Misseen

I have been up all night and will likely act like a complete jerkface here. Blame insomnia. Or just blame me being an asshole. This one will probably be a bit short because I'm feeling punchy. I'm brewing up a longer one that is a return to politics of a sort that will come later.
Atheists of the world, this one is for you. Are you paying attention?

STOP ACTING LIKE ASSHOLES.

Honestly. I know it's not the majority of us. It's those vocal ones who are adamantly anti-religious but come on. They're giving atheism as a whole a really really bad rap. Look, lemme lay out some hastily researched numbers here for you. Around 86% of the population of earth is religious. The total population of the world is just over 6.84 billion people. The math says that means 5.88 billion people have some religious bent. That means there are roughly 1 billion that are non- (or anti-) religious. Boiled down, we're outnumbered.

Further, every time atheists wind up cropping in the news, we're bitching. Seriously, research just the word 'atheists' on Google or what-have-you. Negative, negative, negative. We whine about crosses. We bitch about 'Merry Christmas'. We're gnashing our teeth over others' displays of faith. A nativity scene very nearly causes a mass slashing of wrists. Honestly, what is the big deal?

Certain monotheists (I won't name names, you know who you are) constantly claim that we have no moral fiber. We have no respect for other human beings. Also, we might kick puppies in our spare time. So what do atheists do? We tell them to shut the fuck up. We ridicule them at every turn. We rub their faces in the fact that we know what is right and wrong. We clearly have all the facts.

We don't.

Sure, we can rip apart religious texts with fervor. We can point out inconsistencies between tenants and actions. We have logic and reason on our side, so why is it we can't seem to let logic and reason rule our interactions with others? We demand tolerance for atheism, while screaming at the tops of our lungs.

I have to wonder, have you ever had a slowly escalating argument with someone? Given that you're on the internet I'll assume the answer is 'yes'. In that argument there came a tipping point, when it changed from a battle of ideology over to calling each other a dumb fuck. Or one side (either one of you might have done it) simply refused to listen to the other on any sort of grounds. What got accomplished in the argument? Was it a fat load of jack shit? I'm willing to bet so.

Okay, there's a lot of supposition there and if I'm off the mark, feel free to wander off. But honestly, when we stop debating and start arguing, we shut off our rational minds. The same things happen in crowds. We stop thinking rationally.

I will point this out for the slower readers. Yes, I am an atheist. I much prefer philosophy. People don't fight and die for philosophy. Wars did not break out between Plato and Aristotle. David Hume did not march on Italy. The legions of Jung did not torture, maim and kill in the name of Carl. Philosophy allows for and even invites challenges to the observations. By proving a former positive false, we can narrow the scope and refine a better theory. By proving a religious positive false, you wind up imprisoned, stoned, excommunicated, or maybe just ignored entirely.

Why do we go out of our way to try and force people to see things our way? It can't be done. I am not sure how to make it any simpler than that. To further the point, it is the height of arrogance to think that we know how someone should view life better than they. Look at the sheer numbers of philosophers in the world. Look at the variances in their individual philosophies. All of this says one, very simple thing.

No one has the answer.

No, not even 42 (Sorry Doug, you still rock though).

So we're arguing the improbable by providing as evidence the unknowable. You can't win that. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try, as long as you stick to debate and not sway into argument (Yes, the two are different). And who knows, maybe if you strike up a conversation with one of those 'religious nutbags' you might actually make a friend. I know, I know. It's hard and may seem weird but it's none the less true. You can win more people over by being open, acknowledging the differences in views, not acting arrogant, superior, or generally like a dick. Who knows, eventually you may win them over. Or they may be comfortable with the view they have. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the conversations and the company.

As Thomas Jefferson once said: "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

Might let you make a new one even.