Atheists are a small minority in the United States, where society tends to give religious irrationality a pass. That alone is enough to make a person critical, judgmental, and sarcastic. It’s not necessarily productive in changing society; it’s a way for atheists to feel like at least they’re not standing idly by.
Self-directed negativeness is not, in my experience, a trend among atheists. It may be a consequence of the atheists you know not having found their own coherent philosophies after rejecting religious ones, or maybe they haven’t realized there’s nothing wrong with having something to protect. The step from atheism to humanism (or rationality in general), from ceasing to believe in the afterlife to realizing just how valuable our lives really are, is a non-trivial one for most people.
Possibly true. I wouldn’t say that atheists are a “small minority” in my community. (I live in Canada.) This may change things. And many of the “atheists” I know certainly haven’t made that step from atheism to humanism.
I wouldn’t say that atheists are a “small minority” in my community. (I live in Canada.)
Ah, then I apologize. When I see the phrase “evangelical Christian community,” I immediately think of the U.S.
I think that seeing the hold religion has on much of the world, even if it’s outside one’s own country, could still engender the behavior I described in the first paragraph above. However, it probably is more related to my latter point.
Atheists are a small minority in the United States, where society tends to give religious irrationality a pass. That alone is enough to make a person critical, judgmental, and sarcastic. It’s not necessarily productive in changing society; it’s a way for atheists to feel like at least they’re not standing idly by.
Self-directed negativeness is not, in my experience, a trend among atheists. It may be a consequence of the atheists you know not having found their own coherent philosophies after rejecting religious ones, or maybe they haven’t realized there’s nothing wrong with having something to protect. The step from atheism to humanism (or rationality in general), from ceasing to believe in the afterlife to realizing just how valuable our lives really are, is a non-trivial one for most people.
Possibly true. I wouldn’t say that atheists are a “small minority” in my community. (I live in Canada.) This may change things. And many of the “atheists” I know certainly haven’t made that step from atheism to humanism.
Ah, then I apologize. When I see the phrase “evangelical Christian community,” I immediately think of the U.S.
I think that seeing the hold religion has on much of the world, even if it’s outside one’s own country, could still engender the behavior I described in the first paragraph above. However, it probably is more related to my latter point.