Atheists

@ Alex; periphery.
It actually is, a guy on facebook actually said that.

I'm not saying all atheist are like that, but some of the ones I encounter, are.

Ned Flanders:

@ joan.
Most atheists I know are like that. They think they're better than me just because I believe in Jesus. I also believe in Science. Since when are you either an ignorant manipulated by the church to believe in only the Bible or a sarcastic scheptical who only believes in Science?

That Amazing Atheist guy is one person I seriously dislike...

Because it's generally the ones who are at the more extreme ends of the spectrum that have the biggest gobs on them?

You never hear about moderate Christians; they're always judgemental dicks with poorly spelt placards. You never heard about moderate Muslims; they're always easily provoked terrorists. You never hear about moderate atheists; it's always going to be the all-singing, all-dancing "LOL THERE IS NO GOOOOOD" sort. Because extremes are easier to think about, easier to sell in a news story. It's all rather basic psychology.

Ned Flanders:

Also,
even if you don't believe in Jesus, insulting him is insulting millions of people. Being polite is a wonderful thing.

How is it?

@ joan.
If you call Jesus a whore, I feel insulted. Not personally insulted, but it still affects me. You're calling somebody I love a whore.

I know a couple of Atheists who are great people and a couple of Catholics who are also great. Because they simply have respect. It hurts me to see Facebook updates that take all believers and make them to be retarded. And those people who confuse the instituiton of church with God.

@ Ned Flanders

Maybe I don't get it because the people I tend to love like family and friends I freely insult as a way of showing my affection. And I only would get upset if someone called them something horrendous if it upset them. I don't see why people ought to get upset for the sake of someone else if that someone else doesn't especially care about the act in itself. Maybe I'm just weird, I don't know.

I mean, I'm not going to get upset if someone called The Doctor an arsehole.

And Facebook is toxic for such things. I've unfriended an LGBT News thing on Facebook because it was...it was plain idiotic, filled with over-simplified tosh and needlessly provoking "debate pictures". Facebook is not anywhere I would suggest that any good, decent or even thought-provoking stuff can come from which may make me a cultural snob or a dick but hey. Even some of the supposed intellectual crap on tumblr gets on my nerves.

It's basically like YouTube comments. People act all tough and shit but it is all a facade. I'm sorry that you've had to deal with such twats but that's the human race for you.

@ joan.
It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Like, I call my boyfriend all sorts of racist things and he does the same to me (I'm white, he's Asian) but we know we're just joking around, so nobody gets offended. But if someone deliberately wants to use his race to make him feel like shit, they'll use different non-verbal language, if that makes sense.

I don't go crying over some pic on Facebook, but it makes me a bit sad how disrespectful people are. And not just with religion. Like people posting shit about how Justin Beiber should die a slow painful death. I don't even like him, but wishing someone's death, that is not acceptable. Much less a child who never did anything to you.

@ Alex; periphery.
Pretty close to on. I've heard "Well, she must have a mental illness, she believes in God". I've also heard that I'm "retarded" for believing in God. Her examples aren't that much of a stretch.

(Calling me retarded doesn't exactly make me want to join someone's belief circle; just like if I told someone that they were damned to hell they probably wouldn't like it.)

@ joan.
I think the difference between insulting a character on a TV show and a figure that millions/billions of people draw hope, faith, and inspiration from is that a lot of people base things in their life off said figure. So if you say Jesus is a stupid asshole, by extension, you would seemingly be calling those who follow him or believe good things about him that they are stupid assholes, at least to a certain extent. Whereas, if someone insults Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, it doesn't personally mean anything to me; Sheldon didn't help shape my morals or the person I am today.

I'll acknowledge minorities of individuals may be able to say The Doctor or Harry Potter did shape that, but it's a lot more obvious to the general public that a deity figure definitely does that for lots of individuals.

---

I, too, have major problems with asshole Atheists. As the only believer in a family of nonbelievers, I am used to being treated with respect. I also treat others of different faiths when respect. So I take major offense when someone says all Christians are anti-gay fucktards or that it would be easier if everyone who believed in God just killed myself. I am trying very hard to coexist and I respect your lack of faith; I don't impose my faith upon you or try to use it to make laws; why do you have to treat me the exact way you DON'T want me to treat you?

miserable dru.:

So I take major offense when someone says all Christians are anti-gay fucktards or that it would be easier if everyone who believed in God just killed myself. I am trying very hard to coexist and I respect your lack of faith; I don't impose my faith upon you or try to use it to make laws; why do you have to treat me the exact way you DON'T want me to treat you?

^THIS

Some Atheists act exactly the way crazy Christians do. They try to impose their (lack of faith on you), they judge you for what you believe in, they call you names... It's what those crazy baptist ladies do. Just this morning two young priests knocked on my door to offer me a prayer. I said yes. My non-believer neighbor made fun of them and then fun of me for accepting their prayer. They were nothing but kind and nice, why would I act like a bitch and tell them to go away? Even if I was a non believer, I would of been nice and polite to them, despite their religious views.

@ miserable dru.

And Doctor Who has shaped my own ways of thinking about the world, gives me hope and inspiration moreso than religion has ever done for me.

And really? You think it's justifiable to suggest that extrapolating the mockery of a belief to the mocking everyone who believes that? I think it's a bit of a leap to suggest that if I say "I think God is a twat" to mean that I also think everyone who believes in God is a twat.

Ned Flanders:

@ joan.
It's not what you say, it's how you say it. Like, I call my boyfriend all sorts of racist things and he does the same to me (I'm white, he's Asian) but we know we're just joking around, so nobody gets offended. But if someone deliberately wants to use his race to make him feel like shit, they'll use different non-verbal language, if that makes sense.

I don't go crying over some pic on Facebook, but it makes me a bit sad how disrespectful people are. And not just with religion. Like people posting shit about how Justin Beiber should die a slow painful death. I don't even like him, but wishing someone's death, that is not acceptable. Much less a child who never did anything to you.

Again, it's the Internet. People feel like can be a total arsehole online because there is a certain degree of separation.

@ joan.
Generally the people who post anti-God/anti-Christian things to my FB/Tumblr are a lot meaner than that. I don't get all that offended when I see 'God is a twat' but there are some really offensive horribly rude things said that really do make it seem like the individual is passing judgment on the entirety of people who share that faith.

@ miserable dru.

And again, people on the internet are generally more of a dick than they are in real life. I mean, jesus christ, the amount of horrendously over the top threats and insults I've had thrown at me for the most mundane of reasons is ridiculous.

@ joan.
I hear this stuff in real life, too.

miserable dru.:

@ joan.
I hear this stuff in real life, too.

Yap, same here.

I had a teacher once tell me

"I never expected an intelligent young woman like yourself to believe in such an idiotic concept."

@ Ned Flanders
I get the "you're a Christian? But you're so smart" thing, too. Also, "you're too nice to be a Christian". No, I just try to be a good person like Jesus.

@ miserable dru.
Or when people think I should be a total prude and call me a whore for wearing a short skirt when other girls wear even shorter skirts and they don't get the same amount of hate...

Alex; periphery.:

Is it safe to say that that is not a direct quote from an atheist?

I have atheist friends who have called all Christians idiots and I have several friends who sincerely believe that faith [in religion] either causes, or is symptomatic of, a kind of gullibility synonymous with lower/ed intelligence. They don't believe rational/intelligent people can and do believe in God.

I got to hear an Atheist say they think homosexuality is a choice the other day and since so many Atheists pride themselves on needing proof to believe things and using logic to make choice instead of faith, I was really surprised (considered all the studies about how homosexuality is NOT a choice). It was pretty hypocritical.

I also hear Atheists say that I must be homophobic if I'm a Christian

miserable dru.:

@ Alex; periphery.
Pretty close to on. I've heard "Well, she must have a mental illness, she believes in God". I've also heard that I'm "retarded" for believing in God. Her examples aren't that much of a stretch.

(Calling me retarded doesn't exactly make me want to join someone's belief circle; just like if I told someone that they were damned to hell they probably wouldn't like it.)

I was referring more to the "I'm smarter than you because I believe in science." It just sounded very much exaggerated. (And anyone who would say such a thing is quite misguided, as science ought not to be reduced to something one simply "believes in".)