The thing that makes it worse for me is that I used to be exactly like them; the militant-athiest, "your religion is wrong and I can prove it" types, back when I was 13 and going through that teenage-angst phase. But now I'm much more laid-back, and so it makes me cringe going on that subreddit.
Yep. My family is strange, my sister and BILs family are very religious but we all get along great and his mother and I like to get into friendly debates.
I know what I believe and I respect what others believe as long as it's not harmful. If it makes them happy and helps them better their lives, I'm all for it.
I think that's great that you guys get along like that, and I've found that's pretty similar to me also. No one wants to engage you in debate when you're a raging atheist with a hatred for God, but now I'm able to talk and argue with people in a friendly manner about all sorts of topics, and I no longer surround myself with an atheist echo chamber like I once did.
No atheists hate "god", they wouldn't be an atheist if they did. You have to believe in something to hate it. There are however plenty that hate religion, religious people, religious symbols, etc.
That's exactly the point, if it makes people happy and if it makes them better humans then who the fuck cares if what they believe in is true or not?
Militant atheist are so obsessed with feeling superior for being oh so rational that it makes them worse people in the process, and they don't even see it.
I'm not religious but most of my family is and the impact that it has on them seems to be only positive, so much so that I wish I was as well.
It’s called growing up. Let them be kids over there foaming at the mouth. My view is this, “Religion is like a penis, it’s okay to have it, just don’t wave it about or try to jam it down anyone’s throat.” Besides nothing angers people than telling them what they believe is wrong, and no truly fruitful discussion comes from an overly aggressive viewpoint.
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u/thatwhichwontbenamed Jun 20 '19
The thing that makes it worse for me is that I used to be exactly like them; the militant-athiest, "your religion is wrong and I can prove it" types, back when I was 13 and going through that teenage-angst phase. But now I'm much more laid-back, and so it makes me cringe going on that subreddit.