again, to larc:
Why did other groups not respond? Because there are very few of them here, that's why.
That's too bad. It does seem like those who are not atheists are feeling less and less welcome here.
You guessed that we are hyper-sensitive. You guessed wrong.
Do any atheists take that course to commit immoral acts. Yes, a small minority. Any Christians who put on that cloak to steal and cheat others? Happens all the time.
I see, so you think that MOST atheists are good people, and MOST Christians are creeps. And you say I think I'm coming from a position of moral superiority? I believe there are lots of good people who are atheists, and lots of good people who are Christians. I also believe there are lots of rotten creeps who are atheists, and lots of rotten creeps who are Christians. Hopefully, the majority on each side is made up of decent, sincere people.
You know some people who say they are atheists who are really are not. They are rejecting organized religion.
And you know some people who say they are Christians who are really not. They are "playing church".
Perhaps I hang out with a more sophisicated group of atheists than you do, people who have thought this through.
I think that's probably right on the mark. Especially the atheists who post on this board strike me as sincere individuals who have given a lot of thought to their positions. I honestly don't believe that the majority of those who say they are atheists in the world at large have thought things through to that extent, any more than I believe that the majority of those who say they are Christians are Bible scholars.
You say you don't judge. Funny how Mommie Dark talked about morality, and you accussed her of exercising "moral superiority" over you. Is this misreading on your part an example of projection?
I did not accuse her of exercising "moral superiority" over me. But when she contended that "I know very few atheists who are vile unprincipled creeps.
Most of us are highly ethical, honest, concerned citizens who realize that we have one shot at life, and we try our best to leave the planet a little better and saner than we found it," [emphasis mine] I replied that she "sound[ed] here a bit like the Witnesses touting their moral superiority to people of the world." My point was that I do not believe that one's religious affiliation, or lack thereof, makes one inherently morally superior to anyone else, but that it sounded to me like she thought that being an atheist made you, in and of itself, a better person. Much as the Society claims about its members.
Besides the fact that Mommie Dark misinterpreted my use of the 'baby/bath water' analogy, in her post she referred to Christians as arrogant, superstitious, as having a 'need for a Skydaddy savior,' "Christerbabblers," (whatever that is), hate-filled, and frightened. But I'm the one who is judging?
In fact, my original post did not refer specifically to atheists or agnostics at all, but to ex-JW's who "have rejected religion entirely". It is only the hyper-defensive reactions of the atheist contingent here that have made this thread into something I never expected it to be. As I've said, I was asking about what made people think the way they did after leaving the Borg. You atheists somehow perceived this as an attack on your position, and started shooting. Could this be why, as you say, "there are very few of them [other groups besides atheists] here"?
Tom
"The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
