Where do you stand on the "Don't be a dick initiative"

[Tokage]

http://atheistexperience.blogspot.com/2 ... -dick.html

I'm all for being a dick, to be honest. I think getting in a Theists face about something is a way for them to try to seek out things to support whatever it is I yelled at them about, and when they are inevitably unable to find such evidence to support it, it may get them thinking about what I said and start a thinking process. Your thoughts?

[Davin]

I'm perfectly alright with giving absolutely no respect to ideas people bring up to me or to the public that are not valid and/or are not supported by evidence. I'm also one to treat the other person the same way they treat me. If they're civil, then I'm civil. If they start up with thinly veiled insults, then I'll start up with thinly veiled insults. However I will not start up with fallacies no matter how many fallacies they commit. So I'm alright with being a dick to people's ideas and returning dickishness.

[Whitney]

I'm against "being a dick" being rude to someone is generally not an effective means of getting them to listen to you, unnecessarily raises blood pressure, and generally makes discussion unenjoyable...hence the civility rules here at HAF.

[Tokage]

I'm against "being a dick" being rude to someone is generally not an effective means of getting them to listen to you, unnecessarily raises blood pressure, and generally makes discussion unenjoyable...hence the civility rules here at HAF.

I think this is true for most things. But when someone is under the impression that I deserve eternal hell for not coming to the same conclusion  as they did, it make me want to be a dick, because I'm not ok with that. Perhaps I've been listening to too much Hitchens, but the fact of the matter is, religion is a threat to Humanity, and I intend to treat it as such. That doesn't mean I'm going to be mean to the people, but when it comes to their beliefs, I see no reason to be even the slightest bit respectful. I don't come out guns a blazin', but I am very firm from the first moment to the last, and if a disguised threat of hell is thrown at me, I can get very ugly.

[Davin]

I'm against "being a dick" being rude to someone is generally not an effective means of getting them to listen to you, unnecessarily raises blood pressure, and generally makes discussion unenjoyable...hence the civility rules here at HAF.

Which is why I try not to do it here.

[AnimatedDirt]

I think this is true for most things. But when someone is under the impression that I deserve eternal hell for not coming to the same conclusion  as they did, it make me want to be a dick, because I'm not ok with that. Perhaps I've been listening to too much Hitchens, but the fact of the matter is, religion is a threat to Humanity, and I intend to treat it as such. That doesn't mean I'm going to be mean to the people, but when it comes to their beliefs, I see no reason to be even the slightest bit respectful. I don't come out guns a blazin', but I am very firm from the first moment to the last, and if a disguised threat of hell is thrown at me, I can get very ugly.

Hell is not a threat.  It simply is.  I would agree with your disgust at religious people saying that you deserve what you get.  They are ignorant or they conveniently disregard their own deserved place in "hell".

[Tokage]

I think this is true for most things. But when someone is under the impression that I deserve eternal hell for not coming to the same conclusion  as they did, it make me want to be a dick, because I'm not ok with that. Perhaps I've been listening to too much Hitchens, but the fact of the matter is, religion is a threat to Humanity, and I intend to treat it as such. That doesn't mean I'm going to be mean to the people, but when it comes to their beliefs, I see no reason to be even the slightest bit respectful. I don't come out guns a blazin', but I am very firm from the first moment to the last, and if a disguised threat of hell is thrown at me, I can get very ugly.

Hell is not a threat.  It simply is.  I would agree with your disgust at religious people saying that you deserve what you get.  They are ignorant or they conveniently disregard their own deserved place in "hell".

But it is a threat. Can I ask you, what do you believe will happen to me should I die right now without accepting your God?
I'm not asking if you think I deserve it, I'm simply asking what the beliefs you hold, lead you to believe will happen to me should I not accept your God before my death.

[AnimatedDirt]

I think this is true for most things. But when someone is under the impression that I deserve eternal hell for not coming to the same conclusion  as they did, it make me want to be a dick, because I'm not ok with that. Perhaps I've been listening to too much Hitchens, but the fact of the matter is, religion is a threat to Humanity, and I intend to treat it as such. That doesn't mean I'm going to be mean to the people, but when it comes to their beliefs, I see no reason to be even the slightest bit respectful. I don't come out guns a blazin', but I am very firm from the first moment to the last, and if a disguised threat of hell is thrown at me, I can get very ugly.

Hell is not a threat.  It simply is.  I would agree with your disgust at religious people saying that you deserve what you get.  They are ignorant or they conveniently disregard their own deserved place in "hell".

But it is a threat. Can I ask you, what do you believe will happen to me should I die right now without accepting your God?
I'm not asking if you think I deserve it, I'm simply asking what the beliefs you hold, lead you to believe will happen to me should I not accept your God before my death.

Exactly the same that will happen to me...dead in the ground.  Nothing more, nothing less.
(sounds like you may want to start a new thread)

[Tokage]

Exactly the same that will happen to me...dead in the ground.  Nothing more, nothing less.
(sounds like you may want to start a new thread)

I don't think it would be worth it to do that, I'll get around to whatever it is you're trying to say in another thread sometime and address it there.

Back on topic, Davin, I try to do the same, but the way I act in person usually tends to carry over to forums sometimes, although I try not to let it do so. I think it's mostly because it's not an instant response situation. I hate waiting on responses because I sometimes lose my train of thought  

[Asmodean]

Well, having a dick, I guess I'll have to ask Him  

On a more serious note, I think I often AM a dick, especially towards people or causes which lean towards the negative end of my respect scale. It's not often intentional though - just how I am.

[ForTheLoveOfAll]

Being a dick to someone, if anything, will increase their resolve to believe what they believe in. As a rule, at least. There's a time and place for everything.

The issue an Atheist faces when trying to reason with a religious individual is that the fact that we're questioning their faith AT ALL makes us a dick to them. "OMGOMG WHY ARE YOU PERSUHCOOTING ME?!!"

Anytime we suggest they might be wrong, that their holy texts might not be true, or present scientific facts that contradict what they believe in, we're labeled as the bad guys.

[AnimatedDirt]

Being a dick to someone, if anything, will increase their resolve to believe what they believe in. As a rule, at least. There's a time and place for everything.

The issue an Atheist faces when trying to reason with a religious individual is that the fact that we're questioning their faith AT ALL makes us a dick to them. "OMGOMG WHY ARE YOU PERSUHCOOTING ME?!!"

Anytime we suggest they might be wrong, that their holy texts might not be true, or present scientific facts that contradict what they believe in, we're labeled as the bad guys.

Not the whole truth.  I invite anyone to question my beliefs.  I may not have the best answer for every question, but I really have nothing to hide BECAUSE I can't answer every question.  It is not that the "Atheist" questions our beliefs, it is that most of *you cannot discuss the matter without it leading to a claim of the existence of a Great Spaghetti Monster or the like all the while knowing there is no such thing NOR is there ANY historical evidence of a GSM.  It's when you disquise yourself as willing to discuss and then throw that point out that I tend to lose my cool too.  It's rediculous.  What it does is show disrespect for the person and by it, shows that what you're really doing is not questioning, but there for fun and to ridicule.

[Sophus]

The way I understand it, I don't agree with how they qualify "being a dick". PZ Myers has been called a dick and I don't think he really is. He's brutally honest and passionate.

[Recusant]

Part 1 of the talk by Phil Plait:

[youtube:14hg6swy]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQNZ3CVGxvQ[/youtube:14hg6swy]

P. Z. Myers in my opinion leans toward being a dick sometimes.  Usually when provoked.

 [youtube:14hg6swy]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ASBBIVFb8c[/youtube:14hg6swy]

The cud-chewing individual deserved Myers' scorn, in my opinion...

[Whitney]

protestors =   could not watch whole thing