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Over time, you'll hear a lot of really stupid things from atheists, no fewer than from religious individuals.
I am not sure that this is true. I hear some batshit crazy shit from religious individuals ALL the time. Practically, the moment they open their mouth or write their first sentence.
On average, atheists are more educated and more intelligent so you will hear less 'stupid things' from them.
You may not have been around large groups of atheists. I assure you, there is no reason to honor them as a group, relative to other groups.
Also I look at things differently then you. You may be using a mechanistic 19th century point of view regarding facts and statements, while I look at grammatical constructs and symbolism.
As one example of looking at things said as grammatical constructs, suppose
somebody parrots a statement on a "hot button issue." Then, they feel good. That's all above feeling good, the issue was not at all relevant. All kinds of people do this.
Hmm, that makes sense, but it would only work for people who want to be right (about something, anything) all the time (probably the majority of people).
I love to be proven wrong. That is the only way to progress your thinking. Being right is boring, IMHO.
If you learn how to understand what people are saying, what they are really saying instead of the fact of the words, that's very powerful.
I have not seen this method discussed much, just trying to explain it. However, it IS the 21st century, and this is not a place or time to have a 19th century mechanistic point of view...
