Now hold your horses before you start crying.
I am an Atheist myself and the reason I've started this thread is because I noticed a distinct lack of... lets say "camaraderie" amongst fellow atheists.
I'm not talking about friendly discussion, I am talking of vicious character assassinations made under the guise of debate. No issue seems to be too small to launch a full attack. Some just seem to want to make each other look small and gain great pleasure from doing so. While I haven't been a victim of this I have cringed at the results because it is precisely this kind of shit which gives us a bad name.

I think we should all realize that its not the flawless crippling of an opponents argument that makes Atheism a movement worth being part of (although that is certainly one of the perks) but the friendly, intelligent company of people who are truly alive and truly free in every sense of the word.

Am I the only one who thinks so? Opinions, please.

I think you're confusing human nature with something that is specific to atheists.

No, I don't think that atheists are addicted to conflict. Of course, there are many who may have that quality, but not all atheists. The same can be said about theists as well.

The only thing I can say for sure about atheists is that they don't believe in God.

(April 13, 2012 at 2:20 am)Faith No More Wrote: I think you're confusing human nature with something that is specific to atheists.

You could pretty much assign any human behavior to human nature. Some groups of humans are more prone to certain human behavior than other groups.
I am attempting to discern if desire for conflict is a quality common to Atheists.

Quote:I am an Atheist myself and the reason I've started this thread is because I noticed a distinct lack of... lets say "camaraderie" amongst fellow atheists.

I gather you mean here? Ok,and your point is? No offence,but I could not care less about your personal expectations.

Quote:I think we should all realize that its not the flawless crippling of an opponents argument that makes Atheism a movement

I think you should realise atheism is NOT a movement. An atheist is simply a person who does not believe in god(s) NOTHING ELSE IS IMPLIED OR MAY BE INFERRED.

(April 13, 2012 at 2:30 am)padraic Wrote: I gather you mean here? Ok,and your point is? No offence,but I could not care less about your personal expectations.

Whether you meant offense or not thats the kind of obnoxious response I'm talking about. It is not an approach that is going to convince people to take your point into consideration.
Also it is a movement of sorts, its a movement towards the ideal that religion should not interfere with our day to day life and that God isn't needed to give us meaning in our lives. I'm sure theres more I could mention but you get the point.

Let me guess, you're referring mostly to the two posts recently contested by ShellB and myself?

I doubt that we're addicted to conflict. Most likely since the only unifying quality of atheists is a lack of belief, there are such a range of people frequenting the forums that opposites are going to inevitably run into one another.

It's also possible that atheists are used to attacks against them, and are therefore tuned to seeing personal attacks where none exist.

It could be both of the above, actually.

Sometimes I think the sense of entitlement is the problem, not negativity or a lack of friendliness. Sometimes, the facts are simply negative. That does not make someone mean, negative, enjoying of conflict, bitchy, unfeeling or anything else. It seems like the only emotion that is acceptable is "Whoopee!" Forget being unemotional. That is just downright unacceptable. Sarcasm, don't even dare!

A debate is a debate. Insulting a person's argument is not a fucking character assassination. I've seen one or two of those around here. Shit, I've even doled one or two out. However, that is rare. To hear some people say it, "boo" is being too damn mean and it happens all the time here. It doesn't. Focus on the negative and that is all you will see.

You don't need to start a bogus poll to complain about certain members.

---

(April 13, 2012 at 2:36 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: Also it is a movement of sorts, its a movement towards the ideal that religion should not interfere with our day to day life and that God isn't needed to give us meaning in our lives. I'm sure theres more I could mention but you get the point.

No, it's not. I don't care if religion interferes with people's lives or if people find meaning through god.

Pad's right. This ain't no stinking movement.

(April 13, 2012 at 2:45 am)R-e-n-n-a-t Wrote: Let me guess, you're referring mostly to the two posts recently contested by ShellB and myself?

I doubt that we're addicted to conflict. Most likely since the only unifying quality of atheists is a lack of belief, there are such a range of people frequenting the forums that opposites are going to inevitably run into one another.

It's also possible that atheists are used to attacks against them, and are therefore tuned to seeing personal attacks where none exist.

It could be both of the above, actually.

Partially. I've seen worse examples from many others. Although it is true that a lack of belief maybe the only unifying influence it is also true that all who are here felt such passion towards the subject they went to the trouble of joining a forum and making regular posts on the subject.
But yes, I agree with most of what you're saying.