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Comment by wincy | Hacker News Reader

I was a hardcore Dawkins fan at 16. Insufferable edgelord sort, and thought I’d stay that way. Then again I grew up Mormon and their theological rigor is… extremely tenuous. My grandmother was Catholic but I wasn’t really exposed to it as a kid.

I’m 38 now and in the process of becoming Catholic. I’ve started going to mass every day. I’m not really sure why but I feel really great.

Our goal is to inoculate our children from atheism. We knew a lot of people who killed themselves over the years who were part of the “atheist church” we went to in our 20s. I’ve stopped caring about being right, and don’t really care to argue about religion with people. Instead care about living a life I find meaningful. I want the same for my children. After exploring the other options, I think a religious framework is what makes that possible.

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> Then again I grew up Mormon and their theological rigor is… extremely tenuous

The Mormons I know were warned against an "unhealthy" level of interest in theology. Very different from Catholicism, where they assume it's normal and healthy to be interested in theological questions, some people will go deeper than others, and the church should embrace it. The only Mormon I know who persisted in his interest despite official warnings was pretty racist and was convinced that racism, like polygamy, was still part of the faith and was only denied for political and social reasons. He got crosswise with some school officials (at BYU) because they wouldn't discuss it with him and temporarily lost his temple recommend. According to him, what they said he needed to correct was his excessive interest in theology.

I grew up going to church, sunday school, choir, community service events, mission trips, and all that. I don't regret any of it and I look back at all that fondly and I believe it really helped shape who I am today and to be a more caring and considerate and helpful person. There were certainly excellent adults who were great role models as well who helped guide me and teach me and to grow, and they really cared about me.

I am sure there are bad experiences out there too, but there are plenty of good ones.

How did you land on Catholicism? Did you consider other religions?

As an atheist that inoculated atheism in my children (not that it was hard to do, they simply stated to think by themselves) I can tell you that life is great.

We do not need someone to tell you how the wrote is - we can see it ourselves. What we see in life is explained by science, that brings in new progress - we do not need a group that claims that gif dud everything, to tell later that it was just allegoric when science explained it.

We do not need the mud of religion to cover for what it cannot explain - you mention how an insufferable edgelird you were, but religion is this, plus no will to change our learn.

Dawkins has a nostalgic fondness for the Church of England, for its cosiness. Humanist congregations are supposed to provide the social aspects of church without the faith. Being a nihilistic edgelord is not compulsory. I don't know what your "atheist church" was, but it sounds like you're rebounding from some unfortunate existential crisis club to the opposite extreme (being meaningfully wrong?), neglecting the possibility of just being reasonable.

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