photo by lintmachine
Because my dear mother is worried. She came to me tonight expressing a desire to talk about “the elephant in the room” which is, apparently, my atheism. In a very polite manner, she expressed her concern:
Ever since I came out to her in October, she has been reading more godless blogs (perhaps mine… rut roh!) and experiencing the snarky, jabbing, “haughty ridicule” (as she called it) that sometimes accompanies heathen venting sessions and social commentary. I freely acknowledge that some atheists are bitchy, chip-on-the-shoulder finger-pointers.
What worries her is that I might become like the people described above: sour in attitude, uncharitable in speech, and antagonistic in practice.
Should she be worried? Yes. I have to admit I am almost all of the above things at one time or another towards Christianity or woo in general. I consider myself an anti-theist and have no issues mocking certain ideas that are, in fact, ridiculous. Sometimes I make fun of other people because of their behavior, silly superstitions, or unbelievably ignorant beliefs.
I’m sorry Mother; I may be what you dislike… at least in part.
Even so, I want to make clear to the people of faith reading this blog that I empathize with you a great deal. I spent my entire life surrounded by the best kinds of Christians (with a few crazies thrown in). I know what it’s like to yearn after Jesus, follow the Spirit, trust in God, pray, see others come to the Lord, feel a mighty work in my life, and so forth. I know all of those things, and I honestly do understand where you’re coming from. I hope my knowledge of the Bible, theology, and the way passionate believers feel will make me a more ecumenically minded atheist (once I get past all the fun bitchitude). I hope I will soften more and stifle some of my most rude comments out of respect for people that are genuinely doing their humble best to follow what they believe and think is right and true.
But when it comes to the stubbornly ignorant, the bigoted, the anti-scientific, the hateful, the hellfire-and-brimstone theocratic blowhards… all bets are off–Godless Girl puts on the gloves.
Chris on 
Bill the Heathen on 
jabran on 
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I don’t think you’re angry. They want to frame the issue in a way to make you angry. Thus proving their point.
.-= Mike Brownstein’s last blog ..McCain-Feingold Reforms Struck Down by Supreme Court =-.
Hmm, I don’t know if it’s baiting, really. Maybe in some cases…
GG,
Yes, you are probably angry. Angry at the sense of betrayal you feel when you realized how mislead and lied to you were. Anger is natural and good. It gives you focus, and right now, your focus is on mocking ignorance and superstition – that’s good.
Don’t mistake anger for bitterness. Bitterness is not good – it eats away at you and makes you mean.
I say enjoy your relief at shedding the yoke of christianity, mock and poke at the morons, respect those who respect you, and do good because it’s the right thing to do. From what I have seen of your blog and tweets, you are doing fine.
Please file under #my2cents
Those are very kind and encouraging words. I appreciate them a lot! *hug*
Dave is hot.
While my family is deeply spiritual, I have tried to assure them that while I may not share the same religious beliefs, I very much share the same stated values.
Namely, it is right to treat humans with respect, tenderness, and understanding. We may not view the cosmos in the same way, but we certainly view our human duties in the same way.
I don’t know if that will be enough for my family, but I hope that behaving with an eye toward – ya know – what *Jesus* would do, is a good way to ensure that they know we’re still on the same page so far as morals are concerned.
I would urge you to remind those concerned about your soul that God is the ultimate arbiter. Regardless of any single human’s perspective about God and the afterlife, no man can know the will of the supreme being.
You (and I) may not respond to this kind of argument, but those that care for scripture will likely see the truth of such a statement. Like you, I wish to have a loving relationship with my family. I don’t want our crude understanding of the cosmos to get in the way of our love.
All the best to you; keep writing from your heart.
.-= Matt Warren’s last blog ..A Modern History of Evil =-.
You seem to be a balanced peacemaker for your family. I admire the tack you’ve chosen in regards to how someone of faith may best respond to our perspective. I will keep trying to improve the way I present “my side” of things so we can meet a middle ground.
I guess you have never read a bible.His will is stated in the Bible.Read CS Lewis
I’ve read both. But you won’t be back to see this, right? So who cares.
In many cases, the religious perceive the Atheist denile to elements of their belief system as anger. They hear what you type as shouting and they imagine your facial expression to look like the picture you posted with the article. Also your mother would have found the loudest and most prolific atheist blogs and articles on the net. Needless to say, some of them are quite sharp in the words if you ask me. I find it great, that she went after the subject, and googled it. She might develop a deeper understanding about Atheism and may join the ranks one day, right next to you. And if you think that that if far fetched, think again. The mother daughter bond is one of the strongest bonds human kind ever had. She will find a way out of her religion and next to your side. Also note, she was not consulting with her priest of church … but rather looking at reality and facts, and finding them a bit unpalatable but true and right never the less.
Thanks, friend. I’m not sure I can imagine my own mother losing her steady, passionate faith… but I did, so it is not out of the realm of distant possibility. I honestly wonder if I’m a good “witness” (to borrow the phrase) for godless living and skeptical thought. Ah well, I love her no matter if she ever agrees or not.
Any anger you do have you should use to focus on learning more about the world. I was kinda in your position 18 months ago – once I got over having a go at everything religious I turned most of my attention to developing my knowledge of science. I still use my blog to vent my frustrations and I still enjoy learning about the stupidity of religions (just finished reading Biblical Nonsense by Dr Jason Long which is a great book) but now I find that I discuss the wonders of science more than the absurdity of religious belief.
Read, read and read some more to get the ammunition needed to combat the religious people in your life who will make accusations and try to ask difficult questions – I find it is easy to turn the tables and make them question their faith.
That is most definitely one of the things I want to improve upon. I fear I will be much more well-read on the “other side” for a long time, since I’m playing catch-up now
Lots of great reads out there to collect, though.
You have succinctly put into words everything I’ve ever wanted to say to my relatives regarding my non-theism. Thanks for this post
Oh wow, I’m glad it was a help! I hope you’re able to say everything to your family that I may have forgotten to tell mine.
I agree with Renee. I should have written this.
I’ll stop being angry when atheists are no longer being discriminated against. I’ll stop being angry when atheists are widely considered every bit as human as Christians. I’ll stop being angry when atheism is no longer viewed as a political liability by candidates.
Hear, hear!
I don’t think you’re angry either and I commend you for sticking to it and not wavering. I still haven’t told anyone about being an atheist (except for on my blog) yet but I’m getting there and your blog is helping a lot. So thanks!
.-= PJ’s last blog ..Resist, cease and desist. =-.
*hug* If you ever want to talk about it, I’d really value that as well.
Thank you for using you’re and your correctly.
“What worries her is that I might become like the people described above: sour in attitude, uncharitable in speech, and antagonistic in practice.”
What you just described isn’t exclusive to atheists (though some believers like to pretend we’re the only “angry” ones). Just read a few Christian sites (particularly the RW variety), or better yet post something that challenges their “deeply held beliefs”. You’ll see quickly that some of them are anything but sweetness and love.
I know you’re right. We can each of us be nasty and vile to one another.
I think she’s concerned that my attitude/behavior will be influenced by those types of people. I’ll admit I used to be a bit sweeter. But I guess I had nothing to speak against at the time.
I find that “sour in attitude, uncharitable in speech, and antagonistic in practice” are not the exclusive domain of any point on the faith scale. Some atheists fit this description, as do some of the religious. Similarly, humor, compassion, and curiosity can be found at any point on the scale. It’s always too easy to assume the worst of “them” and the best of “us.”
From what I’ve seen, you seem more sassy than angry.
.-= Sean’s last blog ..mitdasein: @godlessgirl I’ve got a Nietzsche trigger finger. =-.
It is all a matter of where you are pointing your anger. Hate the belief, don’t hate the believer. I feel sorry for them and the crutch they need to get through life.
.-= Grimmlock’s last blog ..Fun With Liberals =-.
“Hate the sin, not the sinner!”
I honestly think that could work in an ideal situation, but we all know that sometimes we mix up the idea and the person stating it.
You are correct, and I like how you threw that at me, lawl, but I guess it must be, if you will excise the language, the leave-me-the-fuck-aloneist in me. I care not one wit for the idiocy someone chooses to follow in their life just so long as they keep it to themselves and don’t push it on me. I have become the “angry atheist” on occasions when people try to push their Tom-foolery on my kids. That is not a decision for anyone but my ex and me to make. She has yelled at me for saying heaven was make believe, the stupid… Never mind. I guess what I am trying to say is, as long as they dont push their beliefs on you then there is no reason to be angry. Of course, when they try to use those same beliefs to push public policy then we all have the right to rage against the religious morons.
.-= Grimmlock’s last blog ..Fun With Liberals =-.
Well I totally agree with you there. I value a secular government and if they have a problem with that, they can go live in Rome.
The Fool says in his heart there is no God> Havent you read CS Lewis ?Dont for sorry for us.We have a Hope far better than you can imagine.I feel sorry for you that you really dont know the truth about life.
Rule #1 – Don’t bother using phrases, quotes, or lines of scripture in an attempt to sway the opinion of a non-believer. The diligently, informed non-believer has a foundation for their non-belief that is based on facts, science, and observations which will not topple because of a string of nonsense that you found compelling enough to regurgitate. To be frank with you only a “fool” would blindly follow what they’re told to accept as the truth.
From your statement “We have a hope far better than you can imagine. I feel sorry for your that you really don’t know the truth about life.” I find your ability to harness the endless truths about life absolutely fascinating. With a gift like that you should write self-help book or something. Maybe you can get a time-slot right after the Maury Show!!
It’s really not about us feeling sorry for one another; because we don’t care what you tell yourself to feel comforted about the vast mystery that is life. Most, if not all, of us are frightened of death. It is in our nature for survival to grab hold of this life and all things precious to us within it. Our only difference is we don’t pretend to know what comes next. Good luck with that hope of yours btw it sounds so inclusive and loving especially the way you state it.
And no worries, I don’t feel sorry for you or anyone else who sacrifices truth for false comfort and safety
I do not feel sorry for you, but I dislike your ignorance. You words are contradictory. For instance, why do you say the bible is truth then recommend CS Lewis? Haven’t you heard that he was a fiction writer? Should I believe in the witch and the wardrobe now?
Second, you talk about knowing the truth of life. I always hear from christians that it is not about knowing but about faith (when they hear about facts that disprove their religion). So, which of the two is it?
Third, stop insulting others with your bible verses.
I am an angry atheist, and I catch a lot of flack for it. I’m also in many senses an angry skeptic – credulous thinking offends me regardless of its subject, and I’m not one to mince words…
I’ve been trying for years to get past it, because I know anger only makes them dig in their heels. Primarily this is a pragmatic thing: anger is rarely the right way to get someone to listen to you and by doing so come around to your point of view. Sometimes I succeed at suppressing it, and sometimes I don’t.
The problem I have is that most of the people I know (especially my family and friends) agree with me – but they still side against me in debates because they think I’m too hostile. They seem to believe that maintaining everybody’s peace of mind and ‘right not to be offended’ is paramount, never mind that by doing so they are transgressing that principle with respect to me.
While at times it’s inconvenient, I’m not ashamed of it; I am who I am, and I’m not going to tolerate uncritical thinking. If my stance drives people away and causes me to have fewer friends, so be it; those people probably aren’t worth knowing anyway.
Your comment really hits home for me. Funny thing is, I’m usually on the side of “let’s all just get along”. Well, at least I used to be. Way to stand strong for what you think!
Angry atheist and fundamentalist atheist seem to be the favorite terms of many of the christians I meet. I find both of them to be rather comical. I am, in fact, a very angry atheist.
Even so, my anger has nothing to do with my non-belief. I don’t believe in god because there is simply no evidence for his existence. It’s the same reason that I don’t believe in Santa.
My anger, on the other hand, is due to the many horrible things that religion does on a daily basis. Sure, religious people always try to excuse such things by blaming it on individuals who are fallible and “sinful”, but I don’t buy it.
I can dredge up countless examples of people who commited horrible acts because they TRULY believed in a horrible religion. Atheists find such examples all the time without the least bit of effort.
When I see the injustice, intolerance, hatred, child abuse, indoctrination, and ignorance caused by religion, I do tend to get a bit angry. And, you know what, I’m okay with that.
In fact, I’m going with Pat Condell on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjO4duhMRZk
.-= Todd’s last blog ..shadowspeak: @fred8gravy It’s the word of god and cannot be altered unless it affects the money. Controversial doctrines mean less income, so bye-bye. =-.
I hear you loud and clear.
It doesn’t actually matter who perpetrates the evils in the world (religious, non-religious, foreign, or domestic); what matters is that human beings have the capacity to do horrible things to others. Sometimes a belief will either encourage or discourage that behavior, but in the end, it is about the individual doing right or wrong.
I read your blog because you are certainly not an angry athieit. That said, I think one must be very mindful of their speech and thought, regardless of their philosophy or religious beliefs.
I spent many years as an athiest and found angry atheists (which there are certainly many) to be extremely problematic to the athiest population. This anger only fuels what Christians believe, that people without God are not happy. Learn to be a happy, joyful atheist and you’ll never have a problem revealing your lack of beliefs to anyone.
I also take issue with the previous comment which celebrated mockery. Not cool, dude. Not cool. Yet another atheist stereotype that I spent years trying to fight against. I won’t go into the psychology behind ridicule but it certainly suggests a lack of confidence above all else. Believe what you choose to believe but respect the alternate beliefs of others.
If it makes you feel any better I often time find myself angrier as a Christian than I was as an atheist.
I appreciate you reading my thoughts! what, may I ask, angers you as a Christian?
Christian apathy and disrespect for their fellow man. It didn’t bug me as an atheist because I didn’t care.
So, even if what they “choose to believe” is clearly ridiculous, ridicule is inappropriate? Is that what you are saying?
What if someone who held a modicum of political power over you – a school board member or county commishioner perhaps – “chose to believe” in the Old Religion? Norse gods – Wodin and Thor, Asgard, Hel, and Ragnarök? (Remember, the Old Religion was a perfectly acceptable mainstream belief of millions of people for centuries. There are followers today.) It is clearly a ridiculous belief.
Imagine further that they want to include portions of their own personal religion in the laws and ordinances that govern *you*. Maybe no alcohol sales on Wednesday (Wodin’s Day).
Would ridicule be an acceptable tool in your arsenal to oppose this person, if all else failed?
Or would you meekly submit to the ridiculous, religious-based nonsense law because you “respect their alternative belief”?
Really?
.-= Brent Rasmussen’s last blog ..Ancestral Magnitudes =-.
Is the only option outside of ridicule meek submission? Certainly not for a well-informed and confident individual. A well reasoned argument does more for one’s position that mockery ever could.
In fact, one can easily argue that mockery does more harm to your position than anything else. Mockery emboldens that entity that is mocked. Why? Because no one worth consideration reduces themselves to such childish tactics.
In the example you provided I’d never reduce myself to mockery as there’s absolutely no need to. Afterall, the constitution’s on my side.
Why did you become a christian if I may ask?
It can’t be the abundance of physical evidence I guess.. :p
Only you can answer that; the typical cliched Buddha answer right? If you have been able to deal with the change in a mature manner, in full honesty with your surroundings, then I think you may just be like everyone else…opinionated I think these things are critical to not just jumping bandwagons after another. We are social creature so if you can go with your disbelief freely in your social environment that beats anything Dawkins, Harris or Hitchens has written or what skeptical periodical one chooses to read.
Also being an angry atheist is an act of intellectual stupidity…as far as I am personally concerned. I do think it is fair to be angry at things that affect your life that you disagree with, but when taken beyond that, it is just an act of intellectual stupidity. One wants to be angry at what they disbelieve in? I have strong opposing views to various of things…I don’t see how that makes me ‘angry’ at ideas, and I don’t see any reason why it’d be different for you or anyone else.
My view in my own disbelief is this:
There’s no reason to let your disbelief run your life. There’s no reason to let your disbelief define who you are. If you disbelieve, move on.
That’s why now, I hate, absolutely hate the terms, atheist, agnostic, strong atheist, weak atheist…all bullshit to me now. I’m just a human being. I have my opinions about various of topics that are in our existence.
Take it for what you can pull from it I suppose.
.-= TheSchmoe’s last blog ..The Evolutionary Process of Music is not ‘Evolutionary’ =-.
From a Christian standpoint this is what I have to offer. For what it’s worth, Jesus never called down any hell – fire – or brimstone against anybody BUT the religious people of His day. His tenderness was toward unbelievers. Religion has a way of twisting the beauty of the Gospel into something it was never meant to be. If you’ve been in the “church” you have probably seen the best of it…crazies and all.
I brought my kids up in the church and now have a son who is agnostic. My problem was that I preached at em….A LOT, but truth without substance is nothing but words. If I new Jesus then like I know Him now…I would have loved more and judged less. What the church has become today is the exact picture of what the Pharisaical church was in the Bible, and I was the biggest pharisee of them all. A finger-pointing, vomit spewing, unloving church member….mostly because that was all I’d ever seen or been taught.
As far as your mom goes, cut her some slack…she probably feels that she is to blame for what, in her mind, will send you to hell. That’s scary for a parent…take it from someone who knows.
So I guess now I’m anti-something…but I don’t think I’ll ever be anti-Jesus.
I’m glad to hear your insight. No matter what our beliefs, it’s a sign of maturity and a living heart to love more and judge less. Very good way to live, that.
http://jamespruch.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/rc-sproul-on-why-christ-is-the-only-way-to-god/
thanks for wasting 7:27 of my time. may god bless you!
I’ve come to realize that a lot of the anger comes from the way that some Christians attack atheists, and the stupidity with which they do it. I am fine with well-reasoned criticisms, but when you spout idiotic nonsense, and subscribe to the idea that if you speak loudly and don’t let your opponent get a word in it means you won the debate then it gets even me (and I have a pretty laid back attitude about everything) riled up a bit.
If the atheist in questions ISN’T as mellow as myself then it would take even less to get them going. (I’m not trying to sound better than I am, I just don’t let a lot of stuff get under my skin. Unless, that is, I’m driving… Then watch out if you tailgate me or do something utterly stupid. I have scared passengers with my anger.)
Add to this that some people feel very bitter about having been lied to for so long by religion and by the people in their lives, and the fact that many see religion as not just untrue but very dangerous… Then I’d say it’s pretty easy to understand the angry atheist.
As I said in a recent post on this same topic, I may just not have gotten the point in being out that I’m so fed up with being treated like crap because I don’t believe in God. In a few months we’ll see if I’m still so easy going!
Godless girl –
I stumbled into your blog whilst searching for
the lyrics to Steve Martin’s hilarious song.
Once there, I read some of your musings, and
some of the responses you’ve received to your
various postings.
I can only guess about what prompted your
decision “to leave the faith”, based on what
has been posted here.
I too struggled with belief for many years
starting in my early teens and moving through
to my late 20′s.
That’s almost two decades of being torn in two
and trying to decide what I believe.
Like you, I was raised in a “Christian home”.
My parents were not weak or nominal; they were
fervent believers and insisted I accompany
them to church as long “as you live under
my roof”.
Starting in high school, I began to seriously
examine atheism. I loved science throughout
my school years and listened seriously to my
teachers in high school and college, many of
them atheists. I pondered for a
long time the nature of the origin of this
physical existence; weighing carefully what
I heard pastors preach, and what I heard
atheists assert.
Ethics and logic classes gave me further
pause. The methodology of rational
thinking requires that logic hold true
throughout the chain of arguments for a
position. Whenever I’d examine what the
atheist world would have me embrace, there
were as many problems there as I had with
religious thought. Nothing could be proven
with certainty. At the end, I concluded
that whichever way I went would require
absolute faith rather than absolute
knowledge.
Despite what my biology teachers said,
or my physics teachers said, or my
chemistry teachers, or even what celebrated
scientists (say for example Stephen J.
Gould or Carl Sagan) wrote, at the absolute
end of the chain of the thought path
they started me down lay one,
inescapable conclusion – the origin of
the cosmos without God depends on
absolute faith in nothing bringing
forth something.
I set aside ‘red herring’ arguments such
as life being seeded on the earth by
commentary bombardment or some other
mechanism; or this universe coming into
existence from the collision of two or
more ‘multiverses’ as these arguments
only lead to ad nauseum infinite
regression. At some point one has to lay
aside the dodge of the infinite part of
infinite regression and get to the
absolute beginning and there lies
the problem.
At that point in space-time called
“In the beginning”, if there is no God
then there is only one remaining
logical conclusion a reasonable person
must come to – “In the beginning”,
before anything was, “something came
out of nothing”.
God creating ex nihilo is a statement
about His supreme power. “Nothing”
bringing forth something out of nothing
is an absurdity. The moment I realized
this was the moment I absolutely dismissed
atheism as a serious position to place faith
in.
The thought that something spontaneously
springs out of nothing is the more
absurd argument for the origin of
things; ergo being an atheist requires
of me abundantly more faith. It requires
more faith than I can find. Why? Since
I believe in God, I will state my position
forthrightly as I see it – God provides the
Scriptures so we may discover what He
wants us to know about Him. On the other
hand, were I of a mind to reject God,
then “Nothing” has left me nothing to
believe in; yet it is this very “Nothing”
that everything I perceive around me is
supposed to have proceeded from? Since
I cannot observe what might have happened
“In the beginning”, I cannot know for
certainty. So I must believe, and that
is the proposition atheism says I must
believe in? Sorry, doesn’t hold up,
and it truly does require absolutely
blind faith.
However, I find after 3 decades of
diligent, careful study that Scripture
holds up rather well. But it requires
effort to understand it. Sometimes it
requires the effort of getting a good
Hebrew-Greek Dictionary and carefully
studying the meaning of the words in a
passage. Unfortunately our post-modern
culture goes out of its way to dumb down
our language and we are almost to the
point where it is impossible to understand
each other. So, you may have to put more
effort into understanding Scripture than
you are of a mind to do – at least for
the present time in your life.
I realize all this is probably of
little interest to the atheist mind.
But your professed desire to be
‘ecumenical’ has prompted me to
respond.
I close by asking you “What bondage is
it you claim to have been freed from by
‘leaving the faith’ and into what have
you been freed?” By your description of
your past ‘belief’ you were as I was in
my early life – a false convert.
The Bible makes clear one cannot
“leave the faith”. The belief that you
left (or can) leave being a true Christian
is one of the most widespread and
incorrect notions of what constitutes
‘being a Christian’. The Bible makes
clear that the elect were chosen
by God before the creation of the world.
People do not come to God, God calls them
to Him, once they are His, He has promised
He will never leave them, forsake them or
allow them to be snatched from His hand.
Therefore, you were never truly “in the
faith”. Like me in my youth, you merely
claimed to believe. In actuality what
you have done is to leave your religion
and its beliefs and practices.
Is that what you have been freed from?
If so, good for you! All religion is an
abomination. True faith however, is
entirely different, genuine and unique.
Having been freed from the shackles of
false religion, I now pray you will be
freed from the shackles of the equally
false faith and absurdity of atheism.
You sound like a very earnest searcher
for truth. Continue on in your search for
the Truth. In that search, if you will
open your mind to the possibility of a God,
if you seek Him out, you could find Him
calling you; if you respond you may find
something that is so much more than what
it is you have left and abundantly more
than what it is that you have placed faith
into now, which is “nothing”. If you find
the Truth, the Truth will set you free.
Hmm… isn’t that an argument from ignorance or argument from incredulity? It may seem absurd to you, but non-Newtonian Physics and cosmology are pretty counter-intuitive. But something coming out of nothing – note: not nothing bringing forth something out of nothing: clearly, nothing is not an agent! – something coming out of nothing spontaneously is not unknown in physics (google “vacuum energy”, for instance). And Hawking’s The Grand Design argues that the universe itself can indeed have originated spontaneously.
Moreover, isn’t it also a fallacy to postulate the existence of a Creator? Isn’t this just further regression? If you can accept that a Creator is eternal why can you not accept that M-space (or whatever universes spring from), if not the universe itself, is eternal? Isn’t that unnecessarily multiplying entities? Especially when that Creator is supremely powerful, supremely intelligent and supremely wilful – how could such a complex Being simply exist?
* Apologies for ytpnig errors.
Thanks for bringing this up; a friend of mine is also a freethinking blogger woman (The Maybetheist) and we actually had this conversation last night.
While I appreciate your shared conclusion (that unbelief doesn’t have to be intentionally confrontational any more than religion does) I suspect Christian discomfort (including mine, once upon a time) is predicated on guilt – “we have to convert and confront, so they do too,” and such.
Enjoy the bitchitude as long as it comes natural, relish ecumenicalism when it comes, and please stay as charming and insightful as you are now. Cheers!
i’ll drink to the rants and venting! esp if it involves a …
I think it’s hard–maybe ludicrous–to expect people who’ve been victimized by religion and have yet freed themselves from it not to be angry at the experience. How much better might our lives have been if we’d learned as children to deal with the world as it really is instead of learning merely to delude ourselves with increasing efficiency? I don’t blame anyone for being angry about that. (Hopefully, for the sake of one’s own mental health, one learns, however, to be at peace with the past and to improve oneself and the world from this point.)
The one thing guaranteed to make me angry, however is the implicit–and sometimes explicit–demand that atheists (and those of minority faiths) accord some sort of special “respect” for the majority religion–to keep it free of critique and challenge, especially in times of crisis–and that any deviance is labeled disrespect, bad taste, anger, and even persecution. I can’t count the number of times someone has cried persecution simply because I voiced disagreement. (And yes, saying, “I think you are wrong,” is merely disagreement.) THAT is offensive. And that makes me angry.
I’m sure your mother is a very terrific person, and she may not realize what this concern implies, but I find her worry that you might be an “angry atheist” along the same lines, as if the many Christians who hold incredible disdain for atheism, Islam, Mormonism, Wicca, etc. are held to the same standard. Karl Rove (politics aside) has a very clever response to why he is an atheist that feeds directly into this sense of Christian superiority: “I haven’t been blessed with the gift of faith.”
I don’t know if you atheists feel it too, but I somehow still want to convince people that their religion is just a selfish and violent manipulating system. I want people to realize they don’t need a God in order to survive. And I do that by attacking religion. Sometimes I feel like an angry atheist, but I mock religion and their followers more than destroy them with swearing and, idk, murdering? Honestly, I don’t think you’re an angry atheist. Even if we really were, it’s quite natural, ’cause humans dream of changing the world. According to their own point of views.
andsleonardo, instead of worrying about what people believe, you should be worrying about how they treat others because that’s what’s truly important.
Some people do not appear to be able to function without a belief in a higher being, but they treat everyone with respect. On the other hand, there are atheists who look down on and are incredibly disrespectful to people simply because they believe in a higher being.
Instead of mocking people, use rational arguments and always treat people how you want to be treated. Be open-minded and remember that there is a lot of stuff you don’t know.
I don’t consider myself angry but IMPATIENT!
It’s not that big a deal GG. You simply haven’t experienced the holy spirit.
Without the holy spirit coming upon you, religious stuff is all empty formality… pointless niceness… doing stuff you don’t want to do.
When and if the holy spirit comes upon that all changes.
Don’t worry about it…. most people don’t have the holy spirit. You’re perfectly normal.