I have been fascinated by the phenomenon of the "angry atheist" ever since my arrival here in the forum. I expected and hoped to engage in intelligent discussion of our differences of opinion with the so-called "brights" of our society, but more often than not, I have been the recipient of a lot of misdirected venom.
And I'm not alone, apparently.
In this article posted at Dave Armstrong's blog, Jan Tik describes his own experiences with the angry atheists he has encountered and writes:
The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians
by Jan Tik
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstro...tians.html
As I have observed and commented upon in this forum, Tik also notes:
Happily, there are a few members of this forum who do not fall into this pattern, but they are all too few, IMO.
And I'm not alone, apparently.
In this article posted at Dave Armstrong's blog, Jan Tik describes his own experiences with the angry atheists he has encountered and writes:
The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians
by Jan Tik
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstro...tians.html
Quote:But if one takes a look at just about any active combox underneath an atheist post that has anything at all to do with Christianity, the usual boorish, garden variety collection of insults will be immediately observed:
Christians are gullible, infantile believers of fairy tales on the level of unicorns, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the Easter bunny, leprechauns, “magic,” the tooth fairy, etc. We are anti-intellectual, anti-science, dumb, stupid, idiots, ignoramuses, and imbeciles who are impervious to evidence of any kind for our beliefs. We have a blind faith that is shielded from reason, fact, and any possible falsifiability. You name it: we’ve been called it by the sadly typical “angry / hostile” atheist.
Any curious human being, it seems to me, who observes this behavior, must marvel at both its near-universality and the extreme level of passion and vitriol involved. The question arises: “whence derives such utter disdain and derision?” It appears to be a species of a mentality that is brought to mind by the famous line of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks“. Source.
As I have observed and commented upon in this forum, Tik also notes:
Quote:The same people who produce the endless stream of invective against Christians and Christianity (or, “Christianity”) can (again, like all schoolyard bullies) dish it out but can’t take it. Any criticism back is met with even more highly insulting rhetoric and hyper-polemics.
Happily, there are a few members of this forum who do not fall into this pattern, but they are all too few, IMO.