[rant]
One of the newer members said some things that got me thinking. I don't want to name names, so we'll just call him 'gobstopper'. This 'gobstopper' has expressed what I can only call rage fueled hatred toward anything (no matter how trivial) relating to religion... and it really made me think.
While the word 'atheist' means 'lacking belief in deities' and nothing more, a number of qualifiers are used to make the label more specific. We have strong atheist, weak atheist, agnostic atheist, gnostic atheist, non-theist, anti-theist, etc. At the core, each label lacks a belief in deities, but the mindset behind each is different.
And then there is 'Angry Anti-Theistic Extremism'. Most of us have probably encountered this type of 'atheist' before, many of us can even relate to some of the anger that drives them, but I can't help wondering if 'atheist' is a less than accurate description in many cases. The saying, 'Me thinks thou dost protest too much', comes to mind.
It's as if they do not necessarily lack a belief in 'god', but are extremely angry with 'him'. Sure, they vent their rage skyward, but that's not very satisfying, so they turn it on anything and everything related to 'god' and/or the worship of such. I get the impression that they actually hope 'god' exists, so 'he' will be aware of their rebellious rage (not saying this is true of 'gobstopper', just that he sent my thoughts in that direction).
Now, maybe most of these people are truly atheists, but the above paragraph describes the impression they give me. I consider it to be counter-productive at best, and detrimental to the reputation of all atheists in general. Such declarations of hate offer no room for rational discussion, nor do they offer information of any substance. They are nothing more than emotionally driven outbursts.
I'm sure that we're all sick of theists popping in to declare, “Atheists are just mad at god!”, but I think I know where they get that idea. They get it from atheist trolls coming to their forums and spouting a bunch of hatred, instead of trying to engage in discussion.
We all (generalization) love to rally against extremism, but shouldn't we also be looking a little 'closer to home'? If atheist extremism is not a problem now (and that's debatable), then it certainly has the potential to become one. One need only look to American politics to see where polarizing extremism leads. How can we hope to achieve and maintain a secular society if both sides are raging at each other? How can we call others hypocrites if we allow the same kind of hate-filled extremism to represent us without condemning it openly?
Don't get me wrong, like many atheists, I do think the world would be better off if religion disappeared, but I (like many atheists) am smart enough to realize that that is not going to happen any time soon, if ever. That being the case, the only solution is peaceful coexistence, which means that we atheists have our work cut out for us. Religion (generalization) is not happy with the idea of coexisting with us (atheists) to begin with, so the last thing we need are people validating their misconceptions about us.
[/rant]
One of the newer members said some things that got me thinking. I don't want to name names, so we'll just call him 'gobstopper'. This 'gobstopper' has expressed what I can only call rage fueled hatred toward anything (no matter how trivial) relating to religion... and it really made me think.
While the word 'atheist' means 'lacking belief in deities' and nothing more, a number of qualifiers are used to make the label more specific. We have strong atheist, weak atheist, agnostic atheist, gnostic atheist, non-theist, anti-theist, etc. At the core, each label lacks a belief in deities, but the mindset behind each is different.
And then there is 'Angry Anti-Theistic Extremism'. Most of us have probably encountered this type of 'atheist' before, many of us can even relate to some of the anger that drives them, but I can't help wondering if 'atheist' is a less than accurate description in many cases. The saying, 'Me thinks thou dost protest too much', comes to mind.
It's as if they do not necessarily lack a belief in 'god', but are extremely angry with 'him'. Sure, they vent their rage skyward, but that's not very satisfying, so they turn it on anything and everything related to 'god' and/or the worship of such. I get the impression that they actually hope 'god' exists, so 'he' will be aware of their rebellious rage (not saying this is true of 'gobstopper', just that he sent my thoughts in that direction).
Now, maybe most of these people are truly atheists, but the above paragraph describes the impression they give me. I consider it to be counter-productive at best, and detrimental to the reputation of all atheists in general. Such declarations of hate offer no room for rational discussion, nor do they offer information of any substance. They are nothing more than emotionally driven outbursts.
I'm sure that we're all sick of theists popping in to declare, “Atheists are just mad at god!”, but I think I know where they get that idea. They get it from atheist trolls coming to their forums and spouting a bunch of hatred, instead of trying to engage in discussion.
We all (generalization) love to rally against extremism, but shouldn't we also be looking a little 'closer to home'? If atheist extremism is not a problem now (and that's debatable), then it certainly has the potential to become one. One need only look to American politics to see where polarizing extremism leads. How can we hope to achieve and maintain a secular society if both sides are raging at each other? How can we call others hypocrites if we allow the same kind of hate-filled extremism to represent us without condemning it openly?
Don't get me wrong, like many atheists, I do think the world would be better off if religion disappeared, but I (like many atheists) am smart enough to realize that that is not going to happen any time soon, if ever. That being the case, the only solution is peaceful coexistence, which means that we atheists have our work cut out for us. Religion (generalization) is not happy with the idea of coexisting with us (atheists) to begin with, so the last thing we need are people validating their misconceptions about us.
[/rant]
