Recently, I was watching a YouTube live stream where I heard someone say something along the lines of, “Don’t talk to me if you’re just going to present some idiotic bullshit.” While I understand what this person meant, it hurt the live stream’s viewership. This comment got me thinking…as atheists, we need to be more civil.
If we start out by shutting people down and excluding those we disagree with, we are cutting ourselves off from learning.
In psychology, there is a concept known as the “echochamber effect.” When we surround ourselves with only the things we agree with and refuse to listen to opposing viewpoints, we become close-minded, which is often the very opposite of what many atheists want to see from others.
There is a lot of hostility from both sides of the god debate. People telling other people they deserve eternal torture for not thinking exactly like they do. People calling other people names and refusing to listen to the other side because of how they were raised. And while the religious side has a lot of hostility to own up to (killing people who don’t believe, etc), many atheists are guilty of dividing us further.
There are always going to be extremists, and we should do our part in standing up for what is right.
But that does not mean that it is okay to treat moderately religious people the same way we would treat those extremists.
My family is religious. My best friend plays in a worship band on campus. My sister works as a worship leader at her church. I’m lucky that my family and friends (mostly) accept me for who I am, but there are times when we don’t agree on things.
When I talk to theists, I imagine how I would go about the conversation if I were talking to someone in my family or my best friend, and that usually helps me to say things in a kind way.
Religion has hurt a lot of people in a variety of different ways; however, if we are going to get anywhere with theists, we need to stop shutting them down too quickly.
Meaningful, civil conversation is something I really enjoy when conversing with anyone.
If theists are going to be rude to us in everyday conversations, so be it, but as people who already have a bad rap, it makes us look worse when we are rude in return.
Too many people see atheists as close-minded, rude, or argumentative, but I know that perception is off. We should be doing all we can to change the public perception of us.
Let’s be known for the open-mindedness, civilized, rational people that we are.
Let’s change the world.
Good After God 