. "Negative identity." "

Some people are just atheist, and some people are in addition wildly anti-religion, and the anti- part becomes personally important."

Probalbly true with some anti folks but not all. I don't like locking people and things into labels because there are different interpretations of those lables and not everyone fits cleanly in any one category. I hesitated over what to term myself on this forum, decided on anti-theist since I not only disbelieve in the existence of gods, I am consider religion, faith, and belief in gods harmful to our species. To me, that's not a negative identity, but a positive affirmation that I find something harmful -

personally important? Not as my identity goes, but important in being vigilant in how I examine my own beliefs. It's not an identity, it's a way of thinking about how I view reality.

[MLinoge]

In the sense that my atheism is an extension of my pragmatism, yes it's important.

By itself, not very. I*m only aware of my atheism while arguing with religious people. Which doesn't happen very often.

[Belacqua]

I am consider religion, faith, and belief in gods harmful to our species.

Maybe so. We've never had a society without those things, though, so it's hard to know. 

What argument do you have for this idea?

[Little lunch]

I'd like to say it's not important to me, but it has become an important piece of my identity as a rebel and an individual.
If I want people to know I'm a rebel, mentioning something about atheism is the quickest route to getting the message home.
This also achieves a realisation on their part that I am not boring or stupid, like them.
I also like fancy drinks!

[900ft j]

I consider religion, faith, and belief in gods harmful to our species.

Maybe so. We've never had a society without those things, though, so it's hard to know. 

What argument do you have for this idea?

Faith is belief in the abscence of, or despite evidence to contrary. How can people act in their best itnerest or that of their species if they consider it a virtue to deny evidence? (example: some religions refusing medical aid to their children)

Religion has been the justification for holy wars, executing homosexuals, stoning women. Yes, atrocities are also committed without religion as justification, and those drivers ofdoesn't give a pass to all.

Belief in gods hands over our responsibility to act on our own behalf and that of others. Someone told me he didn't care about climate change, refused to believe it was real because "the planet will burn when God wants it to burn."  Belief in gods can make people fail to look to their own strengths by leaning on the hope a god will intercede on their behalf. Belief in gods can create cultures of eternal children who never take on an adutl role, always feeling there is an all knowing parent forever there fundamentally in control no matter what people do.

Are there some positive aspects of religion? Sure, but none that can't be found outside of religion without the costs of religion.

---

Maybe so. We've never had a society without those things, though, so it's hard to know. 

What argument do you have for this idea?

sorry, did you mean what argument do I have for the idea that "We've never had a society without those things"? If that's what you were asking, then the simple argument is, as I said, find the source of those wrongs and address them in all cases. Religion doesn't get a pass because other aspects of society produce similar wrongs. That doesn't mean that religion isn't responsible for the wrongs it does. We rightfully criticise some political regimes for the human rights violations they commit and promote, and those who care about human rights do what they can to take these down. Some religions also commit and promote such violations and should not be tolerated any more than an abusive regime.