Thanks to science blogger P.Z. Myers, I've read some advice for atheists from a Christian who wants unbelievers to be nicer and more reasonable.
Not surprisingly, the advice isn't reasonable. What a shock -- nonsense coming from someone religious.
I love Myers' feisty style. He makes me seem like a churchless wuss.
1. Stop being so smug.
Make me.
Look, you start an argument, you don't get to whine at your opponent to be humble about his ideas before you've even taken a stab at criticizing them. Show me a reason not to be smug about atheism, and reason, and science, and the superiority of our beliefs over that pile of superstitious dogma you call faith. Don't simply instruct me to stop regarding atheism as possibly not superior to your cultish apologetics.
In my experience, religious adherents -- particularly fundamentalist Christians -- are among the most arrogant beings on the face of the earth. It's hard to have cogent conversation with them because they want to set ALL the ground rules and then spend the vast majority of time breaking them.
Posted by: The Rambling Taoist | September 30, 2009 at 12:00 AM