Thursday, January 13, 2011

OneAngryCultist: Fundie Atheists Aren't Funny

If you’re like me – or even if you’re not like me – chances are that you have friends that run the spiritual gamut from religulous to irreligious. In this great country of ours, with the protections of the Constitution that "… shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" you can rest safely knowing that your right to theism or atheism is protected equally and, with the added bonus of freedom of speech, you can talk about it all you want or not at all. Lately, however, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among some atheist groups where advertisements even as innocuous as the one below seem to be acting a little hostile toward those of religious persuasions.



Now, I have no problem with atheism – it’s just not a personal path for me; likewise I would hope that my atheist friends would share the same respect and we’d all just agree to disagree on this particular matter. This trend, however, is really obnoxious for the same reason that Xtian ™ and other religious propaganda is obnoxious – it perpetuates an “us versus them” mentality and presupposes one paradigm is somehow superior to the other, thus creating a culture of exclusion as opposed to dialogue.

There are some people who just happen to be atheist or “apatheist” who I greatly enjoy reading about or watching on TV such as Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher, Stephen Fry and many others. With the exception of the Fry, I will say that Dawkins takes his anti-religion stance a little far and Maher, while I can respect his comedy does jump to some pretty interesting conclusions about the nature of religion and religiosity. Equally, there are some religious people I greatly look up to who happen to be religious but also go a little far in their dismissal of atheism and non-theism.

So, why am I angry – well, douchebaggery such as that exhibited in these signs is just stupid and doesn’t help the case for atheism or atheist groups at all and really casts a negative light on them in a culture where atheism is a minority belief and held by many to be somehow suspect. If people want to get together for rational discussion, by all means do it and I’ll support it but for those on any side that somehow decide their paradigm is superior to my own or another’s; well STFU and get over yourself.

Thanks.

4 comments:

  1. ian - who let this douche post on your blog? who's next Joel Osteen?
    smooches,
    -lee

    ReplyDelete
  2. you can rest safely knowing that your right to theism or atheism is protected equally and, with the added bonus of freedom of speech, you can talk about it all you want or not at all.

    Do you read the news much? This is flatly untrue.

    it perpetuates an “us versus them” mentality and presupposes one paradigm is somehow superior to the other, thus creating a culture of exclusion as opposed to dialogue.

    <shrugs> The us vs. them mentality actually exists, and we atheists didn't establish it. As long as the Christians make it an us vs. them thing, we're going to stand up for ourselves.

    "douchebaggery such as that exhibited in these signs is just stupid and doesn’t help the case for atheism or atheist groups at all..."

    Since you're not an atheist, we really don't much care what you personally think helps or doesn't help our case. I could equally say that "douchebaggery" such as yours doesn't help the theist case, but I don't think you would much care... nor should you.

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  3. Ian, I would say the purpose of the ads isn't to convert anyone, but to let those atheists who are "in the closet" know that they are safe coming out. It is hard to tell people you are an Atheist. It is harder than telling people you're gay (I know that one for a fact). And, for such a small minority, many of us don't know ANY other Atheists. I don't see any issue in saying loudly that "we're here and we're...Atheists." If it helps some kid, middle of ten home-studied, brought up in rural California to realize that his beliefs are equally valid, I don't see what the issue is. Especially, I would add, when studies have shown that Atheists are the MOST distrusted group of Americans there is. http://www1.umn.edu/news/news-releases/2006/UR_RELEASE_MIG_2816.html

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  4. Adam: It wasn't me! It was my new addition to the site, Michael Sebastian Lux!

    Something to see that supports Mr. Lux's assertion that advertising in religious purposes is just lame:
    http://www.christianpost.com/article/20110103/atheists-declare-religions-as-scams-in-new-ad/

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