by Currie Jean

Created on: February 20, 2008   Last Updated: January 18, 2009

You were born an atheist. You probably don't remember - but you probably do remember being taught your particular religion, be it by a parent, clergy-person, friend, or the old lady down the street who babysat you Friday nights. The one you were taught was most likely the one you adopted.

When I speak of atheists here, I do it generally. Surely, some atheists just don't get religion and never really thought about it, and some others came to atheism fallaciously, but that's a minority. Most atheists are thinkers and questioners, who care deeply about the world and the human beings around them. We atheists don't want everyone else to be wrong; although some of us care more about what people think than others do.

Atheists understand the subtleties of respect. A difference lies between respecting a belief, respecting a person, and respecting a person's feelings. In order to be respectful, you don't have to respect all three.

If we disrespect a person's beliefs, we shouldn't disrespect their feelings, even if they say things that aren't true. They're incorrect about some things for a reason, surely, and don't deserve to have hot coffee or bad names thrown at them. Nor do they deserve to be silenced - everyone deserves a forum in which to speak. People make honest mistakes. The only way to find out what's correct or incorrect is to allow fair discussion.

Many atheists don't respect religion. They think, for multiple reasons, that religiosity contains definite falsehoods, which is why they don't believe in it themselves. That doesn't mean, however, that they disrespect religious people; at least, not enough to do any harm. Dialog can be frustrating sometimes, though.

There's nothing wrong with saying, "I don't believe you. I think you're wrong, and I think you should change your mind, for these reasons." As long as it's said without badgering someone, there's nothing offensive about it at all.

True respect involves knowing people are smart and strong enough to handle tough questions, and posing them with that in mind. Religions say things about the world, and those things should be judged as fairly as everything else is judged. Atheists understand that it's more respectful to challenge another person as an equal than to nod and smile at whatever he or she believes without digesting it.

Atheists understand that personal experience doesn't necessarily apply to the objective world. Two contradicting statements, like "zombies are real" and "zombies are not real," can not both

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