The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians

[Javaman]

Whinging...that word cracks me up.

What man doesn't love being complimented on the impressively large size of his vocabulary?

[Bob Kelso]

I have been fascinated by the phenomenon of the "angry atheist" ever since my arrival here in the forum. I expected and hoped to engage in intelligent discussion of our differences of opinion with the so-called "brights" of our society, but more often than not, I have been the recipient of a lot of misdirected venom.

And I'm not alone, apparently.

In this article posted at Dave Armstrong's blog, Jan Tik describes his own experiences with the angry atheists he has encountered and writes:

The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians
by Jan Tik
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstro...tians.html

But if one takes a look at just about any active combox underneath an atheist post that has anything at all to do with Christianity, the usual boorish, garden variety collection of insults will be immediately observed:

Christians are gullible, infantile believers of fairy tales on the level of unicorns, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the Easter bunny, leprechauns, “magic,” the tooth fairy, etc. We are  anti-intellectual, anti-science, dumb, stupid, idiots, ignoramuses, and imbeciles who are impervious to evidence of any kind for our beliefs. We have a blind faith that is shielded from reason, fact, and any possible falsifiability. You name it: we’ve been called it by the sadly typical “angry / hostile” atheist.

Any curious human being, it seems to me, who observes this behavior, must marvel at both its near-universality and the extreme level of passion and vitriol involved. The question arises: “whence derives such utter disdain and derision?” It appears to be a species of a mentality that is brought to mind by the famous line of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks“. Source.

*my modifications*

Not sure I see anything wrong with most of the underlined pertaining to the theists we get around here; and yeah, Randy, you sure aren't alone in either the assumption or the insulted department. 

Would the sweetie like a cookie? Would that make hims feel better? 

As I have observed and commented upon in this forum, Tik also notes:

The same people who produce the endless stream of invective against Christians and Christianity (or, “Christianity”) can (again, like all schoolyard bullies) dish it out but can’t take it. Any criticism back is met with even more highly insulting rhetoric and hyper-polemics.

Happily, there are a few members of this forum who do not fall into this pattern, but they are all too few, IMO.

Poor Randy, all ya do is just give, give, give and no one appreciates ya.

[Thumpalumpacus]

CL is practically one of us, a curiously relaxed invocation of religious zealotry in a faith that requires it.

(and I mean that nicely)

I disagree with her on many things, but she's the best, both strong and humble. More than most believers I've met, she lives it first and preaches it second.

[robvalue]

Is people insulting christians part of god's plan?

Remember who supposedly has the omni god on their team. Calling "no fair" kind of undermines your own beliefs. It would be like me moaning that a wrestling match is unfair against some guy when I have The Rock, Stone Cold and The Undertaker all ready to be tagged in.

[Losty]

Whinging...that word cracks me up.

What man doesn't love being complimented on the impressively large size of his vocabulary?

I can only truly compliment you if you post a video of you saying it out loud in an accent that I am sure to find sexually pleasing.

[Neo-Scholastic]

I see someone, despite a shitload of conversation on the subject, still conflates existential and ethical nihilism. And these types incredulously create threads openly wondering why they're considered idiots. Fucking dolts.

Cato,
Please be aware that I have learned from a "shitload of conversation" not to use atheist and nihilist as synonyms. I was wrong to do so. Since then I have made a conscious effort to be more specific by identifying generally held atheistic positions like ontological naturalism, physical reduction, determinism (applies to Calvinists too), nominalism (although Occam argued for it)? and eliminative materialism. The meme reflects that effort. I am fully aware of the distinction in theory. In application, many AF atheists tend to waffle back and forth between the two. As such I highly question whether there is at root a clear distinctions between existentialism per se and absurdism. It's just a meme, Cato, and that format is way too brief to make the subtle distinctions for which you criticize me. I think if you were to review the various de-motivationals and memes made by atheists you will see that they fail to make subtle denominational distinctions.

[Cyberman]

What man doesn't love being complimented on the impressively large size of his vocabulary?

Or his dic(tion).

[Minimalist]

@ Randy, they came out in droves to prove your point and yet they still want to label us a something less than human.

That chip on your shoulder weighing you down, G-C?  You are not less than human.  You are less than smart.

[Drich]

I have been fascinated by the phenomenon of the "angry atheist" ever since my arrival here in the forum. I expected and hoped to engage in intelligent discussion of our differences of opinion with the so-called "brights" of our society, but more often than not, I have been the recipient of a lot of misdirected venom.

And I'm not alone, apparently.

In this article posted at Dave Armstrong's blog, Jan Tik describes his own experiences with the angry atheists he has encountered and writes:

The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians
by Jan Tik
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstro...tians.html

But if one takes a look at just about any active combox underneath an atheist post that has anything at all to do with Christianity, the usual boorish, garden variety collection of insults will be immediately observed:

Christians are gullible, infantile believers of fairy tales on the level of unicorns, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the Easter bunny, leprechauns, “magic,” the tooth fairy, etc. We are  anti-intellectual, anti-science, dumb, stupid, idiots, ignoramuses, and imbeciles who are impervious to evidence of any kind for our beliefs. We have a blind faith that is shielded from reason, fact, and any possible falsifiability. You name it: we’ve been called it by the sadly typical “angry / hostile” atheist.

Any curious human being, it seems to me, who observes this behavior, must marvel at both its near-universality and the extreme level of passion and vitriol involved. The question arises: “whence derives such utter disdain and derision?” It appears to be a species of a mentality that is brought to mind by the famous line of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks“. Source.

As I have observed and commented upon in this forum, Tik also notes:

The same people who produce the endless stream of invective against Christians and Christianity (or, “Christianity”) can (again, like all schoolyard bullies) dish it out but can’t take it. Any criticism back is met with even more highly insulting rhetoric and hyper-polemics.

Happily, there are a few members of this forum who do not fall into this pattern, but they are all too few, IMO.

That last quote is Soooooooooo True.

Even a broken clock is right 2 times a day. When and if on the off chance it is one of those times for me, and I graciously carfully measure back the same level of contempt shown me, people here loose their minds! Or I never/seldom hear from the ever again which means I've probably been put on an ignore list. (something I have never done.)

Which is not a all bad thing. why? because it tempers the yappy dogs who just like to make distracting noise in the back ground. it keeps the topic snipers at bay till I'm well past being done offering constructive to a given topic, and it defangs the big dogs so when they do bite, it does not hurt all that bad. clearing a path to those who want to have a honest discussion about a given Christian topic.

The only draw back is leaving before or not hitting back as hard as one is trying to hit you. I tried to live and let live a long time ago, but far too many times my kindness was mistaken as weakness and my message was more often than not was over run by the yappers and snipers/red herring-ists.

[Kingpin]

I have been fascinated by the phenomenon of the "angry atheist" ever since my arrival here in the forum. I expected and hoped to engage in intelligent discussion of our differences of opinion with the so-called "brights" of our society, but more often than not, I have been the recipient of a lot of misdirected venom.

And I'm not alone, apparently.

In this article posted at Dave Armstrong's blog, Jan Tik describes his own experiences with the angry atheists he has encountered and writes:

The Atheist Obsession with Insulting Christians
by Jan Tik
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstro...tians.html

But if one takes a look at just about any active combox underneath an atheist post that has anything at all to do with Christianity, the usual boorish, garden variety collection of insults will be immediately observed:

Christians are gullible, infantile believers of fairy tales on the level of unicorns, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, the Easter bunny, leprechauns, “magic,” the tooth fairy, etc. We are  anti-intellectual, anti-science, dumb, stupid, idiots, ignoramuses, and imbeciles who are impervious to evidence of any kind for our beliefs. We have a blind faith that is shielded from reason, fact, and any possible falsifiability. You name it: we’ve been called it by the sadly typical “angry / hostile” atheist.

Any curious human being, it seems to me, who observes this behavior, must marvel at both its near-universality and the extreme level of passion and vitriol involved. The question arises: “whence derives such utter disdain and derision?” It appears to be a species of a mentality that is brought to mind by the famous line of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks“. Source.

As I have observed and commented upon in this forum, Tik also notes:

The same people who produce the endless stream of invective against Christians and Christianity (or, “Christianity”) can (again, like all schoolyard bullies) dish it out but can’t take it. Any criticism back is met with even more highly insulting rhetoric and hyper-polemics.

Happily, there are a few members of this forum who do not fall into this pattern, but they are all too few, IMO.

Actually what I have found on this forum is that atheists do not get angry because I call myself a Christian, they get angry when I call them something they aren't (and rightfully so).