The thing with atheism, or a naturalistic outlook generally, is not what it does for individuals but what it does for society generally to have more “out” atheists/naturalists. Maybe individually-speaking it’d make some peoples’ lives harder but the more openly atheistic individuals we have the better off we all are. I think that’s a good reason to both encourage others to become openly atheistic and to become openly atheistic oneself despite negative consequences.
Funny thing: before deconversion, I read Dispatches From the Culture Wars and occasionally Pharyngula, and generally perceived them as being the good guys and many of my own coreligionists as the bad guys.
Of course, this state of cognitive dissonance only lasted a few months, but still.
It’s not at all uncommon to side with the perspective character, so to speak, when you read about someone—even someone who disagrees with you. Additionally, siding with certain sorts of atheist bloggers and against the theists they oppose could signify a desire for tolerance more than a belief in the metaphysical propositions at hand.
The thing with atheism, or a naturalistic outlook generally, is not what it does for individuals but what it does for society generally to have more “out” atheists/naturalists. Maybe individually-speaking it’d make some peoples’ lives harder but the more openly atheistic individuals we have the better off we all are. I think that’s a good reason to both encourage others to become openly atheistic and to become openly atheistic oneself despite negative consequences.
It’s unlikely that Wednesday would—without deconversion—think that having more open atheists wandering around would be a good thing in and of itself.
Funny thing: before deconversion, I read Dispatches From the Culture Wars and occasionally Pharyngula, and generally perceived them as being the good guys and many of my own coreligionists as the bad guys.
Of course, this state of cognitive dissonance only lasted a few months, but still.
It’s not at all uncommon to side with the perspective character, so to speak, when you read about someone—even someone who disagrees with you. Additionally, siding with certain sorts of atheist bloggers and against the theists they oppose could signify a desire for tolerance more than a belief in the metaphysical propositions at hand.