# Intolerant Athiests **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172 "2012-01-11T16:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/61 "2012-01-11T17:44:59Z")
I wonder if you guys know it’s possible to be right AND offensive. Like walking into a funeral service held for a child and saying out loud, “that’s one less person using up the worlds resources”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/62 "2012-01-11T17:50:39Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I wonder if you guys know it’s possible to be right AND offensive. That’s a frequent pitfall for atheists, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/63 "2012-01-11T17:51:01Z")
I just want to say that I really, really, really hope that next year there is a devout Muslim in the NFL who starts overtly displaying his faith just to watch wingnuts try to reverse course. But, yeah there’s no God and professional football is kind of pointless, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/64 "2012-01-11T17:51:32Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > dipshit? Yes, more of the same. People who don’t believe what you believe are stupid. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [January 11, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/65 "2012-01-11T17:53:02Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I wonder if you guys know it’s possible to be right AND offensive. > > Like walking into a funeral service held for a child and saying out loud, “that’s one less person using up the worlds resources”. And I wonder if you have any _non_-imaginary examples to give us? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/66 "2012-01-11T17:53:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This reminds me so much of those who say that they don’t mind homosexuals, but they hate the militant ones that shove it in their face every day by talking about their partners, holding their partner’s hand, and actually kissing their partner in public! Look, I’m not saying homosexuals are BAD, just that they are a blight upon the Earth that should be hunted and impaled routinely on flaming spikes as examples to others to not follow their sick way of life. ---
**Author:** ![IntelliQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@IntelliQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntelliQ)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/67 "2012-01-11T17:53:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If you don’t want to discuss something, the best way to do it is not bring it up in the first place. Saying something stupid and then asking people not to comment on it is less effective. > I’m one of the moderators of Great Debates, and I think I do alright there. This is the Pit and the rules are different. Regardless, my advice would be to read a little about what science is and what the evidence is for inflation and for dark matter and energy. That would make your thread unnecssary, or at least you would learn something and you might not embarrass yourself by comparing those three concepts to the Roman Catholic Trinity. As I said, the comparison indicates that you don’t understand very much about what science is and how it works. That you don’t know much about physics is understandable (I’m hardly an expert on it myself), but if you don’t know much about something, you shouldn’t go around making grand pronouncements about it. I made no such grand pronouncement. Fail. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/68 "2012-01-11T17:55:55Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Yes, more of the same. People who don’t believe what you believe are stupid. :rolleyes: There are plenty of smart theists. But theism itself isn’t smart. And you aren’t stupid because we disagree, you’re stupid because, I assume, because your brain doesn’t work very well. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/69 "2012-01-11T17:57:35Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > There are plenty of smart theists. > > But theism itself isn’t smart. And you aren’t stupid because we disagree, you’re stupid because, I assume, because your brain doesn’t work very well. It’s been pretty consistent here in this thread and on this board to use intelligence based perjoratives to slander those who disagree regarding Atheism. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/70 "2012-01-11T17:57:36Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > I made no such grand pronouncement. Fail. So when are you going to post this “Holy Trinity” thread in Great Debates? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/71 "2012-01-11T17:58:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And I wonder if you have any _non_-imaginary examples to give us? Irrelevant. I do think the theists in this thread are mistaking ‘offensive’ for ‘intolerant’ and are wrong-footing themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/72 "2012-01-11T17:58:11Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > I made no such grand pronouncement. Fail. You know what’s charming? When a guy fumbles ineptly, repeatedly demonstrates that he’s in over his head and then claims victory. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/73 "2012-01-11T18:01:02Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Yes, more of the same. People who don’t believe what you believe are stupid. :rolleyes: Whereas people who fail to address the question because they got a bit butthurt are geniuses. I’m happy to ask again more nicely. Do you regard my lack of belief in unicorns as a religion? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/74 "2012-01-11T18:01:33Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I wonder if you guys know it’s possible to be right AND offensive. Yep, of course it is. Two things, though. Firstly, it’s still better than being _wrong_ and offensive, and secondly there are times when being offensive is appropriate. For example, if someone tells me their god wants them to go to war, I entirely reserve the right to tell them that they are a fuckwit and that their god is a psychopath. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/75 "2012-01-11T18:03:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It’s been pretty consistent here in this thread and on this board to use intelligence based perjoratives to slander those who disagree regarding Atheism. Nope-not really. In Great Debates we usually label the stupid ideas as stupid, the insane ideas as insane, and we try to do our best to inform the uninformed. I think you’ll find that the moderators do a pretty good job at putting a stop to actual slander…unless of course your definition of “slander” is as wildly off-base as your definition of “religion” seems to be. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/76 "2012-01-11T18:03:43Z")
**Intolerant Athiests** > [@IntelliQ](#): > > As someone who leans more towards science rather than spirituality As someone who leans more toward English than gibberish, I am _religiously_ intolerant of bad spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/77 "2012-01-11T18:06:02Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > Seriously, I dont believe in Jesus or God (and to be fair, science has it’s own trinity of sorts that isnt provable, hmm I’ll probably posit it in another thread for some of the experts in that field) You are thinking of deduction or alcohol, not science. Science is not in the business of ‘proofs’. Science is in the business of abduction, induction, and falsification. Sure, some of science can included specific deduction, where there is absolute certainty, but that is not the norm. Scientific conclusions are generally tentatively held, with the knowledge that at any moment they could be modified by new data. This doesn’t mean we aren’t rationally justified in accepting their conclusions, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/78 "2012-01-11T18:06:38Z")
> [@IntelliQ](#): > > I made no such grand pronouncement. … > [@IntelliQ](#): > > to be fair, science has it’s own trinity of sorts that isnt provable So you did compare inflation, dark matter, and dark energy to the Holy Trinity, and you said they aren’t provable. Both are wrong, and both are dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/79 "2012-01-11T18:06:45Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Yep, of course it is. Two things, though. Firstly, it’s still better than being _wrong_ and offensive, and secondly there are times when being offensive is appropriate. For example, if someone tells me their god wants them to go to war, I entirely reserve the right to tell them that they are a fuckwit and that their god is a psychopath. K. My immediate comments were directed at the people reading this thread, but yeah, tu quoque. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172/80 "2012-01-11T18:06:56Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I’m happy to ask again more nicely. Do you regard my lack of belief in unicorns as a religion? A Religion is basically a system of beliefs about the fundamental nature of the Universe, our part in it, and what happens after we die. Unicorns have fuck-all to do with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intolerant-athiests/609172.md?page=5)