[quote]Sloth wrote:
So, a true atheist is a what? A near vegetable, with his only thought being “I don’t believe in gods?” A fan of baseball, despite his atheism, is now a religious man? [/quote]
Atheists can have any number of thoughts. It’s just that God or gods don’t figure too heavily among them.
You mentioned vegetables. Surely you are aware that some people don’t like broccoli. For whatever reason, broccoli is just something that they do not eat.
I doubt very much that their non-broccoli eating interferes with their daily lives at all. More than likely, they can go an entire day without the thought of broccoli entering their minds.
They may be scientists, taxi drivers, teachers, dockworkers, soldiers, doctors or poets. Their non-eating of broccoli doesn’t impact their morals, their political philosophy, or their philosophy of life in general. By and large, they are not active in promoting non-eating of broccoli. Most do not subscribe to organizations whose aim it is to not eat broccoli. They recognize that some people like broccoli, but hey, whatever.
The only time it becomes an issue is when broccoli lovers try (continually) to get them to try broccoli. “Don’t you know how good broccoli is for you? You have to eat broccoli!”
They will trot out all sorts of nutritional facts and studies, “proving” that not only is broccoli a tasty, nutritious addition to a meal, but also that it is a “superfood” that will provide protection from cancer and any number of horrible diseases. They imply that by not eating broccoli, not only is the non-broccoli eater endangering his life, he is also a bad person.
Still, though, the non-broccoli eater is unconvinced. Perhaps he tried broccoli earlier in his life, and decided that he just would rather eat other things beside broccoli. He wonders why it’s such a big deal.
Here is where the broccoli eaters start to play dirty, though. They will invoke historical non-broccoli eaters in an attempt to demonize non-broccoli eating. “Oh yeah, well George Herbert Walker Bush was a broccoli hater, and he was a terrible president.”
Taking the bait, the non-broccoli eater will whip out his smartphone and point out that broccoli was implicated in salmonella poisoning of 1500 Japanese schoolchildren just two years ago.
This goes back and forth, until the non-broccoli eater lashes out with “well, you know who else liked broccoli? HITLER!!!”
Now, to be fair, there are some assholes out there who make it their business to loudly proclaim their hatred of broccoli. They will get into the faces of the broccoli-eaters and castigate them for no other reason than their eating of broccoli. These, thankfully, are the great minority.
And while it must be admitted that there have been people throughout history who simultaneously did evil things and abstained from eating broccoli, there is no evidence that their non-broccoli-eating was directly responsible for the evil that they did. In fact, a stronger case can be made for the hypothesis that they would have done the exact same thing even if they ate broccoli.
And it is scarcely worth mentioning the fact that statistically, more crimes are committed by broccoli-eaters than by non-broccoli eaters.
Some people like broccoli.
Some people don’t.
It ain’t a big deal unless you make it one.
