A place for all the Atheist bloggers out there.
What AM I doing? (aka, 'Boring rambles')
http://singaporeanatheists.blogspot.com/2008/07/failure-of-atheism.... is so true here that it’s scary.
What am I doing? I’ve been atheist all my life, and anti-religion/ strongly atheist for almost a year now. I’ve joined forums and networking sites to find new friends due to the lack of atheists in Singapore (notably, RDF, in August) and they were my refuges after I realised (thank you, philosophy/ origins of morality class) that religion isn’t just some people’s private santa claus club, it’s screwing up the world. I started reading Dawkins, I read the bible (partly; it was too boring to get through), I read up on the arguments for and against god(s). I swore I’d stay off facebook, but I joined it to know more atheists and I haven’t regretted it, though it sucks so much time.
A year of finding more about and debating about religion has done wonders for my soul-searching. (I’m still prone to wanting to believe that ‘Someone’ will help me in my darkest hours, and twice I’ve actually indulged myself, but knowing fully that I was lying; sometimes it’s alright, as long as it gets you back up again.) But is it time to move on to concrete action? Is there something to move on to?
I’m 1) stuck in a country that prides itself on having a secular government but in reality tightly controls anything that could disrupt peace, strong atheist sentiments included;
2) stuck in a country where it is difficult to break convention and traditions, especially things as deep-rooted as religion;
3) surrounded by friends who are theists;
4) really sick of religion;
5) unwilling to sacrifice friendship to religion;
6) really sick of seeing people I care about throw their rationality away to be comforted by lies;
7) in a place where there aren’t atheist organisations or organisations for rational thought, and no “atheist clubs” or “christian clubs” in school (but there are informal christian gatherings);
8) concerned about the rising religiosity here
From experience, debating theists doesn’t work; they go into it close-minded and come out even more close-minded than before. Often they don’t know their own faith so there’s not much point in discussing details, especially when you try to be nice and hold off on the strong remarks. Every challenge is a “test of faith” and every convert is them doing well at “god’s work” - you can’t change a mind that’s decided to fool itself.
It’s true that religion isn’t making so many waves here - the religious aren’t influencing government decisions, fighting for intelligent design to be taught in schools or lobbying against scientific research… yet. I expect that to come after this nation matures - youths are being taught the theory of evolution, yet many Christians deny it and take creationism to be true. What’s a relatively powerless schoolgirl to do to change one small part of the world, without losing close friends who think religion is the best thing that’s ever happened to them? I wish something, anything would start the change here, like a camp where I could volunteer at (those bus ads would probably be too strong for now, though they would be a hell lot more enjoyable) or CoR-style campaigns to encourage more atheists to make themselves known.
What am I doing? I’ve been atheist all my life, and anti-religion/ strongly atheist for almost a year now. I’ve joined forums and networking sites to find new friends due to the lack of atheists in Singapore (notably, RDF, in August) and they were my refuges after I realised (thank you, philosophy/ origins of morality class) that religion isn’t just some people’s private santa claus club, it’s screwing up the world. I started reading Dawkins, I read the bible (partly; it was too boring to get through), I read up on the arguments for and against god(s). I swore I’d stay off facebook, but I joined it to know more atheists and I haven’t regretted it, though it sucks so much time.
A year of finding more about and debating about religion has done wonders for my soul-searching. (I’m still prone to wanting to believe that ‘Someone’ will help me in my darkest hours, and twice I’ve actually indulged myself, but knowing fully that I was lying; sometimes it’s alright, as long as it gets you back up again.) But is it time to move on to concrete action? Is there something to move on to?
I’m 1) stuck in a country that prides itself on having a secular government but in reality tightly controls anything that could disrupt peace, strong atheist sentiments included;
2) stuck in a country where it is difficult to break convention and traditions, especially things as deep-rooted as religion;
3) surrounded by friends who are theists;
4) really sick of religion;
5) unwilling to sacrifice friendship to religion;
6) really sick of seeing people I care about throw their rationality away to be comforted by lies;
7) in a place where there aren’t atheist organisations or organisations for rational thought, and no “atheist clubs” or “christian clubs” in school (but there are informal christian gatherings);
8) concerned about the rising religiosity here
From experience, debating theists doesn’t work; they go into it close-minded and come out even more close-minded than before. Often they don’t know their own faith so there’s not much point in discussing details, especially when you try to be nice and hold off on the strong remarks. Every challenge is a “test of faith” and every convert is them doing well at “god’s work” - you can’t change a mind that’s decided to fool itself.
It’s true that religion isn’t making so many waves here - the religious aren’t influencing government decisions, fighting for intelligent design to be taught in schools or lobbying against scientific research… yet. I expect that to come after this nation matures - youths are being taught the theory of evolution, yet many Christians deny it and take creationism to be true. What’s a relatively powerless schoolgirl to do to change one small part of the world, without losing close friends who think religion is the best thing that’s ever happened to them? I wish something, anything would start the change here, like a camp where I could volunteer at (those bus ads would probably be too strong for now, though they would be a hell lot more enjoyable) or CoR-style campaigns to encourage more atheists to make themselves known.
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