Aggressive and condescending atheists.
I know the arguments. Live and let live, you moron - you're not impressing anyone. Yes people have hurt others in the name of religion - they've also done it in the name of postcodes. Most religious people are alright, so let them get on with it.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:27, 16 replies)

Most religious people are alright but most religious doctrine isn't.
This is why women still don't have the right to abortion in places like Ireland and why gay men are murdered and lesbians are raped in Africa.
( girlinthehole, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:31, closed)

Very true
But I'll have to agree with Vaggles as well, in that there are too many "militant atheists" that take it upon themselves to berate any religious people they encounter, and either try to make them feel stupid, ignorant or immoral...and frankly that's just being a cunt.

...used to be a bit like that myself, and I'm not proud. (gazes down at his username)
( Extinct Jesus Dossier "...I think it counteracts Hitler's magic...", Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:47, closed)

I've had my moments too being a tosser with my atheistic rants but I'm getting better.
Still raises my hackles though.
( girlinthehole, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:54, closed)

This^
Richard Dawkins' attitude makes people hate Atheists.
(Bad Monkey hasn't had an abusive gaz since, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 16:02, closed)

No.
Thickies need to be edumacated, not indulged. The ignorant need to have their ignorance pointed out and laughed at, not ignored. That's what they taught me at public school, in between the bummed crumpets and cross country fagging.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:37, closed)

No
Laughing at anyone's failings or differences is just likely to make them think you're an arrogant fuckwit who deserves at best to be ignored, but more likely despised. You can't teach someone something by ridiculing their own beliefs. This is something that most proselytising religious nuts don't seem to get. So I'm going to burn in hell because I don't believe in your own brand of imaginary giant pixie? If your god does exist then get him/her to employ a better marketing team, the population is more in to carrot than stick these days.
( SteamedCleaner, Sun 3 Apr 2011, 7:35, closed)

No, not getting involved. No good can come of it.
*Leaves the room, takes reasonable and hopefully well balanced atheism too*
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 31 Mar 2011, 15:40, closed)

Yeah. This
There's a certain kind of militant atheism that manages to annoy me far more than pretty much every religious person I can think of. But then again, I do think that some athiests beleive so fanaticaly that they are right and are so blinkered by the righteousness of their cause that they're more or less indistuinguishable from some of the more nutty christians I've come across.
(Fredz A graveyard of hopes, a dump of ambition, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 16:09, closed)

Apart from that nutter in Sweden who burned down a church
I'm not sure I know of any militant atheists, or at least none who are militant about atheism; they may be militant about other things.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:16, closed)

Really? Slaughter and misery on the same scale inflicted in the name of postcodes? Cor, I haven't been paying attention.
Also I see what you're getting at here, no-one likes to be belittled, but I'd like to suggest that it's the militant religionists, lobbying for their own particular beliefs to be enshrined in law, demanding privileges while denying rights to others, who necessitate people pointing out that it's all a crock of shit really. Basically, a militant atheist might hurt your feelings a little bit but they're never going to prevent you getting married, deny you the right to an abortion, deny you medical care or advocate your murder. So fuck off.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Thu 31 Mar 2011, 17:21, closed)

You might like to read the post before opining.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 9:57, closed)

Statistically you are right. Like most pedofiles have never molested any children. Or most German nazis weren't concentration camp guards back then.
(Robotnik, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 10:29, closed)

I think...
We might be able to say "Bloody prosletysing dogmatists" who'll rant on about their belief system without any ability to see the other side of the coin.

For my own part "Be Excellent to each other" is a damn fine creed.

Party on.
( DukeEuphoria Comes highly reccomended, Fri 1 Apr 2011, 12:23, closed)

I have a friend who's a militant aetheist
He was quietly Christian til his Dad suddenly dropped dead, then he got into Dawkins et al; I now consciously avoid anything approachig a religious debate with him. Its the whole patronising/arrogant/superior/disrespectful attitude I am uncomfortable with.
(kitescreech still here, Sat 2 Apr 2011, 8:24, closed)

I used to be that guy.
Gradually I chilled out. I'd ask friends why they didn't want to talk to me about religious stuff and they'd say that it wasn't really a conversation, it was just me waiting for them to stop making noise so that I could carry on bludgeoning them with my opinions until they gave up trying to defend themselves.

One incident in particular stands out. I was on a trip with a group of people. We'd been together 2-3 weeks, getting along well and chatting about all sorts. On the final night it emerged that one girl was Christian. We enquired as to why she hadn't mentioned it before, as the discussions had been quite wide-ranging, and there'd been a few times when it would have been natural for her to say so. She replied that unless specifically asked (as she had been) she doesn't tell people, as a lot of the time they end up more or less trying to talk her out of it. Which is naturally what happened. For the rest of the evening everyone else nagged at her incessantly about her beliefs. Except me.

For some reason, it just struck a chord with me. I'd been trying to be more understanding and less aggressive with my views anyway, and her comments, and then how the rest of the group reacted, crystallised it for me.

I have read Dawkins and although there is a lot that I agree with, somehow his tone just makes me squirm a bit. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to be said about curbing religious influence, and not letting certain institutions have carte blanche to say what they like, unchallenged, because their belief in x y z should be unquestioningly respected. But at least on a personal level, I think that a softer touch is needed.
( kappynitty doubled your entendre on, Sat 2 Apr 2011, 19:14, closed)

I think anyone who can be so absolute about this, that they refuse to listen to others, doesn't really understand the question.
That goes for whatever your belief is.
( @><|= w0nu!) or cunt to my friends, Mon 4 Apr 2011, 13:45, closed)