Inspired by some of the discussion in this thread. I don't think it's appropriate place for that discussion there, but hey why not have a separate thread for it

If I think religion is not good in general, am I Reddit and cringe and basically Richard Dawkins?

  • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]
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    edit-2
    14 hours ago

    i honestly think atheism is silly in general. the distinction is meaningless. reddit is just a suitable pejorative to apply to the more annoying ones. being completely sure that god isn't real is a faith/vibes based belief and they act like it's rational and enlightened constantly, even act like it doesn't need to be justified or is somehow self evident which I find really hypocritical. they're often annoying online (like 1000x more than religious people at least in spaces like this which are already largely secular so like just stop) and can't seem to resist high horsing about religion. often vulgar materialists too. also saying shit like all religions are equally bad basically downplays the unique level of damage Christianity has done and is like an islamophobic dog whistle a lot of the time. honestly if you're an atheist just pipe down about it lol. it's plain that agnostic is the less tainted term anyway, if you're not in the category of totally sure God doesn't exist just call yourself that. the well is so poisoned when it comes to atheism that anyone who starts on about it in more than passing depth i kinda just assume to be an asshole.

    won't be making any more replies, clearly touched a nerve with some guy who started putting words in my mouth and upset me. I admit my comment was incendiary so I shouldn't be too surprised lol. i have made some edits based on some good faith criticism from another user. still, atheists not beating the annoying allegations. sorry but your "belief system" isn't one I'm under any obligation to respect, the damage of new atheism is far from being undone and more pushback is still needed, yes even in spaces like this one. my concern mainly is how naturally it seems to lead to islamophobia in anglo/culturally christian spaces, which was running rampant in the thread linked in OP and is clearly a problem on this website.

    • Angel [any]
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      14 hours ago

      being completely sure that god isn't real is a faith/vibes based belief

      Honestly, this is a strawman.

      its plain that agnostic is the more sensible position anyway

      Oh, you're arguing for the "agnosticism and atheism are mutually exclusive, completely separate things and you can't be both" position. This is really just a semantic thing, then.

      Atheism is most certainly not what you defined it as, so your comment comes off as confusing ngl.

      On a more general note, this is a majority Marxist instance, so criticisms of atheism on HB come off as odd to me, like people forgot that Reddit-type new atheists aren't the only kind of atheist.

    • vovchik_ilich [he/him]
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      14 hours ago

      being completely sure that god isn't real is a faith based belief

      You don't need to "be completely sure that god isn't real" to be an atheist. It's as simple as "lack of evidence of existence of the supernatural points towards the lack of existence of the supernatural", and from there, it's just "by not believing in the supernatural, and acting all my actions as though there isn't any supernatural, I'm not in a middle position between belief and nonbelief, but fundamentally identical to a nonbeliever"

      it's plain that agnostic is the more sensible position anyway

      That's just, like, your opinion, comrade.

      The fact that some atheists are from annoying to islamophobic, doesn't automatically make agnosticism a better position. I stand by affirming that lack of evidence points towards lack of existence, not towards "ackchually you can't 100% scientifically confirm that god doesn't exist".

        • vovchik_ilich [he/him]
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          edit-2
          14 hours ago

          Chill, mate. You started your original comment calling atheism silly, don't get mad when people respond to you in less than kind ways when you insult their system of thought. Thoughts terminating (you're literally saying you won't be reading my previous comment) cliches of "Reddit atheism" don't help anyone. You're not offering great discussion by posting a comment and shutting your ears in an impolite way when you get an answer you don't agree with.

    • PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS [he/him, they/them]
      hexagon
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      edit-2
      13 hours ago

      the well is so poisoned when it comes to atheism that anyone who starts on about it in more than passing depth i kinda just assume to be an asshole.

      Just out of curiosity, do you apply the same criteria to religion and religious people?