Stupid Atheists Giving Us a Bad Name

[curiosityandthecat]

I have to share this.

From what I've seen in my time, most atheists or rationalists or whatever type of non-believers are that way because we're fairly intelligent. At least, we have a loyalty to logic and reason that trumps superstition. Well, a long-time acquaintance who has always been a very loud (and somewhat obnoxious) atheist did something that makes me hang my head. I'm only posting this here because he's one of the atheists I've known the longest. He was one before most of us knew what the whole thing was about (probably because he copied his older brothers, but still).

This looks a tad long, but trust me. It's worth it.

So, my old friend, let's call him D, is pretty much a douchebag. By that, I mean he was always the one who had to have better than you. Doesn't matter if it was a car, a stereo, a phone, even a girlfriend. If you had one, he had to have one that was better. I never truly liked the kid because he offended my sensibility. Still, he was rich and his parents were never home. So in high school we drank and did drugs at his place while getting to play with his toys and dogs.

Simple trade-off, really: we could vicariously be rich, and he could ostensibly have friends.

He ended up going to the same college I did, where I didn't hang out with him very much, mostly because I had other rich friends who could procure drugs and alcohol for me. After we graduated, I almost never talked to him. He'd lost his value, as I could buy my own alcohol, had my own place and didn't do drugs anymore. If I hung out with him, it was reluctantly, and always because someone else dragged me.

Anyway, I heard this story about him today and... well, you'll see.

Apparently, I'm not sure how long ago, D was in a bar somewhere in central Ohio. He was pretty drunk and (as far as I know) was there alone. So he meets this guy there, and, through some strange series of events which I was not privileged to, ends up wanting to by some coke off the guy. This, for D, is not strange. The strange thing is that the guy said, "Yeah, sure, it's at my house. Just follow me back there and I'll get it for you."

Already we see this is not going to end well.

So D goes back to the guy's house. D gives him the money, the guy goes into his house, and doesn't come back out. Just locks the door and is never seen again. Needless to say, D is pretty pissed off. He's also drunk. He's also not the brightest guy.

Did I mention he's a bit of a douchebag? You know, the kind who carries a loaded handgun in his car.

Just wait. It gets better.

So, drunk D goes and gets the gun, and returns to the guy's door. Bangs on it, screams at the guy inside to give him his stuff. Maybe D threatened the guy, maybe not, I don't know. Doesn't really matter. Anyway, D finally realizes that the guy's not going to come back out. So, he does what any victim of theft would do.

He calls the police.   :confused:  

Yep, the Boys in Blue. What possessed him to do this, I have no idea. Can you imagine what he expected to happen?

A squad car pulls up with lights on, but no siren. The policeman gets out and approaches D. D explains to the officer that the man inside the house has stolen his money, and he wants it back. The officer bangs on the door, yelling, 'Police! Open up!' At which point the guy reluctantly opens the door, gives D both his money and the cocaine, at which point the cop tips his hat and bids adieu to D, a pillar of the community.

Or not.

Really, here's what happened. The cops arrive on the scene. I can't imagine what D told them. "Yeah, I wanted to buy cocaine off this guy, and he kept my money and didn't give me any of the blow!" Probably more along the lines of, "He stole my money and I want it back!" Well, whatever he said, I don't think the police cared very much. Probably more like this.

"Sir, is that a loaded weapon?" Says one cop.

"Sir, have you been drinking? You smell like alcohol," says the other cop.

Hands on their sidearms, they speak in unison: "Sir, you're going to have to come with us."

So, they arrest him, take him to jail, and now D has no driver's license and is on probation for five years. Tell me that's not hilarious. Go on, tell me.

I'm half tempted to send the story in to one of those Dumb Criminal things. I mean, come on. How stupid can you be? The kid is dumb, sure, but I had no idea he was mind-numbingly idiotic. That's stupidity on a level that is staggering.

Which, incidentally, is what I was doing when I heard the story: laughing to the point that I almost fell over. I believe the old saying is, "You reap what you sow."

Does it make you sad when you see fellow atheists doing really, really stupid things?

[Whitney]

Did this make it into the news....I swear I've heard a story about a guy doing that very thing.  Yet, sadly, there are a lot of stupid drunk jerks out there who would think they can call the cops do get their drugs because they are too special to get arrested.

[Steve Reason]

I must have missed the memo that said you have to be smart to be an atheist. We can be just as ignorant as anyone else. But yes, I do hate to see professing atheists, especially secular humanist atheists, making an ass of themselves. But, we're all subject to the same stupidity as every other human no matter what our intellect might otherwise indicate.

[Will]

Some dumb people are lucky enough to have atheist parents. Let this be a lesson to us all: money can't negate neglect.

[karadan]

Man, what an idiot. I guess he got what he deserved.

I'm not sure what him being an atheist has to do with anything though. He was just an idiot - atheism or no atheism. From the title i thought you were going to tell us how he went out 'Christian bashing', or something.

[curiosityandthecat]

I suppose I should have put this in context. I'm doing a lot of research, and I just read an article called "Atheists as 'Other': Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society." Here are a couple quotes:

"For all these respondents, atheists represent a general lack of morality, but for some, this lack was associated with criminality and its dangers to safety and public order, while for others the absence of morality was that of people whose resources or positions place them above the common standards of mainstream American life" (228).

"It is important to note that our respondents did not refer to particular atheists whom they had encountered. Rather they used the atheist as a symbolic figure to represent their fears about those trends in American life--increasing criminality, rampant self-interest, an unaccountable elite--that they believe undermine trust and a common sense of purpose" (228).

"To be an atheist in such an environment is not to be one more religious minority among many in a strongly pluralist society. Rather, Americans construct the atheist as the symbolic representation of one who rejects the basis for moral solidarity and cultural membership in American society altogether" (230).

"Catholics, Jews, and communists all have been figures against which the moral contours of American culture and citizenship have been imagined. We suggest that today, the figure of the atheist plays this role" (230).

Article: Edgell, Penny; Gerteis, Joseph; Hartmann, Douglas. "Atheists As 'Other': Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society." American Sociological Review, v. 71 issue 2, 2006, p. 211-234.[/list]

It struck me as a "Well there you go justifying the stereotype" kind of moment. I suppose if it made the news nobody would know he was an atheist except those who knew him.

I mean, even after the 9/11 attacks, atheists were still rejected more (78.6%) than Muslims (77.6%). That's very telling. And that information is coming from the GSS, the General Social Survey, a country-wide survey that has been distributed annually for fifty years.

[susangail]

Wow. That's hilarious. I think I get what you mean about "D" giving atheists a bad name. "Oh look what this guy did, what an idiot. Oh, he's an atheist? That explains it." But there probably aren't that many people that think that way, at least in this case. Atheists can still be idiots  

[myleviathan]

Does it make you sad when you see fellow atheists doing really, really stupid things?

I feel like militant commununists like Stalin and those over in Southeast Asia give atheism a bad name. Even Fidel's regime in Cuba occassionally locks up Christian missionaries and known evangelicals. I feel like anybody who locks up anybody for a belief about whether God exists or not has the wrong idea.

I sometimes wonder if theists could forge their own nation, where they have all the political power they have lusted over for centuries, who would go to prison first: atheists or gays.

[susangail]

I sometimes wonder if theists could forge their own nation, where they have all the political power they have lusted over for centuries, who would go to prison first: atheists or gays.

Ha ha, I've wondered this too. It really makes you think. I know with my dad, the idea of telling him I'm a lesbian (hypothetically) makes that (real) conversation of me telling him that I don't believe in God seem like small talk.

[curiosityandthecat]

I know with my dad, the idea of telling him I'm a lesbian (hypothetically) makes that (real) conversation of me telling him that I don't believe in God seem like small talk.

Actually, most research I've come across seems to point to gays being more accepted than atheists. At least, more people would be willing to vote for an openly gay president than an openly atheist president.

Blows my mind that us not having an imaginary friend is that offensive to people.

[crocofish]

I sometimes wonder if theists could forge their own nation, where they have all the political power they have lusted over for centuries, who would go to prison first: atheists or gays.

I just commented in another thread about a personal experience I had with an Islamic fundamentalist.  He was a coworker here in the U.S. who would pray to Mecca every day at the prescribed times and required that his wife wear a veil.  He was mostly a decent guy, but occasionally would get preachy about the teachings of the Koran.  Since I know little about the Koran, sometimes I found it educational.  One time, he was trying to make a point that Islam wasn't all about putting everyone to death who were not Islamic.  He told me that "the prophet" (Mohamed) said that those of other religions outside of Islam, and those that violated the laws of Islam (like gays), could still be allowed to coexist as long as they believed in god, but those that had no belief in god must be put to death.

And where would the Christian fundamentalist churches get their choir directors if they imprisoned the gays.  

Doesn't look good for the atheists.  But, in an extreme situation, it would be easy for closet atheists to fake belief in the dominant religion.

[susangail]

I know with my dad, the idea of telling him I'm a lesbian (hypothetically) makes that (real) conversation of me telling him that I don't believe in God seem like small talk.

Actually, most research I've come across seems to point to gays being more accepted than atheists. At least, more people would be willing to vote for an openly gay president than an openly atheist president.

That makes sense when you put it that way. Gays are discriminated against, but not necessarily feared or mistrusted. My dad's just a weirdo.

Blows my mind that us not having an imaginary friend is that offensive to people.

I once read a thing somewhere (can't remember where) that said all atheists had mental disorders. I find this sort of ironic. Atheists don't have "an imaginary friend" and that makes them mentally insane? Guess I'm not a good example though, me being an atheist and having an actual mental disorder   (though I don't think BD and atheism have much to do with each other...)

[Will]

THIS gives us a bad name:

(CNN) -- A man and a woman have been charged by police in Italy after they were found having sex in a confession box, it was reported Wednesday.

The Italian ANSA news agency said the young man and woman were taken into custody by police in the northern city of Cesena following a telephone complaint from a man attending morning Mass in the city's cathedral.

Authorities were alerted after a parishoner heard "rustling and groaning" coming from inside the confession box and pulled back the curtains to reveal a goth-rock couple engaged in oral sex, ANSA said.

The agency said the pair -- a 31-year-old laborer and a 32-year-old teacher -- defended their conduct saying: "We are atheists and for us, having sex in church is like doing it any other place."

However, Bishop Antonio Lanfranchi of Cesena-Sarsina took said the couple's behavior was "an outrage of notable proportions which bespeaks unutterable squalor."

He added that a special ceremony would be held to purify the confession box.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06 ... edral.sex/

[Evolved]

THIS gives us a bad name:

(CNN) -- A man and a woman have been charged by police in Italy after they were found having sex in a confession box, it was reported Wednesday.

The Italian ANSA news agency said the young man and woman were taken into custody by police in the northern city of Cesena following a telephone complaint from a man attending morning Mass in the city's cathedral.

Authorities were alerted after a parishoner heard "rustling and groaning" coming from inside the confession box and pulled back the curtains to reveal a goth-rock couple engaged in oral sex, ANSA said.

The agency said the pair -- a 31-year-old laborer and a 32-year-old teacher -- defended their conduct saying: "We are atheists and for us, having sex in church is like doing it any other place."

However, Bishop Antonio Lanfranchi of Cesena-Sarsina took said the couple's behavior was "an outrage of notable proportions which bespeaks unutterable squalor."

He added that a special ceremony would be held to purify the confession box.

Eeeeew.  I wonder what they do to purify the confession box.  I hope that it involves bleach (oh, excuse me, I mean holy bleach).  

[filip3rd]

Now pelase tell me what is the connection between his action and atheism? I dont know what is worse, theist that hate Atheist or people like you who has no clue what Atheism is and connect a redicules newpaper story into Atheism.