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Do you suspect there is an evangelical arm of atheism that wants to convert religious practitioners to non-belief or at least is intolerant of religious thinking?

Geoffrey51 8 June 18
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52 comments

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2

What is religious thinking ? Is it, "I must be nice to people and the planet because it would be wrong to offend against the gentle spirit." or is it, "We have to kill all who do not conform to our rightful doctrine, because god tells us that even allowing their existence is a stain on our souls." ?

What sort of religion? Because if you evangelize against the first then you are wasting time and are intolerant, and if you do not evangelize against the second, then you share the guilt of those who stand by silent and thereby condone crimes with their silence. The question is the sort of over simplified, 'either or' duality beloved of appologists who want to put a stop to thinking.

10

Definitely! Those pesky evangelical atheists were knocking on my door just the other day, passing out pamphlets and asking if I had accepted the love of science into my heart. 🙄

Good one!

7

I don't know about an "evangelical arm", but I'm getting pretty damn intolerant of religious bigots who want to force their BS on the rest of society.

7

I guess I am one of those assholes. If someone brings up religion, I am going to bring up how stupid/hateful/sexist it is.

7

I know I am intolerant of people choosing wishful thinking over positive action to solve their problems. The only time I feel it is acceptable to choose the inverse is when those wishes are hateful, and thus their actions would also be.

intolerant in what way? i mean, what if someone was walking down the street with his pants hanging down low in a manner many people find ridiculous. do you run up to him and try to pull up his pants or get him to see the error of his ways? do you just frown and express your disapproval without trying to change that person? or do you just grumble to yourself without revealing your disapproval to the other person? there are varying degrees of intolerance. so if the guy wasn't actively trying to pull YOUR pants down, how intolerant would you be? if i've chosen a bad example because, say, you like to wear your pants around your knees, pretend i gave a better example. i'm tired.

g

@genessa As per your example, I would probably just roll my eyes and continue about my day unfazed, as it wouldn't be a problem I needed to solve myself. And, as per your example, I'm forced to assume either the low-riding panted individual was either employing wishful thinking that he had a belt or that he was in the process of positive action and on his way to purchase one. My only other option is to accept that, despite me not understanding why someone would actually want to wear their pants that way and having asked those that did without garnering an acceptable answer, they like it for themselves, that it's not really hurting anyone, and that it's a shame that fashion has lost all common sense for some mysterious label known as "couture". I suppose my intolerance would come into play with my eyeroll, which would serve the purpose of positive action by solving my problem of "how do I react to this person's complete lack of a belt?" Other than that, I'm not sure what you mean. Also, I'm sorry you're tired. Having trouble sleeping lately? Or just a really long day?

@Kafirah kind of both and chronic insomnia as well. thanks for your good wishes. well, i am glad that is the form your intolerance takes. some people actually WILL go up to a religious person and start an argument, it seems, and to me that would be like doing more than an eye-roll on the person who wished not that he had a belt but that he had such a nice butt he just HAD to share it with everyone! but if someone is throwing religion in my face, then my intolerance is not of their belief, which i find silly, but of their aggression, which i find obnoxious. i suspect from your reasonable response that you feel similarly.

g

@genessa Your suspicions are well founded 😉

7

I doubt there is any sort of "organized" group, but I'm sure there are those
atheists who would probably dearly love to do some conversions.

For myself, I freely admit that I am relatively intolerant of religious thinking.
I won't seek out people to be confrontational with, but if the religutards get
in my face, I have no problem telling them exactly what I think of them, their
delusions, and their man-made gods. I feel perfectly justified blasting them,
if they initiate the encounter. I haven't started picketing churches, YET.

I'm an anti-theist. I believe all religion is absolutely evil, and it has far too much
influence on everyone's lives.
I'm not shy about saying so.
I no longer believe in "live and let live". Tolerance is what has gotten us where
we are now.

6

There are "evangelical" atheists, but there isn't a centralised organisation to which they belong, if there were they might actually succeed! By the way, the preferred term is de-programming; you convert somebody TO a religion, you save them FROM it.

5

I do and I also feel many of us, anti-theists, are among them. It is becoming a fight for our survival and freedoms.

I fight through speaking out and donating lots of money to worthwhile groups as Freedom From Religion Foundation. They fight with laws, debates, advertisements and every non-violent thing at their disposal.

5

There are radical people in all groups, be them religious or not.

5

Never heard evangelical arm of atheism, but I am a militant atheist, and I am proud of it.

NR92 Level 6 June 19, 2019
5

Is that what you think? If so, how about coming out and saying it, instead of "Do you suspect....( because I do.)

No, by the way, to your question.

Evangelical Atheists? Convert? Come on man!

I’ve no idea, just asking the question!

5

Yes there is and they are called anti-theists, of which I am one.

5

Well, I'm intolerant to religious thinking when I have to pick up the believers share of taxes because they get $70B in tax breaks for their superstition and social club. When they pass laws that are hate directed LBGQ+ or directed at other superstitions. Maybe some other reasons I can't think of right now.

5

No. But if there was, making someone be a realist instead of believing in ghosts is probably a worthwhile cause

lerlo Level 8 June 18, 2019
4

Honestly I think it takes some big event in a christian life to even consider atheism/agnosticism. I was christian for 30 years and there is no way an atheist could talk me out of it with reason. Christianity is an emotional experience. Kinda like going to Vegas getting drunk and marrying the cocktail waitress at the Elvis 15 minute Wedding chapel. Christians will do mental gymnastics and accuse you of being the devil if you try to change their minds. Preachers even preach that god uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise so that enforces their perception if you try to use reason they will go back and say god is using foolishness to confound you. Yes i know its crazy but when you feel like you will go to hell for even questioning god it makes more sense.

Thank goodness that i came to my senses. I mean it was sorta cool to take the blue pill and think everything is Alice in Wonderland but i value truth and facts more than feeling good.

My experience came from having heart surgery and almost dying and reevaluating everything in my life.

Doesn't need to be a "big event". It can just be a matter of rational thinking.

@rogueflyer If you have been indoctrinated into religion then it usually takes a major event to happen in order to trigger rational thinking. If everything is going fine then why change your blue pill thinking. However when a big event happens then it makes you reassess things. Religion is not rational its based on emotions.

@abyers1970 Yes, I know what you mean. I was brought up in an Evangelical home including a Baptist school. Didn't make sense to me. I am an Athiest. Other three siblings are still religious.

4

Yea. It’s me.

4

yep. We have quite a few on this site.

4

Perhaps. What I percieve on this site there is a small very conservative group that hold all the same political stances and values as any staunch Evangelical. The only difference their selfishness manifests itself as not wanting the church, a God, or anybody else to tell them what to do, what to think, or how to act.

They profess agnosticism/atheism as a way of shedding any or all accountability to anyone or anything. An easy way to assuage their guilt by not having to answer to anybody. They're basically Evangelicals withour the guilt, but same old prejudices.

t1nick Level 8 June 18, 2019
4

look, there is an evangelical arm of everything. i have been proselytized to by vegans, by conspiracy theorists, by a vegan conspiracy theorist, by adele fans.... of course there is such an arm here too. it doesn't represent the majority. i think most of us just don't want to be discriminated against, and by extension wish that courtesy for others as well, and desire separation of church and state as well. the rest is just people being people.

g

4

No. The only person I can change and control is myself.

Ditto!

3

Anyone can be a fundamentalist anything, including a fundamentalist atheist. I have known a few.

3

I am very aware that there is and it disturbs me, as they are no better or really that different than the religious fundys they hate. Live and let live.....

3

I don’t need to suspect. The four horsemen openly proselytize night and day for atheism. And the list is much longer than four now - Shermer, Dillahunty, Meyers, etc. It’s a cottage industry now.

skado Level 9 June 18, 2019
3

Kind of like militant vegans spitting on your steak or splashing blood on people wearing fur or leather.

There's going to be random assholes.

@Allamanda PETA does that kind of crap all the time.

On edit --- They are so extreme that they adopt animals from shelters and kill them because they think an animal is better off dead than living in the slavery of being a "slave" as a pet.

3

I would like to help believers to see the light of reality. I would not do it in such a way as to threaten them with some sort of damnation as they threaten us with.

If you can see the light of reality you are way ahead of me. All I can see is utter mystery and bewilderment. What is this light of which you speak?

Maybe it is the light of freedom. Of not thinking that everything you do is being recorded by the adult Santa in the sky. Of not feeling that you have to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness or for a better test score.

3

Sure. I'm intolerant of quite a bit of religious thinking. I probably would have been burned as a witch at Salem for suggesting maybe there were no witches. Intolerant?

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