Over on the football forum TomFromBama asked this question so I figured I might as well respond to it here. I apologize if there is already a thread for this kind of thing I didn't see one though.
Just for context this was the part of my post he was referring to
I have had plenty of conversations about this topic with other atheists but I don't want to speak for everyone so what follows is purely personal.
An individual believing in any religion doesn't inherently bother me. The fact that someone believes in Muhammad, Jesus, Shiva, or just Moses is perfectly fine. I'm sure I will bring up Christianity more than the other religions in this mostly because it's what I've been exposed to the most not because I harbor any stronger feelings toward it than other religions. I've never been offended just by someones faith and in no way shape or form do I think someone is less qualified at something they are otherwise highly skilled at because of their religion.
Also, I'm doing my best here not to be offensive so I apologize if I DO in fact offend someone. Please point it out to me because frankly I'd like to know for future reference. I am also fully aware of the obnoxious atheists out there because there are plenty of them. I try really hard not to fall into that group of atheists who are unnecessarily antagonistic.
First, in Tua's case his religion doesn't impact my thoughts on him as a starting QB of any team I cheer for. However, it does impact my ability to connect with someone especially someone in a leadership role. For example, if I were a player on the team his religion would start to bother me or be more of a "turn off." Not necessarily because of what he believes but because of how large a part it plays in his personality and daily life. The more you talk about your religion on a daily basis the harder it is for me to connect with you on an individual level. Fortunately, for Tua I don't need to be his friend I can just root for him from afar. Plus he seems like a cool enough kid.
Part of it is simply that like minded people tend to get along better. I don't believe in a god so those who do and see that has a integral part of their lives are simply coming from a completely different world view than I am. The more important faith is to someones life the harder it is for me to connect with them. Also, the reality of being an atheist means that I don't believe in a god, any sort of after life, or a variety of other ideas that come from religion. And, I don't know that some of those who are religious realize how strongly their religion that impacts their world views on some pretty basic and commonly discussed topics. It just makes it hard to relate when you are coming from very different view points and accepted base facts. It's not just that I don't believe in god I also don't believe in a lot of the teaching within the Bible/those that have spawned from the Bible (*cough* LBGTQ issues *cough*). In fact my atheism originated from having issues with the specifics of religious teachings not the general idea of a god.
Another issue is simply that I am personally surrounded by people who are religious. I grew up in a very christian family, I work with 3 people who are all very involved in their church, I met my finacee at church so her entire family is also very religious. Basically, I hear someone talk about religion every day. That alone, isn't a huge deal to me but add in that it seems to come up in almost every topic I can think of. Then I go home and watch some football and there are players talking about god after big games or this or that. It just can be a lot at times for someone who doesn't believe in the same thing. (Just like how I'm sure some conservatives feel about certain liberal ideas).
Anyway this was written in probably about 20 minutes but with me working on it on and off a ton. Its probably a little pieced together, repetitive and is definitely an inadequate description but I figured it was a place to start for anyone that is interested. And I hope I somewhat answered TomFromBama's question.
Just for context this was the part of my post he was referring to
I have had plenty of conversations about this topic with other atheists but I don't want to speak for everyone so what follows is purely personal.
An individual believing in any religion doesn't inherently bother me. The fact that someone believes in Muhammad, Jesus, Shiva, or just Moses is perfectly fine. I'm sure I will bring up Christianity more than the other religions in this mostly because it's what I've been exposed to the most not because I harbor any stronger feelings toward it than other religions. I've never been offended just by someones faith and in no way shape or form do I think someone is less qualified at something they are otherwise highly skilled at because of their religion.
Also, I'm doing my best here not to be offensive so I apologize if I DO in fact offend someone. Please point it out to me because frankly I'd like to know for future reference. I am also fully aware of the obnoxious atheists out there because there are plenty of them. I try really hard not to fall into that group of atheists who are unnecessarily antagonistic.
First, in Tua's case his religion doesn't impact my thoughts on him as a starting QB of any team I cheer for. However, it does impact my ability to connect with someone especially someone in a leadership role. For example, if I were a player on the team his religion would start to bother me or be more of a "turn off." Not necessarily because of what he believes but because of how large a part it plays in his personality and daily life. The more you talk about your religion on a daily basis the harder it is for me to connect with you on an individual level. Fortunately, for Tua I don't need to be his friend I can just root for him from afar. Plus he seems like a cool enough kid.
Part of it is simply that like minded people tend to get along better. I don't believe in a god so those who do and see that has a integral part of their lives are simply coming from a completely different world view than I am. The more important faith is to someones life the harder it is for me to connect with them. Also, the reality of being an atheist means that I don't believe in a god, any sort of after life, or a variety of other ideas that come from religion. And, I don't know that some of those who are religious realize how strongly their religion that impacts their world views on some pretty basic and commonly discussed topics. It just makes it hard to relate when you are coming from very different view points and accepted base facts. It's not just that I don't believe in god I also don't believe in a lot of the teaching within the Bible/those that have spawned from the Bible (*cough* LBGTQ issues *cough*). In fact my atheism originated from having issues with the specifics of religious teachings not the general idea of a god.
Another issue is simply that I am personally surrounded by people who are religious. I grew up in a very christian family, I work with 3 people who are all very involved in their church, I met my finacee at church so her entire family is also very religious. Basically, I hear someone talk about religion every day. That alone, isn't a huge deal to me but add in that it seems to come up in almost every topic I can think of. Then I go home and watch some football and there are players talking about god after big games or this or that. It just can be a lot at times for someone who doesn't believe in the same thing. (Just like how I'm sure some conservatives feel about certain liberal ideas).
Anyway this was written in probably about 20 minutes but with me working on it on and off a ton. Its probably a little pieced together, repetitive and is definitely an inadequate description but I figured it was a place to start for anyone that is interested. And I hope I somewhat answered TomFromBama's question.
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