Many of you have visited (and commented) on my blog, and I thank you for it. However, as of today, I’m going to be discontinuing my postings there. Instead, a new website will contain my comments and other information.
That website is www.friendlyatheist.com.
Why that name? I think it’s important that people associate those two terms. Normally, when Atheists are thought of in our society, they’re synonymous with evil, anti-religious, Communists, etc. Even in interviews, I’m often referred to as an “avowed Atheist”… no one can seem to believe I’d actually, openly be one!
Since people have responded to this journey so positively, I figured why not put the name out there and see if it can change anything.
For the record, I will still be posting my church experiences here, at www.Off-the-Map.org.
I’d appreciate any thoughts about the site. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them as well.
Thanks!
– Hemant
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Hemant's Blog Entries | 14 Comments »Pastor Mike asked:
I don’t know, are atheist small group discussions less tangential and unruly than most Christian small groups I’ve been a part of?
Having been a part of *many* Atheist small group discussions, they do get off track fairly easily, but usually it stay focused on the Atheist perspective (as opposed to a completely unrelated tangent). It’s almost implicit in what we discuss that tangents will be involved. There’s not always a basis (like the Bible) to go back to. For example, if we’re discussing how we can live moral lives without God, it’s quite an open discussion that could go in many directions. Are we unruly? No. Usually, we have food to keep us calm :)
Ir said:
As for Hemant’s comment “it’s a type of Christianity no Atheist should have a problem with” – I don’t know exactly what he meant; my guess is that he didn’t mean “here’s a belief system all atheists could and should adopt!”
Nope, didn’t mean that… I meant that there are some Christians who go out of their way to rip on my beliefs. Some people demand that I say “Under God” in the Pledge or teach the Biblical version of Creation. Obviously, Atheists have a problem with this. Mike’s group at Via Christus said that they are for separation of church and state. I gathered that they would like to be respected enough to worship as they please, and they are fine with letting others worship in their ways. And if Atheists want respect, they should have no problem giving it to groups like Mike’s.
Westy noted:
I think it’s our tendency to go easier on someone we actually got the chance to interact with and discovered was a decent individual, and that’s what happened here. I have the feeling that if Hemant had personally interacted w/ the pastor at Moody last week, his critique would have sounded different.
I wrestled with this one for a while before posting… because I thought the same thing: How could I possibly give a bad review to Via Christus after having talked to Mike? Would my Moody posting have been different if I had been able to talk to the pastor there?
But I made sure I kept those feelings separate. Had I not talked to Mike at all, I would have given the same review. I mean, my mind was made up (in terms of what I posted) before I talked to Mike and the others. I think if I talked to the pastor at Moody, I may have been able to gauge more of where he was coming from, but my feelings about the evening wouldn’t have changed.
– Hemant
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Hemant's Blog Entries | 38 Comments »The question Jim proposed was: “What would be the equivalent experience christians could participate in to see how it feels to be an outsider in an atheists world.”
I’m reiterating some things already mentioned by Ir, but here’s a short list:
1) Attend a local Atheist/non-believer meeting. Atheist Alliance International has compiled a Freethought Directory of nearly every major secular organizations’ affiliate groups. That directory is found here: http://www.atheistalliance.org/directory/list.php.
2) Read a discussion board for Atheists– Add your thoughts to the topic. The Internet Infidels has the largest discussion board for non-believers. It’s found here: http://www.iidb.org/vbb/index.php. You have to register (for free) to post, but it’s worth it.
3) Listen to Atheist podcasts. Here’s a brief list of some of them (the links are how to subscribe to them for free via iTunes or other RSS listener):
Secular Student Alliance (my group): http://www.secularstudents.org/taxonomy/term/20/0/feed.
Institute for Humanist Studies: http://ihs.libsyn.com/rss.
The Infidel Guy: http://www.infidelguy.com/infidelguy_shows.rss.
4) Talk to Atheists. We’re everywhere. Or keep commenting on this blog :)
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Hemant's Blog Entries | 20 Comments »