Ask-An-Atheist, Episode # 2

[parathalyn]

It's been awhile since my first post on this idea and I haven't had much time to continue reading "Like Rolling Uphill: Realizing the Honesty of Atheism" by Dianna Narciso. But, since I'm feeling better today, I figured I would make an Ask-An-Atheist post.

Comments

[mistress_yuna]

I was that annoying kid who questioned everything in religon class as well....go us. I used to think...am I the only one here who is not brainwashed, stupid and gulliable?!

[parathalyn]

Yes, go us!

I don't remember thinking the others were gullible or brainwashed, but I remember being upset that they would say that dragons and unicorns weren't real, but I'd get in trouble if I said the Easter bunny and Jesus weren't real. I never saw a difference.

[chas_minos]

Hmmm... shame you hadn't read the part (at that point in your life) in Genesis about Adam being given the task of naming all the animals and that unicorns were the first animal that he named... thus elevating them above all others.

[xmissdemeanorx]

I was that kid too ... I used to get into fist fights in Kinder withthe same kids over and over again over the validity of Jesus versus Santa Claus. =/

[engingoddess]

I too was that questioning kid on the rare occasions I went to church. (I never remember going with my mom, my dad is a "twice-a-year" catholic.) One of my first "Ah-ha" moments came at a distant cousin's grad party when I was ~13. I was talking about reincarnation. (Keep in mind I never said I WAS reincarnated, just that it was an interesting idea.) My aunt told me "That's against your religion."

From then on it was all downhill. I couldn't understand how someone ELSE could tell ME what was against MY religion.

[mistress_yuna]

I really liked your response, no one can tell you what is against your religon. I agree.

[parathalyn]

Yeah, I've run into that from the atheist stance too. I've had people tell me that even though I claim to be an atheist, I really to believe in a god or that I am really a satanist (they don't even know what a satanist is anyway). Or, people ask why I am mad at god and don't get it when I say that I was never a believer and can't be mad at a fairy tale character (that's the atheist view of what a god is).

The only time I ever agreed with someone who was trying to tell me about my religion was a person who claimed that I was worshipping false idols (my dragon collection) and was a dragonist. She wasn't to happy when I said thanks.

[xmissdemeanorx]

Can I ask what your definition of an Atheist is?

It's such a subjective label anymore, it's no wonder people always have so many questions about it...

[parathalyn]

I was thinking of doing Atheist vs. Agnostic for my next post, so I'll go into more detail there.

The short answer is that I consider an Atheist as someone who thinks that there is enough evidence (or lack of evidence) to say that most likely no gods exist. They may still say anything is possible and it is still possible that there is some entity out there that is god-like, but they wouldn't believe in creationism, for example. Now, I've met a lot of different types of Atheists and Agnostics, and some of them are so close to the Atheist-Agnostic line or still believe in some form of supernatural (ghosts, reincarnation, etc.) that it is hard to what is what. So, in practice, I refer to people by what they have chosen to call themselves.

[cheez_ball]

Ya know...it never occurred to me to think of "atheist" as being anything bad. Perhaps it's an outcome of growing up with a parent who was an international diplomat. Atheist, to me, is no different from Christian, Muslim, Jew, Budhist, Shinto, Existential or any other philosophy. No one of these is any better than the others. There are thousands (millions?) of different cultures on this planet. Who are we to say which one is better than the others? However it is extremely important (particularly for our national security) to know about and to respect every culture and belief system.

And it's probably why I scream every time someone around here tells me they like Bush "because he's a Christian." It's as though they believe that one factor somehow cancels out his pathological narcissistic megalomania.

[datura_shadows]

hey - would you mind if added you back?

add me?

~kym

[parathalyn]

Sure, go ahead. I think I still have you on my F-list.