(September 17, 2015 at 3:47 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: 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
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.
Boy you have fucking balls. You come here to our sanctuary claiming to be a representative member of an organization that in time past tried to exterminate us and in more recent times systematically raped the children of its own supporting members. What is more is that you have in good conscience defended and justified those actions for all the members here to see. And you can't figure out why we mock you.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
