I've got you, mate. Gonna focus on more equal Christian bashing, Muslim bashing, Jew bashing, Mormon bashing, Hindu bashing, Scientology bashing, Buddhist bashing, and so on.
this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
1 points (60.0% liked)
Atheism
1662 readers
2 users here now
- Be respectful to other members Treat others with kindness and courtesy, even if you disagree with their opinions.
- Stay on topic Keep your discussions relevant to the purpose of the forum. Avoid going off-topic or derailing conversations.
- No spamming Avoid posting irrelevant or unnecessary content, advertisements, or links to unrelated websites.
- Use proper language and tone Choose your words carefully when commenting or replying to others. Avoid using profanity or engaging in offensive language and personal attacks.
- Do not share personal information Protect your privacy by refraining from sharing personal details such as addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses on the forum.
- Report any issues If you come across any inappropriate behavior or content, report it to the forum moderators or administrators.
- Have fun and contribute positively Participate actively and add value to the discussions. Engage in meaningful and constructive conversations with fellow members.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Think about it this way, the only reason for an atheist community to even exist is to stand in direct opposition to theism. Without theism, there is no atheism. Therefore, atheists will tend to speak against whatever the dominant religion is in their culture or their former religion, only occasionally deviating to speak against other religions when they cause problems. As an example, Islam is not a problem in my day to day life, so I generally only address it when speaking about news events or issues as they arise and come to my attention or affect me directly. As a westerner of European descent, if I were to fixate on Islam even though I honestly find it to be more problematic dogmatically than Christianity, I would probably be labeled a racist or a bigot. There's also the consideration of how much energy and personal bandwidth I really want to devote to arguing about concepts that I think are dumb.
I don't think you should fixate on any religion. I think you should fixate on religion itself. I understand that you deal with Christianity more, but this isn't a-christianity, its atheism. I understand why you might want to focus on Christianity, my problem is that its framed as a critique of religion in general. I don't like being wrongfully grouped in with Christians. I just want it to be specified when something you talk about is only a problem in Christianity.
I don't know which posts you're taking issue with exactly, but I personally try to be pretty precise when I criticize religions because I think that's the best way to criticize them. Speaking broadly about all supernatural phenomena being bullshit only gets you so far in a conversation. Vague statements like "the world would be more peaceful without religion" are only so meaningful.
The other thing to consider is that religions aren't monolithic entities either. If I'm criticizing American Christian theocrats, I'm generally not addressing moderate Christians who believe in separation of church and state. If I'm criticizing jihadists and burkas, I'm obviously not addressing moderate Muslims. Context has to be taken into consideration. If people feel personally attacked by what I say because of a general association with religion broadly or a specific religion, it's kind of a them problem, not a me problem. And, btw, I'm saying all this as a nontheistic satanist who has plenty of experience having my own religion misunderstood.
I don't know which posts you're taking issue with exactly, but I personally try to be pretty precise when I criticize religions because I think that's the best way to criticize them.
Good, that's all I want. As long as you specify that you are talking about an individual religion, it won't bother me. You aren't my problem.
And, btw, I'm saying all this as a nontheistic satanist who has plenty of experience having my own religion misunderstood.
I'm not trying to be rude but wouldn't that just come with the territory? If you call yourself a satanist then I imagine a lot of people would reasonably assume you believe in and worship Satan.
Only if they can't be bothered to ask questions and do a little research instead of making assumptions.
Do you really not see how that could cause confusion? Christians believe in and worship Christ, why wouldn't they apply the same logic to you? Everyone makes assumptions when they are that obvious, I don't understand how you can blame that misconception on them.
I'm not trying to be rude but wouldn't that just come with the territory? If you call yourself a satanist then I imagine a lot of people would reasonably assume you believe in and worship Satan.
Right, what I mean is I just don't let it bother me when people have misconceptions about my beliefs. Their attacks are meaningless because they don't even understand what I believe. By mentioning this, I was trying to suggest not letting it bother you so much if people make broad criticisms of religion because they probably don't know what your specific beliefs actually are and might not even be speaking to them. It's kind of like when people say All Cops Are Bastards. That's obviously an absolutist statement that can't possibly be true, but people like to be hyperbolic to get their point across.
I’m not a part of this community but I think it’s understandable that Christianity would be the main focus since it is the hegemony of western culture
I understand this, but its the atheism community, not the ex Christian community. I think it should be specified if you are critiquing a specific religion.