This is Why It’s Tough for an Atheist to Date

Date an atheist. Works for me. Us. Something.

Oddly, people talking about astrology really doesn’t bug me. That’s probably because I was really into astrology when I was in my “there has to be something!” phase. Christianity? Nonsense. Stars deciding your behaviors? Cool!

Honestly I think I just clung to the believe because the description of Scorpios is pretty awesome ;P

Sorry but must object. What the cartoon shows is not an atheist problem but skeptical problem. Not all atheists are skeptical so the scene shown would not be a problem unless your are a skeptic.

Well, you can be skeptical but still not appalled by ever irrational thing someone does. Human being are by nature irrational – even the best skeptics do silly things sometimes.

I’m an atheist and I don’t give a crap if people say things I find irrational. In fact, I am often irrational. I just don’t happen to think that gods exist. I tried on the skeptic hat for a while (as many of you know) and it didn’t fit so I threw it away.

All of us have a bit of irrationality in us.

Admittedly I’m terrible at the dating business myself, and, I supposedly have the advantage of being a female atheist.

BTW the amusing thing about astrology is there are at least two major systems out there (with a multitude of variants), the European one with Scorpio et al. and the Indian one which is quite different. There is an amusing detail among many in “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth (a good but long read set in India of the 1950s) where a couple go to one astrologer to determine what is a good time for the bride to have been born given the groom’s birth date and time. This time is given to the groom’s family who promptly check with their own astrologer to see if the pairing is propitious (fortunately both astrologers used the same system).

Oh, come on. Anyone who rejects every single person displaying even a shred of irrationality is solely responsible for his or her own isolation, and more than a little irrational to boot. Sorry, but I get really sick of all this self-pitying atheists seem prone to.

Everyone is irrational sometimes. The killer is when someone is OK with being irrational, or worse yet, views irrationality as virtuous.

Skepticism is a muscle and it needs exercise. If you avoid irrational people or situations, you can’t give it a proper workout.
Rejoice when the funny, smart, cute person you meet says something irrational. It’s your chance to have a real, meaningful conversation with a funny, smart, cute person.
Don’t let such an opportunity pass you by.

Judging people based on how rational the set of ideas and beliefs they hold is too easy to be a good thing.

Everyone believes some things that other people have discovered to be false under heavy evidence. Big deal! Just as an example, I have some training in Audio Engineering and record production, and everyone’s a record critic. Lots of people have some funny ideas about what does and does not happen in the studio while their favorite records are being made.

I choose, alternatively, to judge people (not judging is false, a pretentious lie to be sure) based on how they respond, faced with opposition equipped with evidence, or indeed the evidence itself. That’s not to say I’ll get along with those who base huge decisions on supernatural BS, but in general I’ll forgive a lot of funny ideas granted the holder is willing to have a good-natured, honest discussion about their validity, convert or not.

Anyone else find irony that this blog post is directly after the one on whether Atheist Group Meetings are exciting?

Astrology bothers me way more than most other superstitions. Saying you can tell things about a someone’s personality based on the day they were born is the very definition of prejudice.

I used to draw a very hard line until I met my last ex. He had some pretty silly hang-ups (ghosts, liberal christianity, etc.) that didn’t affect his life in a big way and didn’t put much of a strain on our relationship. The whole ordeal taught me to lighten up.

I still cannot help being openly contemptuous of astrology.

Astrology is not “a little irrational,” it’s barking insane. As are most humans. If you don’t get it, It’s because you’re an idiot.

It bugs me when the sort of thing in that comic happens to me, but my response varies. If it’s a friend who says something irrational, I might ignore the comment or just say “I don’t believe in that astrology stuff” and leave it at that. If it’s an aquaintance, or a potential girlfriend, or someone I encounter on the internet, I’m more enclined to debate them on it or say “Astrology is nonsense” or something similar.

I don’t believe in astrology, but I do like to occasionally read horoscopes and such just for the lulz. Sometimes I check all the horoscopes, not just “mine”, to see how many of them are vague enough to possibly apply to me. One of these days I might cut a bunch of horoscopes out of a newspaper, separate them from their “star signs”, and see if people can figure out which ones are “theirs”.

Oh come on, if we took irrationality out of love, it’d never happen.

I agree 100% with the ‘toon…
Life is too short to waste any of it tolerating lunatics.

Gah! Astrology is one of my bugbears. It would be a serious turn off for me. I know I mock the people at work who follow their stars and mocking your lover isn’t a good idea.

Trust me, even dropping the ‘rational talk’ condition hasn’t made Dating any easier.

Let he or she who is without a single irrational thought or belief cast the first stone!

Sometimes you got to be lenient. After all, they may not have met anyone with reasonable arguments to the contrary.

And so long as they aren’t making life decisions based on it, it seems like splitting hairs.

I married a wiccan, but sense knowing me she’s been able to say, without my prodding, that she understands that nothing supernatural actually happens, even if she still likes the ‘drama’ of astrology. Maybe she grow out of it completely, maybe not, but if you’re not willing to take a journey with someone you will find yourself in corners. Having high standards is a great way to wall yourself off, and then you’re not helping anyone. If anything skeptics need to be more engaging.

What’s important is that they accept you having your skeptical beliefs, and would let you speak your mind freely without being offended.

I’m a Libra with Scorpio moon, Taurus ascending. I celebrate my re-naming day on August 13, so I’m actually “reborn” a Leo.

What I could NEVER get in my years studying astrology (in my pre-atheism days of course,) was how the influence of stars and planets was supposed to shape my personality, my past, my present, my future, etc. Astrologers bandy about the word “energy” as a major buzzword. What energy? Why can’t astronomers and scientists detect this “energy”? If it’s so powerful as to influence us, shouldn’t it be bleeding powerful enough to measure using scientific methods?

So I just tell people, depending on my mood, that I’m a Scorpio, because they’re cooler. XD

What I could NEVER get in my years studying astrology (in my pre-atheism days of course,) was how the influence of stars and planets was supposed to shape my personality

Well your month of birth can influence your personality somewhat. Children born in winter generally didn’t go out much in their first months so tend to be closer to their family than those born in the summer. The month you are born effects how big and developed you are when you start school. There are every day factors like this. I don’t think the effect will be significant and it almost certainly isn’t anything to do with magic energy coming from stars.

It also isn’t anything to do with gravity which I once heard as an explanation or with radio waves. My mobile phone has a much greater impact in terms of radiation and gravity than any distant star does.