An interesting topic / Please view and comment

[Ellainix]

"I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do." ~D. Dale Gulledge

[dogsmycopilot]

I have just recently been in the process of going from devout faithfulness to an atheist but when I after I came to terms with my new belief I got this strange urge to talk about it.  Kind of like "witnessing" atheism.  I never really ever wanted to talk about Jesus and what not.  I find myself agueing with my girlfreind (who's dad is a Lutheran paster an she is very religious)  and trying to debate with her and kind of pushing her away. I realize what it's doing to our relationship but I feel the need to bring it up when ever she talks about god and miricles and what not.  I'm not a person who thinks that religious people are " bad " or anything but I find myself wanting others to question things that they have been told like I have.  

I'm wondering if others ever feel the need to discuss their beliefs or try to "convert" people.

Please post an view, advise, or attitude on the matter.

Don't try to teach the pigs to sing.

It's exhausting, useless, and potentially dangerous. There is no point in discussing it with them; they are either a skeptic or not. If the person is the least bit skeptic, sure maybe see if you can get somewhere with them. But a real believer, just keep on truckin' my friend. No point.

[JustAJ]

Yeah, i know what you mean dogs.  My girlfriends father is a Lutheran pastor.  She believes in it all, Tower of Babel, Noah's arc, Adam and Eve.  When i present her with very good evidence against any of these things, she get really angry and defensive.  Its hard to convince those who already think they know everything, because they read it and a book and all the fools around them believe it.

[Tank]

Yeah, i know what you mean dogs.  My girlfriends father is a Lutheran pastor.  She believes in it all, Tower of Babel, Noah's arc, Adam and Eve.  When i present her with very good evidence against any of these things, she get really angry and defensive.  Its hard to convince those who already think they know everything, because they read it and a book and all the fools around them believe it.

Memes are powerful things and we invest such a lot of emotion in them that logic can often bounce off like a pea on tank armour. All you can do is show by example that being an atheist is not a negative world view and it does not threaten most of the ideals she hold to.

[Smarmy Of One]

I am always entering into ... ahem ... socratic debate against religious people. I don't actively seek religious people and call them out, but I also don't let comments slide.

As far as your girlfriend is concerned. Either you just have a frank discussion with her and let her know that you are not interested in that part of her life and that if you want to stay together either you don't discuss it anymore or you have civil debate.

If you can't let it go, then you may have to accept the fact that you've grown apart and move on.

When I find out that a person I am seeing is religious, it is pretty much a deal breaker. I can't stay with someone if I don't respect their intelligence. Fortunately most of my girlfriends have been atheist. Out of fairness, I always drop the A bomb pretty soon in the courtship.

[Godlessons]

I used to be very tolerant of religious ideas when I first became an atheist, but the longer I am an atheist, the more I have to say something when someone expresses silly beliefs, and that isn't just relegated to religion.  I know that I'm not going to deconvert the converted, but I like watching them dance around when I put them on the spot about their beliefs.

I know that I will have a terrible time living with someone that is unable to just keep their beliefs to themselves.  It makes it difficult to find women to have any kind of long lasting relationship with, but I think it is better that I don't have to stuff my disdain for stupidity.  I have tried it, and it's tremendously annoying.

[deekayfry]

Simple

There are three things I do not discuss






Money











Politics














and Religion

You will find me dead silent or leaving the room when any of those three enter a conversation.

[deekayfry]

It all bears explaining

I also forgot to add other interesting things like sexuality and abortion and capital punishment.  The first two are particularly hair raising.

It is hypocritical that I don't discuss religion and yet I am on a board like this, but in IRL, I avoid such topics. These kinds of things tend to end very badly with very hard feelings, and I have had situation that came to a head because the passion just runs way too high when it comes to religion, politics, and money (and usually all tend to end up mixed together).

I have a good friend and several other good friends who are devoutly religious.  My closest friend is as fundamentalist as the sky is blue.  I have never explicitly stated what I thought, but I can tell he knows from his occasional jabs and jibes.

I would rather keep it that way, and for me and him to go fishing or kayaking or shooting the shit then for us to waste our time on what we believe or don't believe.

This is just me though.  It is okay if you want to share you new feelings.  It will help you to accept what you have discovered and help you grow more as you learn.

[The Magic Pudding]

There are three things I do not discuss
Money
Politics
and Religion
You will find me dead silent or leaving the room when any of those three enter a conversation.

I can understand caution, but absolute silence on things you care about is worrying.

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

[JustAJ]

Me and the girl recently broke up due to her obsession that without religion I will be a different person.  But I still enjoy debateing with people over it.  I don't actively seek conflict but when it comes up I like to talk about belief and whatnot.

[deekayfry]

There are three things I do not discuss
Money
Politics
and Religion
You will find me dead silent or leaving the room when any of those three enter a conversation.

I can understand caution, but absolute silence on things you care about is worrying.

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

 

I speak up, but those three things have for me personally have created a great deal of consternation.  As some of you probably know, my wife KDBeads pointed out that we live in a very intolerant area, we mean INTOLERANT.

When I discussed money with a land owner's wife, which the wife initiated, the land owner's husband threatened to kill me if I were to go to the Money Man about the land owner's mineral rights.  I confronted on him on the threat, and now I look at him as a father, and I am very fond of him.  Sometimes money would creep up in some of the convos with the wife, and I promptly stop her and say I will not talk money.

Discussing alternative views of religion could lead to blacklisting.  I mean even the denominations are at battle with each other.  There extreme cases of Church A vs. Church B vs Church C.

I also should be a little more specific, I stay away from those topic without a doubt at work, but in general I keep quiet even outside of work.

I hope that addresses some of your worries.  I understand why you would feel that way.

For these reasons, this is why I am HAF because it is a place for me and KDBeads to vent some of our frustration not being able to talk to sensible people.  It doesn't matter if they are atheistic or theistic or any thing else.  We would like to have open honest discussion that does not evolve to those people never talking to us again.

[The Magic Pudding]

I also should be a little more specific, I stay away from those topic without a doubt at work, but in general I keep quiet even outside of work.

I said I can understand your position, well that's bullshit I have no idea.
But if things get to bad, Australia needs mining techs.

[deekayfry]

Me and the girl recently broke up due to her obsession that without religion I will be a different person.  But I still enjoy debateing with people over it.  I don't actively seek conflict but when it comes up I like to talk about belief and whatnot.

What led to your change of mind to become atheistic?

[Gawen]

I have found myself steering conversations around to belief/faith/atheism much more than I used to.

Same here. I think because I'm over the Century mark now, I have less to fear...*chucklin*

Partly I think it is down to the fact that I spend a lot more time considering these issues than I used to. Partly it is to discuss these issues via speaking than typing as I'm not a very fast typist and I can get through a lot more ideas when talking. I also find face-to-face communication of emotional and delicate issue more productive as you get to see body language and hear vocal inflections that are denied to us through the medium of the written word.

I would rather type it out these days. I have all mymaterials handy in the computer or sitting next to it. I simply cannot remember all I need to in "live" conversations these days. Must be cause I'm over the Century mark?...*laffin*

[JustAJ]

I became an atheist one night when I was talking to a friend and realized that if I had been born years before as an Indian or something I would believe in a rain god or something as much as I believe in god, or zues if I was born earlier. And that it's just what you have been told and the lies you've been fed.