Atheist spam
Sometimes I’m not quite sure what counts as spam. Today I received a comment left on my About page, which I’ve treated as spam. It was in no way a response to anything I said there, or have said anywhere on my blog. It appeared to be entirely generic, and came with what looked like a false web address entered. In content it was a dismissal of the freewill response to theodicy and related questions, with half a not very good argument and half a simple ex cathedra pronouncement on it’s stupidity. The tone and overall thrust appeared to be “and how silly your belief is”.
Now I might have misread the genre and intent of this comment, and if so, I apologise. But it also put me in mind of the remarkable number of comments I come across from atheists on any religious story (or religion related story) on the mainstream media sites. Many (most?) of them are ranting and repetitive, concerned more to dismiss the general thrust of belief than to respond to any particular point made in the story.
There are three things that baffle me about this.
- Why do so many atheists seem to spend so much of their time thinking about religion, and seeking to rebuke it? If life is short, and that’s it, then why waste time getting even slightly worked up about it?
- Why, if it seems to be an article of faith that atheism is rational, and religion is not, are so many of the comments devoid of anything remotely resembling a rational argument?
- Why are all the atheists who comment fundamentalists? That is, the God and theology they oppose is nearly always fundamentalist Protestant, and just occasionally Vatican I anti-modernist Catholicism. Do liberal Christians never become atheists? Or is there something about the personality type that’s prone to having conversion experiences and evangelising for their point of view?
Oh, and I have no idea what the answers to those questions are.
June 5th, 2008 at 1:25 am
While I don’t understand those
militant fundamentalist type
atheists with destructive intent,
there are plenty of non-believers
who study religions because they have
a genuine interest in people and the
way they live their lives and a
passion for history. It is possible
to respect other peoples’ beliefs if they are different from
your own without seeking to convert
them or destroy them.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Perhaps I can take a crack at your questions.
1.) I think Sam Harris offered a good explanation in his book “The End of Faith”.
2.) Two reasons: One, because the rationality of a belief, and the rationality of those who articulate the belief, are not always synonymous. As a Christian, you may appreciate the point simply by perusing the site Fundies Say the Darndest Things.
Second, I think it’s a matter of perspective. I’ve debated Christians for a while and found many of their arguments to be void of sound reasoning, and been told the same.
3.) If I understand the question right, you’re wondering why the atheists you encounter appear to have been converted from fundamentalist Christianity. I don’t have an answer, because the atheists I encounter frequently on discussion forums and blogs don’t seem to have much of a fundamentalist mindset to me.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Thanks, Robert
June 6th, 2008 at 12:50 am
Hello Doug,
Maybe the reason they appear to be ex-fundamentalist, is because they’re always attacking the easiest target; Biblical literalism.
John