Assumptions: We all make them, and we've all heard what making them does.
Sometimes assumptions are based on actual personal knowledge about someone we know.
Many times, however--especially when dealing with the big world of people who live inside the internet--assumptions are made based on nothing other than the 'About Me' box we read on someone's blog. That opinion, formed in the space of seconds, is backed by our personal feelings about certain descriptive words that the blogger may have used in describing herself.
In my 'About Me' box, I deliberately typed 'non-theist' instead of 'atheist' because I hope it causes someone to stop and think about what that means. I think people see the word atheist and start making assumptions that the person behind the word is a depraved being who worships Satan. (If you're one of those people, we don't believe in Satan, either.) I wonder if the emphases were equally on the first and second syllables, if that would cause people to view it differently...if it were pronounced A-THEE-ist instead of A-theist. I wonder if all the assumptions surrounding that word would suddenly shift a little, because the meaning might become a little more clear.
1 week ago
