tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post7930260383781197601..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Atheism and proselytizationLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-88543664623870461082010-12-06T19:43:19.813-07:002010-12-06T19:43:19.813-07:00Nice post, Larry. It is a struggle to get even ot...Nice post, Larry. It is a struggle to get even other atheists to understand the point. Words like "proselytism" or "evangelism" (which I see as synonymous, but easier to spell) are so negatively charged that there is a strong resistance to doing anything that might be associated with what religious people do, even if the religious people actually do manage to get a few things right. Every minor bit of activism is viewed as being too in-your-face or aggressive. At times they even see atheists as not having the "right" to be active in promoting atheism (though that point is usually made by also confusing legal rights with ethical rights). Much work remains to be done, as always.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />BrianBrian63noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-74290459735618562672010-12-06T15:40:38.532-07:002010-12-06T15:40:38.532-07:00Well, she says at the end (if my skimming is corre...Well, she says at the end (if my skimming is correct) that she's a believer. I imagine she's of the 'liberal believer' type, too.<br /><br />In my experience (in part from being one at one time), liberal believers don't want anyone to proselytize. And I think the main reason for this is that they know their beliefs are indefensible (against atheist arguments <i>and</i> fundamentalist arguments). If you'd asked me back in the day, I'd have told you that there's no reason to believe any of the religious stuff I believed, but everyone did it anyway.<br /><br />If that's the kind of approach you take, you don't want to hear any arguments from anyone. I don't want to hear people yell at one another about their indefensible beliefs, and I don't want to hear someone yell at me about how their indefensible beliefs are better than mine. I just want everyone to shut up, and get along. And everyone gets to be right, because everyone has their own personal metanarrative, or whatever the postmodernists would say.<br /><br />Of course, I grew out of that. Many people don't, I guess.Dannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-57582872468659891622010-12-06T10:04:29.294-07:002010-12-06T10:04:29.294-07:00Doh! Fixed. Thanks.Doh! Fixed. Thanks.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-17624404313345389872010-12-06T08:10:27.414-07:002010-12-06T08:10:27.414-07:00One detail: it's Coren, not Cohen.One detail: it's Coren, not Cohen.Scottish Philnoreply@blogger.com