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Tue Oct 13, 2015, 05:28 PM Oct 2015

A Pagan Interviews an Atheist

October 13, 2015 by John Beckett

One of the things I like about being part of Patheos is the opportunity for interreligious dialogue. On this site you can find bloggers from many different religious backgrounds who write from many different perspectives. Too often, though, we stay in our own little silos and don’t notice what’s going on in other communities, or hear how people of other religions are responding to problems in our common society. In doing so, we can miss the opportunity to find common ground and make allies – and friends.

To help us focus on our common ground, today Patheos has a special feature called “Share What We Share.” As part of that feature, Atheist Channel blogger Matthew Facciani (“According to Matthew”) and I interviewed each other. We asked questions designed to let us say who and what we are in our own terms, to discuss our challenges with finding common ground with those of other religions, and to find our own shared interests and concerns.

- snip -

John: What does your atheism inspire you to do?

Matthew: My atheism inspires me to defend secularism as I strongly believe in the separation of church and state. Any activism I do within secularism is only a direct response to religious (often Christian) privilege and oppression. I don’t have a problem with people believing in Gods, but I do have a problem when they try to force their beliefs onto me and influence the government. Abortion restrictions and anti-gay discrimination are some of the most blatant violations of church and state today. I also think that churches should have to pay taxes since they obtain massive amounts of money.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2015/10/a-pagan-interviews-an-atheist.html

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/accordingtomatthew/2015/10/an-atheist-interviews-a-pagan/

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