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What I dislike about modern atheism

MrFliop

Thinker
MrFliop
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
212
I am an atheist because I know its common sense that if there's zero proof of something there's no reason to believe its true. Therefore since I have yet to see any serious evidence for any deity's existence I have no reason to believe in any god.

I'm glad that atheism is no on the rise but it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this. Or because people want to p**s off their parents. Or because they got dragged into church in their youth.

People should choose what they want to believe through critical thinking and what conclusions they come up with on their own. If people blindly follow atheism because its trendy right now then they're no better than religious followers.
 
MrFliop said:
....it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this. Or because people want to p**s off their parents. Or because they got dragged into church in their youth.
....
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Go on then, back this up with something apart from your opinion.
 
MrFliop said:
I'm glad that atheism is no on the rise but it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this. Or because people want to p**s off their parents. Or because they got dragged into church in their youth.
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What if secularization is just a natural side-effect of increased diversity? I mean, christianity wasn't the status quo religion where I grew up, but my generation is definitely less religious than my parents (who were less than their parents).

Does that count as an acceptable reason for atheism?

Also, your point sort of defeats itself because youths grow up to be adults. So if teens are turning to atheism to distinguish themselves from their parents, won't they become more religious as they age and become parents themselves? Or will the next generation rebel against their atheist parents by all becoming hardcore Zoroastrians?

Overall, I think there are some logical problems to work out with your ideas.
 
MrFliop said:
I know its common sense that if there's zero proof of something there's no reason to believe its true.
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I think this is too strong of a criterion for believing in something. Many of the things we all believe have no proof. As a matter of fact hardly anything can be proven outside of logic and mathematics! Perhaps it would be better to say that you try not to believe in anything for which there is no evidence, or for which there is no good reason, or something similar. But there are a couple of wiggle words there, too.

I'd agree that there is a new breed of outspoken sort of atheist-activist that can get annoying. They often seem overeager to let others know they identify strongly as atheists, and they're always wanting to debate about the topic. But upon further thought, maybe they're not such a new breed since that sounds like me about ten years ago. :0
 
MrFliop said:
People should choose what they want to believe through critical thinking...
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Stop right there!

A = without; theos = god.

Atheism is not believing in god/s.

There is no other criterion for being an atheist, nor should there be. It doesn't matter why someone claims to be an atheist, or even whether it's true - a lot of avowed atheists are actually anti-theists. Big deal - if they don't understand the irony & hypocrisy, I do - and I find it highly amusing.

David Icke is an atheist.

It's not a case of choosing your bedfellows - they are who they are.

MrFliop said:
If people blindly follow atheism because its trendy right now then they're no better than religious followers.
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I would equally say that as soon as people start introducing dogma for inclusion in atheism they're no better than religious followers.

Feel free to call yourself "Scientific Atheist" or "Critical Thinking Atheist" if you want to make a distinction, or be like the late and much-lamented Douglas Adams, who called himself a "Radical Atheist" for exactly the reasons you mention.

"The Atheist" is already taken, sorry.
 
Dr.Sid said:
Pfft .. who cares, man ? Let people enjoy atheism the way they want. Or anything else, actually.
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Bingo.

We've had Dawkins with "Brights" to distinguish themselves as thinking atheists.

That turned out well.

Or there were the chicks who decided that atheism should be feminist and started a movement and forum, both of which appear defunct.

Why do people constantly want to make atheism something it isn't?
 
MrFliop said:
I'm glad that atheism is no(w) on the rise but it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this.
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In Scandinavia, atheism (agnosticism, secularism, irreligiosity, whatever ...) is now the status quo 'religion', which makes it very hard to portray atheism as edgy or counterculture. That doesn't stop organized atheists from trying, though, but it falls flat when they attempt to portray themselves as brave warriors against the non-existent religious oppression! I have a little more compassion for people who grew up in some kind of cult, the Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance. For them the “benign indifference” and “utter obliviousness” that characterize most Danes are a bit harder to come by.
However, in spite of not really being edgy, religion continues to lose its hold on (most) people.
The Death of Religion – not with a bang but with a whimper
 
sir drinks-a-lot said:
I'd agree that there is a new breed of outspoken sort of atheist-activist that can get annoying. They often seem overeager to let others know they identify strongly as atheists, and they're always wanting to debate about the topic. But upon further thought, maybe they're not such a new breed since that sounds like me about ten years ago. :0
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Ditto. Now I just want people to stop hurling insults at each other.
 
MrFliop said:
I am an atheist because I know its common sense that if there's zero proof of something there's no reason to believe its true. Therefore since I have yet to see any serious evidence for any deity's existence I have no reason to believe in any god.

I'm glad that atheism is no on the rise but it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this. Or because people want to p**s off their parents. Or because they got dragged into church in their youth.

People should choose what they want to believe through critical thinking and what conclusions they come up with on their own. If people blindly follow atheism because its trendy right now then they're no better than religious followers.
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Follow what? Seriously how does anyone follow "atheism"?

And I suspect that you are not in a country such as the UK? In the UK religion is now just not something of interest for most "young people".
 
MrFliop said:
People should choose what they want to believe through critical thinking
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You don't have to be a critical thinker to be an atheist. There are critical thinkers who believe in a deity and atheists who are not critical thinkers.
 
We might note that young people join other religions for the reasons stated by the OP. The Hare Krishnas, various cults, contemporary Paganism, etc, etc.

NPR, just a couple of years ago, did a segment on young people who were “Loosing Their Religion”. These youngsters were not turning to atheism. Rather, they were loosing the religion of their parents, and off in search of alternatives.
 
sir drinks-a-lot said:
I think this is too strong of a criterion for believing in something. Many of the things we all believe have no proof. As a matter of fact hardly anything can be proven outside of logic and mathematics! Perhaps it would be better to say that you try not to believe in anything for which there is no evidence, or for which there is no good reason, or something similar. But there are a couple of wiggle words there, too.

I'd agree that there is a new breed of outspoken sort of atheist-activist that can get annoying. They often seem overeager to let others know they identify strongly as atheists, and they're always wanting to debate about the topic. But upon further thought, maybe they're not such a new breed since that sounds like me about ten years ago. :0
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I think this could be a reaction to outspoken religious fundos like Evangelicals, militant Islamists etc who want to spread their rotten teachings, often at the expense of women and minorities.

Did anyone see this article?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/project-blitz-the-legislative-assault-by-christian-nationalists-to-reshape-america

Quote:

The emboldened religious right has unleashed a wave of legislation across the United States since Donald Trump became president, as part of an organised bid to impose hardline Christian values across American society.

A playbook known as Project Blitz, developed by a collection of Christian groups, has provided state politicians with a set of off-the-shelf pro-Christian “model bills”.
 
Bikewer said:
We might note that young people join other religions for the reasons stated by the OP. The Hare Krishnas, various cults, contemporary Paganism, etc, etc.

NPR, just a couple of years ago, did a segment on young people who were “Loosing Their Religion”. These youngsters were not turning to atheism. Rather, they were loosing the religion of their parents, and off in search of alternatives.
Click to expand...

"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

matthew
 
Personally, I just hope people consider why they believe what they do, especially if they receive new information that might change their minds. I try to do the same. The only time faith-based beliefs come into the equation is when someone tries to foist theirs on me, or makes objectively false statements about reality in the name of such beliefs, and even then, I can walk away if that person continues (and doesn't present anything that I haven't heard before, of course).
 
MrFliop said:
I'm glad that atheism is no on the rise but it seems that many people (specifically young people) are becoming atheists simply because its edgy. Because christianity is the status quo religion so being an atheist is the counterculture to this. Or because people want to p**s off their parents. Or because they got dragged into church in their youth.
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In my experience this has always been the case with some percentage of atheists. Same goes for various alt religions. Lots of folks(but not all) who are just mad at mom and dad for dragging them to church for 18 years. An obviously generalization and symplifications but I've met more than a few.
 
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