Why do you think atheists pay so much attention to religion?

[Brian37]

Quote:Exactly what they cannot deal with. They think they are so fucking special that there is no way the world can go on without them.

Funny how the world always does despite humanity grasping at utopias and fictional straws.

The concept of "special" in the real reality of what we do as a species know and observe and can measure is insulting. To conflate the good and the bad of reality to Superman vs Kriptonite is the unfortunate teat humanity clings to out of ignorance. Placebos sound good until arrogance gets the outsider killed.

[RaphielDrake]

(2nd June 2012 23:47)Brian37 Wrote:  

Quote:Exactly what they cannot deal with. They think they are so fucking special that there is no way the world can go on without them.

Funny how the world always does despite humanity grasping at utopias and fictional straws.

The concept of "special" in the real reality of what we do as a species know and observe and can measure is insulting. To conflate the good and the bad of reality to Superman vs Kriptonite is the unfortunate teat humanity clings to out of ignorance. Placebos sound good until arrogance gets the outsider killed.

Know what confuses me the most? The fact they seem to want to live forever. I mean, think about that for a moment. Live *forever*? I'm going to be bored of life by the time I reach forty, forever? Fuck that. Its not even as if it'd be living forever here either, it'd be an eternity sucking the omnipotent cock of some superbeing in a place he controls entirely and trying not to piss him off.
Why would anyone want that to be true? It baffles me.

[Rev. Rye]

(20th July 2011 22:51)Trog31 Wrote:  It's really hard to talk about disbelief. "you don't believe either....cool" would be the gist of the conversation.
People don't usually talk about what they don't believe in, but rather what they DO believe in.
In the western world, Xianity is the dominant "In your face" religion and is ~2B strong so it's what tends to be the focus
of debate and rancor for many ex-xians.

In addition, not only is it hard to talk about disbelief, the problematic nature of some belief systems does make excellent conversation, at least until it starts to get ugly.

[apophenia]

I don't know what my original response to this was, but I likely have a better answer now. The reason is 'branding'. Atheists and theists compete in the same market, and the tried and true method for gaining market share is effective branding. Of course branding of your product is intimately tied to, and of necessity responsive to changes in your competitor's branding of their product. It's simple marketing, played out in both diversification of image and branding (manyfold flavors of Protestantism, and jostling in the non-theist brand between weakly or strongly positioned products, etc), and clustering around similar "types". (For a more thorough exposition of the marketing angle from the religion side, read Shopping For God: How Christianity Went from In Your Heart to In Your Face by James B. Twitchell .)