Atheism and its negative stigma...

Dalton · 05-28-2014, 09:24 PM

I am an atheist.

I don't know what the community is like as far as religion goes here, but it seems wherever you, atheism has a negative stigma. If you proclaim you're an atheist, it's generally followed by the association that you must be a morally-corrupt, hedonistic libertine who has no conscience.

Why is it that an agnostic can just be an agnostic, and you can even simply "not believe in god," but yet when you assert yourself as an atheist it almost always provokes a negative response?

Richard Dawkins made this same point in The God Delusion, so this is obviously not entirely my own argument, just to point that out now.

Thoughts?

DwnWthVwls · 05-28-2014, 09:36 PM

I've been openly atheist since 8th grade ~'99 and I have never felt bad about it or treated differently by others who know. Maybe I'm just oblivious.

Paedantic Basterd · 05-28-2014, 09:46 PM

How is one absolute statement any better than another? To be honest, I think most of the stigma about atheists is the same kind of stigma about the religious: that they impose their belief and deny alternative points of view.

I'm not citing the behaviour of anyone in particular, but to be honest, I don't think perceived hedonism is responsible for modern negativity so much as absolutism is.

EDIT: And regardless of my beliefs, I think Richard Dawkins is an *******, so there's that figurehead atheists have going for them.

DwnWthVwls · 05-28-2014, 10:31 PM

@Pedestrian - Thoughts on Christopher Hitchens?

**Janszoon** · 05-28-2014, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalton

I am an atheist.

I don't know what the community is like as far as religion goes here, but it seems wherever you, atheism has a negative stigma. If you proclaim you're an atheist, it's generally followed by the association that you must be a morally-corrupt, hedonistic libertine who has no conscience.

Why is it that an agnostic can just be an agnostic, and you can even simply "not believe in god," but yet when you assert yourself as an atheist it almost always provokes a negative response?

Richard Dawkins made this same point in The God Delusion, so this is obviously not entirely my own argument, just to point that out now.

Thoughts?

I think a lot of the negativity comes from people not understanding what the word means. There are a lot of people out there who associate the word with all kinds of unrelated shit from satanism to communism. And, of course, there are others who associate it with some kind of absoluteism even though it's only absolutist in the sense that any opinion can be described as absolutist. On top of all that, you have the whole "in your face" aspect wherein people in the dominant group think that smaller groups are being "in your face" simply by existing, like straight people who get in an uproar about "in your face" gay people because those people are doing things that straight people do all the time like holding hands.

~~Sansa Stark~~ · 05-29-2014, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I think a lot of the negativity comes from people not understanding what the word means. There are a lot of people out there who associate the word with all kinds of unrelated shit from satanism to communism. And, of course, there are others who associate it with some kind of absoluteism even though it's only absolutist in the sense that any opinion can be described as absolutist. On top of all that, you have the whole "in your face" aspect wherein people in the dominant group think that smaller groups are being "in your face" simply by existing, like straight people who get in an uproar about "in your face" gay people because those people are doing things that straight people do all the time like holding hands.

lmao at comparing the two as if you can't choose your religion like you can't choose your orientation. straight ppl...

**Janszoon** · 05-29-2014, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sansa Stark

lmao at comparing the two as if you can't choose your religion like you can't choose your orientation. straight ppl...

Do you ever stop trolling?

The Batlord · 05-29-2014, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sansa Stark

lmao at comparing the two as if you can't choose your religion like you can't choose your orientation. straight ppl...

A perfect metaphor wasn't the point. The point was that people who are already prejudiced against a group will often take offense at the very sight of that which they disagree with.

~~John Wilkes Booth~~ · 06-06-2014, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sansa Stark

lmao at comparing the two as if you can't choose your religion like you can't choose your orientation. straight ppl...

you can't choose what you believe if you are intellectually honest

Paul Smeenus · 05-28-2014, 11:37 PM

There some things that atheists believe are 100% correct because, well, they are. We know the world isn't 8,000 years old, for example. I will tell anyone that believes that sorry, but that is not the case (although I'm not particularly likely to try to have that conversation as it is nearly always a waste of time, but if pressed I will say what I *know* is true).

05-28-2014, 09:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dalton Groupie Join Date: May 2014 Location: Colorado Posts: 3	Atheism and its negative stigma... I am an atheist. I don't know what the community is like as far as religion goes here, but it seems wherever you, atheism has a negative stigma. If you proclaim you're an atheist, it's generally followed by the association that you must be a morally-corrupt, hedonistic libertine who has no conscience. Why is it that an agnostic can just be an agnostic, and you can even simply "not believe in god," but yet when you assert yourself as an atheist it almost always provokes a negative response? Richard Dawkins made this same point in The God Delusion, so this is obviously not entirely my own argument, just to point that out now. Thoughts?

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05-28-2014, 09:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	How is one absolute statement any better than another? To be honest, I think most of the stigma about atheists is the same kind of stigma about the religious: that they impose their belief and deny alternative points of view. I'm not citing the behaviour of anyone in particular, but to be honest, I don't think perceived hedonism is responsible for modern negativity so much as absolutism is. EDIT: And regardless of my beliefs, I think Richard Dawkins is an *******, so there's that figurehead atheists have going for them.