Religious/spiritual folk: do you mind that atheists are common on RELIGIOUS forums?

[an anarchist]

Hello.

I joined this site when I was hyper religious. Now I am not religious. Yet, I don’t feel out of place as an atheist/agnostic, because there are plenty of atheists here who will sometimes (often imo) dominate the conversation in religious threads.

Do you spiritual and religious folk mind the constant input of atheists? I see some of you saltily bring it up at times, so I wanted to make a thread where we can discuss it.

Please feel free to be open and honest!

 

[an anarchist]

I think I’ve made “friends” here, at least, people I don’t mind talking to. So I converse often here. But am I out of place?

 

[Kathryn]

It doesn't bother me. RF is only a small part of my life.

 

[Eddi]

Do you spiritual and religious folk mind the constant input of atheists?

I think that the average RF atheist is better informed and more enlightened than the average RF theist

RF wouldn't be the same without them, many of the best posters here are atheists

 

[an anarchist]

I for one appreciated the constant input by non-religious people when I was hyper religious. I was hyper focused on discovering the truth of reality and the atheists provided a reasonable explanation for reality. So it is the belief system I ascribe to now. So the atheists input was useful in my spiritual journey.

 

[JustGeorge]

Hello.

I joined this site when I was hyper religious. Now I am not religious. Yet, I don’t feel out of place as an atheist/agnostic, because there are plenty of atheists here who will sometimes (often imo) dominate the conversation in religious threads.

Do you spiritual and religious folk mind the constant input of atheists? I see some of you saltily bring it up at times, so I wanted to make a thread where we can discuss it.

Please feel free to be open and honest!

I don't mind the atheist presence at all. The more the merrier.

The only exception to this is when the person has joined with no other intent than to 'smear' those who don't share their outlook. However, this doesn't extend only to atheists, religious people can do it, too. Its obnoxious. I'm not talking about those who enjoy the heated debate, but rather those who focus on one or two subjects, and post[aggressively] on almost nothing else.

 

[an anarchist]

I don't mind the atheist presence at all. The more the merrier.

The only exception to this is when the person has joined with no other intent than to 'smear' those who don't share their outlook. However, this doesn't extend only to atheists, religious people can do it, too. Its obnoxious. I'm not talking about those who enjoy the heated debate, but rather those who focus on one or two subjects, and post[aggressively] on almost nothing else.

I can think of one feller who REALLY hates Islam (not naming anyone) but every single thread by them is a tirade against Islam. I try to be understanding when I read their posts, like I think a Muslim must’ve screwed his wife or something with how much hate there is, but it is not fun to read time and time again.

 

[JustGeorge]

I can think of one feller who REALLY hates Islam (not naming anyone) but every single thread by them is a tirade against Islam. I try to be understanding when I read their posts, like I think a Muslim must’ve screwed his wife or something with how much hate there is, but it is not fun to read time and time again.

That's what I get sick of.

100 I Hate [religion X] threads, or 100 Look How the Right/Left Sucks threads to the exclusion of all else.

I mean, where's the variety?

 

[AdamjEdgar]

My hope is always that the atheist is here for the same reason as the Christian, to discuss God. Some believe he exists and best explains our reality, others do not. My challenge to those who do not is, for you what offers a better solution to death than "kaput"? Honestly, it's that simple for me, so I choose to believe and defend that belief against atheists.

If the atheist isn't welcome here, what's the point of my defense?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

My hope is always that the atheist is here for the same reason as the Christian, to discuss God. Some believe he exists and best explains our reality, others do not. My challenge to those who do not is, for you what offers a better solution to death than "kaput"? Honestly, it's that simple for me, so I choose to believe and defend that belief against atheists.

If the atheist isn't welcome here, what's the point of my defense?

I am interested in humanity, and I'm interested in philosophy. The philosophy of religion has much to say in both, and it is something that I read.

I do not believe in God, but then, neither do Buddhists, really, and yet Buddhism is considered a religion (I actually think of it as more philosophy, but that doesn't matter).

For me, an atheist, death actually is "kaput." This is my life, here and now, the only one that I shall have. I shall be as "aware" of anything after I die as I was before I was born -- meaning not at all. As Mark Twain put it: "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it." For me, ity is inauthentic to prepare for an "afterlife." The only authentic way I can exist is to live the best life I can while I have it -- both for me and for those around me.

I am interested in religion because, first and foremost, I believe that our beliefs inform our actions. And let us be frank, many actions (both good and bad, sometimes very good and sometimes really, really bad) taken by humans have been informed by religious belief. I can think of some where religious belief has resulted in actions that were seemingly both good and bad at the same time: for example, the work of Mother Teresa, who cared for the sick and dying -- but believing that suffering is somehow a good thing -- did so without painkillers, with inadequate food and hygiene. As Christopher Hitchens noted, she was not a friend of the poor, she was a friend of poverty, which supplied her with endless people she could "care for."

If, as I said, our beliefs inform our actions, then is it not prudent to be aware of others' beliefs? And if those beliefs lead to harmful actions -- like mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people, or shunning and other harmful social outcomes -- to at least point them out, if not to fight them outright?

 

[Jimmy]

Hello.

I joined this site when I was hyper religious. Now I am not religious. Yet, I don’t feel out of place as an atheist/agnostic, because there are plenty of atheists here who will sometimes (often imo) dominate the conversation in religious threads.

Do you spiritual and religious folk mind the constant input of atheists? I see some of you saltily bring it up at times, so I wanted to make a thread where we can discuss it.

Please feel free to be open and honest!

Atheists only participate in debates. Rightly so.

 

[rocala]

Not in the least, in fact I positively welcome them. The religious/spiritual element is what I joined RF for but it is very clear that this group has some seriously odd people in it. The atheists, particularly those with scientific knowledge, help to keep things on an even keel.

 

[JustGeorge]

Atheists only participate in debates. Rightly so.

That's not true.

There's a lot of fine atheists in all parts of the forums.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

It's not really atheists who are the issue, but anti-theists who are just here to bash religion and those who believe it, while believing they're superior. This site needs more balance, honestly. I'll just leave it there.

 

[JustGeorge]

It's not really atheists who are the issue, but anti-theists who are just here to bash religion and those who believe it, while believing they're superior. This site needs more balance, honestly. I'll just leave it there.

I think it is worth distinguishing between atheists and anti-theists. They are not the same, in my opinion.

 

[Jimmy]

That's not true.

There's a lot of fine atheists in all parts of the forums.

I don’t see em much in DIR

 

[JustGeorge]

I don’t see em much in DIR

There actually is a non-theistic DIR. I see it get use once and awhile.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I think it is worth distinguishing between atheists and anti-theists. They are not the same, in my opinion.

Yes, but they're often conflated because of the New Atheist movement, which was very anti-theist (and specifically hates Christianity and Islam or the caricature of them it has in mind) and influencial as the public face of Western atheism in recent history. It's like how vegans are conflated with the pushy self-righteous confrontional types because the influence of the activists.

 

[Jimmy]

There actually is a non-theistic DIR. I see it get use once and awhile.

religious DIR

 

[JustGeorge]

Yes, but they're often conflated because of the New Atheist movement, which was very anti-theist (and specifically hates Christianity and Islam or the caricature of them it has in mind) and influencial as the public face of Western atheism in recent history. It's like how vegans are conflated with the pushy self-righteous confrontional types because the influence of the activists.

I've noted that anti-theists(not atheists) are generally Abrahamic in the views, which is somewhat ironic.

I can't talk with them most of the time, because they don't hear what I'm saying. My views aren't Abrahamic, so most of them don't seem able to compute what I'm talking about.