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kleinbl00  ·  1615 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 23, 2019

That's a broad sort of answer with a broad (and unhelpful) answer.

It's important to recognize that humans often rely on religion in order to square their senses of justice and empathy with a world that is unjust and callous. When someone is getting up in your grille about religion, it's because you aren't aligning with their understanding of the cosmos. And in general, atheists respond to this... "interest" with antagonism: "I refuse to humor your childish insistence on the sky god".

It's been my experience that a polite willingness to humor the religion of others, as well as a projected confidence in one's own "spiritual journey", tends to blunt the attack. Consider: the Christian faithful often feel confident and comfortable assailing atheists in ways they would never come at a Jew or a Muslim. I have seen devout Episcopalians be happier that their kids have found Scientology than are still "lost" to atheism. If you can find some protective "spiritual" coloration you are likely to be camouflaged from their need for proselytization.