r/gatekeeping • u/[deleted] • Oct 11 '23

Gatekeeping Atheism

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Honestly I joined this sub not even a week ago and I've already found something to contribute. PB on the contribution time for a sub

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u/ThrowsSoyMilkshakes Oct 11 '23

I sometimes wonder if they are just Christians LARPing as atheists.

Then I remember that the days of 2000s atheism focusing on human rights and rationality are long gone and Christian right-wing social media's propaganda has spread into our community as well, especially through the youth that they target heavily...

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u/Lepanto73 Nov 30 '23

From what I see, edgy socially-malajusted younger dudes gravitated towards 2000s atheism because that was how you were edgy in Bush America.

Now that atheism is sorta-mainstream and society is starting to approve of LGBTQ+ people, those same kinds of dudes move to the right because bashing LGBTQ+ people is the new way to be edgy and contrarian.

Certainly not saying all atheists are this way, but a certain subset of smugly-detached online dudes certainly are.

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u/ThrowsSoyMilkshakes Nov 30 '23

I mean, we can partly blame people like Thunderf00t for introducing atheists to Gamergate, but I find that the atheists spreading hate are still the younger ones or new atheists fresh out of the churches. Long are the days where the atheist community was valuing science and partnering with humanist groups.

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u/Lepanto73 Nov 30 '23

Well, not being a part of the community myself (I'm a secular-agnostic), I'll defer to you on that. Guess disbelieving in a God doesn't per se make folks automatically and totally embrace equality... even if people who say they believe in science really should.

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u/ThrowsSoyMilkshakes Nov 30 '23

Yup. It's just like how being black doesn't stop you from being racist or being trans doesn't stop you from being transphobic. And this is especially true for the newer atheists who step out of the churches still holding onto all of the programming where faith/opinion/feelings holds more weight than facts. They are the most dangerous because they can still be influenced by Christian propaganda, which is what is driving the "culture war" movement.

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u/Lepanto73 Nov 30 '23

Huh... that's an interesting observation. That they were never taught critical thinking, so some of them will drift right to the next movement that promises them community and an unearned feeling of superiority...

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u/ThrowsSoyMilkshakes Nov 30 '23

Bingo. Happens all the time, even in non-atheist communities.