As Dio points out, my impression is that the strongest criticism of believers comes as their professed beliefs become more and more specific. When someone expresses a belief in something super/un-natural, why is it mocking or insulting to correctly observe that such beliefs have ZERO objective proof, and are not one jot more reasonable than belief in fairies, witches, IPUs or whathaveyou?
Further , when yet another believer comes around with another version of the same old “proofs” for their belief which have so soundly been refuted countless times over the preceding centuries, are we supposed to simply say, “Yup - sounds good to me!”?
I have not conducted any study, but I would suspect that at least in a good number of such threads the criticism has increased as an OP’s defenses of irrationality increased.
I’m guessing the unbridled hostility toward believers that is so prevalent on the board drives a lot of believers away. Though I guess that’s a chicken and egg proposition. I’m guessing the hostility and irrational prejudice feeds off of the lack of believers and vice-versa to create a vicious cycle.
I’ve considered starting a Great Debates thread about the failure of many of this board’s atheists to really grasp the experiential aspect of religion. I never really understood how profound the disconnect was until this post. The person asking the question was asking a very rational question, but to someone who has actually experienced glossolalia it’s striking how the least important element of the experience is the one that is emphasized the most.
I’m a Buddhist too, Bijou. And an atheist. I don’t consider them mutually exclusive.
Agreed on all counts. There are a lot of atheists here. Many of the atheists here are openly hostile towards those that profess even the tiniest shred of belief. And I’d wager that there are plenty of people here who believe in God that never (or rarely) mention it.
That’s fine by me, as a contrast to the rest of my life where people keep bringing up their beliefs in situations where it is completely (IMO) unnecessary, and oftentimes offensive.
So basically, nobody can back up the “unbridled hostility” allegations except for one mild (and smilied) comment about “informed/educated” people being less prone to religious belief.
That’s about what I thought.
The board is challenging to people who want to argue in favor of specific religious/supernatural/paranormal claims, but is not, by and large, gratuitously hostile to people just for saying they believe in God.
Do you really need someone to slog through, say, Der Trihs’ backposts? I promise if you go through his last 100 posts, he’ll have said something outright offensive about religion and religious people.
This is not a nice place where believers making claims outside of the generic golden rule can exist too long without bringing down a fair bit of derisive laughter. 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. Claims that can be debunked or religious beliefs that have no basis in reality should be pointed out.
I think SDMB members overall are skeptical about pretty much everything and dismissive of people who present beliefs of any kind without a strong foundation in fact.
There is some hostility to the role that religion has historically played in war, oppression and opposition to scientific thought. I don’t see a lot of people displaying hostility to the particular religious beliefs of other members, except where those beliefs threaten the rights of non-believers.
In recent years, Christianity in the US has been closely linked to political views such as banning abortion, teaching creationism in schools and preventing gays from marrying. The goal in these cases is not merely to allow these folks to hold their own beliefs but rather to force everyone to adhere to these beliefs. This is extremely hostile behavior and greatly insulting to people capable of independent thought. Although not all people of faith behave in this hostile manner, there is not nearly enough outcry from tolerant, open-minded religious people against their intolerant brethren.
Its’ not surprising that a group inclined toward skepticism and critical thinking is going to display some verbal hostility toward people who claim association with groups that impose their unfounded beliefs on others.
That is one poster. I already said there was one poster like that. There maybe be others who are less prominent, but I still maintain that, by and large, the atheists on this board are not gratututously hostile to believers, and even Der Trihs is offset by ITR Champion starting a new atheist bashing thread every month or so.
You ignorant fool. That emoticon was clearly a hostiley.
FWIW - one attempt to suss out the interplay between education (not intelligence) and religion. I think what may be needed is an investigation of apparently decreased skin thickness among believers…
