sgman's profile

Hey there. Don’t really know how often you check your shouts, but I figure I’ll give it a shot anyway.

First off, I’d like to preface this with a statement. I’m attempting to contact you through this, and not the forums, because I do not believe that personal conversations are suited to a medium like the forums.

Anyway, I’d like to extend the olive branch, and I hope that I’ll be able to explain why I sounded so hostile in the thread about the meaning of life.

First off, if you find meaning in religion, so long as it’s a “positive” meaning, then I have no issues with that. A lot of people read my arguments and think that I’m attacking them, when in fact it’s not truly my intention to do so (That being said, I have and to some degree still do harbor anger towards fundamentalists, due to where I live, but that’s another issue for another time).

The reason I was so aggressive in the thread, presenting my arguments in such a derisive fashion, was because (though I believe you when you stated that this was not the case) it’s an all too common phenomenon for a theist to come online and attempt to justify their prejudices, something which I ultimately (in this case) find to be deeply insulting, since they often insinuate, if not outright claim, that it is impossible for atheists to be moral people (using a neutrally valued definition of moral, even, wherein you ignore religiously dictated practices, such as tithing, which atheists obviously will not practice).

As I have stated, this happens far, far too frequently, and plays into my anger/aggression issues, and as such, I apologize for any attacks that I may have made against you, as I feel I was needlessly aggressive and allowed myself to fall prey to prejudice.

Admittedly, your low post count and default avatar REALLY make it easier to believe you are a troll, and if you intend to become a regular on the forums – and I hope you do, because really, the theists are largely outnumbered and in many cases outclassed on the forums, and I dislike lopsided discussions. Yet you seem to be a theist, like darkruler, who is actually worth talking to, because while I never expect to "convert you to atheism, nor should you hope to convert me, discussion will offer us both the means to grow as individuals.

So, in closing, please forgive me for my harshness – I recognize that they were in error and will not make such erroneous assumptions about you in the future. I hope that I didn’t disillusion you towards the forums, and that you’ll enjoy your time on Serious Discussion.

Also, if you’ve got the time, here are two videos on the subject of atheist morality and on morality in general, and I highly recommend watching them. The second moreso than the first (as it’s about atheist morality), I find to be highly evocative and very deeply moving.