Becoming an angry atheist

[Heywood]

Look, you are dealing with a diverse public and everyone....including public officials, have a right to imply what it means to be a proper american.

Let me get this straight. Are you saying that implying or coming right out and saying what it means to be a proper american is a reasonable -perhaps even important- thing for serious people to be doing? Or, are you simply saying everyone gets to say all the shit they want because of free speech?

And atheists are a "fringe group"? Nice. "Minority group" wouldn't quite convey all that you had in mind then? I agree with the OP that what you believe is your business. What good is free speech if you don't get to be offensive? Bigots gonna be bigots.

Here is a news flash for you. I sucks to be a fringe group. Atheists are a fringe group. They probably will not always be a fringe group, but they are right now. Get some sack and deal with it instead of whining about it.

Public officials cater to the majority group. The tailor their messages for broadest possible appeal. That is the nature of politics...and allowing yourself to get butthurt over it is silly.

[FreeTony]

Large parts of the gay community exclude people who support the notion that marriage is between a man and woman or people who support the notion that homosexuality is a sin.

This exclusion can't be that rigid*, given it doesn't stop some of the Christians paying for sex with members of the gay community.

*pun intended

[Whateverist]

Let me get this straight. Are you saying that implying or coming right out and saying what it means to be a proper american is a reasonable -perhaps even important- thing for serious people to be doing? Or, are you simply saying everyone gets to say all the shit they want because of free speech?

And atheists are a "fringe group"? Nice. "Minority group" wouldn't quite convey all that you had in mind then? I agree with the OP that what you believe is your business. What good is free speech if you don't get to be offensive? Bigots gonna be bigots.

Here is a news flash for you. I sucks to be a fringe group. Atheists are a fringe group. They probably will not always be a fringe group, but they are right now. Get some sack and deal with it instead of whining about it.

Public officials cater to the majority group. The tailor their messages for broadest possible appeal. That is the nature of politics...and allowing yourself to get butthurt over it is silly.

You'll have to point out what I said constituted a whine in your book. I suppose you'd be happier if I just attacked you for stupidity and so on. I just find it more constructive to point out your offensive behavior. Plus you don't really pose a threat.

[robvalue]

I totally agree. In England I don't get hassled, but I kind of take on the worldwide discrimination as an affront and to see what I can do about it.

I am utterly sick of the privelidge religions get for absolutely no reason. Anyone can make up any stupid beliefs and call it a religion. It doesn't mean they should have special measures in place to accommodate their ridiculous delusions. It's almost encouraging it.

Just keep whatever loony ideas you have in your own head, keep them out of politics, education, the workplace, and anywhere else that the public are affected. I hate this idea that as long as you are part of some religion, you are ok, but if you are an atheist you are a twat.

I hope one day people will learn about the laughable state of affairs we have now in history class, and scratch their heads as to how grown adults make such a fuss about utter garbage.

[LastPoet]

So as time passes I find myself becoming less tolerant of religious BS and of religion in general. When I first came out I was around religious moderates and reasonable people. I told them I disagreed with them, but if they got something out of it whatever. It just wasn't for me. And they were all very understanding. And in my university, well it's a university. Such things are widely accepted there (even in oklahoma).

However recently some folks have been blathering on Facebook about the damn "war on Xmas" and how this should be a godly nation. And I try not to comment. Whatever. It's their page, they can believe what they want. But the oh-so-subtle attacks are starting to get to me.

I'm getting sick of hearing subtle jibes against me. I'm getting sick of people I care about thoughtlessly reposting and sharing such sentiments. And I'm nearly at the point of calling out some people publicly on it.

And I'm generally not an angry atheist. I love christmas. I like Easter. If you privately want a religious celebration on your personal property, or on church property, great! Go for it! I'm just sick of public officials subtly implying that to be a proper american I have to follow their beliefs.

While I agree that they are idiots I think we should allow them to post just to repost over at FSTDT.

Free speech is a big help of reason. They speak themselves out of any.

[Thumpalumpacus]

To be a proper american do you have to celebrate MLK day? I'm sure the KKK types are sick of public official implying that you do.

I'd say that given the Bill of Rights and the broken promises our country has made about equality for all, yeah, I'd say that any right American would honor Dr King's memory and message.

Also, lol at you comparing gays to Christians -- because we all know that Christians are a persecuted minority who are regularly denied rights and privileges based on their faith.

... and then carping about "whining" from others ... I'm thinking that reflection isn't your strong suit.

[KevinM1]

So as time passes I find myself becoming less tolerant of religious BS and of religion in general. When I first came out I was around religious moderates and reasonable people. I told them I disagreed with them, but if they got something out of it whatever. It just wasn't for me. And they were all very understanding. And in my university, well it's a university. Such things are widely accepted there (even in oklahoma).

However recently some folks have been blathering on Facebook about the damn "war on Xmas" and how this should be a godly nation. And I try not to comment. Whatever. It's their page, they can believe what they want. But the oh-so-subtle attacks are starting to get to me.

I'm getting sick of hearing subtle jibes against me. I'm getting sick of people I care about thoughtlessly reposting and sharing such sentiments. And I'm nearly at the point of calling out some people publicly on it.

And I'm generally not an angry atheist. I love christmas. I like Easter. If you privately want a religious celebration on your personal property, or on church property, great! Go for it! I'm just sick of public officials subtly implying that to be a proper american I have to follow their beliefs.

Well, the good news is that you can block a lot of that crap on Facebook. I have a friend who posts hardly anything but religious nonsense, but since the vast majority of those posts are things she shared from another source, blocking that source eliminates it from my timeline. Doing that with most of her religious crap has really improved the signal-to-noise ratio. Now I mostly just see stuff from her that's about her and her family, which is the entire point.

Regarding the political nature of it, it's pandering pure and simple. The majority of America is one of the 31 Baskin-Robbins flavors of Christianity, with many (especially on the right) who feel that we're a Christian nation. There's a very vocal, very motivated group of people that get frothingly angry at politicians not wearing pins, or wearing them correctly, or saluting/not saluting/saluting wrong, etc. A lot of the overt and implicit religious stuff is, IMO, a defense mechanism against them. Voting for/against someone based on their policy decisions tends to be forgotten if a politician makes a perceived slight against patriotism or Jesus.

I'm not saying these politicians don't believe in the Christian god, just that a lot of the American exceptionalism bullshit they spew is purely to assuage those that need constant reminders of America (and Jesus), Fuck Yeah!

---

And I'm generally not an angry atheist. I love christmas. I like Easter. If you privately want a religious celebration on your personal property, or on church property, great! Go for it! I'm just sick of public officials subtly implying that to be a proper american I have to follow their beliefs.

To be a proper american do you have to celebrate MLK day? I'm sure the KKK types are sick of public official implying that you do.

Did... did you just conflate atheists with a hate group?

To be a proper american do you have to celebrate Columbus Day? I'm sure some Native Americans types are sick of public officials implying that you do.

Funny you should mention that. Columbus Day is slowly changing: https://www.bing.com/search?setmkt=en-US...ay+changed

To be a proper American do you have to eat turkey on Thanksgiving? I'm sure the vegan types are sick of public officials implying that you do.

The vegans have a legit point, at least insofar as how industrialized farming treats its animals before they're slaughtered. Plus, a lot of the things done to the meat afterward (like turkeys being injected with saline to appear more plump than they actually are).

If American society should be sterilized of its religious/cultural heritage for the benefit of a fringe group like atheists....why shouldn't it be sterilized of other cultural beliefs for the sake of the other fringe groups?

Like everything else - it comes down to the merit of the ideas in play. Columbus Day is a farce. Thanksgiving doesn't need turkey, or any other meat (and, if you really want to talk cultural history, the first Thanksgiving was based more on venison and seafood; also: no potatoes), and, as a society, we should be more cognizant of where our food comes from and what it consists of. The KKK is a bigoted hate group, full stop. Their ideas hold no merit in modern society.

Large parts of the gay community exclude people who support the notion that marriage is between a man and woman or people who support the notion that homosexuality is a sin.

Did you ever stop to wonder why?

[Natachan]

Replace "atheists" with "blacks" and you'll start to see why I'm upset. It is considered completely unacceptable for a person to imply that in order to be a proper american you can't be black. But it is acceptable to say you can't be an atheist. A person who says the first will be socially ostracized. A person who says the second will be hailed.

That's part of what hurts. Part of it. I'm kinda resigned to some politicians being bigoted asswipes. But that there is no outcry and no defense when something like this is said is unacceptable and deeply hurtful:

No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.

What is really hurtful is that the people posting the stuff are people who are supposed to care about me. My family. And they aren't trying to hurt, they are just thoughtlessly posting things which belittle me and my beliefs. And it's religion that allows th to do this. It's religion that allows them to forget and overlook the fact that someone might be hurt by what they say.

[Minimalist]

To be a proper american do you have to celebrate MLK day? I'm sure the KKK types are sick of public official implying that you do.

I'm sure that annoys the shit out of you, Woodie. Sucks to be you.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Replace "atheists" with "blacks" and you'll start to see why I'm upset.

People can change their beliefs. People cannot change their race. Your false equivalence is disturbingly ignorant.