Rude W*nkers I have met - Atheism & Religion in the Social Context 2

[Stubby]

Thread the next.

Things that seem to have developed in the previous thread:

1. Either atheists or the religious can be rude wankers.

2. Is labelling someone likely to contribute to rude wankery?

3. Is it OK to be intolerant of intolerance (and does that lead to people being considered rude wankers)?

4. Does indoctrination contribute to whether or not a person becomes a rude wanker?

That's how I've seen the topic to develop, at any rate.

[gryphon strike]

Hmm I am not sure but I think annoyingly knocking on your door to convert you to their particular brand/sect of whatever religion it is, would have to rank up there in the rudest category. So I guess for me the biggest wankers are those who thrust their beleif system onto others because they are not only being extremely rude to that person but in the case of religion they are also being extremely rude to whatever beings they happen to worship.

I had an Elder of the local mormons saying to me that God is basicaly prejudice against non mormons. I replied that my Gods were better than that sort of discrimination and prejudice. To which he looked totally shocked.

If you want to be religious then before you go preaching to others you need to first examine yourself and especially your motives.

[AndrewBaelish]

Thread the next.

Things that seem to have developed in the previous thread:

1. Either atheists or the religious can be rude wankers.

2. Is labelling someone likely to contribute to rude wankery?

3. Is it OK to be intolerant of intolerance (and does that lead to people being considered rude wankers)?

4. Does indoctrination contribute to whether or not a person becomes a rude wanker?

That's how I've seen the topic to develop, at any rate.

1. I've met plenty of both camps to know, yeah there are wankers on both sides.

2. Um, yeah. Simple as that.

3. I think it is okay. But it does lead to a cycle.

4. No, I think the indoctrination theory is just a way for people who didn't like the ending to... oh wrong thread.

Also, this

http://www.cracked.com/article_15759_10-things-christians-atheists-can-and-must-agree-on.html

[Sci-2]

Also, this

http://www.cracked.c...t-agree-on.html

"And that's another thing both sides agree on, that we hate this modern trend toward peckerfication."

awesome-sauce.

eta: #3 #10 pwns everything:

You'll Never Harass the Other Side Out of Existence

"Remember when I said that, when somebody comes on too strong, no matter what they're selling, we tend to run the other way? I mean, sure, the "God Hates Fags" guy has changed tens of thousands of minds. But not in the direction he intended.

People are not convinced that way. The sarcasm, the disdain, the laughter. It makes you feel better, and rallies your friends, but it does exactly nothing to change minds on the other side. Conservatives may like to read Ann Coulter, but nobody else does...."

[Arthmail]

Meh. I remember now why i don't get into these discussions. I really don't care when it comes down to it.

I guess i'm, what was it called, an apatheist?

[Fragile Bird]

Thank you Andrew Baelish for that link!

As I tried to say about rudeness in the other thread, there is no necessity for it. You can tell people you disagree with them without insulting them.

Otherwise, you just become the same as the people you despise.

[Sci-2]

i like the interesting questions, like "What is Free Will?" or "What is Consciousness?", but only when people are willing to read through the philosophical works - if only via Wiki - and realize there's a hell of [a lot of] shit people aren't sure about.

[Baitac]

1. Both atheists and religious believers have the capacity to be wankers on any given day, yes.

2. Labeling someone will immediately induce wankery unless the labels are very generous to the labeled in a positive way.

3. I admit to full frontal wankery when faced with intolerance. I wear that label with much pride.

4. Indoctrination per se does not result in wanker-type behavior. A true wanker is born, not created. At times, wankers will remain such in spite of good indoctrination while other wankers rise above it to achieve a heightened state of wankerness that is envy of average, run of the mill wankers.

[Baitac]

Stubby I'll miss you in Chicago. Maybe next time :bawl:

[Starkess]

As I tried to say about rudeness in the other thread, there is no necessity for it. You can tell people you disagree with them without insulting them.

There are some people, though, who are insulted just by the very fact that you disagree with them. I have no qualms about not catering to those people.

[Fragile Bird]

Rise above?

[AndrewBaelish]

Thank you Andrew Baelish for that link!

As I tried to say about rudeness in the other thread, there is no necessity for it. You can tell people you disagree with them without insulting them.

Otherwise, you just become the same as the people you despise.

No problem! =) and exactly. It's as simple as that.

[Tyrellius]

Rise above?

I prefer "Turn the other cheek".

But then again, I am a wanker.

[Fragile Bird]

Groan. . . . . .mea culpa. :lol:

I honestly was thinking, rise above it all. Honestly.

[TheCube]

Either atheists or the religious can be rude wankers.

People can be rude wankers, be they hardcore religious types, hardcore atheists and all flavours in between.

Personally, I'm a firm atheist, but my wife is a catholic and I'm happy to respect her beliefs, even while I don't share them.

That said, I have debated atheism versus theism before (and quite strongly), but only when invited to by a theist.

[Silver Spearwife]

I used to know this girl. She was kind of a diehard extremist. I say extremist because she had a variety of beliefs and some of them were extremely conservative, some of them extremely liberal, and a few that were even downright anarchist.

One of them was religion. She was a hugely vocal atheist. She had zero respect whatsoever for religion, and none for anyone with even a mild association with it. I did one of those stupid little surveys on Facebook and when I sent it to her, she copied about half of my answers. One of the things I said was, "The atheism-religion debate is irrelevant," (or something to that nature. I was trying to say that it's an argument that only flares tempers). She copied that particular answer with the amendment, "The atheism-religion debate is irrelevant. God is dead."

After I graduated high school, I heard that she got into a car accident (no one was injured). Suddenly, she found God. She didn't just find God. Being an extremist personality, she became a truly devoted, dedicated Christian. As I lost touch, I don't know if her past experience as an atheist made her more understanding of other beliefs or if her extremist, righteous personality made her feel superior.

I had another friend on the opposite end of the spectrum. She was milder in high school, but once in college, she didn't just drift from her friends. She knew she was more dedicated to the church than her closest friends, and very actively acted higher and mightier than them about it, even going so far as to out her lesbian friends to the church and get them kicked out, with no remorse at all (friends she'd had since she could walk). This being the same girl who classified herself as "sometimes bi." More to the point, she made everything about her and her struggles, and used her relationship with God to justify it.

tl;dr

To answer your question, there are definitely wankers on both sides.

(I'm sorry if that came off as offensive to one side or the other. I tried to make it as neutral as possible.)

[The Ghost of Winter]

There are rude people in all walks of life. I think the best idea is to try to be polite or just ignore them.

I'm an atheist, but I don't talk about it much at all. Only to friends and such.

I get people trying to convert me at my home, when I'm walking my dog, and at this starbucks I go to.

Thing is, all I do really is just tell them as politely as I can that I am just not interested.

I think that's the best way to go about it.

But if they're very persistent, then its probably a good idea to be slightly more stern.

I don't talk about my atheism with strangers unless they're curious. That's about it really.

[Stubby]

People can be rude wankers, be they hardcore religious types, hardcore atheists and all flavours in between.

---

Yep, I get that. I was only summarising the issues from the previous thread.

[Baitac]

Yep, I get that. I was only summarising the issues from the previous thread.

...and I compliment you in your summarizing abilities, also called gisting. :)

[gryphon strike]

Rise above?

It is a bit hard to rise above when they then decide to kill you for your "offence"

An extreme example yes but isn't that exactly what causes a so called "christian" to blow up an abortion clinic?

Certainly it is not faith in a loving and forgiving God, nor is it the teachings of that faith, heck one could make a decent case for saying that it is instead on the "opposite side".

Or when they battle like mad to stop gay marriage....... hell you can go on and on about pretty much any religion for example apparently the Delai Lama beleives that sex in the afternoon is a sin.

And then you get the atheists who claim that their lack of "imaginery friend" is better than your acceptance and if you don't happen to agree then your an idiot.

Feck it all I am off to the pub!