General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am not religious. Can you please categorize Atheism into a "race"? [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)And I could counter with more websites.
Post 162....and the other links in this thread that discuss Sunday Assemblies...might wake you up to the notion that your "rules" aren't the only ones.
Sample: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/molly-worthen-wanted-a-theology-of-atheism.html?_r=0
See, not only are you NOT God, you're not the atheist pope, either. And your ideas (well, the ones you have culled from a few angry old men, some of whom are dead) are being rejected by a substantial number of people in the real world who seem to be doing much more with their atheism than yelling at people like they have any authority. Pro tip--you don't have any authority, nor any power to enforce your ...what's that word? Oh yeah--beliefs. You are an island unto yourself, and your words hold sway with you and you alone. You are not the "atheistsplainer" (you brought that shit in here, let's remember, without even knowing my views on the matter) to the masses. You have your own sad and angry opinions, and they are yours. There are no "rules" to atheism--that probably irritates the hell out of you, because you have repeated the "doctrine" you've learned from the crabby old school types over the years, and guess what? It no longer applies, and the people who have created a new paradigm actually are building a philosophical approach to atheism that involves community.
I "handwave" the old school stuff away because that's what is happening with this next generation of young adults. They're sick of the scolding, doctrinaire POV of old and dead atheists. They don't like it, they don't want it, they don't need it. The Sunday Assemblies are successful BECAUSE these younger people are not scolds or didacts. They're accepting, interested and confident in themselves. They also think that enjoying life and helping others are good traits. They aren't snarky, jaded or superior. They're real. They have some of that "wonder" that makes life worth living.
They're the future. You're the past.