Changing? Most people understand a belief in something more seems to match observation better. No god or gods of any type and my god only rely on way too much faith. Only if people understood that belief and anti-religion are not mutually exclusive. But the leaders of atheism and theism do not want us to think like that. Fundy think type atheist are as dangerous as fundy think type theist.
There are several problems with SIB's post:
Why do you care so much about that post? SIB is under no obligation to respond to you if SIB prefers not to, especially when it might be that you've been perceived as being a bit abrasive, even if that wasn't your intention.
(1) What "most people understand" Doesn't make it true. god or no-god is not up to a popular vote.
(2) "No god or gods of any type and my god only rely on way too much faith."
Is a rewording of that old theist trope 'Atheism takes more faith than theism'.
I'm not exactly sure what you were trying to say there. I've never heard of that atheist trope, or if I have, I've forgotten it. I know that atheism doesn't take faith, but some religious people perceive what they believe to be true. Our brains allow us to perceive all kinds of weird things, and I think some people are more drawn to mythology than others. For example, many years ago, there was a new atheist who had left fundamentalist Christianity. Some of us met him in person too, etc. I think it was less than a year after he left religion, his grandmother died. Then, he had a, let's call it a dream or a hallucination that she told him she was in the afterlife etc. He never went back to Christianity, as far as I know, but he did go back to believing in a higher power and obviously, some supernatural elements. That happens sometimes. Some people simply don't feel comfortable as atheists, so they seek out something else. At least that's who I see it.
Atheism is not a faith, it is a logical conclusion, based on observation that all gods are a human invention.
(3) "belief and anti-religion are not mutually exclusive."
I agree. Atheism is usually based on one's inability to believe in supernatural elements, including religious ones. Sometimes it's the result of a long journey away from the religion of our childhood. Sometimes, if one has never been exposed to it, it comes very naturally. Gods were obviously all created in man's image.
Some people don't want to think about it, so they stay where they feel comfortable. My sister is one of them. I think she still believes for emotional reasons and a chance to make friends. She suffers from anxiety, so I assume her beliefs give her some relief.
But religion has always FOUGHT against non-believers, and followers of other religions. (and continues to)
We can not afford to be the first to lay down arms.
I disagree, at least when it comes to more liberal and moderate versions of religion. Most people have become more reasonable when it comes to people identifying as atheists, other than the White Christian Nationalists and any extremists. They might react negatively at first, but once they get to know us, they usually become more reasonable. I've had Christian friends for years in many different places that never cared or criticized me for being an atheist. Some even thought it was interesting to meet someone who was very open about her atheism. One said it was cool to meet an atheist, as one of her sons was agnostic. I find this to be true, even here in the Bible Belt, where I've lived for most of my adult life. But sure. I've worked with some fundies who were simply mean, but they may have disliked me for other reasons too. Who knows? I was always open about my atheism at work, mostly because the Christians I worked with were so open about their beliefs.
Maybe it's because I never cared that they were theists, and if I'm going to judge, I'll base it on their character, not on their need for religious mythology, which I see as sometimes being beneficial to some people.
I take it you don't mean lay down arms literally, but that type of statement can be misinterpreted to mean that you're ready to have a literal war against theists. The bat shit crazy Christians will use such phrases against us, even when that's not what we mean. That's not meant to criticize you, but to explain how the extremists sometimes use our innocent words against us.
(4) "But the leaders of atheism and ..."
This is just fucking insulting.
I doubt it was meant to be insulting. Perhaps SIB simply meant that there have been some very famous outspoken atheists who seemed to have a following. You know, like a celebrity. That certainly seemed to be the case in the era of the New Atheists. That doesn't mean that we all were followers of these people.
Btw, I've been a member of at least 7 or 8 atheist social groups. The two that were very organized, like the Humanists of Georgia and the Atlanta Freethought Society did have leaders, elected by the members to take care of certain leadership responsibilities. That's another way to take the comment. That's one of the difficult things about a discussion board. It's easy to misconstrue what someone means when they post. It's happened to me. I just try to ignore it and move on.
(5) "Fundy think type atheist are as dangerous as fundy think type theist."
It is SIB who is thinking like a fundy, see #2 above.
I took it to mean that SIB was referring to atheists who believe that religion should be eliminated at any cost, including violence. We used to have a few members here who said things like that. Hopefully, such people are few and far between.
I'm a strong supporter of religious freedom, although I refer to religion as religious mythology because that's what it is. But, if you've read enough about the history of religion or some of the works of the late Joseph Campbell, you might understand why mythology has a strong attraction to humans, regardless if more of us don't feel the need any longer. If SIB wants, SIB can correct me if I'm wrong about that post.
(6) "belief in something more seems to match observation better."
SIB has said this in several posts, which contradicts his claim to be atheist.
I don't know what SIB meant by that, but it's not important to me. It could be that SIB meant there are more people who believe in some type of higher power than who don't. What do you think it meant?
This thread was meant to be a discussion as to why/whether more atheists are realizing that religion does have some benefits, at least religions that are liberal or moderate, who support everyone else's right to believe what they want, no matter how much we might disagree that their beliefs have any basis in reality.
I have been a strong atheist for almost 50 years, yet I have seen in recent years, that religion often provides supportive communities, opportunities to do charity work or volunteer work, that atheist groups rarely offer. That is what David Silverman, who's editorial I linked to in my OP, realized after attending a service in a Black church. You don't have to agree. I felt the same way as Silverman and my feelings about it increased after attending a Black church service for a dear friend of mine. I could see the joy and love that the people found in their church community and I wondered how others felt, hoping we'd not be at each other's throats when we disagree. I'm one of those nuts who believes that old saying, "You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar". At least when it comes to having a conversation with people who might not agree with you.
Anyway....I hope this helped. You are under no obligation to respond to this post.