I like the quote and I think it’s thought-provoking and I was interested in what other non-believers think and feel when they read it.

@Kali then say so.

Unfortunately, that’s a reality for all of us since religion and religious thought and ideas and scientific/reality ignorance is pervasive. I would guess that’s why most of us are on this site, at least part of the reason.

@Kali It exists for sure. I justt don't think that applies to most people. I lived as an out athiest in a rural setting since I started school. Only a select few ever have a problem with it. Most people are pretty apathetic. Lack of science interest runs right along with lack of interest in math or basic geography politics exc..Not caring about nerdy stuff.
I'm just saying this is a bigger hindrance to deep introspective conversations in daily life than religious denial.

I have most definitely had my share of religious bullying from the obnoxious minority though.

Agree, absolutely.

I agree. Let it be.

That a very clean and concise way to say this that any semi-reasonable person could agree with.

He’s referring to not better as in ‘best’ but as in a larger percent of humanity.

And ‘better’ conversations he’s referring to conversations more about the truth and what’s really going on, reality, and trying to come up with some real solutions, instead of the circular conversations of religion, that don’t solve any problems or actually have any real suggestions of how to do so .
And he implies suggestions for solutions need to come not only from education of the masses but also real conversations in science, and politics, and in conversations between and among all of us.

@Kali Glad someone knows informed and unbiased truth then!

@Geoffrey51 Unbiased truth does not exist and the referred to conversations are attempts to search for collective truths. Since we are a collective, not just of our species but of a whole planet full of species, for which we should consider when making decisions (what happens to our sibling species affects us as well), our conversations or searches for what will work for the whole Earth/life system hopefully will come from input from a wide variety of educated humans from many disciplines, but based on reality and not delusion, to the best to our ability. And of course religion is the biggest delusion in the world today. It would be good to also understand the importance of continuing to improve our knowledge and accurate decision making abilities. Since we all can’t be experts on all topics, it would be good to rely on our collective brains, where each has different expertise and point of view, to contribute to decisions made for the entire planet. So it’s not that “someone “knows the unbiased truth, but that we all continue to have conversations with and among educated, forward thinking (those considering out to many generations in the future), open minded, humans to uncover and create pathways forward that are less volatile and damaging to us all. And hopefully then vote in leadership positions, the same forward thinking people. We then hopefully can all move into the future making decisions and changing the planet in ways to keep us all intact and creating or stabilizing the future for our descendants, and the descendants of all our sibling species .

A person who has no gods is just a realist. There is no word for someone who doesn’t believe in astrology, such as ‘aastrologer’ or ‘ non-astrologer’ .So atheism really has no meaning to nonbelievers. He was referring to the term atheist as a way to introduce non-theism to religious believers. By using the term atheist, it clearly implies no belief in any gods, which makes it clear that the conversations are not going to include religious beliefs when confronting social and global problems.

@Kali a person who has no gods may still have other delusions; being an atheist doesn't make someone a realist all by itself. it's a realistic stance but no guarantee of being a realist overall. atheism has a definition and you can use it to mean all sorts of things but that doesn't mean it MEANS those things. i understood how he was using it. i was taking issue with that.

g

@genessa Totally true. I met an athiest who was convinced he discovered a free energy/ perpetual motion method. Just because you part with one delusion doesn't mean you've parted with them all. It does mean they made a good start though.