As I make peace with the falling away of my religious faith, I have been going to atheist YouTube channels and reading some threads which discuss religion.
I have been very surprised by some aspects of the atheist channels and by some of the posts by non-religious people. The number one thing I tend to see is arrogance. Rudeness and mockery sell to their congregations, I guess.
I tend to see some non-believers (I'm using non-believers to encompass atheists & agnostics ) claim that they became (or always were) non-believers because they were more rational; that they relied upon facts rather than faith. Yet I see many misrepresentations in statements made by non-believers. I see them getting basic doctrines wrong (for denominations to which I belonged for years), referring to holy books that don't even exist, and even claiming that satirical items are real. (When I proved that a certain item was not Christian in origin but satirical, that autistic person replied that the image was still okay to cite because it accurately represented the Christians.)
But it is the outright derision toward religious believers which makes me want to avoid my "fellow" non-believers. The mockery and name-calling do not make us look better than communitites of believers.
I have been reading that autistic people often have a very strong sense of justice and fairness. Perhaps this is why I get so dang frustrated when I see this hypocrisy.
Even though I am no longer a religious believer, I constantly do my best not to fall into that mockery and smugness.
That particular type of atheism seems to me nothing but a mirror image of what they oppose. It reminds me a bit of the reputation that vegans have: of being insufferable and smug.
Some of the finest people I have ever met; the most caring, peaceful, and giving people - were religious believers. They changed my life for the better without seeking any gain. They were not stupid people. And I will not throw them under the bus just to bolster my non-believer credentials.
Why do people react to me, when I try to communicate this, as though I am saying something completely insane? I honestly don't know.
Perhaps I am missing something, and it is actually morally okay to make fun of some (but not all!!!!!) groups of people.
Maybe I just didn't get the memo. It wouldn't be the first time.
I have been very surprised by some aspects of the atheist channels and by some of the posts by non-religious people. The number one thing I tend to see is arrogance. Rudeness and mockery sell to their congregations, I guess.
I tend to see some non-believers (I'm using non-believers to encompass atheists & agnostics ) claim that they became (or always were) non-believers because they were more rational; that they relied upon facts rather than faith. Yet I see many misrepresentations in statements made by non-believers. I see them getting basic doctrines wrong (for denominations to which I belonged for years), referring to holy books that don't even exist, and even claiming that satirical items are real. (When I proved that a certain item was not Christian in origin but satirical, that autistic person replied that the image was still okay to cite because it accurately represented the Christians.)
But it is the outright derision toward religious believers which makes me want to avoid my "fellow" non-believers. The mockery and name-calling do not make us look better than communitites of believers.
I have been reading that autistic people often have a very strong sense of justice and fairness. Perhaps this is why I get so dang frustrated when I see this hypocrisy.
Even though I am no longer a religious believer, I constantly do my best not to fall into that mockery and smugness.
That particular type of atheism seems to me nothing but a mirror image of what they oppose. It reminds me a bit of the reputation that vegans have: of being insufferable and smug.
Some of the finest people I have ever met; the most caring, peaceful, and giving people - were religious believers. They changed my life for the better without seeking any gain. They were not stupid people. And I will not throw them under the bus just to bolster my non-believer credentials.
Why do people react to me, when I try to communicate this, as though I am saying something completely insane? I honestly don't know.
Perhaps I am missing something, and it is actually morally okay to make fun of some (but not all!!!!!) groups of people.
Maybe I just didn't get the memo. It wouldn't be the first time.
