Bringing sanity to Religious Discussions... [View All]

I figure I could enter into the morass that is the recent religious threads on DU. I figure I am wasting my time, but I would think that maybe an actual INSIGHTFUL discussion could result from this and not a damn flame-fest. I think a slight misunderstanding takes place due to the wrong choice of words that many Atheists and Christians on this board seem to banter about. Considering that I am neither, I figure I could form a somewhat objective perspective to this.

I'll give an example of an obvious misunderstanding: When an Atheist says, "God does not exist, or is a fantasy/delusion etc." many Christians on this board take offense to this, why? I mean all the Atheist is doing is stating their non-belief in a affirmative fashion. Is it any different from Muslims saying to Christians that Jesus was only a prophet and not an incarnation of God, that he was not divine but simply mortal? I can understand offense being taken if personal attacks or unfair group attacks are taken from either side. "Christians are Assholes!", "All Atheists are Amoral/Anti-Religion!", etc. etc.

One thing to keep in mind is that not all people who believe are cut from the same cloth and the same for those who don't believe. The Religious Right are not representative of all or even most Christians. Neither are they the "Leaders" of most Christians of this country. They are simply the loudest and most annoying of certain sects of Christianity in this country. I find them offensive and deplorable in the extreme, and ALL of us should criticize them at every opportunity, as well as oppose them politically.

Part of the reason for the hostility to Christianity in this country is the defensiveness that non-Christians feel from a REAL threat that Religious Right represent. Part of that is from the deplorable political actions of the RR and another part is that many non-Christians of this country WERE Christians at one time or another. This can leave painful scars that manifest themselves in hostility to those who are Christian. Another part of that is what I would call "Closet Syndrome", I think Homosexuals will know what I am talking about here. Trying to hide a vital aspect of yourself from friends and family can be psychologically draining and can leave people bitter from that experience. Hell, Wiccans (Like me) have a term for it, the "Broom Closet".

Another thing to bring up that also makes the problem worse, proselytizing. This is not symptomatic of Most Christians, only a few, and of certain sects and organizations. Believe me it does not make a good impression about a religion in general when the resident "Campus Crusader for Christ" decides to try to convert the "Resident Pagan" on college campus by following me around from class to class and shouting Bible verses at me about "Going to Hell". Can anyone blame me for yelling at him to leave me alone? I won't say that this type of harassment is exclusive to Christians, I had an Army recruiter do the same thing while I was in college. Believe me, I had few kind words for him as well. :evilgrin:

There is a difference in tone that makes the difference between being offensive and having a reasonable discussion. Personally I am anti-ORGANIZED religion not anti-religion. Its one thing to criticize the leadership, or proclaimed leadership, of a religion than painting all the believers of said religion with a broad brush. Being a non-Christian is not the same as being anti-Christian and generalizations to that effect are wrong, as they are wrong for non-Christians saying the same of Christians. Many on this board have been genuinely traumatized by some followers of Christianity, that is something to keep in mind, for BOTH sides of the debate.