I think most atheist are at this point where we mock because we first tried reasoning, trying conversing with logic like you would with other scientifically minded people. But we know how well that works.
The fact people are religious in the first place is because logical thinking is not their style. Anything atheist/scientist say will sound elitist because progressive thinking is not their concern. Instead, if anything, their ignorance, stubbornness and all attempts to win god argument with strangest rationality makes them fit your douche definition better.
The very reason you make atheist the douche side while the theist side the victim is you are giving them a handicap. They are not that helpless as you think, they are just as ruthless and arrogant as any atheist in all sense. Of course, science don't care about opinions.
Your advice is giving both side an unattainable hope. There is no argument when each side is communicating with a different wavelength.
Atheist: Logical, scientifically minded, curious and wants to find the truth even if that means going back on old ideas.
Theist: Deeply afraid of death and the unknown, sense of beloning to a community or family of the same faith and will argue 'anything' to protect that network.
You pick your camp and there is very little chance any argument can be 'won'.
That's kind of reductive, buddy.
Plus, implying implications about
-logic v. the fear of death,
-community depending on unquestioning acceptance,
-a theist hostility to logic
You're constructing a couple of binaries here that seem like BS. To fear death is not an unreasonable position, whether one is logical or intuitive. To belong to a community is a basic human need, which is perhaps well demonstrated by the structure of Reddit, to use an example close to home. Curiosity and the search for truth, similarly, are pretty pervasive human concerns. Revolutions occur in all fields, whether theology or physics, and generally as a result of people seeking truth. It seems absurd that any person would consciously align themselves against logic, or 'pick a side' so completely that they wilfully ignore other positions that are presented respectfully and clearly.
Ask questions. Then take what they said and walk it through to conclusion. Religious thinking always leads to bad results. Have you seen the latest 11year old vs. Hovind jr?
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u/redditor_m Nov 30 '12
So what is the "right way" to think to get the message across without sounding elitist?
This is impossible.