We’re in the 21st century, and the vast majority of us still believe in an utterly and obviously fictional creator deity. Plenty of people, even in developed countries with decent educational systems, still believe in ghosts or magic (e.g. voodoo). And I–an atheist and a skeptic–am told I need to respect these patently false beliefs as cultural traditions.
Fuck that. They’re bad cultural traditions, undeserving of respect. Child-proofing society for these intellectually stunted people doesn’t help them; it is in fact a disservice to them to pretend it’s okay to go through life believing these things. We should demand that people contend with reality on a factual basis by the time they reach adulthood (even earlier, if I’m being completely honest). We shouldn’t be coddling people who profess beliefs that are demonstrably false, simply because their feelings might get hurt.
Internet atheists, or “message board atheist” are the worst. They’ve managed to change the definition of atheism from simply ‘not believing in deities,’ to ‘generalized hatred of anything that doesn’t support their own personal belief.’
(I’m hoping the irony isn’t lost on anyone here, because to me- that sounds an awful lot like hypocrisy and projection)
True atheism is just not believing in god(s). That’s it. Nothing more. And I say this as a true atheist. So to all you Reddit atheists:
How about you get that smug chip removed from your shoulder and lighten up. We’re all allowed the freedom to believe what we feel to be true. And reserve NO authority to lord it over them - pun fucking intended.
You’re allowed to believe your internal feelings constitute truth. Others are allowed to mock that.
It’s more than about God, it’s about a way of thinking that’s pervasive in society. Evidence and logic be damned, my feelings trump all of that.
“It’'s about a way of thinking that’s pervasive in society. Evidence and logic be damned, my feelings trump all of that.”
Yes and we have entire academic fields full of research, evidence, and argument about the sticky reality of how different belief systems, social identities, and cultural heritage interact both constructively and destructively. For example, how colonialism typically plays out cultural genocide in the name oclf “civilizing” the native population. Modern western positivist ontology and epistemology (which is where most atheists sit) is also laden with these socially constructed features and does not exist in some privileged position outside of them. The problem that people are pointing out, is exactly the smug superior attitude of some atheists, which reveals their lack of awareness about their own position and the risks and limitations thereof. I say this as someone deeply embedded in STEM and evidence-based practice.
The expert consensus of every human-related field from medicine to philosophy to engineering/design to sociology to neuroscience and on and on is that, like it or not, feelings fucking matter.
Honestly I find this post hilarious. Using words like ontology and epistemology and citing the facts there are academic fields devoted studying something doesn’t change the fact that millions of adults believe in a fiction that may as well be Lord of the Rings.
Feelings matter, but they don’t trump reality.
It’s an umbrella term. Different versions of atheism exist. They’re all atheism because they’re all about not believing in god(s).
Each can still have their own emphasis or extras. You’re obviously still an atheist if you don’t believe in god(s), and think that this would be an extremely stupid thing to do. For example, consider this venn diagram:
Explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_positive_atheism
This implies that there are forms of atheism which are no belief, and other forms of atheism which are a belief.
I agree about your general observation, and am myself guilty of that. Many comments of our crowd lack the intellectual depth and honesty they would need to be in a position to make such statements. One should also ponder over the question wether this approach works as intended, and even if, wether it’s a good thing to do so.
As a hard (as in my faith being unshakeable) (panen)theist, absolutely agreed. Atheists should be able to talk about their beliefs openly without receiving hate, and so should theists. Antitheists need a self-awareness check - their views are rooted in ignorance of religion, prejudice, and are a form of intolerance - aka, bigotry. The hypocrisy is obvious to outside observers.
I would disagree entirely with your assessment that atheist views are rooted in ignorance. As I recall a study showed that on average, atheists had more biblical/theological knowledge than Christians.
My point isn’t that they’re are ignorant of the subject. It’s that they are exactly what they accuse Christians of being.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Militant_Atheists
That’s the best thing communists did. All religions must be banned worldwide!
Yes, because there’s no way thought police could go wrong.