Sanjuro wrote: Yeah, when reality starts conflicting with your indoctrination, your inner conflict can manifest as confusion which can easily turn to anger.
unless you are a
true believer(s), naturally ... less apt to be "angry at god" (or admit to as much) out of fear of divine retribution? Be a good sheep!
I think that's a key point. Religion, at least Christianity, has a built in mechanism that stops one's mind from thinking too rationally. Doubts about the Bible, God and/or the teachings of one's church can cause immense fear and self loathing in a believer. Thought-crime may have been more successfully described by Orwell but it was created by religions. I successfully punched through that barrier but it was years before I actually thought about the social and emotional prison that kept me from making my own decisions. That, I think, is what has since stirred the anger in me.
Therefore, I'm angry with anything or anyone that promotes ignorance. And although education can be a predictor of a population's religious beliefs or lack thereof, I still believe critical thinking and skepticism are more important.
Recently while eating lunch with co-workers, a discussion began about a new History Channel program called "Ancient Aliens". So finally, with the discussed episode, the History Channel has evidently combined their two favorite subjects: Nazis and aliens. Anyway, I wasn't the only one skeptical of the program (and no, I didn't watch that crap). When the conversation turned though to the Christian religion, some of the same people who were skeptical of the Alien-Hitler team treated the Bible as if it were a science and history text. In fact they all did. I couldn't help but realize that their knowledge of science and history, where it intersected with the Bible, was equivalent to that of a Sunday School class of 10 year olds.
But in the end the Atheist is always labeled sad, bitter and lost.
