Situation where I should withhold my statements about atheism.
Offline I've been talking to my aunt recently and she is a retired nun, (if that is even possible) and she has made it a point to convince me of the truth about jesus yad yadda the usual. The point is I keep telling her I don't mind hearing about religion from scientific perspective, that is to say I find it interesting. I find belief and and religious practices interesting, particularly the experience that religious people have during intense prayer. I figure it's something like tripping on lsd or deep zen meditation. But I mentioned these things to her and she basically said I was insane and I should stop doing drugs. The point is I don't think there is any convincing this lady that religion is bullshit even after the church she was living in said she had to give them all her money from her humanitarian work in the US or she would have to leave. She decided to leave and spend time with my grand mother who is getting pretty old. I think about people like Dan Barker and how he was able to turn around and live out the rest of his life to the fullest. I feel like I should help my aunt live out what remains of her life and enjoy it rather than pray all day and miss out on everything. Everyone I know says I should just give up because If i destroyed her world view she may feel like she wasted her life. But I figure a little bit of happiness is better than none at all right? Not sure if I should just keep my mouth shut to preserve the family relationship or talk to her like a concerned human being and try to free her from the shackles of religion.
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Most of us here have very religious family members. We'd all love to help them.But you have to accept that there's very little chance they will become an atheist,especially after decades of belief.And if that person was a nun..
I think don't be quiet about your atheism,that is,since your family seems to know about it don't keep your mouth closed.If you have an oppurtunity to try spread some reason do it.I don't think there's any point in actively seeking arguments though.More than likely you're flogging a dead horse and it'll just lead to division.
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.
I have learned that trying to get a single person to deconvert is usually pointless. I don't actually talk much about atheism outside of RRS, but that's because I don't usually need to. I don't withhold comments to spare other people's feelings or sensitive world views, but I don't go out of my way to try to convince them I'm right.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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Books about atheism
Life is funny sometimes, shortly after I wrote this I got a call from my other aunt telling me that I was crazy. She asked "where are you getting all this ridiculous ideas from." I asked her what "ridiculous ideas," turns out she was referring to the big bang and quantum mechanics I mentioned in one of the emails I wrote. Apparently unified field theory, wormholes, and the big bang are ridiculous but man being made from dirt is not. I guess I'll keep my trap shut, it was stupid of me to think someone could change there mind after 40 years in a convent. Should have been common sense also considering the other religious nuts in my family. One of you referred to it as "flogging a dead horse," sounds about accurate.
Yea it looks strange for me, that believers are sceptic about big bang theory, but has no doubts in god.
You can pick your nose, but you cant pick your family. Unfortunately for me it has cost me my relationship with my older brother. Not because I wanted it, but because of his smothering negativity about how I am going to burn in hell for not believing. Every time I was with him preaching crept in and he was extremely intolerant of debate.
However, my adoptive mom, who was raised Catholic, is more than willing to listen to both sides of the issue, even though she remains a believer. We really cannot tell you what is good for you, you know your family better than we do. I wouldn't cut off any relationship just because of this type of disagreement. I would see it as understandable if such was one sided where you feel the life getting sucked out of you.
Both you and your family member have the right to be autonomous and neither has the right to expect the other to be passive. It may be that simply you need to avoid the subject, or you need to set some mutual understanding if one is to discuss the issue.
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My situation's kinda screwy here. I'm from a long line of Baptist and Wesleyan southerners, but for some reason, my folks never swallowed the hook in any strong way. My dad's an atheist now and my mom just doesn't give a shit (in a good way). So I can talk shit about religion all I want at home.
However at work, when I pull on the gloves, roll up the biosafety cabinet and get down to playing with dangerous microorganisms, I have to keep it fairly quiet. Everybody's either an observer of times or a full-fledged church attender. In a microbiology lab. Admittedly it's one in Georgia.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
Why? What could your co-workers do to you?
P.S. Cool you are working in a microbiology lab.
Very little on a physical level. I'm larger than all of them. But my boss is religious, too. They could complain to him, I suppose. I could get a lecture on good citizenship in the lab. We're all very sensitive around here. My point was simply that I'm in a largely irreligious profession (the last poll of National Academy of Science members reported 93% atheist or agnostic) but by some strange accident, in my lab of 7 people, I'm the only atheist represented. Once again, Georgia. I shouldn't misrepresent the situation--there are no fundamentalists here, so it's hardly like I'm under attack, and everybody accepts the theory of evolution by natural selection, but ultimately, they're theistic evolutionists, which just bothers me.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
honestly... who the hell is stupid enough to mess with some one in a MICROBIOLOGY lab...
>.>
<.<
This is the part where you get a sinister idea -_-
What Would Kharn Do?
Well if your boss fires you over your beliefs (non-belief) then you just sue him and win a huge pile of money. After all isn't that what American dream is all about.
I'd honestly rather have the doctorate than the money. They're good people in general and like I said, I don't deal with any real stupidity, just half-assed apologetics. So I keep schtum and everything's fine. I'd prefer (and statistically would expect) to have a like-minded compatriate, given the demographics of my chosen field, but it's really more of an odd situation than a bad one.
And in response to Doomed Soul, absolutely yes. People should not fuck with microbiologists. Aside from the dangerous bugs, we're all of us frustrated from years of irrelevant lectures and failed experiments. By and large, a bunch of Travis Bickles waiting to happen.
"The whole conception of God is a conception derived from ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men."
--Bertrand Russell
you will not free her from the shackles of religion as you put it. It would take god himself descending from the clouds larger than life ripping my house off the foundation around me to convince me that I am wrong about my beliefs. her beliefs are even stronger, because religious people are not objective and open minded or rational. fence-straddlers are the only people you are going to release.