On the Lack of Mutual Admiration
Following the open threads Questions for Christians and Questions for Atheists, Hemant posted the topics What Do You Admire About Christians? and What Do You Admire About Atheists?. The results are slightly disconcerting.
Whereas at least a couple of christians posted such kind comments as “not afraid to speak what’s really on their minds”, and “they tend to be thinkers and seekers of the truth beyond religion. They are not afraid to think, discuss, and discover. They are generally open to new ideas and new ways of thinking. They are not afraid of evolving thoughts,” there wasn’t much by ways of reciprocity. Several atheists unabashedly stated that there simply isn’t anything, or stated their admiration in such a way as to distance themselves from religion in no uncertain terms (eg. “I admire the fact that most Christians are better than their religion”). If they admire a person who is a christian, it’s not because of their christianity, but other personal attributes.
And I must admit, I’m one of those many atheists who simply can’t think of anything there is to be admired about being a christian (or a person of any other faith). There are no good personality traits that seem to go hand in hand with a predisposition for religion, whereas atheists do in fact tend to be more freethinking, skeptical and rational on average (all qualities I see as positive), at least such is the experience of me and many others. Christians tend to give more to charities, on average, but the question is whether they do that because they’re good people, or because it’s something they feel is required of them because of their faith or by the church they belong to.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that this here is the very thing I should be looking for: Maybe christians are admirable because they are capable of seeing something good about atheists, whereas we can’t do the same for them? But that doesn’t ring true, given that there are so many christians who seem to entertain the hobby of gleefully reminding us that we are going to hell.
In the end, all humans must obviously be judged as individuals. There is no stereotype atheist or christian that can represent the entirety of atheism or christianity. Not all atheists are skeptical and not all christians are charitable. But how are we going to be able to conduct a constructive dialogue between atheists and liberal christians when it’s so blatantly obvious that atheists in general have no admiration or respect for the most deeply held beliefs of the other side? Are christians really able to overlook this?
I can think of at least one thing I admire about christians: They do not pretend that their beliefs are based on reason or rationality, but they call their faith a faith.
Comment by Markus — December 21, 2007 @ 17:01
Markus, Unfortunately I’ve seen a fair few christians who claim to base their faith on reason. But yes, most of them take the whole faith thing very seriously. Unfortunately, that very idea - that one shouldn’t look at the evidence - kind of negates the “admirability” of not pretending, for me…
Comment by Felicia Gilljam — December 21, 2007 @ 17:31
I think it can be a positive trait. There is humility to it, you admit to yourself that you can’t know everything, that there are limitations to the human mind. I don’t think the faith have to be a problem in itself, but when you try to combine faith with science.
Comment by Markus — December 22, 2007 @ 12:37
I always feel kind of awkward around religious people. Either I pity them as benighted souls in the clutches of unexamined ancestral superstition. Or I pity them as well-educated people who should know better but are apparently slightly nuts. Either way, I feel the need to humour them, and I’m afraid they’ll pick up that I secretly scoff at their most cherished (or at least most stridently professed) beliefs. And I can’t shake the feeling that “If you guys knew what I’m thinking, you wouldn’t like me very much”.
Comment by Martin R — December 22, 2007 @ 15:28