Thank you. This is an excellent analysis of why some online atheism forums tend to be so, ahem, assholish.
I’ve certainly observed similar patterns in other online groups. The reason why this behavior seemed so odd to me was that most atheists pride themselves on being very rational, logical, clear-thinking people. Somehow it’s never surprised me when very religious people act like jerks, but I expected more measured behavior from the reality-based crowd.
You ask, I will answer. IRL, people don’t usually ask. A friend asked if I was an atheist (I think he really is, but he likes the community and goes to the local Quaker meeting). I answered that by certain knowledge I was an agnostic (how could I be otherwise?) but by belief I am an atheist. I have other beliefs that cannot be verified or falsified, of which the most important to me is that mathematics is consistent.
Only my DIL finds this hard to credit. She has said that she believes that deep deep down I must believe in God. She’s wrong, but there is no point in arguing. As for other people, it rarely comes up. I have religious friends and they know I am non-observant, but they may not know I am an atheist.
I have never started a thread on atheism, but if one does start I will respond. IRL, I would do the same.
Since this is a poll, moved to IMHO (from MPSIMS).
This is a forum which holds debates. Of course people of any stripe are going to step forward with their strongly held views, else there wouldn’t be much typing going on.
We also discuss with strangers here our marital problems, our embarrassing ailments, our lousy bosses and how much we hate our parents. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around doing that with strangers in real life either.
What I do notice online, is that theists regard any atheist who expresses an opinion as ‘strident’ and ‘abrasive’. Believe me, that’s nothing compared to how evangelical Christians behave towards non believers.
I’m a self-identified (is there any other way?) atheist. Please point out where I have been strident and abrasive on this message board. 
I use the phrase ‘I don’t discuss religion’ every now and then in real life because the few times I have let on that I might not be a Christian it has upset some people. Even at work, people (Christians) have felt free to loudly express shock at my lack of morals, since it’s common knowledge that only the religous can have morals.
Here in the Dope is the only place I feel like I can come out and say, “I don’t believe”, and even here it’s labeled strident and abrasive.
I’ve already explained that my original post wasn’t worded as well as it could have been, and I wasn’t talking about SD.
Let me repeat: The “strident and abrasive” wording in my original post was not a reference to the present message board.
I said nothing about my own beliefs in my original post.
I don’t really talk about my religious beliefs IRL unless I’m with people I know very well and trust, or unless I’m asked point blank. (The latter will usually get you a vague “not really a churchgoer” answer unless you fall into the first category.) I live in Mississippi; I don’t need the hassle.
I unfriended a relative from Facebook because he kept posting memes advocating things like a Christian holocaust. :eek: I probably should have reported him, I guess. He’s gotten into trouble at jobs for “preaching” to co-workers. He does have Asperger’s (diagnosed) so that may be a factor. I have another FBF who goes on and off hidden status for spamming in like manner. People have indeed said to her, “We get it. Really. WE. GET. IT” but she persists.
And years ago, I had the misfortune of crossing paths with a very militant atheist who, among other things, had been banned from every bookstore and library in our town for doing things like getting a cart and moving religion books of all stripes to the fiction section. He also tore the “In God We Trust” out of his bills, and ground it off his coins. :smack: He was a divorced father with custody at a time where that was very unusual, and totally unemployable. I have no idea how he made a living; a speaker’s bureau was my best guess. I knew him because he crashed our Mensa group, and we had to ban him from there too; people stopped participating in events because they knew he would be there. Even other self-professed atheists, the ones who just said, “I don’t believe in God”, couldn’t stand him.
The thing I can’t get over is how these people expend so much energy opposing something they don’t even believe exists! :rolleyes:
Which types of message boards are you referring to, then? Because if they are religion-based forums, then surely stridency (if that wasn’t a word before, it is now) is to be expected?
Gracious, I’m enough of a pariah already. If I were to go around spouting off about atheism I would probably be able to count my friends on one hand.
I wouldn’t say that I am completely closeted, but I am very wary about discussing it IRL. It’s refreshing to be able to be completely open about it - nay, PROUD - on the SDMB.
As erroneous as this claim is, it’s used a little too often. Have you ever actually met an atheist who is opposed to “God”? Or have you encountered atheists who are opposed to legally sanctioned religious ideologies such as tax exemptions, public religious references and odes that exclude non-Christian belief systems, blue laws, etc?
All three people I mentioned in that post are this way.
Again, how can they be “opposed to something they don’t believe in?” What, exactly, are they advocating for or against? Are you quite certain they are just randomly grousing about the idea of a god, or do they have a beef about how religious organizations are given rights and advantages that non-religious clubs do not have?
My online and real-life atheism manifest the same way. I’m quite open about it if anybody asks about my religion or if the issue comes up in relation to, say, legislation. I don’t generally talk about it unless its relevant.
You and others who make this claim are attempting to reduce a legitimate beef to a frivolous joke, but even without the withering sarcasm your claim is in error. Atheists are not opposing God, or gods. The complaints are nearly always related to the pressure Christians apply to non-Christians, both socially and legally. Christians apply social and political pressure to non-Christians by proselytizing publicly, gaining exemptions from no trespassing signs in order to sell their beliefs, harassing Family Planning patrons, attempting to force government offices to impose and to post Biblical directives, the very vocal opposition to construction of non-Christian churches, and a long list of other intrusive measures that invade the privacy and autonomy of non-Christians.
And there are numerous complaints about the legislated championing of Christianity in the US. Tax breaks, blue laws, religious endorsement on money, courthouse pledges ad plaques, religious exemption from military service, and sanctioned Christian holidays give every appearance of government endorsement of the Christian religion at the expense of non-Christians.
You may pretend, if you like, that atheists are opposing a non-entity if it entertains you, but it would serve you better to remember that settlers established the US as a refuge from the very same sort of oppression. Live and let live is somehow lost on those who insist that Christianity permeate every corner of this country regardless of the freedom and privacy of non-Christians.
They do. :rolleyes:
Because they don’t wholeheartedly endorse the god you have chosen to subscribe to?