>Samael wrote: ...The ex-Christians I know are also the most antireligious
>people that I know - to the point of irrationality....
samael, have you pondered why this might be? i have an insight to share please.
suppose we focus on christian based religions for the sake of
this limited model, and to prevent me from venturing too far on
ground i do not understand. {8^D ok, in the middle, we have
moderate believers. to the left are the more open-minded brands
of christianity, presbyterian, etc. farther to the left are unitarian
universalist, etc. to the right are bible thumping fundamentalists.
ok, on that scale, what is to the left of the universalist? what is
to the right of the fundamentalist? give up? let me suggest,
to the left of the universalist is the agnostic, and to the right of
the fundamentalist is the athiest. like the political counterpart,
the far left and far right share many characteristics. the axis
meets around back.
does it surprise you that the athiest is to the right of the fundamentalist? even without understanding this principle, fundamentalists somehow know that athiesm is lurking nearby and are terrified by the prospect of drifting to the right and becoming an atheist. this is what makes them so closed minded and resistant to ideas. the former fundamentalist turned atheist is appalled by her or his former notions and can be quite hard on those who refuse to examine fundamentalist beliefs critically. i know many examples of this.
samael, how does this theory work for you? spike