Have you ever retrospectively realized that someone's misplaced distrust in you was because you were an atheist?
I've been asked by a few people where I get my morals from if I don't believe in a god. In at least one of those cases, the person exhibited irrational distrust of me later on. Looking back, I suspect it was because they had some preconceived bias against atheists. How would you preemptively handle this?
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GarytheGondolier
Level 6
May 13, 2018
0
The prisons are full of "people of faith." Morals come from a sense of empathy, not from a belief in a creator god.
GarytheGondolier
Level 6
May 13, 2018
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I wouldn't bother myself giving it a thought, people do what they have to do, and think what they have to think - As long as I am OK with myself and what I am doing and how i am being thats all I have to worry about. If someone can effectively tag me outright to explain myself over their perception of my 'wrongness' I will play with them and if its in order I will apologise but only when I understand their problem with me,
jacpod
Level 8
Feb 4, 2018
1
Let them know that getting your morals from a god is as infantile and immature as being a 5 year old needing mom to stop him from eating the cookie before dinner. The mature and responsible person does not need a 2000 year old outdated book to have morals. The mature individual gets his or her morals from within; that person IS a moral person. Those that need to get their morals from outside them ARE BY DEFINITION IMMORAL.
Rodatheist
Level 7
Feb 2, 2018
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Haha, I'm sure comparing the person to a 5-year-old will go over well! And won't help the atheist image much, either. What I have said in the past is that if religion is the only thing keeping a person from raping and murdering, I don't want to run into that person in a dark alley, religious or not. They seem to get it in the moment, but the distrust can still linger in the long run.
In response to your other comment regarding the questionable morals of any given Christian - yes, absolutely. In fact, the last person (a fervent believer) who seemed to question my morality quickly showed himself to be deceptive and and slightly sociopathic. And yet, they don't see the irony. Religious conditioning runs deep.
It has happened to me that I meet people, say at work (the nature of my work makes me meet a fair number of people) with whom I have worked over time and obtained their respect through my actions; which makes them consider me a “moral” person. And then they know I am an atheist and kind of turn their set of notions upside down. By then they have trusted me and I have not let them down, and they have to admit that one can be “moral” and an atheist. I get a kick out of it. But you are right, and perhaps we cannot blame them. The process of socialization and the constructs that it implants in people’s minds is nothing to sneeze at. I bet you some of the people at work have reduced their trust on me or “test my morals more” after they get to know that part of me. And to top it all with a big cherry, some of the people I have found to have questionable morals are pastors and fervent Christians. They know that I know their actions and they conveniently avoid the topic of my atheism.
Rodatheist
Level 7
Feb 2, 2018
1
Is their problem and their issue. Not to my bother.
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Feb 2, 2018
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