You Might be a Fundie Atheist if...
Rob Knopp's post on Fundamentalist Atheists inspired me to revisit the matter, and put a diagnostic list together. So, you might be a Fundie Atheist if...
1. You tell people they're not really Christians/theists unless they believe X, Y and Z. (More rarely applied to other atheists as well)
2. You insist that all the good attributed to religion would have happened without religion, but all the bad attributed to religion is the sole responsibility of the religion itself and has nothing to do with, for instance, the society that produced it.
3. You try to equate mystic formulations of religion with atheism, and tell mystics that they're really atheists.
4. You have ever called someone a Neville Chamberlain (or appeaser) atheist and meant it in a derogatory way.
5. You have ever insisted that everyone who disagrees with your world view is deluded, regardless of what that disagreement might be.
I'm sure this list could be expanded, but those are the ones that either come immediately to mind or that showed up at Rob's site.
3 comments:
1) Nope. I pretty much take people at their word. If someone claims to be Xian, it isn't me that denies it. Other self-proclaimed Xians, on the other hand...
2) Nope. I think most of history would have been different without religion, but not necessarily better or worse. Religion is a convenient excuse for both good and bad aspects of human nature.
3) Nope. See #1. If someone says that they're not an atheist, then I won't insist that they are.
4) Nope. I don't see much point in appeasement, but I don't see much point in attack either.
5)Nope. I know that everyone's worldview is shaped by their personal experiences. In fact, the most disappointing episode of "House MD" was when House seemed desparate to prove to a patient addicted to near-death-experiences that there is nothing "out there"
I'm not an atheist fundie. I don't really know of anyonw who actually is. Passionate about it, sure. Fundie? Not so much.
I mostly see them in the comments at Pharyngula. At least, they make arguments like those in the list. The ones that annoy me most are the ones who have a set definition for a particular religion and insist anyone who doesn't meet that definition isn't REALLY of that religion. Uh, can we say "strawman"?
true. I tend to see more Xian fundies claiming that they are the only "real" Xians.
Check out FSTDT
Most of the comments are Xian, but some are from other religions. I think they have actually had a few atheist fundie comments
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