The religiously outraged: Atheists vs. Evangelical Christians

Road Warrior · Jun 23, 2013

The USA has people of all religions. It's one of the great things about our nation to have such tolerance of diversity, so many options to freely choose.

One thing that catches my interest is the efforts of activists among both the "Religious Right" and, for lack of a better term, the militant atheists to tell Americans how to think, what to believe and why they should believe a certain set of unprovable beliefs.

tecoyah · Jun 24, 2013

I don't think I have ever met a "Militant Atheist"....but I have certainly noted a few (including myself), get so tired of being told we are going to hell that a reaction is inevitable.

arcturus88 · Jun 24, 2013

really?
when was the last time someone told you that you were going to hell?

tecoyah · Jun 25, 2013

arcturus88 said:
really?
when was the last time someone told you that you were going to hell?

Many years ago...as far as the literal terminology. About a week ago (on another forum) as far as the implied.

arcturus88 · Jun 25, 2013

so it happened many years ago. yet you are getting so tired of it.

no. i know what you mean, i am kidding. you mean they don't literally say you are going to hell, but they certainly imply it and that implication is what tires you.

correct?

tecoyah · Jun 25, 2013

arcturus88 said:
so it happened many years ago. yet you are getting so tired of it.

no. i know what you mean, i am kidding. you mean they don't literally say you are going to hell, but they certainly imply it and that implication is what tires you.

correct?

Actually, it is unimportant to me as a general sentiment....I usually do n ot much care one way or another. I have no problem with others following whatever path they choose.

However, should someone decide to tell me I am wrong.....I become a bit defensive.

Road Warrior · Jun 25, 2013

tecoyah said:
I don't think I have ever met a "Militant Atheist"....but I have certainly noted a few (including myself), get so tired of being told we are going to hell that a reaction is inevitable.

I've met several on a couple of different "religious" forums. Both claimed to be secular and open to all, but were really atheist strongholds. I've also been on one very Christian forum. Just as biased and authoritarian as the first two.

Just so we are clear, I think most atheists and theists are good people who have their beliefs, mind their own business and are rarely heard from on the subject.

It's the "pushy" ones who make all the noise. If you think only the theists are the "pushy" ones, the assholes, then we'll have to agree to disagree.

David · Jun 25, 2013

Road Warrior said:
I've met several on a couple of different "religious" forums. Both claimed to be secular and open to all, but were really atheist strongholds. I've also been on one very Christian forum. Just as biased and authoritarian as the first two.

Just so we are clear, I think most atheists and theists are good people who have their beliefs, mind their own business and are rarely heard from on the subject.

It's the "pushy" ones who make all the noise. If you think only the theists are the "pushy" ones, the assholes, then we'll have to agree to disagree.

I've had similar experiences. Ironically, the only religious forum I've ever been on that truly was tolerant was an Islamic forum with a strong, vocal extremist membership (the Time Square bomber had even been a member until about 2 years before I joined). Yet the place was all about open religious dialogue, even had an atheist moderator. Felt like the Twilight Zone with people praising the Taliban, badmouthing extremism and having a civil religious debate all in the same thread. :giggle: Wish I still had the URL, was fun to lurk.

Road Warrior · Jun 28, 2013

Interesting. I've been on a couple of foreign-based forums, but all English-speaking so that was a limiting factor for me.

Most were political, a during the Bush years, so there was a lot of anti-American BS going on. I've met many Muslims in my career, but religion wasn't much of a topic for discussion.

David · Jun 28, 2013

Road Warrior said:
Interesting. I've been on a couple of foreign-based forums, but all English-speaking so that was a limiting factor for me.

Most were political, a during the Bush years, so there was a lot of anti-American BS going on. I've met many Muslims in my career, but religion wasn't much of a topic for discussion.

The trick to an open religious forum is an admin and mods that are dogmatic dicks. With such a set up you can even be dedicated to a particular religion (as the 1 I was on) and still have open, civil threads. The 1 I was on actually banned debates. You could discuss religion and you could start a thread making a counter argument if you saw something you disagreed with but no outright debating. It actually worked, lots of threads with lots of posts and little in the way of sectarian issues.

Road Warrior · Jun 29, 2013

David said:
The trick to an open religious forum is an admin and mods that are dogmatic dicks. With such a set up you can even be dedicated to a particular religion (as the 1 I was on) and still have open, civil threads. The 1 I was on actually banned debates. You could discuss religion and you could start a thread making a counter argument if you saw something you disagreed with but no outright debating. It actually worked, lots of threads with lots of posts and little in the way of sectarian issues.

Not quite following what you are trying to say. Please rephrase.

David · Jun 29, 2013

Road Warrior said:
Not quite following what you are trying to say. Please rephrase.

No religious debates, only non-aggressive discussions with dissenters being invited to offer an opposing point in their own thread. It avoided the nasty sectarian issues that sometimes arise when talking religion while not muzzling anyone (unless they were trolling).

Road Warrior · Jun 30, 2013

David said:
No religious debates, only non-aggressive discussions with dissenters being invited to offer an opposing point in their own thread. It avoided the nasty sectarian issues that sometimes arise when talking religion while not muzzling anyone (unless they were trolling).

Neat trick if you can pull it off!

While I think many people are capable of "non-aggressive discussions" on any topic, all it takes are a couple who cannot to cause a discussion to devolve into an argument.

tecoyah · Jun 30, 2013

Road Warrior said:
Neat trick if you can pull it off!

While I think many people are capable of "non-aggressive discussions" on any topic, all it takes are a couple who cannot to cause a discussion to devolve into an argument.

At which point we tend to correct them....We do not yet have these problems here, and I intend to keep it that way.

Road Warrior · Jun 30, 2013

That could be a turn off to some. While it appears you and I agree that slugfests aren't our cup of tea, the fact remains some either like doing it or like watching it.

That doesn't mean they should be unregulated; only that a too tightly reigned forum might turn off members searching for something more freely operated.

Road Warrior · Jul 3, 2013

I must get around more than you do.

Have you ever met "militant Christians"?

If this website allows posting links to other forums, I can point you to two forums which have a couple of "militant atheists".

tecoyah · Jul 4, 2013

Road Warrior said:
I must get around more than you do.

Have you ever met "militant Christians"?

If this website allows posting links to other forums, I can point you to two forums which have a couple of "militant atheists".

While we do not (obviously) wish to promote the competition...we are also very much into the idea of freedom. Using links is standard practice in a debate forum, and we do not promote censorship.

However, should a member decide to use this freedom to in any way damage this forum.......there will be action taken.

In other words.....do as you will, but do not try to be a detriment.

This is not a forum in fear.

Road Warrior · Jul 5, 2013

Just so we're clear, I like Political Fray and prefer this forum over these two:
Secular Café - Powered by vBulletin

Religious Education Forum - Discuss, Compare and Debate Religions in Our Online Community

Both purport to be open-minded about religion, but that open-mindedness ends where anyone who disagrees with the majority opinion that Atheists are superior to Theists.

While all people, regardless of religious beliefs, run a gamut from moderate to extreme, quiet to loud and any other duality, both of those forums have a strong contingent of very loud, aggressive and, yes, militant, atheists but none will admit to the latter.

OTOH, what they will admit to is supporting the actions of Anarchists at places like the Oakland OWC and the Cleveland Bridge bombers.

Polydectes · Sep 22, 2013

I have been in arguments in public with people about this. It's normally "evangelical Christians" or people who call themselves such when you ask denomination. the odd thing about it is that I am Christian. I have heard atheists talk poorly about Christians but quite frankly I can understand why they would. Of course the "Christians" that they are referring to are the fringe normally. There are none more belligerent than the ones that call themselves Calvinists, and non denominational evangelicals.

The religiously outraged: Atheists vs. Evangelical Christians

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