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Does atheism ever bore you?

Since I started writing about atheism it has become the focus of more and more of my attention. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy explaining atheism to those who don't understand it and those who have a skewed perception of it.

But there are times when I wish I could ignore the fact I'm an atheist for a day or two. Hell, a few hour's break would be welcome.

It used to be simply a part of my overall character, not much more important than my left-handedness. It used to be that being gay was the part of my life people seemed to want to talk about the most. Now it's my atheism. Every day requires a period of time during which atheism is the primary focus of my thoughts.

In a way that's nuts. Why should my reasoned conclusion that gods don't exist have any more of an impact on my life as my reasoned conclusion that garden gnomes are fantastic? I would like to have a day during which the topic of gods was never raised. For just one day I'd like to be able to remember that to me, the fact that gods don't exist isn't the most important attitude I have and doesn't contribute to the quality of my day.

Do you ever get bored discussing or considering atheism?

(I know it might be ironic to introduce such a topic here at aNexus, but what the hell. If I blogged this, chances are I wouldn't get any replies at all. Here I have a chance to read what others think.)

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Permalink Reply by Kevin on July 30, 2008 at 5:16am

I am active for the cause so am always on the lookout for religious insanity in the media. Not to say I do so every waking minute as I enjoy all kinds of things. I spent too many years complaining about religion to family and friends. Now that I am belong to a large atheist association I am having lots of fun and feel that I am doing something positive for a cause that is very important to me.

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Permalink Reply by LoLo on July 30, 2008 at 5:55pm

I haven't had that many people to talk about my lack of belief with, so I'm not bored with it at all. I like having religious conversations with people, you'd be surprised at the diverse belief systems people actually have. I still get nervous about saying I'm atheist though, but that is changing.

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Permalink Reply by dGolden on July 30, 2008 at 9:36pm

For most of the 15 years or so I've been truly atheist, I've been relatively indifferent. It was just one of dozens of things that set me apart from most people I know, and so it didn't particularly stand out in my mind.

When my wife died last year, The vast majority of "comforting" statements given seemed empty, especially the religious ones. I got so sick of hearing "thoughts and prayers," "with god," "God had important work for her," and so on, I just became angry. The point being, I've only recently put my atheism at the forefront of my mind, so I haven't become bored yet.

Barely on topic, I'm curious; do people generally react more strongly (positively or negatively) when they find out you are atheist or when they find out you are gay? If someone ever does react strongly to my being atheist, I think I'll throw in, "Also, I'm part werewolf." Just to give them a good reason for their reaction.

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Permalink Reply by LeaT on July 31, 2008 at 4:10am

"When my wife died last year, The vast majority of "comforting" statements given seemed empty, especially the religious ones. I got so sick of hearing "thoughts and prayers," "with god," "God had important work for her," and so on, I just became angry."

I have never understood why this gives comfort to theists... The same happened when my mother died, I didn't see any comfort that she was dead and in heaven or whatever. It just made me frustrated because she would never come back regardless if I prayed or believed. Well, I just completely fail to see why this would give any comfort because it still doesn't change the fact that the person is gone.

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Permalink Reply by Goz on August 26, 2008 at 12:16pm

So true...When my dad died (I hated him,btw,but that's another story) one of my aunts came up to me and said he was now off fishing somewhere.
I gave her a look like:"What are you,bleeding.crazy?!"
And I said nothing, just stared hard at her till she backed away....Was she trying to make me feel better by babbling this infantile nonsense?
Or even scarier,did she actually believe it?
And then there is this Rainbow bridge BS...People actually swear it's a real place (another story for another time.)
I REALLY wonder about the intelligence of my fellow humans! All this "You are in our prayers" crap...My questions is "SO what!?" You can pray your ass off and I won't feel any better about you.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Carlson on August 17, 2008 at 10:38pm

I get more negative reactions to being gay than being an atheist. Gay seems to have a "yuck" factor absent in a philosophical opinion.

Rarely do both topics come up at the same time. Few who are interested in my "religious" orientation are also interested in my sexual orientation.

To be fair, the most accepting of the fact I'm both gay and a non-believer are theists. They understand that belonging to a religion that condemns my character would be nonsensical. Who would want to associate with people who consider them unclean, immoral and damned?

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Permalink Reply by vjack on July 31, 2008 at 7:36am

I don't know if you would call it bored, but I am certainly much more than an atheist and have all sorts of other interests. Sure, I find myself thinking about atheism a fair bit. Given that I strive to do a blog post a day, I must think about it a great deal! But it is only one of many passions.

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Permalink Reply by damian on July 31, 2008 at 7:59am

I've asked myself "Would i have been a happier person if i didn't go down this path? Would i have married, had kids, etc. I don't quite know this answer, because my personality is separate, i guess? I imagined an alternate christian life, and a very small part of me has to grin, but then i quickly come back to reality. I choose to saty away from women who want kids, because i don't want to be a provider, and i've noticed that a large percentage of women who choose not to have kids, are atheist.

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Permalink Reply by Terry Osburn-Sharff on August 2, 2008 at 6:27pm

I certainly understand what you mean. I thought being a lesbian would be the focal point of most insults or resistance, but then I 'came out" as atheist and discovered a whole new group of detractors. I have to tell you though, it is the third component of my personality that seems to garner the most ire, and that is the fact that I am a vegetarian (sometimes vegan) People get angrier about my diet than they do about my sexual orientation or my refusal to believe in superstition. Funny world, isn't it?

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Permalink Reply by AtheistJoy on August 17, 2008 at 10:13pm

It is strange, isn't it? I've never understood why people get so angry about not eating meat. I go through long periods of time where I can't stand meat, but it's a quirk I have rather than a real choice I've made. When people pick up on it (And they often do, which I find surprising!), they ask me rather defiantly if I'm a vegetarian. When I reply that I'm just not into eating meat right now, they calm down.

It's bizarre. As long as I'm eating meat at some point in the future, they're fine.

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Permalink Reply by Goz on August 26, 2008 at 12:23pm

Yeah,Terry,it sure is.
I only eat meat twice a week,so i guess I'm almost a vegetarian.
Most people know (or suspect) I'm a lesbian and they just don't give a flip.
One of my xtain gave me the going to hell lecture. I guess she though I'd convert...Didn't phase me. She might as well have told me i was going to Mars for all the emotional impact it had on me.
We are still friends.

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Permalink Reply by Byron on January 2, 2009 at 10:10pm

Wow, thats three strikes against you in our culture. i onlyy have two: atheist and vegetarian. I am "slightly" bisexual (a kinsey scale of 1 or 2), but I'm not out about that. I mean, why should I be? I am in a monogamous relationship with my (female) fiancee and have two kids (wel, one kid and one on the way). It plays no part in my public life, its not likeI am gonna go cheat on my fiancee with a guy or anything. Sure i have a few bisexual and/or gay porns on my computer among the dozens of hetero porn, but my fiancee takes credit for those whenever someone finds them. (She is bisexual in the same way, but we have agreed to keep our relationship strictly monogamous because we can both have jealousy streaks at times!)