I've often said in the past that if I could get just one religious person to put fear aside and to really examine the belief-system that they've likely been handed(just as it was handed to me), then it would all be worth it in the end. But who am I fooling? Come on....... really? Do I really believe that deep down?
I'm starting to wonder. I mean, is it really worth leaving the impression with the people I encounter online that I'm "difficult", trying to "one-up" everyone, and overall, just a big meanie because they are the ones who can't see that being an atheist blogger doesn't define me? Is it really worth the thousands of hours of blogging/discussing/debating, and yes, sometimes arguing, just to have most people write-off what I have to say with the wave of a hand, simply because they've been indoctrinated to do just that? Is it really worth putting aside the things in life that bring joy, as opposed to conflict and derision, just so someone can tell me with straight face that I'm "blinded by Satan"?......::sigh::
There's only one thing worse than having an invisible friend, and that's having an invisible enemy.
6 comments:
I know what you mean.
Someone at work, my daughter's friend, said yesterday,
"You're an Atheist, right?"
I told him I was a former Christian, and he asked me how that worked. Maybe someday we'll have a nice talk.
"I told him I was a former Christian, and he asked me how that worked."
Ah, so for you it's possibly even worse, because, while you might not have arrived at Atheism yet, and possibly never will, people are wrongfully jumping to that conclusion just because you are no longer a Christian. But of course, we both know that this is what the Christian mindset does..i.e..it assumes a false binary. That is, if you don't believe in the Christian god, then, oh, you don't believe in *any* god, because there is only one(even though the bible talks at length about others).
"Maybe someday we'll have a nice talk"
I think the chances of breaking through to a young person are greater than that of breaking through to a middle-aged or elderly person, provided of course that said young person puts their iPhone 7 down long enough to actually hear what you have to say. If not, you could just as well be telling them that drinking ram's blood from a skull is a favorite atheist pastime, and they'd be all like, "Yeah, Mm-hmm" :P
"Is it really worth the thousands of hours of blogging/discussing/debating, and yes, sometimes arguing"
It has always been important and yes it is particularly important that we consider and can make choices to change things or the world.
If no one would take the time/lead or protest than no one would reflect,thus there would be no changes of thinking.
We may as well become puppets.
K@B
"It has always been important and yes it is particularly important that we consider and can make choices to change things or the world."
It seems to me that by changing things little by little, that yes, we can eventually change the world and make it a better place. And to me, "better" means things like safer, which, by extension, means people exuding more kindness and compassion and less hate, racism, and bigotry. But attempting to change things, even on a small scale, comes with a price, especially if people's core beliefs, and sometimes even their occupations, are at stake. There's automatically more resistance.
There's also a chance that observers in the blogosphere cannot separate one's commitment to challenging demonstrably harmful beliefs/practices from the person themselves. For some reason beyond me, one's blogging character is assumed to be one and the same with one's real life character. It's weird, and it sort of sucks. If I play Mortal Kombat 3, no reasonable person is going to assume that in my spare time I must run around punching and kicking people. But then again, that doesn't mean that I'd never do it. If someone threatens me or my family or just generally disrespects personal boundaries, physical retaliation can't be ruled out. The same is true in the blogosphere. If boundaries cannot be respected, there can also be consequences and/or backlash. This is the real world.
I guess what I'm saying is that the above video game/real life dynamic can and does extend into the blogosphere, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. If, in my day-to-day affairs I'm seen being particularly "in your face" toward person X(get crazy and imagine for sake of discussion that this is actually warranted), but then 45 minutes later I'm seen holding the door open for person Y, does that mean that I'm feigning kindness????
People are written-off as meanies for mere fact that they might not back down at the first sign of conflict or that they might be harder on one guy than the next. I would rather my legacy(if I had one) be that I'm a great bass player, not that I'm an outspoken, meanie blogger. To think just the opposite could happen, and all because someone else can't separate how I discuss the issues, with who I am, is a bit unsettling. So, again, I'm just wondering if it's all worth it.
"One's blogging character is assumed to be one and the same with one's real life character" / "If I play Mortal Kombat 3, no reasonable person is going to assume that in my spare time I must run around punching and kicking people."
That's a very good comparison.
We all have good and bad sides in our character .
But people always judge us by what they read or see from us at that special moment.
Can I say that they are short-sighted, so they can not separate it, sadly.
K@B
"That's a very good comparison."
Analogies are never perfect, but yeah, I think it makes the point pretty well.
"We all have good and bad sides in our character."
Yes, of course. That, and then there's the fact that we're not all going to agree on what constitutes good character traits, and what makes for bad ones. Some people would no doubt say that avoiding conflict at all costs is a good characteristic. Perhaps the same people might even say that challenging people's most deeply-held beliefs is bad thing; that we should "live and let live", they'd likely add. Well, yeAH. But then again, that's the one thing that religion never seems to be able to do.
"But people always judge us by what they read or see from us at that special moment.
Can I say that they are short-sighted, so they can not separate it, sadly."
Yes, sad, but true. And worse, I think some people have been indoctrinated to believe that atheists/agnostics can't be good or happy, or anything remotely positive, for that matter. You have two strikes against you before you even begin to type or speak.
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