Good Atheists
13 December 2004
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I was just at my company Holiday party, and a co-worker started prodding me a little bit about my Atheism (she's a died-in-the-wool liberal who knows that I'm a Republican). All of my liberal friends do this; I guess it's just irrestable to them because they think I'm freaky for being atheist and Republican. So, she starts out with something like, "What do you do when people stand and pray? Just sit down?" I thought this was a curious question because someone had just given a prayer for the whole mass of us, and she was standing right next to me (I was standing). So I thought for a second and said, "Well, it depends on the situation. When you're at a funeral, or a wedding, or a church service, I just sit or stand like everyone else does. When they pray, I might bow my head a little, but I keep my eyes open." I do this because I have no agenda, I'm not pissed off, and those aren't the kind of situations in which I want to offend people who are taking spiritual meaning from them. I keep my eyes open because I don't want to mock the people that are actually praying. I'm not praying; although I usually like the prayers, I know I'm not talking to God.
So I started trying to tell her the difference between good atheists and bad atheists. A good atheist has his or her own convictions (in this case, not believing in God), but isn't interested in making a public statement about it at an inapproriate venue. As a matter of fact, good atheists aren't interested in converting religious people away from their beliefs (contrasting some religious people who very often try to convert me to their beliefs). The good atheists understand that they are a minority, and are happy for the rest of the people that have faith-based belief systems. Honestly, it is something that I envy. Then you've got bad atheists. They look down on the rest of the world and think they are brain-washed into believing whatever it is that they believe. These are the people that don't want the word "God" in anything. They're assholes.
She asked me if I wanted my daughter reciting the pledge because it has "God" in it. I said, "Heck yeah!" I have reverence for those old documents and the old American traditions, and I also understand that this nation was grounded and created by good christians. I also know that those same people gave us the freedom to worship (or not) however we want. I am in the debt of christians to have the right to not be one!
Bad atheists give the rest of us a bad name. Sort of like how Jerry Falwell can sometimes make christians look bad. Bad atheists have an agenda, which is usually to get their 15-minutes. They fail to recognize that our country is a vastly God-fearing one. They take the (good) part of the Constitution that prescribes separation of church and state, and they go too far with it. We good atheists really wish they would just shut up.
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I was just at my company Holiday party, and a co-worker started prodding me a little bit about my Atheism (she's a died-in-the-wool liberal who knows that I'm a Republican). All of my liberal friends do this; I guess it's just irrestable to them because they think I'm freaky for being atheist and Republican. So, she starts out with something like, "What do you do when people stand and pray? Just sit down?" I thought this was a curious question because someone had just given a prayer for the whole mass of us, and she was standing right next to me (I was standing). So I thought for a second and said, "Well, it depends on the situation. When you're at a funeral, or a wedding, or a church service, I just sit or stand like everyone else does. When they pray, I might bow my head a little, but I keep my eyes open." I do this because I have no agenda, I'm not pissed off, and those aren't the kind of situations in which I want to offend people who are taking spiritual meaning from them. I keep my eyes open because I don't want to mock the people that are actually praying. I'm not praying; although I usually like the prayers, I know I'm not talking to God.
So I started trying to tell her the difference between good atheists and bad atheists. A good atheist has his or her own convictions (in this case, not believing in God), but isn't interested in making a public statement about it at an inapproriate venue. As a matter of fact, good atheists aren't interested in converting religious people away from their beliefs (contrasting some religious people who very often try to convert me to their beliefs). The good atheists understand that they are a minority, and are happy for the rest of the people that have faith-based belief systems. Honestly, it is something that I envy. Then you've got bad atheists. They look down on the rest of the world and think they are brain-washed into believing whatever it is that they believe. These are the people that don't want the word "God" in anything. They're assholes.
She asked me if I wanted my daughter reciting the pledge because it has "God" in it. I said, "Heck yeah!" I have reverence for those old documents and the old American traditions, and I also understand that this nation was grounded and created by good christians. I also know that those same people gave us the freedom to worship (or not) however we want. I am in the debt of christians to have the right to not be one!
Bad atheists give the rest of us a bad name. Sort of like how Jerry Falwell can sometimes make christians look bad. Bad atheists have an agenda, which is usually to get their 15-minutes. They fail to recognize that our country is a vastly God-fearing one. They take the (good) part of the Constitution that prescribes separation of church and state, and they go too far with it. We good atheists really wish they would just shut up.
posted by PolishKitty at 11/14/2004 11:00:00 AM
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