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"Why are Americans still uncomfortable with atheism?"

Started by Sandra Craft, October 22, 2018, 11:24:37 PM

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Tank

Quote from: Bluenose on January 27, 2019, 11:21:03 AM
Quote from: Tank on January 26, 2019, 08:13:03 PM
Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 26, 2019, 07:43:25 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 26, 2019, 03:37:01 PMFor someone who claims to be smart, you have a very narrow assessment of Icarus based on his words.
He is wrong. He, like most all atheists, are claiming to be persecuted, because they cannot prove that atheism is the better approach to peaceful community and society. Instead of pursuing building a reliable system for the review of reason, atheists, are mirroring the erroneous actions of their perceived oppressors - atheists huddle in their communities (safe places) and bash the theists, and claim to be persecuted and oppressed.

Never met an atheist who claimed to be persecuted. Not once. Ever.

Me neither.  Nor have I met any atheists who huddle in their communities bashing theists.  In fact atheists like myself don't think about theists at all until and unless the theists attempt to push their belief onto us.  I'm not sure what exactly SC is trying to get at, but I am not sure I appreciate his arrogantly sneering characterisations of what atheists are and what they do.  SC, you do not speak for all atheists and you are a fool to think that it is even possible to describe them as a group apart from their disbelief in the supernatural.

Exactly.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Bad Penny II

Quote from: Bluenose on January 27, 2019, 11:21:03 AM
Quote from: Tank on January 26, 2019, 08:13:03 PM
Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 26, 2019, 07:43:25 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 26, 2019, 03:37:01 PMFor someone who claims to be smart, you have a very narrow assessment of Icarus based on his words.
He is wrong. He, like most all atheists, are claiming to be persecuted, because they cannot prove that atheism is the better approach to peaceful community and society. Instead of pursuing building a reliable system for the review of reason, atheists, are mirroring the erroneous actions of their perceived oppressors - atheists huddle in their communities (safe places) and bash the theists, and claim to be persecuted and oppressed.

Never met an atheist who claimed to be persecuted. Not once. Ever.

Me neither.  Nor have I met any atheists who huddle in their communities bashing theists.  In fact atheists like myself don't think about theists at all until and unless the theists attempt to push their belief onto us.  I'm not sure what exactly SC is trying to get at, but I am not sure I appreciate his arrogantly sneering characterisations of what atheists are and what they do.  SC, you do not speak for all atheists and you are a fool to think that it is even possible to describe them as a group apart from their disbelief in the supernatural.

I'm sure atheists have been persecuted.
I have the radio on most of the time and there are few programs dedicated to the believers.
For decades, a few hours a week I've I heard the yammering of the religious.
They do seem to think we lack something basic, that's OK, the feeling is mutual.
I don't claim to be persecuted, if I thought I would be I'd be circumspect.


Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 26, 2019, 07:43:25 PM
He is wrong. He, like most all atheists, are claiming to be persecuted, because they cannot prove that atheism is the better approach to peaceful community and society. Instead of pursuing building a reliable system for the review of reason, atheists, are mirroring the erroneous actions of their perceived oppressors - atheists huddle in their communities (safe places) and bash the theists, and claim to be persecuted and oppressed.

That is quite a leap.
It seems irrational, as in not rational.
Can we query if he's been taking his meds?
No, I don't think so, not yet.
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 26, 2019, 07:43:25 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 26, 2019, 03:37:01 PMFor someone who claims to be smart, you have a very narrow assessment of Icarus based on his words.
He is wrong. He, like most all atheists, are claiming to be persecuted, because they cannot prove that atheism is the better approach to peaceful community and society. Instead of pursuing building a reliable system for the review of reason, atheists, are mirroring the erroneous actions of their perceived oppressors - atheists huddle in their communities (safe places) and bash the theists, and claim to be persecuted and oppressed.

:eyeroll: So many generalisations in one place...you know stereotyping is not a hallmark of intelligence, right?

Just as you do not have an accurate assessment of other people, it seems you do not have an accurate assessment of yourself. Anyway, I'd just like to second what Bluenose said:

Quote from: Bluenose on January 27, 2019, 11:21:03 AM
Me neither.  Nor have I met any atheists who huddle in their communities bashing theists.  In fact atheists like myself don't think about theists at all until and unless the theists attempt to push their belief onto us.  I'm not sure what exactly SC is trying to get at, but I am not sure I appreciate his arrogantly sneering characterisations of what atheists are and what they do.  SC, you do not speak for all atheists and you are a fool to think that it is even possible to describe them as a group apart from their disbelief in the supernatural.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Bad Penny II

Quote from: Bluenose on January 27, 2019, 11:21:03 AM
Me neither.  Nor have I met any atheists who huddle in their communities bashing theists. 

I have, I came here some years ago from https://atheistfoundation.org.au/forums/

I don't know what they're like now but they were a strange bunch back then.
Some might of been venting the outrage of the abused, the others channelling vicariously.
A Christian would come to say hello.
They'd do the polite welcome, we are a place of free discourse thing and then the visitor would be pilloried, held to account for every evil ever done by a churchy.

I'll still mock Christians occasionally but it is with the understanding that quite a few are smarter than me, many are better humans than me.
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

Bad Penny II

This site was named Happy Atheist Forum to differentiate itself from others.
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

Bad Penny II

There's not that many Atheist forums.
Ye so?
We are 3rd most popular fourm maybe, don't have very many active members
Others have commented on that.
There must be many millions of atheists.
Ye.
We're not very good at huddling.
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

SidewalkCynic

Atheists "huddle" on these forums, and at the Meetups, to bash theists - that is what you do the most. There is very little, if any advancement of resolving the recurring disagreements that I am all about. For the fifteen years I have been monitoring atheist forums the discussions about the definitions of "atheism," and "religion," continue to be debated - that is not how science and reason works. Something is wrong with how atheists are discriminating reason - you are not doing it, and the Christians are going to do it for you, if you do not wake up.
If there were a god, then it would have revealed itself to me. There has never been anything more important in the history of Mankind than what I am delivering - scientific collation theory for the organization of technology.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 27, 2019, 03:35:26 PM
Atheists "huddle" on these forums, and at the Meetups, to bash theists - that is what you do the most. There is very little, if any advancement of resolving the recurring disagreements that I am all about. For the fifteen years I have been monitoring atheist forums the discussions about the definitions of "atheism," and "religion," continue to be debated - that is not how science and reason works. Something is wrong with how atheists are discriminating reason - you are not doing it, and the Christians are going to do it for you, if you do not wake up.

Science is not about dogma, which is what you seem to want to instill in the 'debate'. An end-all definition that you find to adequately encompass atheists and atheism while not taking into consideration that atheists are a diverse group of people. Your view is too simplistic, and your 'solutions' are as well.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Icarus

Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 27, 2019, 03:35:26 PM
Atheists "huddle" on these forums, and at the Meetups, to bash theists - that is what you do the most. 

Something is wrong with how atheists are discriminating reason - you are not doing it, and the Christians are going to do it for you, if you do not wake up.


You are sadly misinformed SC.  Atheists do not huddle for the purpose of bashing theists.  In my introductory greeting I mentioned that we are not here to bash theists. We are here to exchange ideas and developments that have little or nothing to do with religion.  I invite you once more to scan the HAF menu .  We have as many sections devoted to music, current events, media, etc,  as we do religion.

Truth to tell, most of us are entirely bored with discussions about religions.  We seldom bother with such uninteresting conversations. 

Please explain more about that last bit where atheists are deficient in discriminating reason.  I must not have paid sufficient attention to reality because I have overestimated the intellects of brilliant non believer people like......say  Richard Feinman,  Lawrence Kraus,  N. D. Tyson even.   Matter of fact we have more than one person here at HAF  who are enviably well informed, capable of shrewd objective reasoning,  are professional scientists and do not waste much time bashing theists.

We have neither need nor prior inclination to bash theists. There are enough professionals who do that in our stead.  Think of Dawkins, Steele, Ray, Harris, Silverman, along with plenty of others like  Avalos, Ehrman, and so on.  They are good at what they do.  If you are unfamiliar with these names and have not yet read their books or heard their lectures then you have not qualified yourself to adjudicate the scientific, historical, and sociological implications of the nonbelievers.  It will be a cold day in hell when Christians like Hovind, Robertson, Falwell and  the rest can help us understand the scientific method  or the concepts of rational reasoning

Please explain your position and provide evidence that leads you to your odd conclusions.  Do it quickly because these conversations are becoming more and more tedious.

Ecurb Noselrub

Atheists here are a bunch of sweety-poos who don't want to hurt anyone. I'm an American and not uncomfortable with them. You just have to get to know them.  Good folks (an occasional asshole, but nothing different than any other population).

Tank

Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on January 28, 2019, 12:46:58 AM
Atheists here are a bunch of sweety-poos who don't want to hurt anyone. I'm an American and not uncomfortable with them. You just have to get to know them.  Good folks (an occasional asshole, but nothing different than any other population).
I'm not often an arsehole. Fucking yank spelling!  ;D
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Ecurb Noselrub

Quote from: Tank on January 28, 2019, 07:32:41 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on January 28, 2019, 12:46:58 AM
Atheists here are a bunch of sweety-poos who don't want to hurt anyone. I'm an American and not uncomfortable with them. You just have to get to know them.  Good folks (an occasional asshole, but nothing different than any other population).
I'm not often an arsehole. Fucking yank spelling!  ;D

I wasn't thinking of you.  You're a grumpy sweety-poo at times, but usually well-behaved.

SidewalkCynic

Quote from: Icarus on January 27, 2019, 10:14:35 PM
Please explain your position and provide evidence that leads you to your odd conclusions.  Do it quickly because these conversations are becoming more and more tedious.
The number of posts and topics concerning religion and atheism overwhelm the rest of the forum discussion statistics.

Life as an Atheist   16518 posts        280 topics
Parenting                 2231 posts         59 topics
Religion                 75146 posts       1672 topics
Creationism             9286 posts        182 topics

Current Events       29067 posts        946 topics
Politics                   13683 posts        248 topics
Social Issues           8672 posts        192 topics

Miscellaneous          5401 posts        141 topics
Music                       8778 posts         63 topics
Media                     17258 posts        630 topics
Philosophy             25927 posts        528 topics
Science                  24349 posts       1160 topics

If there were a god, then it would have revealed itself to me. There has never been anything more important in the history of Mankind than what I am delivering - scientific collation theory for the organization of technology.

Tank

Quote from: SidewalkCynic on January 28, 2019, 03:31:45 PM
Quote from: Icarus on January 27, 2019, 10:14:35 PM
Please explain your position and provide evidence that leads you to your odd conclusions.  Do it quickly because these conversations are becoming more and more tedious.
The number of posts and topics concerning religion and atheism overwhelm the rest of the forum discussion statistics.

Life as an Atheist   16518 posts        280 topics
Parenting                 2231 posts         59 topics
Religion                 75146 posts       1672 topics
Creationism             9286 posts        182 topics

Current Events       29067 posts        946 topics
Politics                   13683 posts        248 topics
Social Issues           8672 posts        192 topics

Miscellaneous          5401 posts        141 topics
Music                       8778 posts         63 topics
Media                     17258 posts        630 topics
Philosophy             25927 posts        528 topics
Science                  24349 posts       1160 topics

How convenient you ignore the Laid Back Lounge with 150,000 posts.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Tank

If you do the job properly, not disingenuously as you have done, this is the proportion of post activity in the top 10 boards.



I have ordered the boards in clockwise order from the most religiously to the least religiously orientated. The three most religiously orientated represent 25% of the total and the least three a shade over 50%. And it's people like you and theists who come here that are responsible for the vast majority on religious/atheistic discussion. Religious discussion is almost exclusively reactive to the theists who come here.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.