Pharyngula: In which the obnoxious atheist addresses his critics, and makes a polite suggestion to his fellow bloggers

Hmm...

Atheists seem to spend an inordinate amount of time saying that there is no god, and even more time justifying their position in print.

I wonder if there is a tiny voice inside their head, telling them that they're wrong, and they just can't shake the voice.

Is that why they pontificate so much on a subject that should be a non-starter for them?

Hmm...

Wow, great article c.dric! I can't imagine how you found it - I doubt anyone has ever seen anything like this before - he even called Christians ignorant and deluded! It's so inovative! Cutting edge! Unique! Brave! That guy is a real pioneer of modern thought - imagine the introspection and courage it took for this guy to look within and go against the grain and actually insult religious people publically! Where can I get his autograph?

/sarcasm off

Nothing new to see here, move along.

I wonder if you realize just how correct you probably are?

Hmmm ...

The map is a lot different than what I expected it to look like. I always thought south was generally more religious than the north ... although it's running vertically through the middle (except for Utah).

What is the cause of this sinfulness? Is water the cause of atheism? We must stamp out those oceans of Satan!!!!

@OrangeCrate: Meh, there are plenty of atheists including in this forum has that do not constantly spout their non-religion around. We defend evolution and stuff though, nor do we like people constantly referring to the bible. But that is simply because referring to an authority we do not recognize does not work...
I do not think the reason atheism-zealots say stuff like that because they are more unsure then 'normal' atheists. More like self-righeous, and stuff like that. Same goes for religious zealots.
There is even a recent thread about the pointlessness of trying to convert people to atheism. Perhaps it is useful to give a last push, but if someone believes, i do not think it is very useful to

I can personally vouch for the INaccuracy of that map. I live in one of the lightest counties according to the map, but the percentage of religious adherents has to be way over 35%, maybe more like 75% or more.

he's stating the obvious and, judging from the map, it looks like we need more people like him.

This is why :

Just another blogger on meth. How original.

Need them for what? If you need more, just poke around discussion forums like this, they are easy to find.

BTW, why don't atheists hate Muslims like they hate Christians?

@Rasczak: I do not hate Christians, only if they use that they use their religion to hold irrational beliefs, or as a way to not think for themselves. And same goes for other religions and reasons not to think for yourself.

I don't know. I don't see many atheists railing against Muslims, they're always going off about Christians. Look at what the Muslim religion often involves and compare that to today's Christians. Seems backwards that Christians draw the majority of hate.

Christians go "tsk tsk tsk" and maybe shake their Bible at women who have sex outside marriage. Muslims chop their head off.

Another 2 cents worth (I have about 68 cents worth of 2 cent'ers) We could probably come up with several categories to put Atheists into, but I don't have names for all the categories. In my case, no religious upbringing, read articles like the one in the OP for an occasional laugh, don't hate anyone, and think that everyone of EVERY religion is probably just seeking some kind of purpose or rationale to life. Then we have the one's like the guy that wrote the article, who is very insistent on his views and has to consider himself right, and is probably a true atheist. Then there would be the atheists that used to have faith, who probably still aren't really too sure. And of course, there are the ones who claim to be atheists to 1)tick off the parents, or 2)the hot kid they want to date is an atheist, or 3)no one wants to sit by atheists on the bus, or 4)yada yada yada. Zillions of reasons.

I have no need of hate, nor any need to try to convince people they're wrong...but there are a lot out there that do.

i don't hate muslims, christians, republicans or libertarians ... i dislike many effects of religions and i don't think religious beliefs deserve anymore respect than political beliefs.

you, and probably the majority of the atheists you know, live in a predominantly christian society... christianism is closer to home for most.

agreed. the situation in muslims societies is often worse ... sometimes a lot worse, but i don't think it has to do with the fact that they're moslims and not christians ... i think it's mostly due to the fact that religiousness is more prevalent and therefore less inhibited.

And the award for the best islamophobic performance goes to Rasczak, again...

btw ... there is a lot of muslim bashing where i live and it's not coming from atheists but from racists who will use anything to rationalize their dislike of anything arab ... so it can happen that i feel uneasy about sending more water into their mills. on that count i plead guilty.

clearly you havent heard some of the evangelicals railing for biblical law and the including death sentances for homosexuality and other adultery, the muslim states you refer to are just if the fundamentalists become the majority.

Nah, just my concious mind

Atheists dont hate muslims because muslims arent personally pushing their own religiously based opinions on most of us with any real power. We dont care if xxxxx group wants to enforce sharia law in our country of origin, because we know they dont have the numbers. Christian groups on the other hand do, so when they tell us that evolution is wrong/ID should be taught in schools, or gays are an evil scourge, or that women shouldnt have a right to abort a fetus based on religious grounds. We voice our opinion against them. Both sides of the argument are likely as feisty as each other given a level playing field.

We dont hate christians either, btw, we just argue with them more. And when there becomes a statistically significant number of muslims wherever we live, we'll probably face off with them to. Its not that we agree with them in any way, its that christians are the ones we live with.


My two cents, your post is baseless, and i dont agree with your groupings :P


Nor do most people when the wrong opinion is benign.

Interesting point. Do you think the same could be said of evangelical Christians?

Not exactly to the quote of course, but yes, like all extremists, it's their way or the highway.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the "extremes" of anything.