On the apparent increase of atheism-based hostility...
It seems like it's becoming increasingly difficult to meet an atheist that doesn't have a massive ego and doesn't think it's acceptable to shit on people for their faith. Right now I can think of two that I know personally that don't, out of twenty-four I've talked to in the past week (perhaps more, I could only remember two dozen). Atheists make up about 5% of the people in the world and about 90% of the "why belief group X is fucked up" posts/cartoons/pictures/videos that cross my screen.
The thing is, they're typically quick to point out that atheism isn't a religion; that religion is a system of beliefs, and *lack* of belief in something doesn't constitute *belief* in anything. And I get that. Yet the attitude amongst atheists that I encounter seems to be as uniform (or more so) than that of the followers of any religion I can think of. It's as if they HAVE formed a religion based around the belief that anyone who believes in God - or for that matter anything that they can't fully understand or prove to be true - is undeserving of basic respect. It also occurs to me that while a lack of belief in God may not be the the cause of such a shitty mindset in so many, it certainly seems to be a common symptom of it.
Perhaps the most infuriating thing about this phenomenon is that what brought on this whole rant is that in the past few weeks, it seems like my various feeds have been regularly assaulted with snarky cartoons (I'm looking at you, Oatmeal ) and comments implying (or flat out saying) that religion is some kind of aggression/hostility causing cancer on the world; yet they seem to believe that the same attitudes that they rail on the religious for displaying is perfectly acceptable if you declare yourself "non-religious."
The thing is, they're typically quick to point out that atheism isn't a religion; that religion is a system of beliefs, and *lack* of belief in something doesn't constitute *belief* in anything. And I get that. Yet the attitude amongst atheists that I encounter seems to be as uniform (or more so) than that of the followers of any religion I can think of. It's as if they HAVE formed a religion based around the belief that anyone who believes in God - or for that matter anything that they can't fully understand or prove to be true - is undeserving of basic respect. It also occurs to me that while a lack of belief in God may not be the the cause of such a shitty mindset in so many, it certainly seems to be a common symptom of it.
Perhaps the most infuriating thing about this phenomenon is that what brought on this whole rant is that in the past few weeks, it seems like my various feeds have been regularly assaulted with snarky cartoons (I'm looking at you, Oatmeal ) and comments implying (or flat out saying) that religion is some kind of aggression/hostility causing cancer on the world; yet they seem to believe that the same attitudes that they rail on the religious for displaying is perfectly acceptable if you declare yourself "non-religious."