Brian63
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2001
- Messages
- 1,639
- Location
- Michigan
- Gender
- Male
- Basic Beliefs
- Freethinker/atheist/humanist
[This refers to only public figures and not private ones, and only ones that make their theistic and religious beliefs public knowledge (and might even be evangelical to some degree), not ones that keep it a personal and private matter.]
The phrasing of the OP probably went a bit too far, and this applies to not just closet atheists, but can also include closet agnostics, or anyone with just more doubts about religion than they publicly let on.
It seems pretty much inevitable that churches, denominations, and religious cultures of all varieties will have some people that secretly harbor doubts about their religious views, and just do not say anything about it to anyone else around them. Do you think there are any similar *public* figures who do so as well?
I sometimes lurk over at the website of evangelist Ray Comfort, and he often is very argumentative against atheism, and many of his "arguments" turn out to be more preachy than substantive. To me then, it appears that he is probably trying to convince himself of having some kind of reason to believe---as much as he is trying to convince anybody else, and he is not doing too well with it. Unfortunately, the atheists that frequently post in response to him often do not extend any compassion to him, but are more jerkish. So even if Ray is secretly having some doubts (as I think all theists are prone to do, even the most hyper-fundamentalist among them), I do not know what is likely to be the result, as other atheists are not being helpful in any sense, but just combative. One of the things I dislike about the common atheist culture is how poor many are in terms of compassion and sensitivity to other people, even ones with unfortunate religious views, and instead just have a general preference for insulting them and dehumanizing them.
Any public theists you think currently harbor lots of doubts about their beliefs, or have in the past (such as ones that are not alive anymore, for instance...or also the ones that are currently alive)?
Thanks,
Brian
The phrasing of the OP probably went a bit too far, and this applies to not just closet atheists, but can also include closet agnostics, or anyone with just more doubts about religion than they publicly let on.
It seems pretty much inevitable that churches, denominations, and religious cultures of all varieties will have some people that secretly harbor doubts about their religious views, and just do not say anything about it to anyone else around them. Do you think there are any similar *public* figures who do so as well?
I sometimes lurk over at the website of evangelist Ray Comfort, and he often is very argumentative against atheism, and many of his "arguments" turn out to be more preachy than substantive. To me then, it appears that he is probably trying to convince himself of having some kind of reason to believe---as much as he is trying to convince anybody else, and he is not doing too well with it. Unfortunately, the atheists that frequently post in response to him often do not extend any compassion to him, but are more jerkish. So even if Ray is secretly having some doubts (as I think all theists are prone to do, even the most hyper-fundamentalist among them), I do not know what is likely to be the result, as other atheists are not being helpful in any sense, but just combative. One of the things I dislike about the common atheist culture is how poor many are in terms of compassion and sensitivity to other people, even ones with unfortunate religious views, and instead just have a general preference for insulting them and dehumanizing them.
Any public theists you think currently harbor lots of doubts about their beliefs, or have in the past (such as ones that are not alive anymore, for instance...or also the ones that are currently alive)?
Thanks,
Brian