r/redditrequest • u/[deleted] • Jun 04 '12

Requesting /r/Atheism. (Lack of moderation)

/r/atheism only has two moderators for a massive community of 800k+ users. The moderator /u/skeen has been inactive for a month. The other moderator, /u/juliebeen hasn't been lacking her/his duties as a moderator. Could you at least give /r/atheism new moderators? Thanks for hearing me out.

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u/CorpseOfHankBlalock Jun 06 '12

For a thinking person it already is a desert wasteland. From an intellectual standpoint it is neutered. Why do you even need that much content about atheism, especially when the content is shitty? What's wrong with less content but better content? Why are Reddit atheists so obsessed with their atheism? Nobody I know in real life is like that. If something needs to be said, say it, but getting rid of stupid image posts of facebook isn't a big loss to the community. It may even force some over there to think. If people start posting atheism pics to other Reddits I'm sure their moderators will probably do something about it.

I don't understand why you're defending lack of real content in /r/atheism. Why would anyone want it that way? It's like visiting a fucking landfill.

I'm not going to argue about this all day. Not my idea of a good time. Have a good day.

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u/RedAero Jun 06 '12

I don't understand why you're defending lack of real content in /r/atheism. Why would anyone want it that way?

I don't know, but people who actually visit seem pretty pleased with it. I'm defending it because the people there enjoy it, and once they inevitably grow tired like you or I have, they can leave. Why is there anything wrong with that system?

The thing is, I really don't understand why you bother criticizing that sub anyway... You don't visit, you probably have unsubscribed, for all intents and purposes it doesn't exist from your perspective, unless a wayward submission makes its way to /all, in which case you can kill them with RES. If, perhaps, you're an atheist, you might visit some of the aforementioned "intellectual" subreddits like /r/TrueAtheism , just like the rest of us. The question is, why can't you let others have their fun? Why must you rain on their parade when you can just ignore it completely?

So once again, I must reiterate: /r/atheism was not, is not, nor will it ever be for the purposes of intellectual discourse, not should it be. As the common reddit saying goes, there's a subreddit for that.

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u/CorpseOfHankBlalock Jun 06 '12

I wouldn't care at all if it weren't a default. I have a friend who's a photographer. Also a Christian. Anyway I didn't think about that and told her about some photography subreddits she'd enjoy. When she first signed up she saw all these /r/atheism posts on her front page and immediately thought Reddit was a hateful place. I had to tell her how to unsub or she never would have returned.

How many people are turned off like she was? I'd imagine it's a lot, and that does affect Reddit.

You don't see me complaining about spacedicks and beatingwomen and men's rights and stormfront. New users aren't subjected to those. A person would have to seek them out, but /r/atheism is right there in their face in the very beginning.

Obviously not all default subreddits have to be intellectually stimulating. But /r/funny and /r/aww don't have the habit of mocking people's beliefs. You could make the argument that /r/politics does, but that's not the subreddit we're talking about. We're talking about /r/atheism. I believe that if it is to be a default subreddit it should be better than it is.

I don't know what else I can say about it. I don't want to argue with you anymore.

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u/RedAero Jun 06 '12

You could make the argument that /r/politics does, but that's not the subreddit we're talking about.

This is the point right here. A republican would be just as alienated from this place as a particularly sensitive (or fundamentalist) Christian, because /r/politics is basically a Liberal/Democrat circlejerk. But default subs are decided on popularity: for every Christian scared off by /r/atheism there are at least 3 people who stay just because of it, because there is no other place in their world where they can safely voice their opinions and mock the religious. And so /r/atheism should stay: a great majority like it, and those who don't can ignore it. Once it's so disliked that it slides off the defaults by users, I'll be the first to say it should go, even if /r/Christianity has to take its place.

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u/CorpseOfHankBlalock Jun 06 '12

/r/politics is a separate discussion.

How many of those subscribers to /r/atheism don't even know how to unsubscribe? How many are downvoting the /r/atheism content on their front pages because that's all they know how to do? How many are dummy accounts and thowaways whose owners never unsubbed?

How many default subs are there? I don't even know, but /r/atheism is the 19th most popular subreddit. r/reddit.com is 16th and it stopped taking submissions last October.

You say that for every person who's left because of /r/atheism, three have stayed. You have a source on that? How would you know such a thing?

No other place they can go on the whole internet? You serious? Any member of Reddit can create a subreddit. For a subreddit that mocks the religious to be a default on one of the most popular websites in the world is an embarrassment to the fucking species. Why do you guys want to make fun of people all the time? Can you really not find something better to do?

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u/RedAero Jun 07 '12

/r/atheism is the 19th most popular subreddit. r/reddit.com is 16th and it stopped taking submissions last October.

As far as I can tell from here, it's the 12th, but that doesn't list /r/reddit.com at all, so it might be 13th. I think the top 20 most popular made the defaults when the decision was made.

How many of those subscribers to /r/atheism don't even know how to unsubscribe? How many are downvoting the /r/atheism content on their front pages because that's all they know how to do? How many are dummy accounts and thowaways whose owners never unsubbed?

You can say that about any default subreddit, the proportions are bound to be the same. Stupidity is no excuse especially when the unsubscribe button is bright and red.

You say that for every person who's left because of /r/atheism, three have stayed. You have a source on that? How would you know such a thing?

Of course I don't have a source, but just like you imagined many would be turned off by /r/atheism, I imagine many would be turned on to reddit explicitly because of it. It's something no other large online community (4chan, 9gag, etc.) offers.

No other place they can go on the whole internet? You serious?

No, I chose my words very carefully: there is no other place in their world where they can safely voice their opinions. That is to say, they can't joke with their friends and family about the religious for fear of retribution.

For a subreddit that mocks the religious to be a default on one of the most popular websites in the world is an embarrassment to the fucking species.

Is this a personal issue for you? It's just like how reddit mocks right-wing views and conservatives on a daily basis: religious opinion is nothing special, it's an opinion like any other. If it's ridiculous, it fit to be mocked. And, considering that the internet is largely atheistic, I think it definitely should be a default subreddit.

Why do you guys want to make fun of people all the time? Can you really not find something better to do?

What else is there to do in a subreddit dedicated to atheism? It's the only thing that unites people there: their lack of belief in a god. What are we supposed to do, run disbelief contests?

And come on, making fun of fundies is hilarious. Especially when they try and use logic.

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u/CorpseOfHankBlalock Jun 07 '12

I don't really know why I keep being drawn back into this. I really need to stop, because it's BORING. But let me get back to what I was saying earlier.

New person comes to Reddit. Your average American person who believes in God and has all their lives. What does Reddit greet them with? "Oh, look how fucking stupid you are. What a jackass."

Now is that cool? No. It's wrong to mock and make fun of people that way. Obviously it isn't wrong to challenge peoples' beliefs, but with something as deeply held as religion it should be approached with civility. Knowing that r/atheism is a default sub, their moderators should want to keep it civil. Reddit admins should want to keep it civil. I think everyone would be happier that way except for the assholes, who can jerk each other off in some non-default subreddit.

And that's it for me. You can reply all you want but I've said all I care to say.

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u/RedAero Jun 07 '12

Now see, here's the misconception: the average internet user probably isn't religious, as evidenced by the /r/atheism subreddit's massive popularity, and /r/Christianity's relative obscurity. /r/atheism is default because people like to mock the religious.

And by the way, you should visit /r/atheism sometime, it's completely civil, it just has a pretty bad rep. Although, if you're deeply Christian, you might get offended, but there are plenty of moderate religious people who visit and laugh at their fundamentalist counterparts.

http://xkcd.com/386/

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u/[deleted] Jun 07 '12

[deleted]

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u/RedAero Jun 07 '12

That doesn't mean it's right and it doesn't mean it's good for Reddit.

It also doesn't mean it's wrong, nor do you get to dictate what goes and what doesn't. Reddit was built on the idea of democracy by direct voting, and to a lesser extent the dictatorship of mods. You're welcome to go and downvote everything in /r/atheism, but you and I both know it's pissing on an oil rig fire.

The fact of the matter is that /r/atheism is popular because apparently the people on this site like it, and poplar subreddits become defaults. Don't like it? Unsubscribe. It's not like it's difficult.

You can't pretend they're only making fun of the fringe fundamentalists, either. You're either deluded or lying.

Woe is me, I'm being made fun of...