photo by Joe McCarthy
When you meet someone new or are just enjoying discussions with other people, are you ever surprised when you find out they don’t share your views? I keep having this experience! Tonight while at dinner with a group of women, one of them mentioned her pre-teen son being baptized at their church since he just “got saved” and how excited she was. During her story, I kept expecting a punchline—as if she would suddenly laugh and tell a story about going skinny dipping in the baptism dunk tanks. But no, she was totally serious, and nothing’s wrong with that.
It made me wonder: Do we assume the people with whom we get along are going to think the same ways we do? I think I do! For instance, I’m skeptical about the paranormal; I do not believe ghosts exist. A friend of mine gabs constantly about ghost hunting and the supernatural, and all the while I laugh and think she must be joking because, hell, who honestly believes in ghosts? Well, she does. Why am I so surprised? Is it my ego?
I remember feeling this way as a Christian as well; If I met someone who wasn’t a believer, it was like a trip into a different world. They were strange, foreign, and mysterious. How could they not believe in Jesus? Of course, Christianity is so popular that it’s sometimes difficult to find people who openly identify with something else—at least in my area. So why am I walking through life as part of the atheist minority assuming everyone else thinks Satan is silly and God is a figment of our imaginations? I have no idea! I guess I think I’m normal!
Photo © Jim Kuhn
I suppose I’m a bit of an atheist cliché. I have expressed on numerous occasions my distaste for the Judeo-Christian god as depicted in the Bible. (check out why God’s justice is anti-American and God is immoral). But if we don’t speak up about the inconsistencies we observe, they might go un-recognized by those who seek the truth. So in the name of critical thinking, I’ll continue to challenge the Get Out of Jail Free card often handed to God even when our own reasoning indicates he’s in violation of the most basic standards of morality.
So, what about torture? This topic has been the focus of a steady buzz in past months, but only recently have I had much personal interaction with the topic.
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photo by Curtis Gregory Perry
This twitter conversation is currently in process:
Me: I think it will take at least 2 generations more to get some of the “old time fundamentalism” on the way out the door.
J: How would you contribute to get that “old time fundamentalism on the way out the door”, being a first generation ex-Christian?
Me: what can we do but engage each other and help people reason and hopefully stop indoctrination in its tracks. WDYT?
J: What if all your family (wife & young children included), friends & co-workers are Christians? How would you make a difference?
Me: that’s my life, so I’m working on it. What do you think would influence you if you believed and a fammembr/friend didn’t? I honestly think that we can make a difference by just being honest and asking questions. encouraging skepticism and freethought
Honestly, I feel a little sad when my mind draws a blank when it comes to the practical ways I can influence things around me. But should I instead feel at peace with a “live and let live” default? I don’t want to press my lack of beliefs on anyone like I did my spiritual beliefs. But I want things to change in this society for the better.
What do you think? How can atheists–especially those surrounded by believers–make an impact on those around them? Do we need to “evangelize” (sorry for poor word choice; it even makes me shudder) in some way? In what ways do you (or do you not) strive to end the cycle of hereditary indoctrination, social/political religious bias, and the other poisons caused by religion? How can we make a difference?
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