# How did so many atheists end up here? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 19, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219 "2010-07-19T14:02:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/41 "2010-07-19T16:01:08Z")
Never mind. Misunderstood post. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/42 "2010-07-19T16:02:14Z")
Yeah, I’m not seeing any overt hostility, here. Granted, being an atheist, I’m probably a bit inclined to not see it as I’m not the target, but I know that we’ve got a few theists who are considered to be a part of the SDMB community and who aren’t targeted with hostility. Does the OP consider refuting beliefs to be an attack on the person expressing those beliefs? Because this board is about fighting ignorance (and it’s taking a lot longer than we thought it would). If someone shows up on the board and says that he’s a theist, the most likely response will be “Um… okay.” However, if that person were to try to claim that the Earth is just 6000 years old, he’d be laughed out of here. It seems to me that there’s a difference between belief and the person expressing that belief. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/43 "2010-07-19T16:04:47Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Most people tend to take hearing their cherished beliefs dismissed as superstition or bronze age myth personally. That tends to be considered unpleasant and so they leave. > > Now is that unfair? Of course not. Just wanted to post that this reminds me of a difficulty I had with the UU church. One of their basic tenets is (from memory) to encourage a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” I firmly believe that many aspects of “mysticism” that I encountered in more than one UU church could not result from a “responsible search for truth.” ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/44 "2010-07-19T16:07:15Z")
I think in general for any topic if you don’t agree with the majority of the board members you are going to get mocked/made fun of/ etc. For example on the cafe society board I said that Star Wars episodes 1,2,3 were OK movies. Not great movies, just OK. I was slammed left and right for saying that because I went against the prevailing view here of those 3 movies. BTW, I expected to get criticized but it went way beyond what I thought I would see. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/45 "2010-07-19T16:14:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Even the religious people we do have tend not to be the YEC, Jesus on a taco shell, whack-a-doodle types. I’ll… take that as a compliment? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/46 "2010-07-19T16:17:17Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I think in general for any topic if you don’t agree with the majority of the board members you are going to get mocked/made fun of/ etc. > > For example on the cafe society board I said that Star Wars episodes 1,2,3 were OK movies. Not great movies, just OK. I was slammed left and right for saying that because I went against the prevailing view here of those 3 movies. BTW, I expected to get criticized but it went way beyond what I thought I would see. This is also a valid point. And while I’m sure it was easy for you to think, ‘‘Well, that’s okay, obviously it’s silly to be so hostile about something as inconsequential as _Star Wars_,’’ I imagine it’s a lot harder to dismiss that kind of treatment when it comes to something as fundamental to your identity as your religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/47 "2010-07-19T16:19:19Z")
If you’re going to keep accusing us atheists of engaging in that behavior, I wish you’d back it up. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/48 "2010-07-19T16:21:55Z")
From what I saw some people make a real big deal out of Star Wars. It seemed like a few almost wanted to shoot George Lucas on sight for ruining those movies. FYI the prevailing view of those movies here is that they are total garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/49 "2010-07-19T16:27:23Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > This board is a freakin’ lovefest with regards to believers compared to, say, the JREF board. I’m not sure how that matters. Your average Tea Party rally is a freakin’ lovefest with regards to African-Americans compared to, say, a Klan rally. But neither attracts a whole lot of African-Americans. (Not to compare the SDMB to either, just making the point that finding examples of worse behavior doesn’t make the other thing _better_) As for the hostility bit, who cares about “proving” it? Obviously some people sense it and whether you want to believe it’s legitimate or that they’re imagining it, it seems to play a factor is the ratio of atheists to religious people here. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/50 "2010-07-19T16:29:18Z")
I don’t see the hostility. But if someone questions your beliefs you do tend to take it personally, even if it shouldn’t be taken that way. Just discussing a religion will tend to make believers defensive. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/51 "2010-07-19T16:33:41Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > Because this is a fairly hostile place to outright displays of belief. Why stay in a place where you’ll be continually ridiculed, mocked and insulted? Agreed. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This is not an accurate description of the board. In fact, it’s a completely false description of the board. And yet I agree with it. Not keeping a running list of all the quotes of people who are openly hostile to religion and supernatural things doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Putting aside the openly hostile posts for a moment, there are innumerable little digs (like the ones in this thread as **Grey** has already pointed out). It’s a common thing to call God the great sky fairy or something like that - you’d have to be pretty thick to not see that as a dig at your religion. I’m firmly agnostic, for what that’s worth. I’m just not particularly comfortable with the way we deal with people of other beliefs on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/52 "2010-07-19T16:34:25Z")
We work night jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/53 "2010-07-19T16:40:06Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Agreed. > > And yet I agree with it. > > Not keeping a running list of all the quotes of people who are openly hostile to religion and supernatural things doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Putting aside the openly hostile posts for a moment, there are innumerable little digs (like the ones in this thread as **Grey** has already pointed out). It’s a common thing to call God the great sky fairy or something like that - you’d have to be pretty thick to not see that as a dig at your religion. The “sky fairy” language only gets used when people try to posit or argue for gods as scientific explanations for things. Woo woo claims are not the same thing as basic declarations of faith. I do not see people getting attacked here just for saying they’re believers. Even LDS and JW’s post here without getting jumped on unless they make specific supernatural claims about observable phenomena. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/54 "2010-07-19T16:42:34Z")
The idea that there are so many atheists here because they are more skeptical and rational is, quite frankly, ridiculous. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with Cecil’s columns, as they nearly always treat religion fairly. Pretty much every internet community that I am a part of is skewed atheist: a very large MMORPG community I used to post on, Reddit, Digg, etc. I think that it is just that the demographics of internet users are skewed towards younger people and atheists, and those who are outspoken about their beliefs generally stick to Christian message boards/internet communities. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/55 "2010-07-19T16:43:08Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It’s not overt hostility but saying that people here are smart/educated so that’s why they are atheist is taking a shot at believers. I don’t see how hostility can be “not overt” and “unbridled” at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/56 "2010-07-19T16:44:29Z")
So people are hostile to religion , but only in certain “approved” cases. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/57 "2010-07-19T16:48:21Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > This is also a valid point. And while I’m sure it was easy for you to think, ‘‘Well, that’s okay, obviously it’s silly to be so hostile about something as inconsequential as _Star Wars_,’’ I imagine it’s a lot harder to dismiss that kind of treatment when it comes to something as fundamental to your identity as your religious beliefs. How long have you people been on the net anyway? I assure you that this is not an SDMB thing. The exact thing would have happened in a different context 20 years ago on UseNet, in fact worse since there was no moderation. We are very civil around here (hat off to mods.) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/58 "2010-07-19T16:49:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just wanted to post that this reminds me of a difficulty I had with the UU church. One of their basic tenets is (from memory) to encourage a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” I firmly believe that many aspects of “mysticism” that I encountered in more than one UU church could not result from a “responsible search for truth.” It depends on how you personally define “truth”. A search for some sort of universal truth _without_ an element of mysticism may be just as irresponsible and stifling to somebody whose internal world goes beyond objective rationality. A UU church without the spiritual/mystical aspects would just be a gathering of biased philosophers, wouldn’t it? The whole point of it is to not limit people to any particular doctrine, and I would say that openness ought to (and does) extend to modes of knowing. (Mind you, I stopped going to UU because of the very same mysticism, but not because I thought it irresponsible, just too different from the way my brain worked.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/59 "2010-07-19T16:53:37Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I don’t see the hostility. But if someone questions your beliefs you do tend to take it personally, even if it shouldn’t be taken that way. Just discussing a religion will tend to make believers defensive. It wasn’t too long ago that we had some believers try to make the case that they were being personally insulted by those that questioned their beliefs because(to paraphrase) “If you insult my religion you are personally insulting _me_, because my religion _is_ my life.” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219/60 "2010-07-19T16:53:40Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I don’t see how hostility can be “not overt” and “unbridled” at the same time. Well, not everyone posting agrees the level is the same, or the same from all posters. Sometimes its overt hostility - I think we can all name at least one person who is overtly hostile. Sometimes its subtle digs. Sometimes its “just good natured jokes” about the sky pixie. Sometimes its painting all religious beliefs with the conservative Christian brush. Its a matter of perception, and just because some people do not perceive it does not mean other people don’t perceive it - and may not feel welcome or like they should disclose their beliefs because of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-so-many-atheists-end-up-here/547219.md?page=4)