Reply To: So, I am atheist.

[BeckyL]

SteveInCO wrote:

As for religions… they love bomb you until and unless it becomes clear you aren’t, in fact, going to be assimilated. I guess that’s slightly better than the Borg method, but not much.

It is a bit like the Borg method, but even more like jr high. There are all sorts of cliques and political maneuvers happening just under the surface. (And I’ve never been very good at playing those games. With me, what you see is what you get and I lose patience with disingenuousness pretty quickly.) It’s ridiculous watching grown people jockeying for position in what I consider to be the low-stakes arena of some Podunk congregation. For example, I went to the liquor store with a friend one time and a local Baptist deacon was there buying some beer. He’s the sort of fellow who stands around in the lobby oozing holier-than-thou-ness. He left his beer on the counter and walked out when he saw us. I guess he thought his hypocrisy would be ameliorated by giving up the purchase. (Interestingly, he was one of the most vocal opponents of a recent proposition to make our county “wet.”) The next Sunday morning, he was right back in church acting like he was the second coming himself. I realize that some feel it is unfair to judge God based on experiences with his flock, but so many religious people assert that their faith provides community, love, and support to society and should thus be considered “good for” us. I am of the opinion that genuine inclusiveness in a secular setting trumps the crap they are peddling any day of the week.