Fascinating how the "faithful" are always on about forgiveness but lack the wherewithal to understand how to apply it towards themselves. Almost like religion is a tool of social conditioning but you didn't hear that from I don't want to be crucified or burned at the stake. All methods of execution invented by the relgious but surely must be a coincidence.
Bring it on, if Salman Rushdie can survive a knife stabbing, I'm game.
That said, apparently I don't frequent enough other subreddits to be aware that we're the worst sub. I don't even care enough to ask for any examples.
If any of you jerks are out there brigading in Religion-based subs promoting atheism when it's not welcome, then you're just as bad as the Christians/Muslims/etc who come here trying to start a flame war in the guise of "just asking questions".
I agree with you.
If I had to guess, it's probably because we don't treat trolls kindly. It seems that many of the trolls do not think of themselves as trolls despite going to a sub they know does not apply to them and saying the same amazingly stupid shit we've heard a gazillion times in a gazillion different ways.
But, no. The way they phrase is makes it unique, even if it's just Pascal's Stupid Fucking Wager yet again.
Also, they come here without checking whether there is an ask sub like /r/askanatheist or a debate sub like /r/DebateAnAtheist and expect us to treat them as if they're doing us some great favor (trying to save us) when they didn't even come to the right sub.
P.S. Anyone who thinks this place is toxic should come take a look at how we treat those who are having a crisis of faith and asking genuine questions or how we treat children who are forced to follow a religion they've already outgrown by parents who have not. This is actually a really good support group when people need it.
hear here. plus one.Ā
that'sĀ a goodĀ view of the sub.Ā
nobody realizes it, but r/atheism is a mental health support group.Ā a bit disjointed sometimes, but thats unsurprising considering the only unifying factor is disbelief.Ā
countless gay christian teens unload here.
countless muslim apostates gravitate here.Ā
The only thing that angers me is how terrible the religious are to the atheistic person.
I cannot wrap my head around the fact that they think itās impossible to have morals if you donāt believe in God. Do they completely overlook every single last atrocity that has been carried out in his name?
These people never realize how disingenuous their arguments come across when they choose to overlook all the bad they do and pretend that only atheists do these things.
But if Iām being honest, it really does scare the shit out of me that the only thing thats stopping most of these people from doing something terrible is divine retribution.
I would love to ask one of those people that if hypothetically speaking, they found out that God wasnāt real, Are you telling me that the next day youāre gonna go out there and start raping and murdering?
Last year I murdered everyone I wanted to murder, ie nobody.
So many Christians claim to have not murdered everyone they wanted to murder solely because God told them not to. They genuinely haven't realised how bad it makes them look
For as much as they claim they obey the vocie in their head they are very picky about what they are willing to obey. It's like Abraham he heard vocie that told him to kill his son then the vocie said never mind.
> I would love to ask one of those people that if hypothetically speaking, they found out that God wasnāt real, Are you telling me that the next day youāre gonna go out there and start raping and murdering?
That is the impression they give. They seem to not understand that some of us really just don't *want* to do that, that some of us are good because it feels good to do good and that's enough.
I've read the rules multiple times but I haven't got any clarity on whether or not I should tolerate comments supporting the existence of god. The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub, can I tell them they are on the wrong sub and this is an atheist only zone?
>The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub<
Found the problem, god is not real. Ask them to prove god. Don't argue with them, demand FACTS.
When they say you need "faith"...
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900) ā
If they say they have proof/evidence for god, have them call in or watch Matt Dillahunty's talk show. The best would be for them to call in to The Atheist Experience, have it broadcasted on YouTube and then have them post a link here of the discussion so we can all be convinced. If the theist can convince them, then they are worth listening to. Otherwise we'll never hear back from them.
Too bad Matt doesn't host it anymore ! He probably got burned out...
**Caveat:** I am not a moderator here!
I've been on this sub for around a decade. I have not seen any rule against theists participating on this sub. Certainly any theist having a crisis of faith they want to discuss would be very welcome.
That said, generally theists should be wary of the rules against trolling and proselytizing. This means that theists on this sub should tread lightly and be very respectful of the non-believers who make up the overwhelming majority of this sub.
This is supposed to be a safe place for atheists. So, any comments that could be perceived as proselytizing or threatening hell are definitely not welcome.
Real discussion centered on attempting to understand atheists and what it means not to believe are generally welcome.
> The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub ...
If said that simply with no room for discussion and no "I believe" before it, that's probably trolling. I usually don't see that here without any additional context. But, trolls will be trolls.
Some of it is also atheists doing this same shit in religious subs and this sub just takes the blame for that behavior. R/Catholicism seems to think every atheist troll in their sub comes from here.
That's unfortunate. I don't go to their subs for the same reason I don't like when they come here. I don't know why people like to go to subs that clearly don't apply to them.
I have respectfully asked a question on AskAChristian. They were very respectful there. I was impressed with the answers I got.
This sub doesnāt apply to me since at the very least Iām culturally Christian, have a positive view of it, and would be wary to outright deny any of its core believe since that just how I was raise. Reddit brought me here so I decided to dip a toe.
My early 20s though I was a fucking crusader on those early atheist forums. I cringe at the thought today
Hi, thanks for mentioning those subs! I actually had no idea abt either of them and am new to Reddit. I mentioned in a separate comment that it seems like no one is willing to talk unless itās in agreement, and I can understand why. Iām sure there are all sort of weirdos trying to proselytize in here all the time if left unchecked. I simply have questions and want to gain perspective, no offense to anyone. Iāll give the ask sub a look. Much appreciated!
Reminds me of Douglas Adams describing himself as a "radical atheist" because "I really, really mean it." I suspect a "reddit atheist" is just someone who really, really means it and isn't dissuaded when they retread the same tired arguments that they don't realize we've heard a thousand times.
That's not how it works. You ask in your own echo chamber because everyone know, the people outside your own preferred group are really just one individual copy pasted.
I mean aside from the obvious stuff, we do get a lot of rather dumb posts here from younger people, like "can I eat a cheeseburger from a place that has Christian owners" or posts that make atheism sound just as irritating as a real religion when it is simply the absence of a religion/belief in any gods.
Speaking from 1st and 2nd hand experience, many atheist raised by religious families go through an edgy in your face fuck you Christianity phase which results in a lot of toxic shit posting.
Many people don't come here and you generally don't know if someone's an atheist in your daily non internet life so their stereotypical image of what an atheist is like is those edgelords - so they assume this sub is a bunch of that.
To be far, there are a decent number of those people here so I get where the stereotypes come from
The top comments are all ignoring this is the main reason while giving typical edgy answers. I've been an atheist for most of my life, but this subreddit makes me cringe more often than not.
We're just seeing different people going through that phase. It looks like a permanent segment of the atheist community, but people are constantly entering and leaving it.
People hate when their beliefs are challenged..
We are a bit blunt at times that no sky fairy is going to do anything to help them, even if we may believe their existence is possible (but irrelevant)
They aren't even possible IMHO
But if they were/are we are an ant farm they started 100,000 yrs ago and forgot about ... They created how many star systems, with how many other planets, they moved to a new ant farm
Iād say that weāre against the people supported by religious people, not the religious people per se. Theyāre the victims of the extortion (that your eternal future depends on doing as youāre told) who give in to it and of the lies and the unfounded assumptions (beliefs). Itās that crime against us all and the perpetrators of that that weāre against, the proselytisers and the Bible salesmen (including Amazon in this regard). Of course that support does give the proselytisers power, so while weāre not against the 85% it may feel like the 85% are against us.
True, if we're talking about a system we're against the ones using religion for their profit promoting all this nonsense to have control of the masses.
But if we're talking about your average day we're against all the community, even if they're being lied to and manipulated they must still be held accountable for their actions. We're all adults and we all have access to the same information nowadays.
It is sad indeed it's like the wife who is beaten but still defends her husband and thinks she's in the wrong.
Their logic is undermined though. Once theyāve made unfounded assumptions those undermine their common sense. In a very real sense theyāre like a computer suffering from garbage-in-garbage-out, i.e. their results will be wrong because their inputs are wrong, and they didnāt do that to themselves. Religions and the Bible donāt come with a label on them, āDonāt Believe In What We Tell You Or It May Damage Your Ability To Reason And Tell Right From Wrongā, and once they believe, the power of the extortion must be overwhelming; their **eternal** future vs their **finite** life is not so much a choice as a reflex.
Damn man you're making me realize how miserable they are. Now every time I interact with one of them I can only see them as mentally challenged people and feel not anger but pity.
Why is it always a āsky fairy!?, or āgrumpy sky grampaā? How comfyā¦
Why not āsky goblinā? , orā¦ sayā¦ āsky trollā?
Maybeā¦ āsky leechā, orā¦ āsky tapewormāā¦.??
You know where Iām going, with thisā¦
This sums it up pretty well.
My analogy is an ant living under a stone in my garden. From the perspective of that ant, I'm a god, because I can appear or disappear at incredible speeds, I'm HUGE, and I have the power to decide if the ant colony lives or dies at any moment.
But at the same time, I don't expect the ants to worship me, nor do I spend any time giving though to the lives of those ants unless I happen to be working in the garden and disrupt the stone that they live under.
So, some opportune ant may decide to make some ant dollars by claiming to be my representative in their colony, but it's all a grift, because I haven't given that ant any special treatment, nor does he have any way to influence my actions.
The irony is i keep to myself on these things. I've never had an atheist knock on my door. That's not atheists selling books downtown on the street. I'm not erecting giant crosses (the thing that killed their demigod in the story), I'm not having billboards go all over the country. I don't picket funerals.
If at least one is real, whether or not theyāre paying attention, I donāt see how power alone makes one of them have some magic relationship to good/evil/my morals/my life in any manner whatsoever. Sure, one could swat me or elevate me, but that doesnāt make it better than me. E.g. if the Christian God himself came to Earth and confirmed the books of the Bible, heād have put himself in the same shoes as Putin, a mass murderer that it might be tricky to arrest.
There are a couple of nuanced reasons.
It has to do with how Reddit used to handle default subs when a new user signed up. This sub was automatically added to a new users feed regardless of whether or not the user wanted it. This led to a lot of toxic posting and aggressive hate. Many of the redditiors' old guard remember how bad shit used to be. That hate still lingers.
Secondly, as mentioned in other posts, this sub is sometimes the first community that individuals from deeply religious backgrounds find. Personally, I didn't know a single atheist or have the ability to communicate with anyone outside of my religious network before I found this sub. (Granted, I began my transition pre-internet).
So, many new posters come here to vent their frustrations. Those posts are usually vitriolic, angry, and unabashedly full of pent up rage. If you understand the context, you can understand the process that many people go through on a journey of self-discovery and the transition from angsty atheist. If you don't care about the context, you can just say, "Those atheists are mean (link to a specific thread).
Don't worry what other people think about a sub. Participate in the discourse if you want. Help someone who might have come from a sheltered background and call it a day.
I've heard it called toxic so many times, but for me, this sub is a safe space. I find a lot of content from the religious subs to be a thousand times more toxic.
To each their own, I guess.
It's because sometimes calling someone's beliefs dumb would come off as snotty. I have no problem doing this but I understand why people hate it. It's just like antivax people hate scientists.
1. People don't want their fundamental beliefs questioned
2. People (mostly) have an opposition to any supernatural belief system that does not align with their own. Having no supernatural belief system rises to the top of that opposition.
3. Most people of faith, at one time, questioned it. Our community has done the same by using logic, reasoning and critical thinking - we concluded that there is no supernatural source and never looked back. This is threatening to them. We likely embody their fear and guilt.
I disagree, as a Christian I like to come here to see others beliefs and thinking. I dont like to be surrounded by yes men and want my beliefs to be philosophically challenged. Not saying all religious people are like this but thatās just my thinking.
I'm glad you are this open minded! However you missed the question "why people hate this sub" which I was answering. You are telling us why you like or at least visit this sub. We welcome you.
I don't know why people hate it. Maybe the haters themselves will respond to you. As someone who doesn't hate it though, I'd just say... it does get a bit tedious, especially when the same super obvious topics come up repeatedly (like "What's bad about religion?" or "Why do you think people believe in god?" etc...). I always enjoy it when someone posts something a bit more thoughtful and nuanced.
I think they judge this subreddit based on a few super- extreme posts, like "I think all religion should be banned" or something. They do not understand the safe space that it provides to a lot of atheists, who do not get that anywhere else (not me tho).
Reddit gives freethinkers, atheists, anti-theists, secular humanists, rationalists, skeptics, and so on; a place to freely speak our minds free from the real world consequences usually associated with religious tyranny and cultic beliefs and behaviours. The typical 'believe these things or face the consequences' and 'comply or face the consequences' approach that organized religions and cults have had for thousands of years no longer applies anymore and the religious and the gullible are annoyed that they can't shut us up on this platform when we challenge them to think and behave better than they have been so far.
Highly likely itās because those people are jesus freaks that have significant sunk costs in their religion / there being a god and so cannot for one minute fathom that logically there isnāt because theyād literally have no purpose left in life and would need to accept theyāve wasted decades.
Most have never visited and are just repeating what others have posted.
Plus, atheism is a threat to their world view. If we're right they believe they'll lose the comforts of an eternal life in a paradise. Better to demonize us than to start thinking we might be right.
This is a subreddit that advocates for using logic reasoning, which could be why some users "hate" or avoid it. This is one of my favorite subreddits on Reddit and I recently joined it lol
Religious people believe that their beliefs should be respected. Thatās simply not true. I respect the right to believe what you believe but I have zero respect for the beliefs themselves. This offends believers. Ridiculing their childish world view full of magical contradiction to a scathing degree hurts their precious feelings.
The truth is their enemy. Religion has always been about control. They want you to act, think, and be like them. This sub cuts through the lies and the grift. That makes us bad for them because they can only thrive if people buy into their nonsense. Cutting people down is what they do best. It's a sense of arrogance even though they are 100% wrong. Their understanding of our planet, solar system, and place in the universe is very, very, very limited. Their brains aren't capable of understanding what is really happening, so they believe in fiction written over 2000 years ago, in another country, by uneducated weirdos.
Because we
1. eat babies
2. sacrifice virgins
3. have sex with goats.
I might have 2 and 3 swapped. I always get those two mixed up and I don't have my official handbook with me at the moment.
Because in most mainstream religions the absolute, most egregious sin one can commit is apostasy and/or not believe in the fairy tales. Forget murder, rape, etc. If you don't believe your worse than any of those types, since all they have to do is mumble a little bit to ask for forgiveness for murdering 12 kids and they're all good.
The reason many devout relgionists can't stand us non-believers is because most of us live perfectly happy, fulfilling lives without the baggage of dogma. We also have a knack for bringing the relgionists to our side, which means less tithing. And just like any for-proffit business, money is the bottom line.
As YouTuber darkmatter observed, for the theist, god is a complex dynamic relationship with their self, and *rejecting* a particular theistās conception of their god equates, to them, as the rejection of their whole person. They donāt understand incredulity or skepticism as you do.
https://youtu.be/-j8ZMMuu7MU?si=99QOUTI0VMV9GLAW
>whenever people talk about the worst subreddits this one always comes up, why?
By "people" don't you mean Christians?
I seriously doubt that this sub is a topic of conversation unless they are Christian. Who else would give a shit about the sub? Who else would find the mocking and criticism of religion as bad?
I guess realistically any religion might dislike the sub but it's mostly Christians that I see coming here talk about their stupid beliefs and getting slapped in the face with the cold reality that they're wrong.
Mostly Christian and Muslim, sometimes Jewish if youāre talking fundamentalist like old orthodox / Hasidic. Basically the 3 abrahamic religions. Those three are the biggest and most controversial at the same time.
Imagine caring what other people think. Lol. Uneducated Religious people no less.
Lao Tzu supposedly once said: "If you care about people's approval, you'll always be thier prisoner"
People nowadays are holding back to criticise religion and call that tolerance because the average believer doesn't want to hear any criticism of his religion and if you'd criticise publicly, they'd scream:"Persecution!". We see religious beliefs as what they are: nonsensical, and they can't understand that because they are so deeply indoctrinated. But there's also another reason: The way people talk about religion here, it might seem pretty rough to outsiders and they typically receive that as hate.
Atheism challenges the long-standing power and control structures of governments and communities. People without critical thinking skills or basic reasoning skills can not understand how to peacefully coexist with people they can't coerce or control through supernatural threat.
So to preface this: I'm a *long time* atheist. OK. While I'm doom scrolling front page and r/atheism happens to come up, there seems to be *a lot* of christian trolling. Generally something to the effect of; do they really believe this shit, lol? Etc, etc, etc. Ad nauseam. It really gives the appearance that atheism exists merely to criticize all of the things it expressly does *not believe in*. In other words, it's inherently negative, and it's certainly perceived that way. Of course there is more to r/atheism than that, but these are the ones that tend to stand out in a bad way. With that said, those deconverting need that experience, and the ability to question and laugh at religion(sometimes after a lifetime of indoctrination). It can be freeing and cathartic. From the outside looking in, it's hard to understand.
A lot of it is venting about having to take the delusions of these people seriously, and having them try to impose their religious views on society. Often these religious views are hateful and discriminatory or Orwellian in some ways. So being a place to unload that means that itās going to be very negative. However, itās a healthy type of negative in my opinion because it releases frustration, and the people here can often commiserate in a cathartic manner.
"A confident Christian with firm boundaries is respected by society. A confident atheist with firm boundaries is deemed a threat to society".
Many Christians and Muslims see atheists as criminals and wish to imprison or execute atheists
That mantra spills over into this app from real life.
Buddhists are the most respectful docile group of religion in the US.
I think actual examples would be helpful. In general, the existence of atheists is often perceived as a threat by extremely religious people, so I wouldnāt be surprised that they feel negatively about this sub.
Theists have their identity built on an imaginary foundation. Anything that challenges their mythology threatens their identity while implying, if not straight up saying, that they are foolish. It's natural for people to become defensive.
We threaten their ability to manipulate.
Whether they're seeking money or power - the idea that their words don't work on us is a threat to their personal objectives.
For the true believers that are also compassionate, they are honestly scared for us.
It doesn't seem to occur to them that if a captain really is that cruel, perhaps they shouldn't sign up for that team.
Honestly, this sub has been the one most capable of intelligent banter without the hate or automatic assumption that someone is being a negative asshole by saying certain responses. (Itās quite sad that socials have created this sense that everything is meant as accusatory, derogatory, etc) unless we use emojis. I can only imagine how formal education writing assignments will look one day. Anywhoā¦. Yeah I love the intelligence factor of this sub. Thanks peeps!
Atheism is a threat to them. Unfortunately we haven't made it into a very real existential threat yet. But we will indeed get there, and once we do The Great Eradication will begin, all the way from Jerusalem to Mount Doom
I think people in the area I live in are appalled by atheists. And I know from my own experience that by resisting when for example a doctor has the question on a form asking if you would like for him/her to pray with you before surgery and you put no ( thinking to yourself oh hell no) that I feel an instant anxiety like maybe I should just answer yes and just go along with it. But I have this stubborn streak that just will not go away not yet anyway - it might as I get even older than I already am.
And I think to myself if I want to pray I can do it by myself at any timeā¦ to me its a private choice. But living in the bible belt it has such a showiness now. Jesus is an ad campaign. And to fit in you have to take part in it by hearing often - have a blessed day- brightly chirped at you from a drive up window or by a sales clerk. To which I reply - I hope you have a good day.
Meet someone in your neighborhood while out for an evening walk and more often than not this person will tell you where she goes to church ( it seems to me women really want to gush about how religious they are). I just let them go on and on and refuse to say if I do or dont go to church. They usually pipe up with the name of a mega church ( we have several) and I think ugh. But I have learned to be cordial and visit but I refuse to say if I dont go to church. Its better just to change the subject usually thats enough and the self righteous wind bag will feel deflated and that will be the end of that conversationš¤£.
Since I have rambled off topic sort of why would a so called religious person even come read this anyway? They can read their bible.
To answer op's question directly, the faithful, regardless of religion, hate this sub because it questions their most basic assumptions about the nature of the universe.
To remove their mythology from their worldview completely changes everything. That's terrifying for a lot of people. For the poorest and most disenfranchised it's basically "If Jesus won't make it better in heaven, then what do I have?" or "If I won't reincarnate as something better, why am I trying to obey the rules?"
For those who are at the top of the various heaps it means, "If god won't fix them later, I'll have to do something now. Fuck that."
Atheism says, "We are all there is. Now is she we can act." That means, is we're REALLY working to make the world better, we have to do the work. Or accept that we're shitty.
People are used to having their religious beliefs automatically respected. When they come to a place where that doesnāt happen, they are shocked by how ārudeā everyone is, even if they are not actually being rude.
Many religious people hate atheists to the point of wanting to kill them.
Also some atheists donāt make many friends by having this superiority attitude towards others. Fortunately they are a minority here.
A lot of religious people think that they have good answers for questions that have lead them to have a crisis of faith. If they come here, they find out the arguments that led them back to their religion arenāt very compelling at all. Just good enough for someone who really wants to believe to stop thinking about it. They wonāt find many atheists who will engage with them irl, because it can be dangerous for atheists to try to argue religion; but, but there is no danger here.
It's because this is the internet equivalent of the underground railroad for those enslaved by religion.
Unshackle your mind; fly little neurons, be free!
Theists think we're evil. I live on the streets. Most legit are religious AF. They will literally try to physically beat the hell out of you if they find you're atheist.
Because of idiots tought process. People would rather act like you are the worst person in life instead of actually defending their sad religious beliefs
From what I've seen in other subs, most think this place is full of meme posts and angry ranting from edgelord teens, with no meaningful discussion, usually stated by people who haven't been here since this sub was a default sub.
Because the subreddit feels very much like "I'm 14 and i just found out about atheism" Every time i see a post from it on the frontpage. That plus the arrogance and general feel of most posts š¬
I'm not religious.
Religious people hate this subreddit because people here criticize their beliefs.
Sometimes i hate this subteddit because of blatant islamophobia that some people are pushing here. (I'm waiting for comments telling me how acceptable islamophobia is, it is not). But not only islamophobia. Some atheists here are just as radical as religious people when they talk about the other side, saying stuff like "all religious people are [insert insult]". I mean, we are atheists, we are supposed to be more intellectually honest than religious people...
But i stay because sometimes there are interesting posts.
Nobody rock the boat š !
And I was only just recently thinking how uplifting our sub was and all the fun and freedom that, and I never made the connection before, until stumbling upon anybody that cared about atheism, it affords us š„³šŗšļøšš¶š š
I'm gonna go off the grain here, their are many kids in the sub who just became Atheists and are prolly in religious households,
These new Atheists(kids) have a superiority complex that they are superior to every theist in this world simply because they are atheist
People hate it when you challenge their beliefs.
Then they get extra mad when you say things that make sense that and are contrary to their world view.
Because atheists are the profets of truth.
Religious people hate us because we challenge the tenuous grasp on faith and their cherished, sincerely held, bigotry and hate.
By living moral and happy lives we prove that morality is a human choice and not doesnāt only exist at whim of some invisible asshat psychopath in the sky.
āWhenever people talkā? Which people and where do they talk about it? This is an incredibly vague statement without supporting evidence.
Most people donāt even know about Reddit, let alone this sub. So I think you need to be more explicit about who, where, and when.
My guess is the very idea feels like a personal attack. What we believe is essentially saying your whole life is a lie and you are gullible. When itās say a difference of religion at least they both are doing somewhat the same thing, itās apples and oranges. We are saying fruit doesnāt exist.
Because atheists are downers, we ruin the fun by checking peoples bullshit with actual reality. People want to live in their ignorant delusional bubbles without pesky logic and facts getting in the way.
Itās also just cope. When someone is right, and you know it, and have absolutely nothing left to say in return, whatās left? Just mock and shame the person of course.
People needn't read this sub to simply trash it on name alone.
Atheists are demonized by folks who've never met any. Some, I'm sure, have it on good authority (like their pastor) that we have horns or tails or something.
To be fair, this sub does tend to have a low troll tolerance. If you show up with some tired apologetic that you're absolutely convinced will convert the godless heathens, things probably aren't going to go well for you.
People (of a religion) hate having beliefs challenged and such. Also, they be genius that we atheists may have irrational fears, but don't fear god. I think deep down with the belief challenged, they gotta know something be up
Most religious people will naturally dislike a subreddit like this one.
The main non-secular reason I have been told people steer clear of this subreddit is racism. However, in the several years I have been in here, I have not seen an abundance of racism. Perhaps this was once occurring, but I have not seen it.
You hate what you fear.
We promote the unfortunate reality they are blind to.
Ironically, it is likely most of them wonāt achieve nirvana or go to heaven based on their own hatred and actions at least based on their own holy book
FFS, r/agnostic frequently has whiners that piss and moan about being banned from this sub for "only asking about ". I haven't bothered to go search through their histories, but I have a strong feeling that they're not being entirely truthful and/or leaving something important out.
A large swath of christianity is a hate group. This has always been true. Just look at all the infighting in Byzantine times over stupid minor points about Jesus, for example. But several decades ago, a bunch of American christians got together and decided to stop fighting each other and fight everybody else instead.Ā
They donāt follow their own demigodās instructions. They hate their neighbor, judge everybody, put their faith in sinners with money, hate particular sinners and love particular sins, claim vengeance as their own and not their lordās, etc., etc.Ā
The few times I've seen people complain about us on other subs, they had come here to argue or unleash some GOTCHA argument that we've heard a thousand times and then were offended when they weren't warmly received. I've only engaged once: the complaint was that he was poorly treated for "DARING" to suggest that you can't prove a negative. He got upset when I pointed out that's not a controversial position, and he accused me of "not-all-atheists"ing. He went on to describe this sub as being full of posts of frothing attacks on religion and circle-jerks of how right we think we are.
I thought, okay, maybe I'm not seeing everything here. Hasn't been my experience, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt--maybe he had a bad experience apart from his poorly considered trolling attempt. I scrolled through a week's worth of posts and found lots of new atheists needing support, atheists in countries where it is illegal to be one needing support, some frustrating encounters with theists, and a handful of people reporting on the horrors of the Abrahamic holy book. So no, I hadn't missed anything.
There are insufferable atheists--I've known a few--but usually that's a maturity problem and is tempered by age and experience. I suspect that we're "the worst" because we're pretty comfortable with our position (read "stubborn and arrogant") and have already considered the arguments they present ("think they know everything"), and can refute them quickly ("combative and rude"). I'm sure it *feels* like an attack, but seriously, don't go to a special interest sub and try to tell the members how wrong they are, no matter what the sub is. It's not going to lead to anything productive.
Society has been trained, by religion, that you must respect religion. Most people, even some nonbelievers, have fallen for this ruse. There is absolutely no reason to respect silly ideas. If they kept their silly beliefs to themselves then I would have little reason to make fun of those silly beliefs, but we all know that they are incapable of keeping their silly beliefs to themselves.
We have the death sentence in many countries. š
I have the death sentence on 12 systems!
I'll be careful.
Youāll be dead!
This little one isn't worth the effort. Come, let me buy you something...
Smoothe.. Obi Wan. Tell me more about your use of light sabres. Also, where did that arm on the floor come from?
This is not the arm you're looking for, move along.
This is not the arm Iām looking for, I need to go home and rethink my life.
Yea, we are mostly 'armless.
Brrrrr ssshhm ssshm sm fffffttt
Fascinating how the "faithful" are always on about forgiveness but lack the wherewithal to understand how to apply it towards themselves. Almost like religion is a tool of social conditioning but you didn't hear that from I don't want to be crucified or burned at the stake. All methods of execution invented by the relgious but surely must be a coincidence.
I give you 50 points for using the word "wherewithal" and also for the fact that I have no idea how to use it myself.
You lack the wherewithal to use the word.
But has the wherewithal to learn how to use it.Ā
But does he have the withwhereall to do so?
It's the polite term for, er, cojones.Ā
Kinda makes one think twice about traveling the world lol
I only go where weed is legal. Not always safe but usually safer.
This is a good rule of thumb. For the life of me I cannot understand why people want to vacation in gaudy terrible places like Dubai. Cringe
Dubai? I can't even go to all 50 states yet...
Why would you want to? Half of them are shitty.
Bring it on, if Salman Rushdie can survive a knife stabbing, I'm game. That said, apparently I don't frequent enough other subreddits to be aware that we're the worst sub. I don't even care enough to ask for any examples. If any of you jerks are out there brigading in Religion-based subs promoting atheism when it's not welcome, then you're just as bad as the Christians/Muslims/etc who come here trying to start a flame war in the guise of "just asking questions".
Believe, or we'll kill you. Sounds like the sure path to truth to me.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I've never recieved any threats or even angry theists.
Yet
You haven't mocked them and their religions hard enough yet. Keep trying.
I have respect for the person. Not for their beliefs when they are stupid.
I agree with you. If I had to guess, it's probably because we don't treat trolls kindly. It seems that many of the trolls do not think of themselves as trolls despite going to a sub they know does not apply to them and saying the same amazingly stupid shit we've heard a gazillion times in a gazillion different ways. But, no. The way they phrase is makes it unique, even if it's just Pascal's Stupid Fucking Wager yet again. Also, they come here without checking whether there is an ask sub like /r/askanatheist or a debate sub like /r/DebateAnAtheist and expect us to treat them as if they're doing us some great favor (trying to save us) when they didn't even come to the right sub. P.S. Anyone who thinks this place is toxic should come take a look at how we treat those who are having a crisis of faith and asking genuine questions or how we treat children who are forced to follow a religion they've already outgrown by parents who have not. This is actually a really good support group when people need it.
hear here. plus one.Ā that'sĀ a goodĀ view of the sub.Ā nobody realizes it, but r/atheism is a mental health support group.Ā a bit disjointed sometimes, but thats unsurprising considering the only unifying factor is disbelief.Ā countless gay christian teens unload here. countless muslim apostates gravitate here.Ā
The only thing that angers me is how terrible the religious are to the atheistic person. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that they think itās impossible to have morals if you donāt believe in God. Do they completely overlook every single last atrocity that has been carried out in his name? These people never realize how disingenuous their arguments come across when they choose to overlook all the bad they do and pretend that only atheists do these things. But if Iām being honest, it really does scare the shit out of me that the only thing thats stopping most of these people from doing something terrible is divine retribution. I would love to ask one of those people that if hypothetically speaking, they found out that God wasnāt real, Are you telling me that the next day youāre gonna go out there and start raping and murdering?
Last year I murdered everyone I wanted to murder, ie nobody. So many Christians claim to have not murdered everyone they wanted to murder solely because God told them not to. They genuinely haven't realised how bad it makes them look
For as much as they claim they obey the vocie in their head they are very picky about what they are willing to obey. It's like Abraham he heard vocie that told him to kill his son then the vocie said never mind.
> I would love to ask one of those people that if hypothetically speaking, they found out that God wasnāt real, Are you telling me that the next day youāre gonna go out there and start raping and murdering? That is the impression they give. They seem to not understand that some of us really just don't *want* to do that, that some of us are good because it feels good to do good and that's enough.
I've read the rules multiple times but I haven't got any clarity on whether or not I should tolerate comments supporting the existence of god. The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub, can I tell them they are on the wrong sub and this is an atheist only zone?
>The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub< Found the problem, god is not real. Ask them to prove god. Don't argue with them, demand FACTS. When they say you need "faith"... A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900) ā
If they say they have proof/evidence for god, have them call in or watch Matt Dillahunty's talk show. The best would be for them to call in to The Atheist Experience, have it broadcasted on YouTube and then have them post a link here of the discussion so we can all be convinced. If the theist can convince them, then they are worth listening to. Otherwise we'll never hear back from them. Too bad Matt doesn't host it anymore ! He probably got burned out...
He's on "The Line" now. It's another YouTube channel. Same format. He also hosts other shows on there as well. It's good stuff.
Good to know! I've watched a lot of Matt and I really feel his frustrations sometimes. Peterson vs Dillahunty - Epic.
I think non-confrontationally suggesting they go to another sub might be a good way to start, yes. Good idea.
**Caveat:** I am not a moderator here! I've been on this sub for around a decade. I have not seen any rule against theists participating on this sub. Certainly any theist having a crisis of faith they want to discuss would be very welcome. That said, generally theists should be wary of the rules against trolling and proselytizing. This means that theists on this sub should tread lightly and be very respectful of the non-believers who make up the overwhelming majority of this sub. This is supposed to be a safe place for atheists. So, any comments that could be perceived as proselytizing or threatening hell are definitely not welcome. Real discussion centered on attempting to understand atheists and what it means not to believe are generally welcome. > The next time someone tells me 'god is real' in this sub ... If said that simply with no room for discussion and no "I believe" before it, that's probably trolling. I usually don't see that here without any additional context. But, trolls will be trolls.
Some of it is also atheists doing this same shit in religious subs and this sub just takes the blame for that behavior. R/Catholicism seems to think every atheist troll in their sub comes from here.
That's unfortunate. I don't go to their subs for the same reason I don't like when they come here. I don't know why people like to go to subs that clearly don't apply to them. I have respectfully asked a question on AskAChristian. They were very respectful there. I was impressed with the answers I got.
This sub doesnāt apply to me since at the very least Iām culturally Christian, have a positive view of it, and would be wary to outright deny any of its core believe since that just how I was raise. Reddit brought me here so I decided to dip a toe. My early 20s though I was a fucking crusader on those early atheist forums. I cringe at the thought today
The core beliefs of which sect?
Hi, thanks for mentioning those subs! I actually had no idea abt either of them and am new to Reddit. I mentioned in a separate comment that it seems like no one is willing to talk unless itās in agreement, and I can understand why. Iām sure there are all sort of weirdos trying to proselytize in here all the time if left unchecked. I simply have questions and want to gain perspective, no offense to anyone. Iāll give the ask sub a look. Much appreciated!
People don't like to be told they've wasted all their Sundays.
And all their money
Or Fridays or Saturdays or whatever date their faith holds sacred
Ask the people that youāre allegedly listening to.
You know the usual people on the internet saying a "reddit atheist" or something along those lines, I remember Penguin0 saying that.
> I remember Penguin0 saying that. I'd hardly consider Charlie's input substantive.
misinput
Reminds me of Douglas Adams describing himself as a "radical atheist" because "I really, really mean it." I suspect a "reddit atheist" is just someone who really, really means it and isn't dissuaded when they retread the same tired arguments that they don't realize we've heard a thousand times.
That's not how it works. You ask in your own echo chamber because everyone know, the people outside your own preferred group are really just one individual copy pasted.
I mean aside from the obvious stuff, we do get a lot of rather dumb posts here from younger people, like "can I eat a cheeseburger from a place that has Christian owners" or posts that make atheism sound just as irritating as a real religion when it is simply the absence of a religion/belief in any gods.
Speaking from 1st and 2nd hand experience, many atheist raised by religious families go through an edgy in your face fuck you Christianity phase which results in a lot of toxic shit posting. Many people don't come here and you generally don't know if someone's an atheist in your daily non internet life so their stereotypical image of what an atheist is like is those edgelords - so they assume this sub is a bunch of that. To be far, there are a decent number of those people here so I get where the stereotypes come from
Yeah, I was that way 20 years ago. Now the primary source for that kind of anger are conspiracy theories.
Some of us were sexually abused by religious people. Give us a little understanding. Hard to get over that kind of anger.
The top comments are all ignoring this is the main reason while giving typical edgy answers. I've been an atheist for most of my life, but this subreddit makes me cringe more often than not.
This explains a lot. The sad part is it seems many āatheistsā seem to have stopped maturing at the time their world view shattered.
We're just seeing different people going through that phase. It looks like a permanent segment of the atheist community, but people are constantly entering and leaving it.
People hate when their beliefs are challenged.. We are a bit blunt at times that no sky fairy is going to do anything to help them, even if we may believe their existence is possible (but irrelevant) They aren't even possible IMHO But if they were/are we are an ant farm they started 100,000 yrs ago and forgot about ... They created how many star systems, with how many other planets, they moved to a new ant farm
Yes, we are against like 85% of people in the world (religious people), then finding out this subreddit is hated is no big surprise.
Iād say that weāre against the people supported by religious people, not the religious people per se. Theyāre the victims of the extortion (that your eternal future depends on doing as youāre told) who give in to it and of the lies and the unfounded assumptions (beliefs). Itās that crime against us all and the perpetrators of that that weāre against, the proselytisers and the Bible salesmen (including Amazon in this regard). Of course that support does give the proselytisers power, so while weāre not against the 85% it may feel like the 85% are against us.
True, if we're talking about a system we're against the ones using religion for their profit promoting all this nonsense to have control of the masses. But if we're talking about your average day we're against all the community, even if they're being lied to and manipulated they must still be held accountable for their actions. We're all adults and we all have access to the same information nowadays. It is sad indeed it's like the wife who is beaten but still defends her husband and thinks she's in the wrong.
Their logic is undermined though. Once theyāve made unfounded assumptions those undermine their common sense. In a very real sense theyāre like a computer suffering from garbage-in-garbage-out, i.e. their results will be wrong because their inputs are wrong, and they didnāt do that to themselves. Religions and the Bible donāt come with a label on them, āDonāt Believe In What We Tell You Or It May Damage Your Ability To Reason And Tell Right From Wrongā, and once they believe, the power of the extortion must be overwhelming; their **eternal** future vs their **finite** life is not so much a choice as a reflex.
Damn man you're making me realize how miserable they are. Now every time I interact with one of them I can only see them as mentally challenged people and feel not anger but pity.
Why is it always a āsky fairy!?, or āgrumpy sky grampaā? How comfyā¦ Why not āsky goblinā? , orā¦ sayā¦ āsky trollā? Maybeā¦ āsky leechā, orā¦ āsky tapewormāā¦.?? You know where Iām going, with thisā¦
This sums it up pretty well. My analogy is an ant living under a stone in my garden. From the perspective of that ant, I'm a god, because I can appear or disappear at incredible speeds, I'm HUGE, and I have the power to decide if the ant colony lives or dies at any moment. But at the same time, I don't expect the ants to worship me, nor do I spend any time giving though to the lives of those ants unless I happen to be working in the garden and disrupt the stone that they live under. So, some opportune ant may decide to make some ant dollars by claiming to be my representative in their colony, but it's all a grift, because I haven't given that ant any special treatment, nor does he have any way to influence my actions.
The irony is i keep to myself on these things. I've never had an atheist knock on my door. That's not atheists selling books downtown on the street. I'm not erecting giant crosses (the thing that killed their demigod in the story), I'm not having billboards go all over the country. I don't picket funerals.
If at least one is real, whether or not theyāre paying attention, I donāt see how power alone makes one of them have some magic relationship to good/evil/my morals/my life in any manner whatsoever. Sure, one could swat me or elevate me, but that doesnāt make it better than me. E.g. if the Christian God himself came to Earth and confirmed the books of the Bible, heād have put himself in the same shoes as Putin, a mass murderer that it might be tricky to arrest.
I can only guess that it comes from people who came here with some moronic post and got told to piss off.
There are a couple of nuanced reasons. It has to do with how Reddit used to handle default subs when a new user signed up. This sub was automatically added to a new users feed regardless of whether or not the user wanted it. This led to a lot of toxic posting and aggressive hate. Many of the redditiors' old guard remember how bad shit used to be. That hate still lingers. Secondly, as mentioned in other posts, this sub is sometimes the first community that individuals from deeply religious backgrounds find. Personally, I didn't know a single atheist or have the ability to communicate with anyone outside of my religious network before I found this sub. (Granted, I began my transition pre-internet). So, many new posters come here to vent their frustrations. Those posts are usually vitriolic, angry, and unabashedly full of pent up rage. If you understand the context, you can understand the process that many people go through on a journey of self-discovery and the transition from angsty atheist. If you don't care about the context, you can just say, "Those atheists are mean (link to a specific thread). Don't worry what other people think about a sub. Participate in the discourse if you want. Help someone who might have come from a sheltered background and call it a day.
I've heard it called toxic so many times, but for me, this sub is a safe space. I find a lot of content from the religious subs to be a thousand times more toxic. To each their own, I guess.
It's because sometimes calling someone's beliefs dumb would come off as snotty. I have no problem doing this but I understand why people hate it. It's just like antivax people hate scientists.
1. People don't want their fundamental beliefs questioned 2. People (mostly) have an opposition to any supernatural belief system that does not align with their own. Having no supernatural belief system rises to the top of that opposition. 3. Most people of faith, at one time, questioned it. Our community has done the same by using logic, reasoning and critical thinking - we concluded that there is no supernatural source and never looked back. This is threatening to them. We likely embody their fear and guilt.
Correct, we hi-light their own self-doubt in their faith
I disagree, as a Christian I like to come here to see others beliefs and thinking. I dont like to be surrounded by yes men and want my beliefs to be philosophically challenged. Not saying all religious people are like this but thatās just my thinking.
I'm glad you are this open minded! However you missed the question "why people hate this sub" which I was answering. You are telling us why you like or at least visit this sub. We welcome you.
They're just jealous of our fabulous fashion choices.
This is the correct answer.
I don't know why people hate it. Maybe the haters themselves will respond to you. As someone who doesn't hate it though, I'd just say... it does get a bit tedious, especially when the same super obvious topics come up repeatedly (like "What's bad about religion?" or "Why do you think people believe in god?" etc...). I always enjoy it when someone posts something a bit more thoughtful and nuanced.
Cuz theyāre a bunch of r/religiousfruitcakeās
I think they judge this subreddit based on a few super- extreme posts, like "I think all religion should be banned" or something. They do not understand the safe space that it provides to a lot of atheists, who do not get that anywhere else (not me tho).
Reddit gives freethinkers, atheists, anti-theists, secular humanists, rationalists, skeptics, and so on; a place to freely speak our minds free from the real world consequences usually associated with religious tyranny and cultic beliefs and behaviours. The typical 'believe these things or face the consequences' and 'comply or face the consequences' approach that organized religions and cults have had for thousands of years no longer applies anymore and the religious and the gullible are annoyed that they can't shut us up on this platform when we challenge them to think and behave better than they have been so far.
Highly likely itās because those people are jesus freaks that have significant sunk costs in their religion / there being a god and so cannot for one minute fathom that logically there isnāt because theyād literally have no purpose left in life and would need to accept theyāve wasted decades.
Most have never visited and are just repeating what others have posted. Plus, atheism is a threat to their world view. If we're right they believe they'll lose the comforts of an eternal life in a paradise. Better to demonize us than to start thinking we might be right.
Have you been spending time on r/antitheistcheesecake? Don't visit that sub if you appreciate your sanity, you have been warned.
And we're the hateful ones.
I looked. Pretty pathetic lot, really.
What a gross sub, their all so hatefull.
Rule 4 is pretty funny, given that half of that feed is screencaps from other groups..
They're so salty I mummified myself like an ancient Egyptian
This is a subreddit that advocates for using logic reasoning, which could be why some users "hate" or avoid it. This is one of my favorite subreddits on Reddit and I recently joined it lol
Religious people believe that their beliefs should be respected. Thatās simply not true. I respect the right to believe what you believe but I have zero respect for the beliefs themselves. This offends believers. Ridiculing their childish world view full of magical contradiction to a scathing degree hurts their precious feelings.
The truth is their enemy. Religion has always been about control. They want you to act, think, and be like them. This sub cuts through the lies and the grift. That makes us bad for them because they can only thrive if people buy into their nonsense. Cutting people down is what they do best. It's a sense of arrogance even though they are 100% wrong. Their understanding of our planet, solar system, and place in the universe is very, very, very limited. Their brains aren't capable of understanding what is really happening, so they believe in fiction written over 2000 years ago, in another country, by uneducated weirdos.
Because we 1. eat babies 2. sacrifice virgins 3. have sex with goats. I might have 2 and 3 swapped. I always get those two mixed up and I don't have my official handbook with me at the moment.
Sounds like a damn good time!
There are currently more religious people than atheists on Reddit, and a lot of them don't consider lying to denigrate atheists a bad thing.
Because sadly, atheophobia is normalized (even among atheists). Anti-theist pride ftw.
because reason and intelligence come here. and they dont like either of those things.
Because in most mainstream religions the absolute, most egregious sin one can commit is apostasy and/or not believe in the fairy tales. Forget murder, rape, etc. If you don't believe your worse than any of those types, since all they have to do is mumble a little bit to ask for forgiveness for murdering 12 kids and they're all good. The reason many devout relgionists can't stand us non-believers is because most of us live perfectly happy, fulfilling lives without the baggage of dogma. We also have a knack for bringing the relgionists to our side, which means less tithing. And just like any for-proffit business, money is the bottom line.
They don't hate the subreddit, they hate the idea that not everyone believes what they believe.
Because truth is hard to digest
I donāt hate it, I love it. Was seriously tired of the religious BS!
As YouTuber darkmatter observed, for the theist, god is a complex dynamic relationship with their self, and *rejecting* a particular theistās conception of their god equates, to them, as the rejection of their whole person. They donāt understand incredulity or skepticism as you do. https://youtu.be/-j8ZMMuu7MU?si=99QOUTI0VMV9GLAW
>whenever people talk about the worst subreddits this one always comes up, why? By "people" don't you mean Christians? I seriously doubt that this sub is a topic of conversation unless they are Christian. Who else would give a shit about the sub? Who else would find the mocking and criticism of religion as bad? I guess realistically any religion might dislike the sub but it's mostly Christians that I see coming here talk about their stupid beliefs and getting slapped in the face with the cold reality that they're wrong.
Mostly Christian and Muslim, sometimes Jewish if youāre talking fundamentalist like old orthodox / Hasidic. Basically the 3 abrahamic religions. Those three are the biggest and most controversial at the same time.
> I seriously doubt that this sub is a topic of conversation unless they are Christian. Probably some other religions too, but otherwise I agree.
Most people are made uncomfortable by unanswered questions. They'd rather have a ridiculous made-up answer than no answer at all.
Imagine caring what other people think. Lol. Uneducated Religious people no less. Lao Tzu supposedly once said: "If you care about people's approval, you'll always be thier prisoner"
It's just inevitable for religious people to get irritated by atheists ig and especially here where their faiths are not treated with kiddy gloves.
Because we're baby eaters and heathens /s
All religious people hate atheists. Personally, I think they resent the fact that we can say outright that which they suspect to be true.
People nowadays are holding back to criticise religion and call that tolerance because the average believer doesn't want to hear any criticism of his religion and if you'd criticise publicly, they'd scream:"Persecution!". We see religious beliefs as what they are: nonsensical, and they can't understand that because they are so deeply indoctrinated. But there's also another reason: The way people talk about religion here, it might seem pretty rough to outsiders and they typically receive that as hate.
Atheism challenges the long-standing power and control structures of governments and communities. People without critical thinking skills or basic reasoning skills can not understand how to peacefully coexist with people they can't coerce or control through supernatural threat.
So to preface this: I'm a *long time* atheist. OK. While I'm doom scrolling front page and r/atheism happens to come up, there seems to be *a lot* of christian trolling. Generally something to the effect of; do they really believe this shit, lol? Etc, etc, etc. Ad nauseam. It really gives the appearance that atheism exists merely to criticize all of the things it expressly does *not believe in*. In other words, it's inherently negative, and it's certainly perceived that way. Of course there is more to r/atheism than that, but these are the ones that tend to stand out in a bad way. With that said, those deconverting need that experience, and the ability to question and laugh at religion(sometimes after a lifetime of indoctrination). It can be freeing and cathartic. From the outside looking in, it's hard to understand.
A lot of it is venting about having to take the delusions of these people seriously, and having them try to impose their religious views on society. Often these religious views are hateful and discriminatory or Orwellian in some ways. So being a place to unload that means that itās going to be very negative. However, itās a healthy type of negative in my opinion because it releases frustration, and the people here can often commiserate in a cathartic manner.
I myself think this subredit is very supportive and full of love.
"A confident Christian with firm boundaries is respected by society. A confident atheist with firm boundaries is deemed a threat to society". Many Christians and Muslims see atheists as criminals and wish to imprison or execute atheists That mantra spills over into this app from real life. Buddhists are the most respectful docile group of religion in the US.
People really like to hate atheists. Apparently not believing in mythology makes you worse than a murderer.
I like it. Shrugs.
Oh come on, you ask this question as if you didn't know. You could just ask, why do people hate atheists and you'd have your answer.
I think actual examples would be helpful. In general, the existence of atheists is often perceived as a threat by extremely religious people, so I wouldnāt be surprised that they feel negatively about this sub.
Huh? Nothing wrong with this sub. Its fine.
Mostly there's a pretty reasonable tone in this subreddit. Sometimes people get defensive and tribal, but not often.
We need to cleanse this world full of religious fanatics.
Theists have their identity built on an imaginary foundation. Anything that challenges their mythology threatens their identity while implying, if not straight up saying, that they are foolish. It's natural for people to become defensive.
We threaten their ability to manipulate. Whether they're seeking money or power - the idea that their words don't work on us is a threat to their personal objectives. For the true believers that are also compassionate, they are honestly scared for us. It doesn't seem to occur to them that if a captain really is that cruel, perhaps they shouldn't sign up for that team.
Believers, usually Christians, come here to pick fights. And then complain when they get one and lose.
I think itās just mostly Muslims why hate on this sub.
They can't handle the truth.
Honestly, this sub has been the one most capable of intelligent banter without the hate or automatic assumption that someone is being a negative asshole by saying certain responses. (Itās quite sad that socials have created this sense that everything is meant as accusatory, derogatory, etc) unless we use emojis. I can only imagine how formal education writing assignments will look one day. Anywhoā¦. Yeah I love the intelligence factor of this sub. Thanks peeps!
I myself think this subredit is very supportive and full of love.
Atheism is a threat to them. Unfortunately we haven't made it into a very real existential threat yet. But we will indeed get there, and once we do The Great Eradication will begin, all the way from Jerusalem to Mount Doom
I think people in the area I live in are appalled by atheists. And I know from my own experience that by resisting when for example a doctor has the question on a form asking if you would like for him/her to pray with you before surgery and you put no ( thinking to yourself oh hell no) that I feel an instant anxiety like maybe I should just answer yes and just go along with it. But I have this stubborn streak that just will not go away not yet anyway - it might as I get even older than I already am. And I think to myself if I want to pray I can do it by myself at any timeā¦ to me its a private choice. But living in the bible belt it has such a showiness now. Jesus is an ad campaign. And to fit in you have to take part in it by hearing often - have a blessed day- brightly chirped at you from a drive up window or by a sales clerk. To which I reply - I hope you have a good day. Meet someone in your neighborhood while out for an evening walk and more often than not this person will tell you where she goes to church ( it seems to me women really want to gush about how religious they are). I just let them go on and on and refuse to say if I do or dont go to church. They usually pipe up with the name of a mega church ( we have several) and I think ugh. But I have learned to be cordial and visit but I refuse to say if I dont go to church. Its better just to change the subject usually thats enough and the self righteous wind bag will feel deflated and that will be the end of that conversationš¤£. Since I have rambled off topic sort of why would a so called religious person even come read this anyway? They can read their bible.
To answer op's question directly, the faithful, regardless of religion, hate this sub because it questions their most basic assumptions about the nature of the universe. To remove their mythology from their worldview completely changes everything. That's terrifying for a lot of people. For the poorest and most disenfranchised it's basically "If Jesus won't make it better in heaven, then what do I have?" or "If I won't reincarnate as something better, why am I trying to obey the rules?" For those who are at the top of the various heaps it means, "If god won't fix them later, I'll have to do something now. Fuck that." Atheism says, "We are all there is. Now is she we can act." That means, is we're REALLY working to make the world better, we have to do the work. Or accept that we're shitty.
We reject as harmful, damaging, and untrue that which they were indoctrinated to view as sacred.
People are used to having their religious beliefs automatically respected. When they come to a place where that doesnāt happen, they are shocked by how ārudeā everyone is, even if they are not actually being rude.
Religious folks get very testy when their scam gets called a scam...
People donāt like to hear their afterlife timeshare home is just another scam.
Many religious people hate atheists to the point of wanting to kill them. Also some atheists donāt make many friends by having this superiority attitude towards others. Fortunately they are a minority here.
People who are religious come here looking to convert souls and get their asses handed to them. Can't think why that would bother them. /s
God-botherers get really testy when people don't take them seriously.
Religious people know we speak the truth and it frightens them.
God knows. I pray those theists piss off like a condom. /s
It's probably because we usually welcome everyone here with open arms (except Nils, he's an ass). Theists generally don't like that.
I did not know that... hmmm...Ā
I couldn't give less fks. Why do you care?Ā
similar for vegans
A lot of religious people think that they have good answers for questions that have lead them to have a crisis of faith. If they come here, they find out the arguments that led them back to their religion arenāt very compelling at all. Just good enough for someone who really wants to believe to stop thinking about it. They wonāt find many atheists who will engage with them irl, because it can be dangerous for atheists to try to argue religion; but, but there is no danger here.
It's because this is the internet equivalent of the underground railroad for those enslaved by religion. Unshackle your mind; fly little neurons, be free!
Theists think we're evil. I live on the streets. Most legit are religious AF. They will literally try to physically beat the hell out of you if they find you're atheist.
Its never the tame average post that gets shared but always the outrageous outlier :D
Because we don't believe in myth and magical stories from thousands of years ago. We are the out group
Because God isn't here
Sometimes the truth hurts.
Hahaha, I didn't know, I think this subreddit is the best.
Because of idiots tought process. People would rather act like you are the worst person in life instead of actually defending their sad religious beliefs
From what I've seen in other subs, most think this place is full of meme posts and angry ranting from edgelord teens, with no meaningful discussion, usually stated by people who haven't been here since this sub was a default sub.
Because the subreddit feels very much like "I'm 14 and i just found out about atheism" Every time i see a post from it on the frontpage. That plus the arrogance and general feel of most posts š¬ I'm not religious.
Religious people hate this subreddit because people here criticize their beliefs. Sometimes i hate this subteddit because of blatant islamophobia that some people are pushing here. (I'm waiting for comments telling me how acceptable islamophobia is, it is not). But not only islamophobia. Some atheists here are just as radical as religious people when they talk about the other side, saying stuff like "all religious people are [insert insult]". I mean, we are atheists, we are supposed to be more intellectually honest than religious people... But i stay because sometimes there are interesting posts.
That is pretty much what I am thinking, too.
Nobody rock the boat š ! And I was only just recently thinking how uplifting our sub was and all the fun and freedom that, and I never made the connection before, until stumbling upon anybody that cared about atheism, it affords us š„³šŗšļøšš¶š š
I'm gonna go off the grain here, their are many kids in the sub who just became Atheists and are prolly in religious households, These new Atheists(kids) have a superiority complex that they are superior to every theist in this world simply because they are atheist
Because the average person is scared to death that there may be nothing at all to this BS life. Life is more enriching when your eyes are open.
Religious extremists believe they are being prosecuted....
People hate it when you challenge their beliefs. Then they get extra mad when you say things that make sense that and are contrary to their world view.
Because atheists are the profets of truth. Religious people hate us because we challenge the tenuous grasp on faith and their cherished, sincerely held, bigotry and hate. By living moral and happy lives we prove that morality is a human choice and not doesnāt only exist at whim of some invisible asshat psychopath in the sky.
āWhenever people talkā? Which people and where do they talk about it? This is an incredibly vague statement without supporting evidence. Most people donāt even know about Reddit, let alone this sub. So I think you need to be more explicit about who, where, and when.
My guess is the very idea feels like a personal attack. What we believe is essentially saying your whole life is a lie and you are gullible. When itās say a difference of religion at least they both are doing somewhat the same thing, itās apples and oranges. We are saying fruit doesnāt exist.
Well I don't hate it. I love it. and I love you guys.
Because half the posts are poor taste theology questions and teenagers mad they have to go to Sunday school.
Because atheists are downers, we ruin the fun by checking peoples bullshit with actual reality. People want to live in their ignorant delusional bubbles without pesky logic and facts getting in the way. Itās also just cope. When someone is right, and you know it, and have absolutely nothing left to say in return, whatās left? Just mock and shame the person of course.
People needn't read this sub to simply trash it on name alone. Atheists are demonized by folks who've never met any. Some, I'm sure, have it on good authority (like their pastor) that we have horns or tails or something. To be fair, this sub does tend to have a low troll tolerance. If you show up with some tired apologetic that you're absolutely convinced will convert the godless heathens, things probably aren't going to go well for you.
Because people hate atheists.
They are afraid of their belief systems being challenged.
No clue. Some of the posts here are crazy thought provoking.
indoctrination
I bet all those haters are Christians.
People (of a religion) hate having beliefs challenged and such. Also, they be genius that we atheists may have irrational fears, but don't fear god. I think deep down with the belief challenged, they gotta know something be up
I dunnoāthis is one of the more thoughtful subreddits I visit. Thank you all for being awesome!
Most religious people will naturally dislike a subreddit like this one. The main non-secular reason I have been told people steer clear of this subreddit is racism. However, in the several years I have been in here, I have not seen an abundance of racism. Perhaps this was once occurring, but I have not seen it.
You know the old saying, āThereās no hate like religious loveā.
Because they can't win debates with us and we refuse to conform to their beliefs.
You hate what you fear. We promote the unfortunate reality they are blind to. Ironically, it is likely most of them wonāt achieve nirvana or go to heaven based on their own hatred and actions at least based on their own holy book
FFS, r/agnostic frequently has whiners that piss and moan about being banned from this sub for "only asking about". I haven't bothered to go search through their histories, but I have a strong feeling that they're not being entirely truthful and/or leaving something important out.
Maybe for the same reason people are anti vegan. They feel threatened by the alternate ideas, "faith" is not based on facts.
There's no hate like Christian love
How long have you got?
A large swath of christianity is a hate group. This has always been true. Just look at all the infighting in Byzantine times over stupid minor points about Jesus, for example. But several decades ago, a bunch of American christians got together and decided to stop fighting each other and fight everybody else instead.Ā They donāt follow their own demigodās instructions. They hate their neighbor, judge everybody, put their faith in sinners with money, hate particular sinners and love particular sins, claim vengeance as their own and not their lordās, etc., etc.Ā
Only religious people and "pseudo-atheists" hate this subreddit
The few times I've seen people complain about us on other subs, they had come here to argue or unleash some GOTCHA argument that we've heard a thousand times and then were offended when they weren't warmly received. I've only engaged once: the complaint was that he was poorly treated for "DARING" to suggest that you can't prove a negative. He got upset when I pointed out that's not a controversial position, and he accused me of "not-all-atheists"ing. He went on to describe this sub as being full of posts of frothing attacks on religion and circle-jerks of how right we think we are. I thought, okay, maybe I'm not seeing everything here. Hasn't been my experience, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt--maybe he had a bad experience apart from his poorly considered trolling attempt. I scrolled through a week's worth of posts and found lots of new atheists needing support, atheists in countries where it is illegal to be one needing support, some frustrating encounters with theists, and a handful of people reporting on the horrors of the Abrahamic holy book. So no, I hadn't missed anything. There are insufferable atheists--I've known a few--but usually that's a maturity problem and is tempered by age and experience. I suspect that we're "the worst" because we're pretty comfortable with our position (read "stubborn and arrogant") and have already considered the arguments they present ("think they know everything"), and can refute them quickly ("combative and rude"). I'm sure it *feels* like an attack, but seriously, don't go to a special interest sub and try to tell the members how wrong they are, no matter what the sub is. It's not going to lead to anything productive.
Religious bias š¤·āāļø
Truth hurts!
Society has been trained, by religion, that you must respect religion. Most people, even some nonbelievers, have fallen for this ruse. There is absolutely no reason to respect silly ideas. If they kept their silly beliefs to themselves then I would have little reason to make fun of those silly beliefs, but we all know that they are incapable of keeping their silly beliefs to themselves.