JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 10: Dear Mr. Atheist, Part 1 (IBF 20). Religion and politics on the Internet, what could go wrong? My initial thought about the “Dear Mr. Atheist” viral video. Please check out the LetUsExplain response video. They do a great job addressing Joshua Feuerstein’s points (with a sense of humor, too) (IBF 20)

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Joe Bustillos here with tonight’s final thought.

My folk’s grew up in a world where you didn’t talk about religion or politics. I grew up in the 60s & 70s, during the Vietnam anti-war and Jesus-freak movements, so we didn’t exactly hold to that ideal. But once we got over our teenage angst most of us moved on to other things. This current generation isn’t too much different except that their coming-of-age foolishness gets posted and responded to on the world-wide-web. We’ve all said and done stupid things, it’s just that there isn’t archival-footage to remind most of us of those awkward moments of not-fully-developed judgment. Except now.

Case in point, take this fellow, Joshua Feuerstein, who has a 5-minute “gonna educated ignorant Atheists” rant video.

[play video open]

The viral video has not only shown up on my feed but has gone so far as to attract the attention of world-wide news networks, such as the BBC.

[show image/play 2nd video]

I’ve seen more than a few LIKES from my Christian friends and a lot of response videos from the Atheist side. I won’t wade in directly and respond to the rant except to point to one video

[switch to 3rd video]

by LetUsExplain. These two guys do a great job responding to the video with a relatively light-hearted attitude. Please check it out.

So, my initial concern with these “atheism v Christianity” smack-downs is when either side begins with a “superior-intellect” attack. Unlike many I see flying into this battle, I have a bachelor’s degree in a biblical studies from a conservative Christian university and spent several quarters studying towards a masters in theology. And I can report without a doubt that there are brilliant thinkers on both sides of the debate. You may not hear from them or even know who they are because of all the whoo-haas hogging the mic. And, let’s face it, it’s easy to poke fun at the extremists, but, truthfully, that’s hardly a worthy attitude to have toward this subject. So let’s just take the “your position is stupid” attitude off the table.

Funny thing… It gets really quiet once you stop listening to the name calling. I kind’a like the quiet… Now I can actually think about how I feel on the subject.

Stay tuned for part 2 of “hey, mr. Atheist”…