An important difference between atheists and true believers
by Hortensia 219 Replies latest social current
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Laika
I don't think most Athiest want to convert others, they just have no tolerance for religious dogma.
Maybe this is a regional thing but actually I find most atheists are very tolerant, people just get on with their lives and rarely worry much about what the people around them think.
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Xanthippe
Well my little old mother-in-law, 82, ex-JW now Anglican church-goer, isn't trying to convert me away from atheism. She probably finds her belief comforting after the death of her son. It's a sweeping statement to say that most true believers want to convert you to their view but atheists don't. Big world filled with many, many different types of people.
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tornapart
I don't think you can generalise. There are many believers who are not interested in trying to convert people and just happy to live and let live. Then there are many atheists who are not happy unless they have tried to convert everyone they know.
People are individuals, everyone is different, everyone believes different things and everyone does different things. I don't think anyone falls into either one camp or the other.
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Hortensia
well, OK, I was generalizing, I know that there are some religious people who are not out to convert everyone. Over-reaction due to the company I keep around here!
I brought up the guy in the middle east who says atheists are terrorists. I thought someone would bring up chairman Mao who thought ministers were terrorists, or at least spies for western governments. I guess I'll have to debate with myself, eh?
I have a really low threshhold for bullshit, unfortunately, and tend to get cranky when exposed to too much of it. People who believe fairy tales are true. Argh.
I like the point that atheists have had to give up some comfort in order to face reality. It's true. Reality includes each person's demise, life isn't forever. It's a sad truth, but one we can face and then we can get on with enjoying life as much as possible.
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Xanthippe
People who believe fairy tales are true. Argh. - Hortensia
Odd thing to say if you used to be a JW.
I like the point that atheists have had to give up some comfort in order to face reality. It's true. Reality includes each person's demise, life isn't forever. It's a sad truth, but one we can face and then we can get on with enjoying life as much as possible. - Hortensia
Two things come to mind here
1. Some people leave the JWs very late in life and find in very difficult to give up their comfort zone if they are already at retirement age and feel their life has been wasted. To go on reading and studying and facing harsh reality is very difficult for them. Some, like my MIL would rather just go to church when she feels like it and keep her vague mainstream belief which isn't hurting anyone - it gets her through the last few years of her life and the death of her son.
2. I don't think it is so that every true believer that belongs to a church that teaches life after death is prevented from having a good life in the present. Not all churches teach about Christ's coming and an eschatological view of the world. We tend to make this mistake because we were raised in an eschatological cult. Eschatology, belief in the end of the world, is a very specific branch of theism. My MIL certainly enjoys life in the present, that is her personality. What she believes about life after death, I have no idea, we don't dicuss it.
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jgnat
There are religions that are not interested in proselytizing. This includes most sects of Judaism, and Buddhists. They may be ardent believers but have no interest in converting others.
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zed is dead
I see no problem with anyone's beliefs, as long as they do not try to convert me to their point of view. I certainly do not see the need to have everyone agree with mine either. I think those that do are just insecure, and want validation. No one needs to save my ass.
zed
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Phizzy
But Zed, your Eternal Life is in danger, and there is Hell, and you could miss out on heaven, or you may end up in Purgatory, or worse, in Limbo with all the unbaptised babies, think of all the nappy changing !
Have I convinced you yet, you miserable sinner ? (or are you like me, a very happy one ?).
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Apognophos
I would agree that atheists have a motive to deconvert......but not to convert ! They DON'T have beliefs in any movement, god, religion.
That's silly. Atheists have a belief in scientists and seek to convert others to scientism. The mindset is exactly the same as it is for religionists trying to convert someone, as you yourself said in a previous post when you referred to the tribalistic need to get others to agree with us.