Christians are people, too

[Tim the Skeptic]

I believe that the vast majority of Christians believe in "whatever gets them through the night." They don't want to think too hard about their faith because it's too scary. It's comforting to them to believe in heaven and an afterlife. Most try not to think about hell and don't really want any nice people to go there. Church is mostly a social thing. It's a religion about an inch deep and a mile wide. And they would just as soon not talk about it.

I can think of one occasion in particular when I have hurt someone with an atheist remark. Remember that Moses cartoon a few years back? My son saw it with some friends and was upset by it, which upset me. A woman at work asked me if he had seen it and I blurted out, "Yes, he didn't like it. He scared him that God turns out to be a baby-killer." She just said "Oh." and wondered off. This woman's son had committed suicide. She looks forward to seeing him again in the afterlife. She believes in a God of Love who will do that for her. It was not a proud moment for me.

Has anybody else had a similar experience? How did you feel about it?

Thanks for any thoughts.

[McCulloch]

Tim,
You have hit on one of the reasons why I am here. For the most part, it is socially unacceptable to argue religion. Even when you are doing it civilly and rationally, people tend to label you as a sh:t disturber. One reason is that you really never know what someone's religious faith may mean to them.

So those who really want to discuss these issues have few choices: be antisocial (even in churches asking difficult questions is frowned upon); wait for missionaries to come to the door (they are asking for it); participate in forums such as this one.

I had a close friend who lost a daughter tragically. He is counting on seeing her in the afterlife. His strong need for a belief in his religion has driven away many of his less religious friends. So he is now experiencing a double loss. The original loss of his daughter and the subsequent self-inflicted loss of friends. Yet, I could not bring myself to debate his religious views with him. And if I did, my wife would not forgive me!

So, I come here. All of the people here are here because they are willing to debate and discuss these issues. We have given ourselves permission to break the social taboo against discussing religion. My wife is happy that I can "get it out of my system" without embarasing her in public.

[Chad]

I don’t think that I've ever actually offended anyone in real life with an Atheistic comment. I try to steer clear of the religion topic when I'm around my friends and family. I would love to talk to my friends about it, but haven't. All of my friends are Christians actually, while one believes in some kind of God and reincarnation.

I do wear my Atheist t-shirt every once and a while though (Just a simple white shirt that says Atheist on the front). It's funny at the responses I get from some people. Sometimes I will get people that actually look at the shirt, smile and be quite friendly, while others will get real short with me.

It would be nice if religion was a more accepted discussion topic. Like any idea, religion should be open to a critical analysis…though I guess many people think otherwise