Can't we just, as Phil Plait said at TAM, not be dicks?
I'm serious - even though you might define atheists as a "non-group" and skeptics as a "group", I think the same general rules apply.
Hate speech is hate speech, no matter who is saying it about or to whom. If I say I hate Christians, I am still hating on Christians no matter what religious affiliation I have or lack thereof. If I say it publicly, I have to recognize two things: 1) the repercussions I will have personally by expressing my vitriol, and 2) the repercussions I incur for the people I affiliate with (unless it were possible to carry one of those "opinions of the individual do not reflect..." signs everywhere) since for however brief a time I am the "figurehead" of that movement/group/club in the eyes of all those observing me. You can't escape this, even though we are a society that highly values the individual, we still are quick to classify, label, and sort people into groups and we get troubled if we can't. Why do you think the cliques in high school are so pervasive, and how many people have a general bad opinion about, say, the jocks because of a few assholes, even if you know a few good ones personally?
There are ways to get points across that show your passion for your cause or display your wish to provide more information without resorting to the same tactics as those we label extremists. No one respects Martin Luther King because he went around displaying his hate - he's respected for his eloquence and peaceful demonstrations. I've never heard of anyone from, say, the ALF become respected...just infamous.
I couldn't tell you why some people who call themselves atheists have such hate towards anything relating towards religion. I agree we should be angry about some aspects; I don't think anyone can hear about the bombings in Ireland or the way Catholic priests act, or the money hoarding, homo-hating speeches of the fundamentalists, or the vicious acts of muslims on their wives and daughters or the witch hunting still pervasive in Africa without feeling anger and the need to DO something. But spreading generalized hate towards everything having to do with religion doesn't...do...shit!
My personal opinions about religion aside, some people need it for the structure, the comfort, whatever. People have done good things - truly good things - in religion's name. Maybe they feel better surrendering themselves to something they feel is bigger than they are. It is this side of religion that doesn't deserve to be stomped all over as it is when someone damns them. I personally have always in some way struggled with a belief in God, but like Mulder I *wanted* to believe in supernatural or paranormal things, and maybe it's to my credit that I figured out those things were bullshit early on...but it doesn't give me a right to act like an arrogant fuckhole about it to otherwise decent people, and no one else has that right either - after all, at some point in my life, I was just like them, believing in silliness.
And if atheists actually have a goal, which I would say is impossible if we're not a group, but if they did and it was to have everyone realize that religion is shite and we're better off without it, you can be sure we're never going to convince anyone by being hateful about it. To paraphrase Phil, did you ever stop believing something because someone called you an idiot?
Me personally, the way I began to relax into the way I thought...it was by laughing, and that's a far better way to convince than to shout.
I'm serious - even though you might define atheists as a "non-group" and skeptics as a "group", I think the same general rules apply.
Hate speech is hate speech, no matter who is saying it about or to whom. If I say I hate Christians, I am still hating on Christians no matter what religious affiliation I have or lack thereof. If I say it publicly, I have to recognize two things: 1) the repercussions I will have personally by expressing my vitriol, and 2) the repercussions I incur for the people I affiliate with (unless it were possible to carry one of those "opinions of the individual do not reflect..." signs everywhere) since for however brief a time I am the "figurehead" of that movement/group/club in the eyes of all those observing me. You can't escape this, even though we are a society that highly values the individual, we still are quick to classify, label, and sort people into groups and we get troubled if we can't. Why do you think the cliques in high school are so pervasive, and how many people have a general bad opinion about, say, the jocks because of a few assholes, even if you know a few good ones personally?
There are ways to get points across that show your passion for your cause or display your wish to provide more information without resorting to the same tactics as those we label extremists. No one respects Martin Luther King because he went around displaying his hate - he's respected for his eloquence and peaceful demonstrations. I've never heard of anyone from, say, the ALF become respected...just infamous.
I couldn't tell you why some people who call themselves atheists have such hate towards anything relating towards religion. I agree we should be angry about some aspects; I don't think anyone can hear about the bombings in Ireland or the way Catholic priests act, or the money hoarding, homo-hating speeches of the fundamentalists, or the vicious acts of muslims on their wives and daughters or the witch hunting still pervasive in Africa without feeling anger and the need to DO something. But spreading generalized hate towards everything having to do with religion doesn't...do...shit!
My personal opinions about religion aside, some people need it for the structure, the comfort, whatever. People have done good things - truly good things - in religion's name. Maybe they feel better surrendering themselves to something they feel is bigger than they are. It is this side of religion that doesn't deserve to be stomped all over as it is when someone damns them. I personally have always in some way struggled with a belief in God, but like Mulder I *wanted* to believe in supernatural or paranormal things, and maybe it's to my credit that I figured out those things were bullshit early on...but it doesn't give me a right to act like an arrogant fuckhole about it to otherwise decent people, and no one else has that right either - after all, at some point in my life, I was just like them, believing in silliness.
And if atheists actually have a goal, which I would say is impossible if we're not a group, but if they did and it was to have everyone realize that religion is shite and we're better off without it, you can be sure we're never going to convince anyone by being hateful about it. To paraphrase Phil, did you ever stop believing something because someone called you an idiot?
Me personally, the way I began to relax into the way I thought...it was by laughing, and that's a far better way to convince than to shout.
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