Which is almost exactly what I said. It’s rare.
CMC
It never ceases to amaze me how strong the persecution complex among some Christians is, despite the fact that they are the majority and dominate the culture… I guess it makes sense though, theologically Christianity is inconsistent with being the majority governing religion, so this narrative is very convenient.
In some Christian cultures martyrdom is so ingrained that they have to create it to feel fulfilled.
I have the same admonishment for both the aggressive atheists and the religious fanatics. BE QUIET.
Emily Post mandated that neither politics nor religion should be discussed at the dinner table because it is potentially troublesome and thus impolite. I’d like to expand that to cover pretty much all venues.
The “aggressive” atheists are responding to the religious people who can’t seem to keep it to themselves or to stop imposing their beliefs on others. So, no, staying quiet when that happens isn’t a good option.
Among the religious people who can’t seem to keep it to themselves; those who insist that everyone say “Merry Christmas” in November and December rather than “Happy Holidays” even though not everyone is Christian nor does everyone celebrate Christmas.
Not in all cases by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if I read him correctly, the OP of this thread is basically stating that he should be able to tell off any religious person he comes in contact with simply because he doesn’t like them.
Of course, someone might respond “You don’t have to do that. You choose to.”
And I’m sure atheists run the gamut from working out all their own moral imperatives for themselves, to swallowing them whole from somewhere else, to just being amoral. As do people who profess to follow a religion.
The part that Velocity is right about is that atheism itself doesn’t impose any requirements on anyone. But it doesn’t follow that an atheist’s life is easier.
Everyone naturally plays up their disadvantages in perception and plays down their advantages (and vice versa for their opponents; play up their opponent’s advantages while playing down their opponents’ disadvantages.) Christians are no exception.
I am not satisfied that the OP is an atheist, as evidenced by their being banned as a sock.
Beyond that, silence tends to benefit the oppressor over the oppressed. So, no, given the privilege and influence Christianity enjoys in America, no. No I will not be quiet.
But thank you for reminding us that, yes, there is a corollary for “Jesus freak” for those who need one. That is “aggressive,” “militant” or “angry” atheist for anyone who won’t just “be quiet” as supposedly moderate Americans demand.
Actually, I’m okay with their assertions.
“The earth is only 6,000 years old, flat, and covered with a crystalline dome.”
“That’s nice.”
OTOH, “We need to teach kids that the earth is only 6,000 years old, flat, and covered with a crystalline dome,” will lead to be asking for evidence.
The post I was replying to said, “They’re not trying to actively convert Christians, but in general, someone is likelier to face mockery for claiming in class that the Earth is only 8,000 years old, versus several billion years old (not that all Christians are YECs, but that is one tangential example.)” So we are talking about a Young Earth Creationist Christian who is making ridiculous claims in a school classroom about the age of the Earth.
I didn’t think four cases in one family was all that rare. But whether it’s equally common in other families I don’t know.
Are you under the impression that most teachers are atheists?
My kids went to high school in a relatively secular community (gay couples at the prom were not exceptional years and years before SSM became legal) but they never espoused atheism to anyone. Their religious friends did.
One would hope that anyone with two brain cells to rub together would mock YEC. None of that around in the school, our biology books handled evolution very well and I think YECers got home schooled.
And I was around at the time and agree with the cite - Jesus freaks self identified, since if you were young being a freak was a good thing, not a bad thing. David Crosby - letting my freak flag fly. Someone at Woodstock, looking at the crowd, said “lotta freaks,” and that wasn’t an insult.
And I just bet that lots of atheists in the Bible Belt run around advertising it.
Yes, certainly. Atheists proselytize also. In fact that study about how much religion cost is a prime example. It wasnt published in any peer reviewed respected economics journal, instead in a Atheist newsletter. It was full of lies, half-truths, made up statistics and a basic misunderstanding of how tax laws work. It was pure, 100% Atheist proselytizing.
Oh, please. “Teachers in general” come from the population in general so the great majority will be believers of one or another sort.
But yes, seriously believing YEC as an alternative valid explanation for the actual material world’s origin and development opposed to holding it as an allegory will get you mocked … and rightly so.
Totally false.
Christmas, at least in the USA, is 90% a secular holiday. Just like Halloween and Thanksgiving.