The word "Atheist" and its connotations - link to thread

[JadeDragonSoul]

I just made this thread in the GD, the forum I moderate in.
It talks about the stigmas and connotations of Atheists and the word itself.
Feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, and opinions here or there.
As I think it belongs here. whee  

[Dathu]

Well, in short I guess I think theists hate us because they fear us. Not physically, of course, but ....... Think of it like this: if you're having a good dream, and it's so good you don't want to realize it's a dream. You don't mind meeting other dreamers, even if their dreams are different from your own, cause at least their dreaming too. But then, someone comes along and that person is not dreaming. That person is awake. It reminds you that you're not awake. It reminds you that you're living in a dream: a dream you don't want to wake up from. You feel foolish and angry. From here the only options are avoidance, termination, and understanding.

stare Guess which ones get picked the most.

I guess I can't balme them, but I can't tolerate it either. It's a crazy world we live in. confused  

[Baron von Turkeypants]

Sometimes a cigar...

HAHAHA that first reply is so GD.

"OMG I DON'T WANNA READ ANY MORE OF THESE THREADS LOL"

well ********, then don't read them. Don't complain, just don't read. Jesus ******** Christ.

...is just a cigar.

 

[Redem]

An interesting, if predictable, thread. sad

The responses I mean, not your comments.

There was little interest in the subject at hand, just whining mostly. Especially from a couple of religious dudes who claimed that religious people were persecuted more, and refused to accept the "Atheists are the most hated group in America" poll. *sigh*

Dathu

Well, in short I guess I think theists hate us because they fear us. Not physically, of course, but ....... Think of it like this: if you're having a good dream, and it's so good you don't want to realize it's a dream. You don't mind meeting other dreamers, even if their dreams are different from your own, cause at least their dreaming too. But then, someone comes along and that person is not dreaming. That person is awake. It reminds you that you're not awake. It reminds you that you're living in a dream: a dream you don't want to wake up from. You feel foolish and angry. From here the only options are avoidance, termination, and understanding.

I never thought about it these terms, but that is similar to my thoguhts on the matter.

If you look at the other religions, Muslims and Jews believe essentially the same things Christians believe, with some difference in mythology. Native religions can be dismissed as primitive throwbacks to an earlier time. Eastern religions like Buddhism can be dismissed along with all the newage quackery a lot of people add to it.

That leaves us, we're not so easily dismissed, and we do not share their essential world view. That makes us uncomfortable for them. We do claim the rational high ground after all, and defend it, and any time they try to argue with us, as a whole, we tend to bring up questions they do not want to think about. The problem of evil being a notable example.

As such, they emotionally tend to.. not want to be around us, we remind them of things they do not want to be reminded of. And that discomfort is easily rationalised away as us being satan worshippers, or immoral, or some such.  

[Theophrastus]

It makes me giggle when any of the big four religious groups claim to be persecuted - the reason they gained such massive popularity is because they killed anyone who disagreed with them for centuries - some still do it.

And we're the bad guys?  

[Dathu]

Theophrastus

It makes me giggle when any of the big four religious groups claim to be persecuted - the reason they gained such massive popularity is because they killed anyone who disagreed with them for centuries - some still do it.

And we're the bad guys?

Exactly! Hear, hear!  

[Cirosan]

Most of the replies, sadly, lack general competence.

Zeptan

Religious figures are a target of negativity far worse than Atheists. Where's your sympathy for them? Is this bias I'm seeing in mod?

Yoda

That is why you fail.

In all honesty, how could one misconstrue statistics that read "Atheists are the least trusted minorities in America." to read "Religious figures are the least trusted figures in America despite their millions of followers."?

In addition, if you're really the least trusted minority, we don't need you to tell us about it. We already know. Further, you speak of being discriminated against as if you're boasting, somehow. Finally, give me some actual examples of religious people being a target for more negativity. For example, which of the following would have more trouble booking a hotel: The Pope, or an Atheist convention?  

[Missle59]

There are a few things christians like to point out that make it look like they are the ones being persecuted. Here are a few I have compiled and rebutted.

1: Memorials are being torn down simply, because they are shaped like a cross.

Yes, because they violate a very important document called the constitution. There is a little thing in there called the separation of church and state.

2: The whole Christmas debacle.

This one is old and long since known the truth, but I add it anyway. It is a pagan holiday. Jesus was not born that day and they know it.

3: Here is a quote "Everyday in the country christian kids go to school...where their beliefs are attack. They are mocked and belittled by their teachers for their beliefs, and they are told there faith is responsible for the ills of the world."

Right so far all I see is complete fabrication and lies. I just got out of high school. Since school is so fresh in my memory I can honestly that its not even close to the truth. In fact it is the opposite.

4: 300 Churches are burned down a year by arsonists.

Right might I add that most or all of those arsonists are christian. Fighting inside of the same religion does not constitute religious persecution.

I got all of these from one source. A comic called Hard Onions. He has made many other claims, but I will not bother to debunk them right now. (or at least try I may be wrong on all accounts) Just looking at this comic makes my brain hurt and my hope for humanity die a little more.  

[ProjectOmicron88]

When I was agnostic, I didn't want to make the leap to atheism because I grew up believing that being "atheist" was somehow bad, or that I would be looked down upon if I chose to adopt that way of thinking. This wasn't because of parental influence (they could care less what I believe, though my mother still seems to get a little uncomfortable when I talk about it...she was raised the most religious out of both my parents [Catholic, I believe]). It was simply because for all the stuff I'd read, all the things I'd seen on TV, that being atheist had a negative stigma attached to it.

Now, this is where I go on a fanboy rant, so people may want to skip this if they're averse to such things, but it is the reason why I got started really thinking critically about religion. I saw George Carlin on Comedy Central one day, doing his infamous bit about religion being "the greatest bullshit story of all time". I had only heard his name before, but had never seen his material, and I was impressed, to say the least, with the confidence with which he stood up on stage and denounced religion by reducing it to its simplest terms and revealing it to be one of the most absurd concepts in our society ("an invisible man sitting in the sky who watches everything you do," etc.).

It didn't make me atheist right off the bat, of course...but it did start me thinking critically about religion and its influence in our society, and I concluded that I really, truly believe there is no supernatural influence in our existence, nor has there been, nor will there be, and that I was too worried about what people might think to indulge that notion seriously.  

[Cirosan]

The amount of idiocy flowing forth from this thread is astonishing. Depressing, even. What I think people misunderstand is that we're not calling out the discrimination against us to instill pity, but to attempt to stop it as soon as possible.

One person was kind enough to post a mock inspirational picture with one of the men from Jackass (ironically) laughing that read "ATHEISTS: No one's discriminating against you. STFU already."

Shortly after that, someone else posted, "I seriously don't like Atheist. They seem like a threat to my religion Christianity."

...Stop. Please, stop. I can't take it anymore. I would love nothing more than to say that Atheists weren't discriminated against, but I can't, because that's not the truth. I've experienced it first hand, and read many more tales as well. Don't tell me I'm not discriminated against. Do something to fix the problem instead of ignoring it.

((I briefly flirted with the idea of summoning some sort strike team of debaters there to shoot down the bigots, but it's not worth the trouble.))  

[ProjectOmicron88]

Cirosan

The amount of idiocy flowing forth from this thread is astonishing. Depressing, even. What I think people misunderstand is that we're not calling out the discrimination against us to instill pity, but to attempt to stop it as soon as possible.

One person was kind enough to post a mock inspirational picture with one of the men from Jackass (ironically) laughing that read "ATHEISTS: No one's discriminating against you. STFU already."

Shortly after that, someone else posted, "I seriously don't like Atheist. They seem like a threat to my religion Christianity."

...Stop. Please, stop. I can't take it anymore. I would love nothing more than to say that Atheists weren't discriminated against, but I can't, because that's not the truth. I've experienced it first hand, and read many more tales as well. Don't tell me I'm not discriminated against. Do something to fix the problem instead of ignoring it.

((I briefly flirted with the idea of summoning some sort strike team of debaters there to shoot down the bigots, but it's not worth the trouble.))

A lot of theists like to believe that atheism is an organized force, when in reality, it's not.

Because of s**t like this, however...maybe it should be.  

[Redem]

ProjectOmicron88

A lot of theists like to believe that atheism is an organized force, when in reality, it's not.

Because of s**t like this, however...maybe it should be.

It would solve some problems, but there's little to unite us really.  

[Theophrastus]

Herding cats, personal activism, etc.  

[Fuzzy Kittens]

You guys herd cats too?! I was quite impressed with the overall intelligence and open-mindedness displayed throughout the thread. It's always disappointing to read some negative comments (e.g., "they are a threat to my religion Christianity"), however, most of such comments contributed very little to the discussion and were repeats of not-very-clever macros. Not to be taken seriously.

I almost felt sorry for that Zeptan guy. He only seemed to be making things worse for his argument by blatantly ignoring the evidence presented to him. Along the way I lost track of what he arguing. neutral