Social Occasions and Controversial Subjects

I got myself into a bit of trouble recently when, at a dinner party for a friend's birthday, I got into a rather prolonged conversation with two women about atheism and my objections to faith. These people were friends of mine, though certainly not close ones, and had known previously about my beliefs. I cannot remember whether or not I initiated the conversation, but I believe someone else broached international poverty or something like that and how faith and Christianity (by implication) in particular can provide people hope and help them deal with hardship.

To be blunt, such thinking drives me nuts, as I think religion does more to shackle the poor and disenfranchised than it might ever do to help them. If one believes that "my currently disastrous situation is acceptable because Jesus will provide an enjoyable afterlife," and as a consequence becomes even remotely more complacent about outrageous living conditions, one is being duped by religion and, I would argue, enslaved by it.

To be clear, it is highly unlikely (and I would say "not the case") that there is such a thing as an afterlife, as that would require humans to have some sort of soul that exists only in books and bibles. So to tolerate oppressive rulers or squalid conditions because of religious beliefs strikes me as one of the greatest tragedies imaginable.

In any case, we discussed this and managed to have a decent conversation about it, but the combination of it going on for about 40 minutes and my being rather emphatic (some would say close-minded) about the falsity of supernatural events and things, I got a bit of heat afterward for essentially being an "ass" and pushing the envelope in a social situation that was not my own (this was not my birthday, after all).

Upon further reflection, I agree on some counts. It would have been better for me to focus on the person whose birthday it was or the people there and the atmosphere and why we were there, as opposed to my own convictions. A friend I questioned about this said "yeah, I mean, the guy who brings abortion up at a dinner party is an asshole, he just is." Yeah, he probably is.

But I also take issue with the mandatory mundaneness of our conversations in social situations. If I am not to speak of atheism or other controversial subjects at dinner, when should I? At official debates? In classrooms? Now, one might say that I'm unfairly drawing the line between the extreme of having heated conversations all the time on one hand, and talking about nothing but how the food tastes on the other, and perhaps I am, but I do think that the extent to which we take such grievous offense at being questioned or pestered about our beliefs is ripe for changing. I have been taken to task for beliefs of mine at dinners and other events, and while I think it is fair to say that one ought not to go out in search of people to question or castigate, it is equally fair to say that if intelligent college-aged people are together, especially if they're sober and have little to do but eat, controversial subjects make things more interesting.

Then again, it was not my party. And these were not my best friends. Point taken, I suppose.