Mean, snarky atheist

My kids did something wonderful. They and their friends gathered at their church to wrap gifts to distribute to the homeless in a nearby city. This was a Saturday night, a few days before Christmas. They wrapped clothes, socks, outerwear, and bibles with gift cards inside. Yes, bibles.

I had my doubts about the value of giving out bibles to people who need so much more than a book to carry around, and perhaps the money could be spent in a more useful way. But, this mission was not mine, so I kept my thoughts to myself, and helped them with their wrapping.

I take photos of everything, so they weren't surprised when I posted photos of their wrapping party on Facebook for all of them to see. My atheist nephew left a snarky comment. I did not appreciate it. I immediately removed it and sent him a private message as to why, and to also ask him to refrain from posting snarky messages when it came to something related to my kids (his cousins).

We messaged back and forth for a bit, as you can see if you click on the image. He is what I'd refer to as a mean, snarky atheist (MSA). And my question is... why? Belittling and criticizing others' beliefs will certainly not shame them into turning atheist. They will not suddenly start questioning their beliefs or the bible. It will not change things!

A few days later, I was at a family event with the MSA nephew. I knew his mom and sister (both Catholics) were listening nearby. MSA nephew said he thought my daughter (also atheist) and I were doing it right by being "nice" atheists. He is still angered by religion in general, and thinks there is no value in it.

But I brought up a good point. There are millions of people in the world who walk the straight and narrow BECAUSE of the fear of God. If you take religion away, they will not have any fear in doing bad things or hurting others. Personally, I LIKE having religion, and the belief in God in this world because it keeps ME safer. True, there are those who commit acts of violence in the name of religion, but that number is far less than those "good" people who do good things in the name of God.

I really hope I gave MSA nephew something to think about.