Why do some atheists love circlejerks on a tech forum?

[disappoint]

These aren't the deities you're looking for.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Note I said some, not all.

I never understood this.

I'd say it's the backlash from being proclaimed arrogant and immoral people.

I've had quite a few good religious discussions on here and quite a few really bad religious discussions with people who have the preconceived notion that as an Atheist i can't be a good person because atheists are immoral and since we don't believe in god we are arrogant. (this from someone who believes to be part of special creation favored by god)

The worst ones of all are the ones who go on to say that science is the religion of atheists without understanding what they are saying.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

This is fluffy at best. You could easily argue people hardly communicate in person anymore.

Still not sure why people mucking up religion puts religion at fault but when people muckup with technology/science place the individual people at fault.

If someone launched a nuke we'd blame the person who launched it and not the nuke itself.

If someone started a religious war we'd blame the religion and not the person who started the war.

Einstein has no more control over how people use his inventions than does the bible have control over how people interpret it.

This is the third thread you've brought this crap up in, you've learned absolutely NOTHING and you're not willing to learn anything either.

Religious wars are fought BECAUSE OF RELIGION, nuclear wars are NOT fought over belief in nuclear energy as a scientific concept.

Why isn't this thread locked? Ahh, maybe it's because no one reported it. I'm not going to either, it's better to let you guys vent your angst than to run to the mods because i disagree with what you're saying.

 

[irishScott]

This is the third thread you've brought this crap up in, you've learned absolutely NOTHING and you're not willing to learn anything either.

Religious wars are fought BECAUSE OF RELIGION, nuclear wars are NOT fought over belief in nuclear energy as a scientific concept.

Why isn't this thread locked? Ahh, maybe it's because no one reported it. I'm not going to either, it's better to let you guys vent your angst than to run to the mods because i disagree with what you're saying.

Actually religious wars are typically fought due to other causes. The religion is just the surface issue, the recruitment poster. The crusades were largely due to a population explosion in Europe (due to climate change and the agricultural revolution). Modern muslim extremists are largely victims of false information that's more due to poverty and a lifetime of violence than religion.

If humans weren't fighting about religion, they'd be fighting about something as equally stupid.

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Actually religious wars are typically fought due to other causes. The religion is just the surface issue, the recruitment poster. The crusades were largely due to a population explosion in Europe (due to climate change and the agricultural revolution). Modern muslim extremists are largely victims of false information that's more due to poverty and a lifetime of violence than religion.

If humans weren't fighting about religion, they'd be fighting about something as equally stupid.

The excuses that are always interjected into these type of arguments are mostly wrong. Religious wars are mainly fought because of religion. Religion IS used as a divider, us vs them but it's worse than that because for what other cause would you willingly die to get your reward in the afterlife?

 

[randomrogue]

Lot of atheists think they are better than Christians. I've never seen a religious belief system with such a big ego. I've learned to stop getting in the middle of it. They can enjoy their time on Earth persecuting others, but they'll be disappointed at what comes at the end.

Atheists also fear the unknown or anything that they can't see with their eyes. They are simple minded, and I feel sorry for them.

Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down there buddy!

It is not that Atheists think they're better than Christians. This is not a form of opinion at all.

Science has clearly proven that Atheists, Agnostics, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Pastafarians ARE better than Christians/Catholics, Scientoligists, and the Amish.

 

[randomrogue]

Actually religious wars are typically fought due to other causes. The religion is just the surface issue, the recruitment poster. The crusades were largely due to a population explosion in Europe (due to climate change and the agricultural revolution). Modern muslim extremists are largely victims of false information that's more due to poverty and a lifetime of violence than religion.

If humans weren't fighting about religion, they'd be fighting about something as equally stupid.

I'm going to politely disagree. I like reading history and wars have almost always been fought over money and power. The Church was always in the middle of it. It took a very long time for countries to separate themselves from the Church and stop them from being rich and power hungry. We're still not there yet. In order to truly progress we will probably have to dismantle the entire Church system. There is nothing wrong with having faith and believing in God but organized religion has mostly been organized around control/power and the acquisition of wealth.

The mistake I feel we're making today is substituting one corrupt organization (the Church) for another (Corporations). The Church funds a daycare while the corporation sponsors an orphanage and we all look the other way.

 

[irishScott]

The excuses that are always interjected into these type of arguments are mostly wrong. Religious wars are mainly fought because of religion. Religion IS used as a divider, us vs them but it's worse than that because for what other cause would you willingly die to get your reward in the afterlife?

Fine, I'll go tell a couple of PHd history/anthropology people they've been proven wrong by the internet. For that matter, I'll go tell some undergrads to write about how religion caused the crusades on their finals. I'm sure that'l get them that A+!

Come on, even South Park knows this.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155423/atheist-war

What other cause? How about the simple belief that the other side is a bunch of baby killing monsters who are coming to rape and kill my sister, and that they need to be stopped? It doesn't have to be true, I just have to believe it. Religious extremists make proclamations of similar natures every day, revealing their true motivations albeit with some religious frosting. Lack of information and education is the core issue, which can be expanded into "lack of resources" which can be expanded into any number of causes.

 

[irishScott]

I'm going to politely disagree. I like reading history and wars have almost always been fought over money and power. The Church was always in the middle of it. It took a very long time for countries to separate themselves from the Church and stop them from being rich and power hungry. We're still not there yet. In order to truly progress we will probably have to dismantle the entire Church system. There is nothing wrong with having faith and believing in God but organized religion has mostly been organized around control/power and the acquisition of wealth.

The mistake I feel we're making today is substituting one corrupt organization (the Church) for another (Corporations). The Church funds a daycare while the corporation sponsors an orphanage and we all look the other way.

You just stated my point. In your view, wars are almost always fought over money and power, not religion.

Now if you want to state the medieval Catholic Church as an organization started the crusades, well yeah they played a role in it. You're talking about centuries of conflict leading up to that point through. It's like trying to figure out the Israeli/Palestine conflict if it had lasted for 500 years.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm an atheist and I love circle jerks but what the hell are you talking about?

 

[randomrogue]

Irish, I understand what you're saying but the argument you're making is the "Guns don't kill people, people kill people argument". That's great but at the end of the day the gun was the murder weapon.

Religion is organized and they have willfully and with purpose waged wars, proxy wars, and influenced policy so that they could gain more power and more wealth.

 

[irishScott]

Irish, I understand what you're saying but the argument you're making is the "Guns don't kill people, people kill people argument". That's great but at the end of the day the gun was the murder weapon.

Religion is organized and they have willfully and with purpose waged wars, proxy wars, and influenced policy so that they could gain more power and more wealth.

More like: "guns don't cause wars, politicians cause wars." We're basically agreeing, I don't see the issue.

Religion has been used to start and perpetuate wars, but if you dig deep enough, as you state, the cause is often material of some form or other. Going back to the original issue, JoS stated "Religious wars are fought BECAUSE OF RELIGION".

Religion is often used in war, it is rarely the root cause. Even saying there'd be less war with less religion is debatable.

 

[JackBurton]

^^^

Like that

They have banded together, a stronger united force of Atheism!, to do.... whatever it is.... they do.

There is another very large group on the rise here, people that do not believe in Santa Claus. This group is also becoming bolder with every post, constantly lashing out at people with faith in Santa Claus. It's a disturbing trend here, and it needs to stop.

 

[poohbear]

Lot of atheists think they are better than Christians. I've never seen a religious belief system with such a big ego. I've learned to stop getting in the middle of it. They can enjoy their time on Earth persecuting others, but they'll be disappointed at what comes at the end.

Atheists also fear the unknown or anything that they can't see with their eyes. They are simple minded, and I feel sorry for them.

So ironic since i've heard atheists say the EXACT same thing about christians! Funny stuff.

 

[JackBurton]

I've quit arguing with religious people. They have proven they are just not smart enough to understand even the most basic concepts. They love living in their little box and have no intension of listening to anything that does not fall in that little box. It's like trying to describe color to a blind person, but much more difficult. They are just unwilling to accept certain things, mostly due to the countless years of brainwashing they've undergone, and also due to fear. God is like the Bogeyman to them. If they don't believe, bad things will happen to them, and worst of all, they won't get their little prize at the end. Pretty pathetic really.

 

[Engineer]

They are tired of being persecuted:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/09/atheists-humanists-suffer_n_2268681.html

 

[randomrogue]

Irish we're agreeing, yes. lol

Is there a name for the phenomenon where people use group mentality to convince themselves that their "belief" is right? Religion is not the only thing that does this. There is something in the human psyche that needs group affirmation. I see this with pseudo science things like Rake, Shamanism, and Healing Codes. All of these groups exhibit the same behavior where they talk to each other about how great their belief is but it's not believable to an outsider. It's something about how if you throw up 100 pairs of dice and get snake eyes once you convince yourself that you're a magician while ignoring the other 99 throws.

 

[GoPackGo]

Nothing else explains the human condition quite as good as this:

http://youtu.be/-D2SHNqkjbY

 

[Paratus]

Well my favorite example, show me the evidence for why people accept money in trades. Its backed by nothing.

All social constructs are belief based whether atheists like it or not.

Science is harmful too, we burn up resources and will inevitably go to war to fight for said resources. Its really no different. The idea that science is somehow not at fault for people fighting meanwhile religion IS at fault, is a fallacy. People always inherently fight anyway. Thats why Religion > Science because religion at least tries to address the underlying problem (make us all get along) instead of totally ignoring it. Religion doesn't always work and neither does science. As logical as atheists try to pretend to be, they don't respond well to logic.

Religion and belief in God still serve a purpose.

Then there is Pascal's wager. If you believe in God, and he doesn't exist, you've lost nothing. If you don't believe in God, and he does exist, you've lost out. Logically, its not smart. Betting on there being no god is a losing bet 100% of the time.

So you're Catholic right? (I'll leave all the other non Christian religions out of this for a moment) Because they believe that believing in God isn't enough, that you must do good works and confess your sins to a priest. So you better be catholic and not one of the "false" Christian sects if you are bringing up Pascal's wager.

 

[grrl]

Successful troll is successful.

 

[Paratus]

A great man once said,"Don't worry Lisa. If I'm wrong I'll convert on my deathbed."

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Lot of atheists think they are better than Christians. I've never seen a religious belief system with such a big ego. I've learned to stop getting in the middle of it. They can enjoy their time on Earth persecuting others, but they'll be disappointed at what comes at the end.

Atheists also fear the unknown or anything that they can't see with their eyes. They are simple minded, and I feel sorry for them.

Please let it be a troll

One of the great things about being an atheist is exactly how comfortable we are with the unknown and our own ignorance

We dont need to come up with sparkly fairies to explain what we cant understand
We dont dictate our actions out of fear for a superior being

I do what is right because I think its the right thing to do, not because it will grant me a place in heaven, and vice versa

Also, atheism isnt a belief, not unless you are a pure atheist, which almost no one is
To quote Dawkins, if you had atheism on a scale of 1 to 9, Id be an 8, meaning, I am 99.9% sure there is no god, but to claim there isnt one with absolutely certainty, would be just as foolish as the religious themselves

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

Fine, I'll go tell a couple of PHd history/anthropology people they've been proven wrong by the internet. For that matter, I'll go tell some undergrads to write about how religion caused the crusades on their finals. I'm sure that'l get them that A+!

Come on, even South Park knows this.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155423/atheist-war

What other cause? How about the simple belief that the other side is a bunch of baby killing monsters who are coming to rape and kill my sister, and that they need to be stopped? It doesn't have to be true, I just have to believe it. Religious extremists make proclamations of similar natures every day, revealing their true motivations albeit with some religious frosting. Lack of information and education is the core issue, which can be expanded into "lack of resources" which can be expanded into any number of causes.

Religions have actually made people kill their children, it has made people commit suicide en masse, it has driven entire societies to live like they were in the stone age and it's something that is very often use to discriminate and punish even in UK and US 2012.

I'm not talking about the Crusades alone but that is part of it, yes. The other side have the wrong god and that is FAR WORSE than being baby rapists.

The leaders may have other objectives but without Religion to convince the masses of the righteousness of their actions and the promise of eternal reward for their actions they would just be lonely maniacs.

 

[SagaLore]

Lot of atheists think they are better than Christians. I've never seen a religious belief system with such a big ego. I've learned to stop getting in the middle of it. They can enjoy their time on Earth persecuting others, but they'll be disappointed at what comes at the end.

Atheists also fear the unknown or anything that they can't see with their eyes. They are simple minded, and I feel sorry for them.

I'm a little confused Red...

Everything you just said is just as applicable, if not more applicable, to Christians versus Atheists. My observation is that while Atheists may criticize Christians, Christians persecute all other non-Christians, while still aggressively judging each other. Also, I strongly believe it is the lack of fear of the unknown that allows Atheists to be Atheists. No matter how many times Jesus says fear not, Christians are by far the most afraid.

 

[Thebobo]

Whatever.

No Christian I've ever debated online is actually interested in a debate. None of you want to understand evolution or Atheism, and how they are separate. You want to just blindly carry on believing what you have always believed, because you are scared that being exposed to other ideas will make you abandon your belief.

Which is why its not surprising that there was a recent American survey that proved Atheists and agnostics know more about religion than Christians.

So just carry on, dont mind us. Just carry on judging homosexuals, atheists, muslims, jews, anyone pro Obama or anti war. Nevermind that the Bible says not to judge, but dont let that stop. Just judge all of us.

Amen brotha! ()