The Problem with Christians

[LadyForCamus]

I find myself wondering why so many of you on this forum can't seem to have a civilized debate without resorting to verbal abuse every time you have a disagreement. In just a short time here, I've been told to fuck off more times than I have in my whole life. What makes atheists so aggressive I wonder?

Back to the point at hand, in Australia, less than 10% of the population are practicing Christians. In terms of opposition to transsexuals, the bulk of it comes from the average guy in the street. My former neighbour who was very much a rough as guts, heavy drinking "blokey" tradesman is undergoing gender reassignment. As an electrician, you can bet your bottom dollar, all the pagans on the work site are going to have a real tough time accepting him/her turning up to work in a dress.

When I came to this site about a year ago, I was a much more militant atheist than I am now; I jumped on theists with reckless, vulgar abandon, and I definitely said some unnecessarily nasty things to some mostly undeserving people (and a few deserving ones).


I've mostly calmed down since then, and I don't actually resort to "verbal abuse" in every post these days. Any more I only use expletives for their appropriate intent, which is to act as an interjection for extreme shock, disgust, anger, and/or some combination of those things. Basically, I'm only really mean when somebody says something legitimately upsetting.


You, sir, have said something legitimately upsetting. I can't speak for what's happening in Australia, but I know in America that most (though certainly not all) of the discrimination against LGBT people is coming from religious people for expressly religious reasons. In any case, you (as a theist) are a member of a group that is known for contributing to the very stigma and social climate that probably does drive up the trans suicide rate, so it's only a little infuriating when you have the nerve to suggest (with exactly zero basis) that the reason it's so high is that the medical treatment doesn't work.


You know what this reminds me of? People who say things like "Well, if homosexuality isn't wrong, why do they get AIDS the most?" It's still like this in some places, but the general stigma against gay people in America actually used to be much worse than it is today (you again mostly have the religious to thank for that), so much so that most men wouldn't dream of walking into a store to buy extra strong condoms and good anal lube, talking to their doctors about the kind of sex they were having, or taking steps to educate themselves about preventing disease or injury.


In essence, theists created a situation where homosexuals were severely disadvantaged when it came to learning about and preventing sexual health hazards, which makes it especially insensitive and ruthless for those same theists to turn around and suggest that AIDS is a punishment from their god.


This dynamic doesn't just affect homosexuals, either. In states and localities that insist on abstinence-only sex education, rates of teen pregnancy and STIs are much higher than in places that teach proper sex ed. What group do you suppose is the loudest and proudest about insisting on abstinence-only education? Go on, guess.


I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with schmeligious schmeople.


As to your mate: people are often reluctant to accept things that are different and things that are changing. I'm not blaming that problem on religious people. I'm not talking to the average bloke on the street, though. I'm talking to you, and some of the shit you say about this issue is just fucked up, besides being wrong (according to the every sources that your conclusions are supposedly based on).

:: standing ovation :: [emoji122]. That was really lovely RedBeard... Also, thank you for this:

schmeligious schmeople

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