Why so many "anti-feminists" in the atheist community?

[ketameankitty]

Oh wow, seven pages! Well thank you guys for the welcoming discussion! ^^

So much to say and so many things I want to reply to...I can't keep track of it all! Ahaha!

Atheism is just a personal stance one takes because their experience doesn't lead them to believe that God exists. Why do you take a step further to that others can't be with a justified reason to believe God exists so that they should leave faith in God?

Why are you in the business of wanting to convert others?

I guess Richard Dawkins put it best when he said, "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." Concepts in spirituality were (and still are) created to fill in gaps for the things we don't know. In my opinion, that limits the need to research those things we don't know, because people are happy with the fairytaled explanation instead. Religion, on the other hand, goes beyond ideas and forces moralities and ways of life on people. Example, Catholics aren't supposed to have sex before marriage, and forcing that religious morality upon them can cause serious sexual repression which can lead to some even more serious mental health issues and respective negative outcomes (priests raping boys, for example). I know that not all spirituality and not all religion is bad, but I just think the world would be a better place if it was populated by more curious-minded free thinkers instead.

OP I have an interesting question - Do you think it is rational to be a feminist and religious at the same time or are the two positions not compatible?

Hm, that is hard to say considering I don't know about all of the world religions and all of their dogmas. But I feel that it's safe to say with the major religions it would be very contradictory to be a feminist. Religions have set gender roles, and women aren't even allowed to participate as leaders often times (ex. Catholics don't let women become priests; nuns are /not/ an equivalent because they cannot lead mass or perform the Seven Sacraments). That said, I know that a lot of feminists do still adhere to their religious upbringing (largely out of fear and comfort), but if they took the time to realize they're paying into a system that is working against them, many of them would reconsider. After all, I kind of had to stop going to Catholic church when I stopped putting money in the basket every Sunday--I didn't want my cash going toward their anti-abortion rallies and lobbyists!
--With that said, I don't think it's rational!