I've been giving this some thought lately, as I do most things irrelvant and unpopular. I've seen many forums online and many more people in real life who are against religion, mostly Christianity. I'm not talking about atheistic people saying stuff like "I don't believe in any God." It's the people who claim to be irreligous and feel that they need to attack those who profess faith, ie "You believe some 2000 year old book! You're a retard!!!1!"
I will pause here to make two disclaimers: Firstly, I'm not defending Christian (or any other faith's) fundamentalists who think a theocracy should be imposed on the worldd and that those who disagree with them are less human. They're dicks. Secondly, with a few exceptions this forum, Maiden Fans, is exceptional to the above generality. The (numerous) "God" debates here tend to be respectful and well-reasoned. It's partly due to Mav and RW's rules (thanks guys!), and partly, I think, due to the fact that we all have at least one thing in common - an appreciation for awesome music. I digress.
So, why are people so angry at religion? I think it might have something to do with the same section of the brain that stereotypes different racial and ethnic groups (hear me out!) Even the most enlightened of us subconsciously make generalizatrions based on traits people have or lack. Who can honestly say that if they saw two Arabs praying on an airplane that they wouldn't be a bit nervous? How many white people get ancy when a young black man dressed in "gangsta" clothes walks behind them, even though they know nothing about the person? You see my point - even if you don't know someone at all, you can't help but associate them with the best/worst stereotypes you can (until you reach a level of familiarity with him/her which alters this) Here's a case in point: I'm going to be living with two guys from Iran when I begin graduate studies in a few weeks. For no reason other than they're from Iran, I'm a bit nervous. Go figure, huh? We all do it (to different degrees), but recognize it for being stupid, bigoted, and even a little bit racist. It is certainly not something we should think is OK to do, and we're always told to try to get over such out-moded stereotypes.
The same is true with Christians. Until they have individually proven otherwise, most atheists seem to think that all Christians are conservative fundamentalists who think adding the 10 COmmandments to the codified laws of the state would be a good idea. (Another aside: Not killing, committing perjury, and stealing isn't so horrible, right? These are laws in most countries anyway, as a society could hardly function without them. It's the ones which talk about morality which have no place in the laws of a state.) All Christians, apparently, are right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave it to Beaver-trips back to the 1950's. "Christian" is used by one of my gay friends to describe anyone who is opposed to gay rights, even though he knows I find it offensive.
In other words, many atheistic people seem to think that all those who believe in the Christian God are the same - all 1,000,000,000 or so of them, and they are all extremists like George Bush.
The reality is quite different, though. Most Christians (hell, most of anyone of any faith or lack thereof) are content to simply live their lives and let others do the same. Most recognize the dangers of state and church being too close to one another. A good many of them even think many issues politicians make out to be matters of morality (ie gay rights, abortion, etc) are irrelevant because faith is a personal matter. Hell, a lot of churches openly accept such things (the largest Protestant church in Canada is more liberal than the most left-wing political party!) And yet, all Christians seemed to get judged by the actions of a small group of extremists/fundamentalists. But those people represent modern, mainstream Christianity no more than neo-Nazis represent modern, mainstream Germans.
As stated above, it's considered bigoted to assume that a black person will rob you or that an Arab is a terrorist (and rightly so!). Yet why is it still considered OK to mock religious beliefs? Some atheists claim to be more enlightened and rational than other people because they don't believe in an "invisiable sky man", yet they do not realise their own hypocrisy. This doesn't apply to the majority or Atheists, of course, but it seems that the ones to whom it does apply are much more vocal and less content to live and let live (and have a higher percentage of internet useage, apparently!)
I suppose, then, that every belief, Atheism included, has whackos that give the rest a bad name. Be it Al-Qeada, Westboro Baptists, or militant Athists.
I will pause here to make two disclaimers: Firstly, I'm not defending Christian (or any other faith's) fundamentalists who think a theocracy should be imposed on the worldd and that those who disagree with them are less human. They're dicks. Secondly, with a few exceptions this forum, Maiden Fans, is exceptional to the above generality. The (numerous) "God" debates here tend to be respectful and well-reasoned. It's partly due to Mav and RW's rules (thanks guys!), and partly, I think, due to the fact that we all have at least one thing in common - an appreciation for awesome music. I digress.
So, why are people so angry at religion? I think it might have something to do with the same section of the brain that stereotypes different racial and ethnic groups (hear me out!) Even the most enlightened of us subconsciously make generalizatrions based on traits people have or lack. Who can honestly say that if they saw two Arabs praying on an airplane that they wouldn't be a bit nervous? How many white people get ancy when a young black man dressed in "gangsta" clothes walks behind them, even though they know nothing about the person? You see my point - even if you don't know someone at all, you can't help but associate them with the best/worst stereotypes you can (until you reach a level of familiarity with him/her which alters this) Here's a case in point: I'm going to be living with two guys from Iran when I begin graduate studies in a few weeks. For no reason other than they're from Iran, I'm a bit nervous. Go figure, huh? We all do it (to different degrees), but recognize it for being stupid, bigoted, and even a little bit racist. It is certainly not something we should think is OK to do, and we're always told to try to get over such out-moded stereotypes.
The same is true with Christians. Until they have individually proven otherwise, most atheists seem to think that all Christians are conservative fundamentalists who think adding the 10 COmmandments to the codified laws of the state would be a good idea. (Another aside: Not killing, committing perjury, and stealing isn't so horrible, right? These are laws in most countries anyway, as a society could hardly function without them. It's the ones which talk about morality which have no place in the laws of a state.) All Christians, apparently, are right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave it to Beaver-trips back to the 1950's. "Christian" is used by one of my gay friends to describe anyone who is opposed to gay rights, even though he knows I find it offensive.
In other words, many atheistic people seem to think that all those who believe in the Christian God are the same - all 1,000,000,000 or so of them, and they are all extremists like George Bush.
The reality is quite different, though. Most Christians (hell, most of anyone of any faith or lack thereof) are content to simply live their lives and let others do the same. Most recognize the dangers of state and church being too close to one another. A good many of them even think many issues politicians make out to be matters of morality (ie gay rights, abortion, etc) are irrelevant because faith is a personal matter. Hell, a lot of churches openly accept such things (the largest Protestant church in Canada is more liberal than the most left-wing political party!) And yet, all Christians seemed to get judged by the actions of a small group of extremists/fundamentalists. But those people represent modern, mainstream Christianity no more than neo-Nazis represent modern, mainstream Germans.
As stated above, it's considered bigoted to assume that a black person will rob you or that an Arab is a terrorist (and rightly so!). Yet why is it still considered OK to mock religious beliefs? Some atheists claim to be more enlightened and rational than other people because they don't believe in an "invisiable sky man", yet they do not realise their own hypocrisy. This doesn't apply to the majority or Atheists, of course, but it seems that the ones to whom it does apply are much more vocal and less content to live and let live (and have a higher percentage of internet useage, apparently!)
I suppose, then, that every belief, Atheism included, has whackos that give the rest a bad name. Be it Al-Qeada, Westboro Baptists, or militant Athists.
