As a non-Christian, I have been on the receiving end of more than one Christian pointing their fingers at me and yelling. I have been criticized at my job, in my home, over the intarweb, on the streets, and at school. I have been told I’m going to hell, I’ve been told that I would be prayed for that I might repent my sinning ways, and I’ve been offered to be converted.
Christians… not the most accepting of people, in my experience. (in fairness, I’m not singling them out from other religions, I just have the most experiences with them)
In fact, if it wasn’t for a Christian friend of mine, who is religious but has NEVER thrown it in my face, nor has ever made me feel somehow inferior for not sharing his belief, I might have hated all Christians.
I bring this up because in my online activities, I’ve noticed an increasing anti-religious trend. I see atheists touting their beliefs around with the same zeal I’ve seen Christians do, proclaiming boisterously that religious beliefs are ‘myths and legends.’
I dunno, it seems that atheists would hate to have their beliefs attacked (and likely have had them attacked), why they would then attack religion and try to impose their beliefs is beyond me.
So atheists are evil for not believing and Christians are morons for believing? Nice little war they seem to have going on. I would have thought that atheists (who consider themselves intelligent men of science) would be above such childish behavior. I would have also thought that Christians (whose deity preaches forgiveness and compassion) would be more understanding of different viewpoints.
I just think that in this era of being able to have the entirety of the world’s knowledge at your fingertips, that maybe we could all be a little smarter.
Zel-kun out.
David N. Scott | 03-May-07 at 2:48 pm | Permalink
Christians… not the most accepting of people, in my experience. (in fairness, I’m not singling them out from other religions, I just have the most experiences with them)
Oh, and it’s not just Christians anymore. As a dedicated geek and a fan of forums, I can tell you. There’s a huge flame war going on on the Wizards of the Coast website about their switchign magazines to online content right now, and I remembering being on ground zero early last year for DC’s massive One Year Later/Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot…
Politics can be pretty terrifying, too. If you want pompous and grumpy proselytizing, Pandagon.net and/or Townhall.
I’m probably just talking College Student here, but I really think that the switch to a more postmodern outlook where people think more about consensus and establishing one’s own reality has made people everywhere a lot more worried about the dissonance coming from their own choices and beliefs, and thus much more likely to try to convince others.
Hence the happiness when some star is a Christian or atheist or fan of whatever political party.
All of that being said, the specific problems here (jerky Christian majority, perpetually furious atheist/agnostic minority) are especially problematic, I think. With both sides drawing from a sort of rich folklore and worldview where the other is completely wrong, you end up with a lot of conflict.
I’ve decried that on Pererro sometimes… I mean, hating someone for not being civil (and thus making it acceptable to be rude) is sooo counterproductive, it seems to me.
Anyway, ramble ramble. I’m getting distracted and losing track of what I’m saying.
Hopefully I’ve never made you feel bad with my belief. I think that people ought to be free to talk about their passions–political and religious as well as anything, but don’t think people should bludgeon other people. Hopefully I strike a decent balance.
David N. Scott | 03-May-07 at 2:56 pm | Permalink
So atheists are evil for not believing and Christians are morons for believing? Nice little war they seem to have going on. I would have thought that atheists (who consider themselves intelligent men of science) would be above such childish behavior. I would have also thought that Christians (whose deity preaches forgiveness and compassion) would be more understanding of different viewpoints.
Nice `graf, btw.