When I write about atheism, especially my own experience, it’s not to convince anyone of any faith that they should give up what they believe and deconvert to atheism. The real reason is because it’s important for those that are believers that may read this blog to understand that essentially, atheists are no different they they are. I’m unsure how many of those come here and read because I rarely, if ever, receive any comments on any posts from a believer.
As many current atheists, I used to be a person of faith. When I left that behind, I wondered what it was that ever made me into a beiever in the first place. I was never forced as a child to go to church, read the bible, or pray. My mother on ocassion used to go to church, but my father never, ever did. So what was it that caused me, and others I knew of like upbringing to suddenly decide that we were going to believe in something that wasn’t part of our experience to that point?
I was recently involved in a thread on Twitter concerning those that we have referred to, at least in the past, as Social Justice Warriors (SJW’s). I found that, along with myself there are many more that refuse to engage with those people because it never leads anywhere due to the fact (as I see it) the conversation is not honest. We can have disagreements, and often do, but the exchange should never devolve into name calling, even threats.
Since the new Congress has been sworn in, I’ve read a few articles about the makeup of the new body, in both houses. The concern seems to be that there are no open atheists in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. When I read stories about this I wonder what the concern happens to be exactly? It’s not like we atheists are a large voting bloc and of course, if we would like to see atheists in our Federal or State offices, atheists have to actually run for office, don’t they?
I recently read an article that caused me to pause. It is an essay in Quillette that tries to explain how and why people seem to be drawn to the spiritual even as we leave traditional religion behind. I don’t disagree that yes, more and more people are leaving the traditions of their parents and grandparents behind, and yes, there are people that want to believe in something, and gravitate to other forms of what I refer to as mumbo-jumbo, but it was one paragraph that specifically caught my attention.
Conservative Skeptic 