# On the SDMB, why do atheists and theists have to be such utter dicks to each other? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 12, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207 "2008-07-12T02:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**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 16, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/581 "2008-07-16T13:47:24Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] John 8:7 (second half). šŸ†’ [/quote] Dylan, _Rainy Day Women #12 & 35_. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/582 "2008-07-16T15:25:10Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] Dylan, _Rainy Day Women #12 & 35_. [/QUOTE] šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/583 "2008-07-16T17:34:52Z")
[QUOTE=coffeecat] Hijack to [Guinā€™s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9998949&postcount=302) post of three days ago re: [Msgr. Romero](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Romero): They _shot_ him in front a church full of people while he was holding up _God?_ That has got to be the worst public-relations move I have ever heard of in my life; it would still be the worst even if he was only holding God, or god, or even (god). Re: the OP: I love you all! God likes you as a friend. [/QUOTE] Yeah, then they BOMBED the dudeā€™s funeral! And he was robbed of the NPP by that little Albanian troll, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/584 "2008-07-16T17:50:18Z")
The problem is there is very little common ground. If you accept god ,you have to do it without proof. Many can not take that leap. Where is the wriggle room. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/585 "2008-07-16T18:02:36Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra, giving an example] ā€œPresidentā€ :rolleyes: Obama [/QUOTE] Okay, just donā€™t make it ā€œPresidentā€ :rolleyes:bama, becuase that would be crossing the line. You cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/586 "2008-07-16T20:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Okay, just donā€™t make it ā€œPresidentā€ :rolleyes:bama, becuase that would be crossing the line. You cunt. [/QUOTE] Yes I kin. ---
**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 16, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/587 "2008-07-16T20:45:19Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Yes I kin. [/QUOTE] I must incest that this punning stops immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/588 "2008-07-16T21:43:39Z")
_peaks out from under a rock_ Is it safe to come out yet? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/589 "2008-07-17T01:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] I must incest that this punning stops immediately. [/QUOTE] or at least relatively soon. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/590 "2008-07-17T07:54:12Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] ā€¦, and have her stare back with lifeless, mindless eyes, saying, ā€œbut I want to protestā€. [/QUOTE] Lifeless, mindless eyes? Itā€™s pretty much my impression of any of the believers out there who smack their heads into the ground on a regular basis. At least Kalhounā€™s explanation of why she does what she does is at least as good as the reasons the religious put forth for their actions. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/591 "2008-07-17T08:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] Lifeless, mindless eyes? Itā€™s pretty much my impression of any of the believers out there who smack their heads into the ground on a regular basis. At least Kalhounā€™s explanation of why she does what she does is at least as good as the reasons the religious put forth for their actions. [/QUOTE] Basically, the problem with **magellan01** ā€™s thesis is that he scornfully demands that \*\*kalhoun \*\* show him a degree of respect he wouldnā€™t consider giving her. For example, letā€™s suppose she insisted that, out of respect for her atheism, he refer to his god in the future as ā€œthe so-called Jesus Christ of legend and possibly historical fact.ā€ Thereā€™s no way he would consider that a reasonable request, and Iā€™m confident he would reject it out of hand, though thereā€™s nothing blatently blasphemous in that terminology. It simply reflects the way an atheist would be able to the refer to the figure without acknowledging the least commitment to his divinity or even his necessary existence. **magellan01** could conceivably say, for example, ā€œIā€™m quite sure that the so-called Jesus Christ of legend and possibly historical fact was, in fact, God Almighty incarnate on this earthā€ and so commmunicate how he feels about this figure without imposing his personal beliefs on \*\*Kalhoun \*\* and other atheists. But he would never consider using a phrase like that. Yet he feels quite comfortable insisting that she, and other atheists, conform to a standard reference that he, and other theists, prefer using. She maintains, and I agree with her (though I donā€™t use her formula myself), that capitalizing ā€œJesus Christā€ tacitly acknowledges her acceptance of theistsā€™ reverence for this figure and for his name. By lowercasing it, she reminds everyone that she doesnā€™t accept much of anything that theists maintain about him, to the point of denying that he necessarily ever even lived, which I personally think may be taking it too far. (I feel that someone named Jesus did actually live and die, and that his followers referred to him as ā€œchrist,ā€ though thatā€™s about all I feel fairly sure about.) This reminder of Kalhounā€™s position, and the annoyance that Christians take from it, is intolerable to **magellan01** and so he (most Un-Christianlike) abuses her verbally for itā€”he demands in short that his style of referring to that figure be universally practiced, this privileging his position and marginalizing hers, which is a partial answer to the OP. If Christians cannot tolerate the views of atheists and even blasphemers without employing incivility, maybe they need to refrain from interacting with them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/592 "2008-07-17T09:05:30Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] _peaks out from under a rock_ Is it safe to come out yet? [/QUOTE] No, not yet apparently. Looks like the horse needs some more flogging. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/593 "2008-07-17T10:12:31Z")
Not to mention the fact that magellan01 simply could not grasp that while I was protesting a concept, his ineffective little tirade was directed at me and only me. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/594 "2008-07-17T15:09:29Z")
[QUOTE=pseudotriton ruber ruber] Basically, the problem with **magellan01** ā€™s thesis is that he scornfully demands that \*\*kalhoun \*\* show him a degree of respect he wouldnā€™t consider giving her. For example, letā€™s suppose she insisted that, out of respect for her atheism, he refer to his god in the future as ā€œthe so-called Jesus Christ of legend and possibly historical fact.ā€ Thereā€™s no way he would consider that a reasonable request, and Iā€™m confident he would reject it out of hand, though thereā€™s nothing blatently blasphemous in that terminology. It simply reflects the way an atheist would be able to the refer to the figure without acknowledging the least commitment to his divinity or even his necessary existence. **magellan01** could conceivably say, for example, ā€œIā€™m quite sure that the so-called Jesus Christ of legend and possibly historical fact was, in fact, God Almighty incarnate on this earthā€ and so commmunicate how he feels about this figure without imposing his personal beliefs on \*\*Kalhoun \*\* and other atheists. But he would never consider using a phrase like that. Yet he feels quite comfortable insisting that she, and other atheists, conform to a standard reference that he, and other theists, prefer using. She maintains, and I agree with her (though I donā€™t use her formula myself), that capitalizing ā€œJesus Christā€ tacitly acknowledges her acceptance of theistsā€™ reverence for this figure and for his name. By lowercasing it, she reminds everyone that she doesnā€™t accept much of anything that theists maintain about him, to the point of denying that he necessarily ever even lived, which I personally think may be taking it too far. (I feel that someone named Jesus did actually live and die, and that his followers referred to him as ā€œchrist,ā€ though thatā€™s about all I feel fairly sure about.) This reminder of Kalhounā€™s position, and the annoyance that Christians take from it, is intolerable to **magellan01** and so he (most Un-Christianlike) abuses her verbally for itā€”he demands in short that his style of referring to that figure be universally practiced, this privileging his position and marginalizing hers, which is a partial answer to the OP. If Christians cannot tolerate the views of atheists and even blasphemers without employing incivility, maybe they need to refrain from interacting with them at all. [/QUOTE] Referring to a man that lived, giving him the same minimal respect youā€™d give Moses, Ramses, Nero, Chaucer, Rasputin, John Wilkes Booth, Hitler, Frankenstein, and Bambi is not asking for any agreement in godlike status. We can even assume Jesus was only a man and that Christianity is a fable. He still merits the tiny degree of respect of being treated as an historical figure. As I mentioned, I can see how someone could lowercase ā€œgodā€, for two reasons. One would be the rationale of not wanting to imbue a concept one doesnā€™t agree with divinity that one doesnā€™t believe exists in any realm. The other is to distinguish in a discussion, as I have sometimes done, between a generic god and the Christian ā€œGodā€. And if you care to look back at the exchange, it started if quite civilly. Rank stupidity, rudeness, and heretofore unimaginable density sometime calls for other tactics. Alas, the insistence of the dumb cunt to be insulting to a real person that many believe is divineā€”all while wearing her tiny little hat of protest on her puny little head is great. And she now thinks that my honestly insulting her directlyā€”one personā€”is somehow worse than her repeated backhanded insult to millions of people? Ha. The dumb cunt reveals even greater depths of stupidity than previously thought. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/595 "2008-07-17T15:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] I must incest that this punning stops immediately. [/QUOTE] Lest punnishment ensue forthwith? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/596 "2008-07-17T15:20:02Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Waffles? Shouldnā€™t that be agnostics? [/QUOTE] Oh, no. Weā€™re the only ones that are absolutely correct. šŸ˜ƒ If someone asks, ā€œIs there a god?ā€, we answer, ā€œI donā€™t know. And neither does anyone else.ā€ If someone says, ā€œThere is(nā€™t) a god.ā€, we respond with a simple request for proof. Iā€™ve been doing that for nearly 50 years, and humanity has been doing it for centuries. So far, no one has come up with any. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/597 "2008-07-17T15:25:46Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Not to mention the fact that magellan01 simply could not grasp that while I was protesting a concept, his ineffective little tirade was directed at me and only me. [/QUOTE] Oh, I grasped your stupidity just fine, Dumb Cunt. Itā€™s not as if you have anything deep to offer. All you have is a simple immature insistence that being insulting to people is okay because you have this little protest going on in your own fetid brain. But you admit that you do it also (Iā€™d say primarily, as the discussion shows) to annoy Christians. But you think youā€™ve found a backhanded enough way to do it for you to claim some higher ground? Your stupidity really is profound. And, yes, Dumb Cunt, my tirade (ineffective as it is given your insistence to be both rude and insulting to millions) is directed at the dumb cunt that is you. The fact that you think that is somehow worse than your slimy position that is rude to millions just goes to your lack of self-awareness and dumb cuntery. Oh, I forgot, itā€™s all okay because itā€™s your own little _protest._ Sure, whatever you say, Cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/598 "2008-07-17T15:27:35Z")
This reminds me, Iā€™ve never yet seen _The Vagina Monologues_. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/599 "2008-07-17T15:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Oh, I grasped your stupidity just fine, Dumb Cunt. Itā€™s not as if you have anything deep to offer. All you have is a simple immature insistence that being insulting to people is okay because you have this little protest going on in your own fetid brain. But you admit that you do it also (Iā€™d say primarily, as the discussion shows) to annoy Christians. But you think youā€™ve found a backhanded enough way to do it for you to claim some higher ground? Your stupidity really is profound. And, yes, Dumb Cunt, my tirade (ineffective as it is given your insistence to be both rude and insulting to millions) is directed at the dumb cunt that is you. The fact that you think that is somehow worse than your slimy position that is rude to millions just goes to your lack of self-awareness and dumb cuntery. Oh, I forgot, itā€™s all okay because itā€™s your own little _protest._ Sure, whatever you say, Cunt. [/QUOTE] Awesome. Used to be when I thought of SDMB over-use of the word ā€œcunt,ā€ another name came to mind, but now youā€™ve firmly supplanted it with your own. magellan01 = ā€œcunt.ā€ Solid! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207/600 "2008-07-17T15:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Oh, I grasped your stupidity just fine, Dumb Cunt. Itā€™s not as if you have anything deep to offer. All you have is a simple immature insistence that being insulting to people is okay because you have this little protest going on in your own fetid brain. But you admit that you do it also (Iā€™d say primarily, as the discussion shows) to annoy Christians. But you think youā€™ve found a backhanded enough way to do it for you to claim some higher ground? Your stupidity really is profound. And, yes, Dumb Cunt, my tirade (ineffective as it is given your insistence to be both rude and insulting to millions) is directed at the dumb cunt that is you. The fact that you think that is somehow worse than your slimy position that is rude to millions just goes to your lack of self-awareness and dumb cuntery. Oh, I forgot, itā€™s all okay because itā€™s your own little _protest._ Sure, whatever you say, Cunt. [/QUOTE] Let me spell this out in a way you might finally understand it: Cunt cunt cunt, cunt cunt. Cunt cunt cunt cunt (cunt cunt)! Now go cunt yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-sdmb-why-do-atheists-and-theists-have-to-be-such-utter-dicks-to-each-other/456207.md?page=31)