Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Atheists Conundrum [View all]
There are times that being an atheist in a strongly theistic society is alienating for me, yesterday was such a day.
As I see it there are two basic and completely opposite ways the atheist can look at his fellow humans who are theists, the first way is that they are all more or less deluded/crazy, believing things that no rational person could believe. The second way of looking at fellow humans is that they have some part of the human sensorium that you lack, they see in a spectrum where you are blind.
I don't find either way of looking at things particularly comforting, it sucks to be surrounded by deluded or crazy people and it sucks to be blind, either way the atheist in strongly theistic society is a loser.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
108 replies, 9909 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (8)
ReplyReply to this post
108 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
That was my first thought of a Reply. What on Earth does any of it matter, next to how we treat one
patrice
Jan 2013
#9
It's one of those things that once you become aware of it you can never quite completely ignore
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#14
I understand atheism & its critique of religion & I agree with it to the extent of the limits inhere
patrice
Jan 2013
#19
Losers in the sense that if you are a thoughtful person it's hard not to be alienated
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#7
k, I don't know which threads specifically you are referring to. The one's I saw usually began with
patrice
Jan 2013
#17
Nadine, cali and Will Pitt all found it necessary to pen OPs to dump on the atheists
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#18
I'm sorry they were un-necessarily disrespectful. We're all like that, including me. & I'm not sure
patrice
Jan 2013
#20
It's not the mention of theism not be fact based, because it clearly is not fact based.
cbayer
Jan 2013
#42
I think most to all of us, even skeptics, view some imaginary things as real.
ZombieHorde
Jan 2013
#12
As a fellow Atheist, there is a third option, and it's not quite the dilemma you think it is...
Moonwalk
Jan 2013
#16
Well, perhaps you should stop supporting them, making it easier for them to get away with it.
mr blur
Jan 2013
#79
Is it your contention then that everyone should be bothered or not bothered by the same things?
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#36
I'm not trying to wage a war, that's where you are entirely missing my point.
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#40
You are generally a very positive poster, so I truly do not understand where you are coming
cbayer
Jan 2013
#41
There's some big chunks of American culture that I do not buy at all, that leave me feeling
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#43
Every single word or metaphor I can think of to use to describe my feelings is offensive to theists
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#58
You were called a troll by a fellow atheist who often shares your point of view in
cbayer
Jan 2013
#53
When atheists start having a worldview that exists outside of reality, you will have a point.
cleanhippie
Jan 2013
#50
It doesn't bother me that people believe in different things than I do. People believe in all sorts
robinlynne
Jan 2013
#51
Well that's not a psychosis. That's a personality, which may or may not represent a disorder.
cbayer
Jan 2013
#70
Personality doesn't refer to mental processes that affect the perception of reality
NoOneMan
Jan 2013
#71
I think that the answers you seek are held in fields other than psychiatry or even psychology.
cbayer
Jan 2013
#88
And that would be accurate too! Because it's atheists that believe dead people come back to life...
cleanhippie
Jan 2013
#102
So a republican who doesn't believe that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim is delusional?
Warren Stupidity
Jan 2013
#105