Most polls suggest that atheists are among the most disliked groups in the U.S. One study last year asked participants whether a fictional hit-and-run driver was more likely to be an atheist or a rapist. A majority chose atheist.

Maybe I'd have to see how the question is worded, but if you asked me whether a fictional hit-and-run driver was more likely to be white or a rapist, I'd have to pick white for statistical reasons. Doesn't mean I dislike white people.

Two reasons: The rise, influence and visibility of total farking lunatics who are openly religious, and the fact that when looked at logically with any semblance of sanity, religion seems like the stupidest harmful fairy tale bullshiat in the world.

Why do non-atheists keep capitalizing the "a" in "atheism?" It's not a belief that needs to be a proper noun. it's a lack of belief, especially in needless aggrandizement.

Azim Shariff, a University of Oregon psychologist who studies religious thinking, sums up how believers view nonbelievers: "They don't fear God, so we should distrust them. They do not have the same moral obligations as others."

If the only thing keeping you from murdering the guy standing next to you or driving your SUV into a playground is your fear of God, not only do I feel sorry for you, but I don't really feel all that safe being around you.

Stop submitting links about it and we'll stop commenting.

I think in many ways it's also a big counter to the Cold War and 1980's evil empire. We defeated those godless heathen commies and all of sudden we found they had been a bit of a paper tiger and the fear of consent threat of nuclear destruction died down.

Religion had tied themselves to politics and become pop-cultured and with the end of the Cold War had to find new "others" outside of the USSR, they chose gays, then AIDS made them look like asses, or abstinence only education, also a looser. Post 9-11 we have it were the other was in contrast to the USSR claiming the mantel of religion as their reasoning. It's hard to not look like jack asses when the only difference between what you say and what they say is a ctrl+h for Jesus or Allah.

Lastly, you have it where the socializing aspect of houses of worship have gone the way of bowling leagues and block parties. This also meant the people who stayed are not going to be as welcoming to new members as their past compatriots, if a young family walks into a house of worship and everyone there is 20 years old they are not going to stay.

Because this an artifact in the Creationist Museum.



Let's not forget vegetarian dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden.

simsite9: Why do non-atheists keep capitalizing the "a" in "atheism?" It's not a belief that needs to be a proper noun. it's a lack of belief, especially in needless aggrandizement.

I think it stems from a sublimated desire to see all atheists branded with a big scarlet A

simsite9: Why do non-atheists keep capitalizing the "a" in "atheism?" It's not a belief that needs to be a proper noun. it's a lack of belief, especially in needless aggrandizement.

You do not know of the sacred order of Atheismo? I said too much.

FTA: starting with last month's "Reason Rally" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where thousands stood up for their right to not believe. Silverman of American Atheists, who helped organize the rally, said it was intended to give heart to young, "closet atheists" who fear the social stigma of being "outed," in much the same way closeted gays do.

know how I know you're atheist?

/It rained all day in DC that day
//but no lightning
///rainbow is unproven

I'm a militant agnostic. I stand outside of places of worship holding question marks and screaming "MAYBE!"

If I don't know, then neither can you!

/Practicing Deist
//To each his own

Humanity's continued learning and understanding of the universe beyond thinking "magic did it"? In a globalized world, realizing there are several different belief systems, so why would "mine" be any more likely to be True than any of those others? Education? Developing critical thinking skills?

Probably for the same reason that the Unitarian Universalists are the fastest growing church in the US.

Because a lot of folks with faith can be real dicks about it...

Faith isn't something that you can inculcate. It has to be found. It has to be accepted. I was raised up in Buddhism, but I left for a while. My Grandmother was a Catholic who went to Methodist churches because it was easier to be Methodist in that part of the South. I had a step mother who was a Baptist. I'm glad that I had a chance to learn about Christianity. In high school and college for a while, I went through a period of agnosticism, but I went back to Buddhism by choice. It made more sense. Not just because of my mother, but because I studied the Dharma later, and found that faith again.

My own faith was hard found. It wasn't just a shining revelation, but took time to look around. Do I believe in a shining afterlife? Not so much. Not sure if we get another turn on the Great Wheel even. I am fairly certain that the Universe won't lift a single gluon in our favor. The Universe will wipe us out, if the forces set into motion at the moment of creation turn out that way and send a big ass rock or spinning pulsar sweeps through our neck of the woods. I do think that the Universe is hopeful that we'll get it, that our actions carry weight in the here and now. Afterlife is unimportant. We'll all figure that out soon enough, so fretting on it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Come to an end, or transfigure into another existence, or something we can't imagine even, that doesn't really matter. What does matter, is what we do now. This moment is all that matters. And how our actions ripple out, that is our legacy. Our actions carry weight, and they ripple out, and they are the best sense of an afterlife, because our actions affect others. Those actions ripple out, and they touch others, their actions ripple out and touch others, and on and on and on.

We can see that as bleak, but that is galactic fairness, 3 out of 3 people die, gives me a great deal of hope. What happens right now, and how we affect others is our way of impacting the future. Shaping it. It doesn't need a cosmic balancing force, karma only means action. Our actions carry weight, and how we affect others, that is more than enough for me.

Worrying about deities or Cosmic Consciousness? That doesn't really change the fact that our actions carry weight. Learn from the metaphor. Learn from the parables. Learn, and act with consciousness of those actions. If anything, worrying about what comes after, muddles our actions in the now, and this is the only moment that matters. Worrying about if we continue, or don't, that is irrelevant to what we can do, if we act with responsibility for our actions.

Atheists don't impact my faith in that. We all tread our own paths, and if folks do it without harming others, then drive on. If you can act within your faith, and not harm others, then drive on. The only real sins, is harming others, because they are just like you, with the same fears, the same dreams, and the same hopes. They are us. Harming others, is very much damaging to ourselves. It cheapens our future. It cheapens ourselves.

That particular bit is why I gave up bouncing. I had a lot of rage in my youth. It took a long while to put that down. It took a lot of working out of a lot of things, and I justified putting myself in harm's way at times as being somewhat noble. It was a nice illusion, but in the end, hurting others I realized was not the answer, even if you were trying to keep others safe. Rationalization was just a crutch, and that took time to souse out.

In the end, we all walk our own path, and we all have to figure out what works for us. For me, the Eightfold Path holds meaning, and you have to take your own meaning in your own way. Be that family. Be that God. Be that work. Be that in learning. Be that in friends. We stumble. We meander. We fall even. Each of us has to find our way through, and dunning folks because they don't walk your path is not helpful. Sharing your experience, sharing your own vision, that can help focus folks, give them perspective, and that's helpful, but demanding that others walk your path isn't constructive in the least.

If we are going to come to peace, we are going to have to accept that not everyone believes as we do. Each of us sees the world through unique eyes, and each of us walks a slightly different path. That's not something to fear, not something to despise, but something to revel in. The one rule in nature is that diversity happens. We diverge from paths all the time. We react differently, in different circumstances. Understanding why, that helps focus us, but accepting that we are all flawed in our own unique ways is necessary.

Don't find a reason to worship a deity? That's fine. I don't expect anyone else to see the Universe in the same way I do. The Universe and I have our own relationship, and it may or may not have some force that is looking down upon us, but each of us has a spark of divinity in my book. We all are immortal, not in the sense that we necessarily continue in some metaphysical way, but through our actions, and how we treat others, and even honking your horn in frustration in a traffic jam affects others. How we treat others, that's how we interact with that divine spirit. We are that. We are all good enough, we are all worthy enough of respect. It would be nice if we could remember that.

Respecting others choices, when they don't harm others, that is the only thing we really need to worry about. Let them do what they need to do. Help them up if they stumble, because that is what we'd hope they'd do for us if our positions were reversed, that is how we carry our actions forward.

Believe or don't in some divine, that isn't important. Actions are the only things that matter, and are really our only real immortality. You don't need some divine to treat each other with respect and dignity. It helps. It is a nice metaphor, but in the end, what we do, and if we want this world to be a better place, we have to start doing better for one another. It's not going to help to be dicks about it. It's not going to help beating each over things or slights. The only way we make things better for ourselves is make things better for others, and to me, that's more than enough, without the Universe or deity looking down upon us with some affection.

Why are atheist distrusted?

Because many religions constantly programs it's followers that the atheist is the worse form of heresy. It's one thing that some one believes in another god, because that means they are just wrong headed. But atheism is the worse type of individual: One who threatens the community cohesion.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)[14]

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)

O believers, do not treat your fathers and brothers as your friends, if they prefer unbelief to belief, whosoever of you takes them for friends, they are evil-doers. [Koran, Repentance: 20]

Strangely enough, one of the oldest surviving religions, Hinduism actually have schools of Atheist thought. Basically, if you want to believe in god(s) it's up to you.

Then of course there is this:
Do not believe anything because it is said by an authority,or if it is said to come from angels,
or from Gods, or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart
and mind and body and found it to be true. Work out your own path, through diligence.
~ Guatama Buddha

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: If I don't know, then neither can you!

This is one of the most arrogant sentences I think I've ever seen anyone write.

Darth_Lukecash: Then of course there is this:
Do not believe anything because it is said by an authority,or if it is said to come from angels,
or from Gods, or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart
and mind and body and found it to be true. Work out your own path, through diligence.
~ Guatama Buddha

That guy sounds fat.

:|

shivashakti: hubiestubert: Probably for the same reason that the Unitarian Universalists are the fastest growing church in the US.

Having been in my share of UU churches, that would surprise me.

To be fair, not all UU Societies are equal. ;)

it's not that i'm an atheist, its just that I simply do not trust the dominionist theocrats in this country. they're abusing their spiritual authority to try and gather worldly power and that's the sort of thing that never ends well for any society. I don't reject the idea of god, or even the idea of multiple gods...but I do reject the idea that the US is a 'christian nation' and I think all the clergy running around getting mixed up in politics should STFU and get off the gotdamn stage.

hubiestubert: Probably for the same reason that the Unitarian Universalists are the fastest growing church in the US.

Because a lot of folks with faith can be real dicks about it...

Faith isn't something that you can inculcate. It has to be found. It has to be accepted. I was raised up in Buddhism, but I left for a while. My Grandmother was a Catholic who went to Methodist churches because it was easier to be Methodist in that part of the South. I had a step mother who was a Baptist. I'm glad that I had a chance to learn about Christianity. In high school and college for a while, I went through a period of agnosticism, but I went back to Buddhism by choice. It made more sense. Not just because of my mother, but because I studied the Dharma later, and found that faith again.

My own faith was hard found. It wasn't just a shining revelation, but took time to look around. Do I believe in a shining afterlife? Not so much. Not sure if we get another turn on the Great Wheel even. I am fairly certain that the Universe won't lift a single gluon in our favor. The Universe will wipe us out, if the forces set into motion at the moment of creation turn out that way and send a big ass rock or spinning pulsar sweeps through our neck of the woods. I do think that the Universe is hopeful that we'll get it, that our actions carry weight in the here and now. Afterlife is unimportant. We'll all figure that out soon enough, so fretting on it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Come to an end, or transfigure into another existence, or something we can't imagine even, that doesn't really matter. What does matter, is what we do now. This moment is all that matters. And how our actions ripple out, that is our legacy. Our actions carry weight, and they ripple out, and they are the best sense of an afterlife, because our actions affect others. Those actions ripple out, and they touch others, their actions ripple out and touch others, and on and on and on.

We can see that as bleak, but that is galactic ...

You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.

gameshowhost: Darth_Lukecash: Then of course there is this:
Do not believe anything because it is said by an authority,or if it is said to come from angels,
or from Gods, or from an inspired source. Believe it only if you have explored it in your own heart
and mind and body and found it to be true. Work out your own path, through diligence.
~ Guatama Buddha

That guy sounds fat.

:|

*sigh* So many folks take Budai/Hotei to be the Buddha...

But then again, there have been several Awakened ones, so it's not necessarily an odd conflation, and certainly accepted by many.

Britney Spear's Speculum: Why are so many people leaving religion?
1) Many aspects of religion have been disproven
2) The internet
3) Radical fundamentalism pervading many mainstream religions
4) Child molestation (That explains people ditching Catholicism)
5) Birth Control/womens' liberation

What did I miss?

6) public education replacing catholic schools
7) removing prayer from public schools
8) removal of stigma from non-believers
9) parents losing control of their children. put another way, more kids breaking away from their parents and not fearing being outcast

jim32rr: You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.

I like to think that you can make a point about acceptance and respect and STILL get a couple of dick jokes in. It's important, I think.

namatad: Britney Spear's Speculum: Why are so many people leaving religion?
1) Many aspects of religion have been disproven
2) The internet
3) Radical fundamentalism pervading many mainstream religions
4) Child molestation (That explains people ditching Catholicism)
5) Birth Control/womens' liberation

What did I miss?

6) public education replacing catholic schools
7) removing prayer from public schools
8) removal of stigma from non-believers
9) parents losing control of their children. put another way, more kids breaking away from their parents and not fearing being outcast

10) education - more people are getting college and advanced degrees
11) better mental health treatments (therapy and meds)

namatad: namatad: Britney Spear's Speculum: Why are so many people leaving religion?
1) Many aspects of religion have been disproven
2) The internet
3) Radical fundamentalism pervading many mainstream religions
4) Child molestation (That explains people ditching Catholicism)
5) Birth Control/womens' liberation

What did I miss?

6) public education replacing catholic schools
7) removing prayer from public schools
8) removal of stigma from non-believers
9) parents losing control of their children. put another way, more kids breaking away from their parents and not fearing being outcast

10) education - more people are getting college and advanced degrees
11) better mental health treatments (therapy and meds)

12) more social justice and democracy - when you have recourse to a functioning justice system where your voice and your vote are counted, you have other routes of redress than just prayer.

Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass.

If a person doesn't think there is a God to be accountable to, then -- then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing ~ Jeffrey Dahmer

Britney Spear's Speculum: Why are so many people leaving religion?
1) Many aspects of religion have been disproven
2) The internet
3) Radical fundamentalism pervading many mainstream religions
4) Child molestation (That explains people ditching Catholicism)
5) Birth Control/womens' liberation

What did I miss?

Everything non-Abrahmic, mostly.

Buddhism is none of the above.

And as a moth to the flame, he comes...

shivashakti: hubiestubert: To be fair, not all UU Societies are equal. ;)

True. But do you have a source for the fastest growing religion claim? Not trying to challenge you. As a UU, I'd just like to see proof.

It's far from being the most populist--according to the UUA there were still only 164,000 or so UUs in the country, as of 2009's numbers in normal attendance--but with online membership to outreach in communities, that number is a bit skewed, and according to the American Religious Identification survey, that number is about 600,000, which doesn't mean that they're all attending services. Formal membership is about 600,000 worldwide, so those figures are skewed by what people say on surveys, and if they get off their butts and go. The same problem that the Catholics and Baptists have...

WhyteRaven74: The fact that in the US many denominations totally turn their back on social issues involving the needy and instead focus only on things like sex and demonizing those who are different may actually be the biggest contributing factor.

hate instead of love??? NO!

Bevets: Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass.

If a person doesn't think there is a God to be accountable to, then -- then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing ~ Jeffrey Dahmer

"Kill them all. God will know His own."
~ Pope Innocent III

Haha, a Dahmer quote, I love it. Hold up a psycho's ramblings as an example of mainstream atheism.

Touch, you're out of it.

To give full context:

After the fortified city embarrassingly got itself captured within hours by camp followers, Caesar of Heisterbach recorded one of history's more quotably infamous instances of prayerful deliberation:

"When they discovered, from the admissions of some of them, that there were Catholics mingled with the heretics they said to the abbot "Sir, what shall we do, for we cannot distinguish between the faithful and the heretics." The abbot, like the others, was afraid that many, in fear of death, would pretend to be Catholics, and after their departure, would return to their heresy, and is said to have replied "Kill them all for the Lord knoweth them that are His" (2 Tim. ii. 19)

and so countless number in that town were slain.

And they killed everyone who fled into the church; no cross or altar or crucifix could save them. And these raving beggarly lads, they killed the clergy too, and the women and children. I doubt if one person came out alive ... such a slaughter has not been known or consented to, I think, since the time of the Saracens. (William of Tudela, cited in Cathar Castles)"

Ten to twenty thousand are thought to have been slain this day - in what proportions Catholic and heretic, only God can say.

I'll take one Dahmer over this guy in a heart beat.

simsite9: Why do non-atheists keep capitalizing the "a" in "atheism?" It's not a belief that needs to be a proper noun. it's a lack of belief, especially in needless aggrandizement.

Atheism with a big A isn't a believe that gods do not exist. (it's not a lack, but a positive denial usually, and that's okay.)

Atheism with a big A applies to the people like Penn Jillette who can't talk more than five minutes without bringing it up!

My best bro stateside is so Christian he can turn water into wine (albeit with yeast) but you could hang out with him for a whole week before you noticed he goes to church. That's how everyone should treat it. But this is not the case.

The atheists in America are mostly out of everyone's hair and doing their own thing like good citizens. The Atheists are a vocal minority like Creationists and other groups of assholes who think want to fark with us normal people by constant legal battles and whining in the news over the most innane shiat.

I knew to give up on religion in the early seventy's when my then very Catholic mother pulled my brother and I out of a Catholic school in Queens after she figured it out.

/still took cataclysm classes at St. Pats for my marriage much later to make my wife happy... it's called compromise in a marriage

Religion doesn't enhance reason, it replaces it.

Faith is another thing entirely, and you got to have it to get by in this world.

Raharu: Oh wow the bevbot is linking back it its own fark posts.

Don't fall for the bot.

http://io9.com/5901579/10-tricks-that-chatbots-use-to-make-you-believ e -theyre-human

Well, if that;s the case...

Worst. Chatbot. Evar.

Bevets: Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass.

Some people in the Judeo-Christian tradition also think that blowing up folks is a good idea, and that hating folks is A-OK too, so you'll forgive some of us for sometimes doubting the credibility of institutions that preach on one hand love, compassion, and forgiveness, and then practice entirely different values outside their environs of those institutions.

That isn't to say that there aren't very moral and ethical Christians. Or that the faith is the problem.

The faith isn't the problem at all. If folks actually lived up to the ideals that they espouse, I suspect that folks wouldn't be leaving the faiths they were brought up in. The problem lies in when folks try to use their stated faith as a shield for their actions, and actions that go against the very teachings that they claim to hold so dear. When folks use faith as an excuse, as a justification to go against the very tenets of that faith, then we run into problems.

There are fine Christians out there. Good folks, who help others, have a strong standard for their own behavior, and aren't dicks to one another. They don't use their faith as an excuse to be dicks to others either.

You cannot preach to folks to love thy neighbor, and then turn around and tell folks terrible they are, and how they're destroying society simply by existing. You cannot claim to worship a God of compassion and forgiveness, and then tell folks that they're irredeemable. If the institutions and leadership didn't truck in blatant hypocrisy--I point to the whole debate on homosexuality as a for instance, as a being a side note in Leviticus, and the Commandments strictly lay out, "Don't steal." "Don't cheat your neighbors." "Don't lie about your neighbors." and "Don't commit adultery!" on big stone tablets handed down by Jahweh, and those who break the Commandments get a pass, regularly.

If you're going to be in it, and you're going to preach it, then you'd best live it. Forgiveness and compassion are a great strength for many Christians, and I've seen lots who take that to heart. I just wish that more pastors and priests practiced them more often...

Bevets: Many Americans raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition are convinced that atheists can have no moral compass.

If a person doesn't think there is a God to be accountable to, then -- then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing ~ Jeffrey Dahmer

How many schizophrenics have murdered because God told them to?

doglover: simsite9: Why do non-atheists keep capitalizing the "a" in "atheism?" It's not a belief that needs to be a proper noun. it's a lack of belief, especially in needless aggrandizement.

Atheism with a big A isn't a believe that gods do not exist. (it's not a lack, but a positive denial usually, and that's okay.)

Atheism with a big A applies to the people like Penn Jillette who can't talk more than five minutes without bringing it up!

My best bro stateside is so Christian he can turn water into wine (albeit with yeast) but you could hang out with him for a whole week before you noticed he goes to church. That's how everyone should treat it. But this is not the case.

The atheists in America are mostly out of everyone's hair and doing their own thing like good citizens. The Atheists are a vocal minority like Creationists and other groups of assholes who think want to fark with us normal people by constant legal battles and whining in the news over the most innane shiat.

That's well put.