DMB

In <a href="http://iidb.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=58&t=001305&p=2" target="_blank">this thread,</a> the following exchange took place:
Now I don't think that our motivation is provable, as GeoTheo demands, but we can make positive statements about why we come here and what we find.

I will therefore start this thread off by trying to explain where I am. I am an atheist and humanist of very long standing. Since the age of 17, I have never believed in any religion nor felt the slightest desire to do so. I am, however, interested in the great puzzle of why anyone does believe in the dogma of the various religions, contradictory as they are.

My own country and continent seem to be becoming less and less religious, and that is what I would expect in societies where human welfare and average education have reached an all-time high level. I am therefore intrigued by the continued religiosity of America, even though there us some evidence that it is beginning to decline.

I happen to think that religion is on balance a malign force within human society. I don't mean by this that without it humans would be uniformly well-behaved and loving, but that it acts as an excuse for a great deal of very undesirable behaviour and for a huge waste of resources. This is particularly clear in America, where many atheists find themselves marginalised or even persecuted for their lack of belief, despite the great wisdom of the Founding Fathers in trying to establish church-state separation, and where trillions of dollars and masses of people's efforts and energies go into building and maintaining churches and parasitical priests and pastors.

So I come here as an interested observer, and also in fellowship for fellow atheists. It's good to be able to discuss issues without having first to scrape away the mud of religious illusions. I am impressed at how much I can learn from some of the very intelligent members, such as the scientists in Evolution/Creation. I don't need reassurance or reinforcement of my non-belief. I managed perfectly well before I found this site about 18 months ago.

General Zod

Nope. It's all about the Babylon 5 reviews .

Jamie_L

Do people who join book clubs do so in order to reassure themselves that reading books is a good idea?

Or is it that they just enjoy the fellowship of hanging out with other people who read.

Do people participate in NAACP gatherings to reassure themselves it's OK to be black?

Or do they band together for support and activism in a society they feel is sometimes hostile to them?

I don't even think most theists go to church for reassurance that God is real. Other than obligation, they go for support, fellowship, and sense of community.

Jamie

Aquila ka Hecate

What Jamie said.

Also to add:

I was a borderline theist/pagan when I got here last year.
After reading and thouroughly enjoying the logic, wit and general good senseof the majority of posts, I crossed the line into atheism.

Beleive me,I'm a much happier camper now.

So,no-I don't think it's for reassurance.
However, the potential 'wake up' value of these fora is outstanding.

Santa IS real

I think what GeoTheo misses most is that after I stopped believing in Santa (dispite my name ,) no one bombarded me with insanities about why Santa really DOES exist.

No one brought out the book of Santa and said "See, here. It says Santa is real, so he is."

This is a friendly port in a storm of incredibly annoying drival coming from all sides. This is a place to come where others understand what it's like to put up with people like GeoTheo...

Pete

Wyz_sub10

Exactly. They may meet to discuss ideas and share opinions, but generally speaking that's what people do.

You first.

Perchance

If by "reassurance," whoever's asking the question means, "Would I be afraid for my life if I didn't know there were any non-theists?", then no. Though I live in a largely religious area, I don't fear for my life. I have and have had theist friends, some of whom I've even told about my non-theism, and I don't think any of them would hurt me.

I enjoy the community here. It's certainly a change from a lot of Internet boards I've lurked on, where the people seem to:

a) snipe at each other constantly.
b) write posts that are sometimes incomprehensible.
c) don't, in general, have a lot of varied things to say.

This community has a large portion of intelligent, supportive, grammatically correct ( ) and "diverse" (to use a buzzword) posters. I get a lot of enjoyment out of being here, and for the first time in my life I feel as though I am part of a community without being pressured to be involved more than I feel comfortable with. I'm not generally comfortable with large gatherings of people, since "socialization" is not something I enjoy for its own sake. Here, I can talk with people who have similar interests, or jump in on an interesting conversation, or ask for help, and if someone starts asking questions I feel uncomfortable with or starts pressuring me, I can retreat from the conversation in a way that I can't in an offline social setting.

I've already noticed a change in myself. I've been a lot happier lately, and since I got back to school I've been offering help to people right and left, without feeling that it takes up my time, and listening to people with a lot more attention, because I never know when they might say something interesting.

Besides, if Internet communities were only for "reassurance," what are all the Christian bulletin boards for? Do they feel under siege by the world, or something similar?

-Perchance.

[ August 29, 2002: Message edited by: Perchance ]</p>

cloudyphiz

GeoTheo

if you'd been brainwashed for 20 years, subjected to incessant conditioning that told that if you didn't believe in santa you would suffer an eternity unimagineable and unspeakable torture, then your argument might make sense.

as it stands, it's not worth a shit.

-gary

HelenM

This makes me wonder if GeoTheo thinks Christians go to church for reassurance, and/or for other reasons.

If reassurance is not the only reason, then perhaps some of the other reasons why Christians go to church (and participate on Christian discussion boards, etc) are similar to why nonbelievers come here.

love
Helen

Ab_Normal

I'm not sure... is it "reassuring" that I can speak here with my "don't offend the theists" filter turned off? "Liberating" is the word I use.