Comic Strips

None of us live our lives doing zero damage. We aren't omnipotent, and as such, we will hurt others during our lives. We can merely hope it will be an amount too small to matter.

I would suggest that being raised atheist leaves you better equipped to understand the world in a way that more closely matches reality, and thereby enables you to more consistently avoid causing harm during your life.

Does that mean every person needs to deconvert tomorrow? No. The process in itself can end up doing more damage than it'd be preventing.

But it does mean religion can't continue to be the default world view, if we are to improve as a society. For a better tomorrow, it does need to be phased out as quickly as it can harmlessly be achieved.

That's why we do have to care. Deconverting grandma doesn't matter too much, but if a relative or friend is raising a kid to be religious, preventing that is worth attempting. Another zealot in a coming generation will do more harm than good.

No kind person means to do harm, but unless you get as close to knowing reality as you can, that won't always be enough. And even then, you'll probably break some hearts and say things that cause someone somewhere to need more time in therapy.

But you'll certainly be more effective in realising the things you mean to do and say, if you don't live life thinking prayers affect reality.

As for you experience with atheists, you're describing anti-theists. People who hold an actual stance against religion. It sound like you found some especially virtue signaling ones, bad luck.

But an atheist is just someone who doesn't believe, not some given type of person, ideology, or the nature of your relationship with the rest of humanity.