The latest line of attack: Fake Atheists

[Modem Butterfly]

We've all seen them. They're the ones who spout shit like "I'm an athiest and I would never vote for someone who doesn't believe in God" or "I'm a small-a atheist, not a militant, hateful Atheist with a big A," or "Only I can define a true atheist, and you ain't it,"

What's up with that?

[jonnyblitz]

1. they remind me of some C-SPAN callers..you know the type

"I am a Democrat BUT..." and they spew off all the right wing talking points. fuck em.

[beam me up scottie]

2. Yes, "True Atheists" always

claim we have a belief system. :wtf:

The Zell Millers of our group.

Or, as Jonny said, Log Cabin Atheists !

[onager]

5. Hee! Or in the words of Barney Frank...

"They call themselves 'Log Cabin Republicans" because they're a bunch of Uncle Toms."

Just substitute "atheists" for gays and you have it.

That annoys me too. I'm particularly cranked up tonight because I've been drinking too much and arguing with a bunch of milquetoast fuckass "agnostics" down in the hotel bar.

"I don't believe in religion, but I believe in a Higher Power!"

Well then, you DO believe in religion, don't you?

"Atheism sure is an extreme position."

No it isn't. It's only about two degrees away from your dopey Agnosticism-With-A-Big-Invisible-Whoozis-Just-In-Case.

Throw away the security blanket, fuckasses!

(Thanks to you clowns for that useful word. I had a long hard day's work today, and amused myself endlessly by playing with the word "fuckass" in various contexts.)

[BurtWorm]

3. They're like the freeper trolls of atheism.

They talk about "we atheists," as in "We atheists should be careful around subjects like 'belief' and 'spirituality' that we don't understand." :eyes:

That guy PZ Myers was arguing with over intelligent design a couple of weeks ago, the self-appointed blogger of the reason-based community, is sort of like that--except he may be religious. Or maybe he's a Raelian who thinks aliens intelligently designed life on earth? :shrug:

[Taxloss]

4. For some reason I think of deceased Texans named Charles.

And plane crashes.

[onager]

6. Could you be referring to THIS deceased Texan...

He...was...sitting up there for more'n an hour,
Way up there on the Texas Tower,
Shootin' from the twenty-seventh floor. (Ya-hoo!)
He didn't choke or slash or slit 'em,
Not ol' Charlie Joseph Whitman,
But he won't be an architect no more.

Got up that morning, so calm and cool,
Picked up his guns and walked to school.
And all the while he smiled so sweetly
Bet it blew their minds completely!
They'd never seen an Eagle Scout so cruel.

Now won't you think of the shame and degradation,
For the school's administration.
He put on such a bold and brassy show.
The Chancellor cried, "It's adolescent!"
And of course, it was most unpleasant,
But you got to admit, it was a lovely way to go.

There was a rumor, about a tumor,
Nestled at the base of his brain.
He was sitting up there with a .36 Magnum
Laughing wildly as he bagged 'em.
But who are we to say the boy's insane ?

Now Charlie was awful disappointed,
Or else he thought he was annointed,
To do a deed so lowdown and so mean.
The students looked up from their classes,
They had to stop and rub their glasses,
Who'd believe he'd once been a Marine?

Now Charlie made the Honor Roll with ease,
Most all of his grades was A's and B's.
A real rip-snorting trigger squeezer,
Charlie proved a big crowd pleaser,
Though he had been known to make a couple of C's.

Some were dying, some were weeping,
Some were studying, some were sleeping,
Some were shouting "Texas, Number One!"
Some were running, some were falling,
Some were screaming, some were balling,
Some thought the Revolution had begun.

The doctors tore his poor brain down,
But not a snitch of illness could be found.
Most folks couldn't figure just why he did it
And them that could would not admit it,
Cause there's still a lot of Eagle Scouts around.

There was a rumor, about a tumor,
Nestled at the base of his brain.
He was sitting up there with his .36 Magnum
Laughing wildly as he bagged 'em.
But who are we to say the boy's insane?

(Kinky Friedman, "The Ballad Of Charles Whitman")

[beam me up scottie]

7. Oh my cod !

I was just re-reading that thread and it is hysterical.
I think I seriously injured myself laughing.

I thought the OP went out of their way to not insult christians.

How many of us would be nice enough to include the definitions and even highlight the appropriate text ?

Geez, when I got attacked for calling it a cult, I never provided them with a definition.
I figure if they're going to go out of their way to be offended, they can look it up.

[MindPilot]

8. The same people who seem to think O'Hair

"represented" Atheism. And then go on to define "spirituality" as opposed to "religion" or specify "organized" religion.

This very similar to those Xians who--when confronted with some kind of religious lunacy--say "they aren't REAL Christians".

[CarbonDate]

9. They're familiar with the word structure of "atheist", right?

Atheism is the absence of religion.

We're all born atheists. It's just that most people are indoctrinated with religion before they're old enough to know which side of the playpen smells the worst (to paraphrase a famed atheist, George Carlin), so they think that believing in the invisible cloud being is the default position.

[Arianrhod]

11. The original Greek word is

atheotes, used by Plato to mean "ungodliness" or "godlessness". According to Liddell, it was used in one manuscript to mean "neglect of the gods of the state".

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%231943

Apparently, even in its origination it held negative connotations--although I really like that "gods of the state" thing.

:)

[onager]

12. This guy must be our patron saint...

He was deported (and almost killed) for saying the sun wasn't a god, but only a "red-hot stone:"

Anaxagoras proposed that the moon shines by reflected light from the "red-hot stone" which was the sun, the first such recorded claim.

Showing great genius he was also then able to take the next step and become the first to explain correctly the reason for eclipses of the sun and moon. His explanation of eclipses of the sun is completely correct...There is also other evidence to suggest that Anaxagoras had applied geometry to the study of astronomy...

Anaxagoras was saved from prison by Pericles but had to leave Athens. He returned to Ionia where he founded a school at Lampsacus...Anaxagoras died there and the anniversary of his death became a holiday for schoolchildren.

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Anaxagoras.html

[Arianrhod]

10. I really hate it

when people define my beliefs for me. Trying to tell me what an atheist "is" or "isn't". I think I know what I know.

[beam me up scottie]

15. I understand, but there are accepted norms to atheism

just like any other group.
Everyone should be able to define themselves except I could call myself a christian, but that wouldn't be accurate.
You seem to know quite a bit about alternative religions, are there belief philosophies that are compatible with atheism ?
The only ones I have heard of are Buddhist/atheists but I think they forgo the supernatural mysticism, don't they ?
I'm not being smart, I really would like your take on this since I have always been an atheist.

I have to say, I really respect Buddhists, they never try to convert anyone and they always seem to practice what they preach (except I don't think it's exactly "preaching")

[Arianrhod]

17. Sorry for the late reply; been offline a while.

Um, I would say that many forms of Paganism--including some practices within modern Wicca--could be considered atheistic, although most people would probably say they are agnostic at best. This is because these religions leave the decision up to the follower as to whether the gods are real or not. For myself, I'm in kind of a Zen limbo state, a "both/and" heuristic stance in which I see the gods as a reflection of natural processes and physical laws--keeping in mind that that's how I see humanity as well. I fully consider myself an atheist, but almost everyone I've talked to thinks of me as an agnostic.

My argument against that is, while I do leave open-minded room for a future "proof" that some god exists, I don't think any such proof will ever be found--and I'm not looking for it. :)

Another religion--which is, IMO, more of a philosophy really--that might be considered atheistic is Taoism. Again, it's a line of thought that considers humanity as a product/part of interconnected natural processes. By aligning our thinking with those processes, we are able to understand the truth of the Universe. I like Taoism myself; someone once described it to me as "the lazy man's Zen", because all it requires is a certain frame of mind, without all the disciplined practice. :)

I would also consider that there have always been people within deity-worshiping religions who have rejected the reality of the gods themselves, while still practising the rituals and giving lip service to the state. Plato was certainly such an individual, and within Christianity, perhaps the Cathars qualify as well.

Hope I haven't confused you too much. :)

[beam me up scottie]

18. No, you actually cleared

up some of my confusion.
I'm so used to seeing the simplistic mainstream religions and am curious about the others that have been around much longer.

Did you see Todaa's thread on Taoism ?
Very interesting stuff!

~L

[Arianrhod]

21. No, I didn't see that. :( nt

[arwalden]

13. Stealth Christians On A Mission From God...

... to spread misinformation and lies. To create doubt and mistrust. To make Atheists look as foolish as the stealth Christians who are parading around as an Atheist.

In a word: Freepers, or DUpers.

[beam me up scottie]

14. Stealth christians ?

Anyone in particular ? *cough*tony*cough

[NMMNG]

16. WTF?

An atheist who would never vote for an atheist? An atheist who thinks s/he is the final authority on atheism? What a load of compost.

[LisaLynne]

19. This started me thinking ...

You know, this is like a tactic or something because I've seen it done and noticed it before with "feminists". They'll be on talk shows -- "Oh, I'm a feminist, but women don't need to have jobs or access to birth control." That sort of thing. It must be part of the RW play book.

[Modem Butterfly]

20. I think you're right

After all, on the Internet, you could be anything. I often think about this when I'm on line and come across conservatives who claim to be people of color.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Six words:

"I am a lifelong Democrat BUT"