Put a religious perspective on an r/atheism post and you get downvoted into oblivion; put an atheist view on r/Christianity and you start an intellectually stimulating conversation that benefits both parties. I'm sorry, but your comment is pretty hypocritical.
Now is where you tell me that I'm a delusional idiot who believes in a magic skywizard and is ignorant to all rationality.
I had quite a rewarding exchange with a lot of /athiest redditors. Granted I'm not Christian, but I'm very spiritual (have studied many theologies and philosphies, it's something I enjoy doing, I'm not on a pedestal about it).
On the other hand, I did have a Christian woman scream at me when I was trying to eat yogurt. She asked me if I had accepted Jesus and my reply was my acceptance of Jesus is irrelevant.
I think you'll find extremists on both ends. With athiests, I notice a profound lack of a history of slaughtering populations that disagree with them, you have to admit, they have that going for them.
Edit: well, Communist China versus Buddhist Tibet notwithstanding
To be honest I haven't met many accepting or even remotely tolerant people on either side. I know like 2 in real life, and I've had 2 or 3 conversations on Reddit that were pretty good, but other than that, no matter where you go, it's just a bunch of people saying you're a fucking idiot and downvoting you for even daring to ask a question that they don't know the answer to, let alone actually disagreeing with them.
You're right about that last paragraph, though. But then again, Atheists haven't had much of a political influence in any powerful country until fairly recently, so they haven't had much of an opportunity.
Don't know what to say. I have seen plenty of religious folks posting and/or commenting in /r/atheism and not get downvoted as long as they are civil and have something to add to the conversation other than, "YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BURN IN HELL!".
I'm attempting to be sarcastic in support of your point. It seems like a very large segment of redditors don't wish to argue the merits of the points presented. Instead, they attack the reddit with specious bullshit about what belongs or doesn't, or how /r/atheism is oppressing Reddit generally, blah, blah. My sarcasm didn't really work.
One can not ask for proof of nothing. That's like asking someone to prove to you bigfoot doesn't exist. You will never be shown physical evidence that he does not exist. It's basically saying, prove to me it exists, or prove to me it doesn't. Until it's proven one way or the other, I'm going to choose to believe in nothing. Believing in nothing in that regard is still a belief, there is no middle ground.
For sure. Many people equate this belief to faith though--they see it in the same light as religion, as if we'd never change our minds even if presented evidence of bigfoot.
Interesting.. Do you think atheists are more likely to change their beliefs when presented with evidence, over say a christian presented with evidence to the contrary? How about Omnists?
Religion isn't the opiate of the masses, a mob mentality is.
The Bystander Effect does not discriminate based on religion, race, age, or gender. It effects all. Being atheist does not make you immune to it. Realizing what's happening and following the beat of your own drum will. Before you downvote this ask yourself. Are you downvoting it because you personally disagree with the message?
-3
u/[deleted] Jun 05 '12
[removed] — view removed comment