But I also know that, for instance, here at work it's the Christians who are dismissively laughed at, not the atheists.
I think where you live has a large impact on it too. Societal norms and all that. One can see
here that as a trend, it gets more irreligious the further north you go.
It's my understanding that it's that way in Europe as well. You're criticized
for being religious, because it's pretty rare over there evidently.
But then, I'm in a highly technical arena, which maybe has a higher share of non-believers? I don't know
Vet med is pretty technical in its own right, yet there seem to be quite a few religious veterinarians. I'm not sure the two go hand in hand.
Yah I love the 'you support gay rights? Guess you're gay!" false dichotomy. Granted, I'm not gay, but I'm not black or female either and still feel they should have rights. I think it's just another way for people to dismiss other people they don't like: the civil rights issue of our time.
That article is interesting but I constantly wonder why people have to "go public" with their views.
Because it's just assumed that people are religious in some form in the USA. It's important that others realize that there are non-religious people out there who are good people. I've had a couple of people who seemed truly shocked when I told them I was an atheist. "
You're an atheist?!" followed by a look of disbelief, as if I'd just told them I was a mammoth or sabre-toothed tiger (unfortunately I cannot make either of those claims). There's a lot of indoctrination that atheists are bad people that needs to be overcome.
I struggled with this myself a lot when I was in the process of renouncing religion. I'd always been taught and had it reinforced through church, media, and society that atheists are bad people as a whole, so I certainly wasn't entirely sure I wanted to be one. I got over it though.
😎
I repeat - there are tons of transitional forms.
Technically every form is a transitional form. When people ask for transitional forms, I think it's a bit of a red flag that they don't truly understand evolution. I think they expect to see the (in)famous example of a duck with a crocodile's body. That's just not how it works.
I try to keep the bayonet sheathed here.
That sounds dirty.
😛
what ever that means without a code of behavior issued from a higher power. If you believe that, you have been living a very sheltered life. What determines right and wrong? These are moral discriminators and require some sort of guidance to back them up. What is the source of this guidance?
Why does morality
have to come from a higher power? My wager is that it's a bunch of laws that society agreed on as a whole that's been refined through the ages (much like religion). See the Code of Hammurabi, for instance.
Sure religion helps keep some order through the threat of eternal damnation (which you can evidently get out of by saying a few words) but so do police officers. I'm an atheist and don't go running around killing people. One can argue that it's because I was raised religious but that's a poor argument because there's people out there just as unlikely to slaughter as I am who've been raised atheist.
.
