I've finally been called a militant atheist...

[cynatnite]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=735742

Of course, according to this person atheists don't give to charity.

[onager]

1. Join the club, on this fine Memorial Day!

[Odin2005]

10. Post that in Religion!

[onager]

11. Done!

n/t

[Fumesucker]

2. I let the poster know that the preferred adjective is "rabid"..

Militant just sounds so wishy washy..

[jaded_old_cynic]

3. Next time show them this.

http://www.squidoo.com/Atheist-Charities

The notion that atheists don't give to charitable causes is nothing more than a wretched attempt at superiority by some (Not all) theists who wish to justify their own bigotry. Personally, I take issue with those who believe charity is strictly a religious pursuit. I find the secular charities much more noble in that they are helping others simply because it is the right thing to do and not to facilitate their entry into a mythical kingdom.

[laconicsax]

4. Welcome to the club!

Your membership card will be mailed as soon as it comes out of the laminating machine. Present it at any participating Subway to receive a 10% discount.

[awoke_in_2003]

12. "Your membership card"

I guess I need to start hanging out in Religion to get mine

[mr blur]

5. A rather confused, hysterical person, it would seem. nt

[backscatter712]

6. Take it as a compliment. Atheists SHOULD be militant!

Quite frankly, I think that in order for atheism to gain wider acceptance, that we do have to play the gadfly, be provocative, troll the fundies, openly mock their cherished beliefs, even act like dicks, and let the world know that we're not going to shut up!

[salparadise1000]

14. I disagree

I don't think trolling and mocking or acting like dicks accomplishes anything. I don't think you can annoy or bully someone into leaving behind their belief system. I was raised in a mostly secular house and came to my atheism very naturally, so I can't really speak to how a believer leaves those beliefs behind. But would think it would somewhat of an evolutionary process . The first thing people need to just exposure to atheism so they can learn that it is not something to be feared. I do agree about not shutting up. We should demand that our rights as non-believers be respected, but I think we can do it respectfully, regardless of how disrespectful the other side may be.
This may be an old idea, but I would be interested in a thread of stories about different people's processes of 'coming out' as an atheists, especially the ones who came from deeply religious families. I do think that there are similarities between announcing your atheism and coming out as gay. Please don't give me a long list of reasons why the 2 things are different, I know it's not a perfect analogy. If you have never seen them take a look at the It Gets Better videos, (itgetsbetter.com) What we need is more atheists telling their stories in much the same way as those videos.

[backscatter712]

16. The first step to making an initially unpopular position mainstream is desensitization.

And as atheists, we're unpopular.

So unpopular that some of the religious people talk about forcefully suppressing our views or even killing us.

We're so unpopular we joke about eating babies - that's about the only thing in the world that's even more unpopular.

But really, most people just aren't used to atheism being out in the open.

So I say we go out and put atheism out in the open, whether people like it or not. We go out and say those things that the religious find offensive. We need to question and even ridicule their beliefs, openly.

What was the event that kicked the GLBT rights movement into the public eye? A fucking riot. Stonewall. When gay and lesbian people tried working within the system, they were beaten, killed, thrown in the psych ward, ostracized by their communities, friends and family. Sometimes, you have to be a dick. Sometimes, it is only when you're a dick when you can get someone to acknowledge your grievances.

Sometimes, being nice doesn't work. Being nice sometimes ensures our concerns will be ignored, and we'll be stuffed back into the closet and forced to be invisible.

Fuck that. If the right-wingers, fundies and theocrats won't work with us when we're being nice, then I feel no guilt about being an asshole.

Once the initial shock is over, once the finger-wagging by the moderates for our acting-out is done, once people get desensitized to the idea that we're going to be atheists whether the religious nuts want to deal with us or not, some people will sit down, think, and our ideas will finally gain more acceptance.

The theists should consider themselves fortunate. We're only questioning and ridiculing their beliefs. We're not using violence or force. We acknowledge they have the right to believe in their primitive sky-deities, no matter how irrational their beliefs. Hey, this is America, you can believe in the Tooth Fairy if you want.

[salparadise1000]

22. i agree with a lot of what you say...

We need to be out in the open and we need to question their beliefs. You are totally right when you say that the mere fact that we choose to speak our minds will offend many people. I am totally on board with that. I think it crosses a line and becomes counter productive when people are more focused on offending than they are on educating.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

7. I was going to alert on it

But fuck it - it's not worth the nasty comments from the jurors.

[cynatnite]

8. I think this might be worthy of an alert, but I'm not sure...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=737670

He's almost calling me a racist. this is some piece of work. I'm wondering if he really is a Dem. He smells like something else.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

9. Wow, that's a troll if I've ever seen one

What a condescending, smarmy piece of crap.

[OriginalGeek]

18. I thought the same thing

Smells fishy to me. Too fervent a "believer" for me.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. I responded to him...

I said "Thank you...that is the most obtuse post I have read in some time". I wonder if he will take that as a compliment?

[Evoman]

15. Badge. Of. Honour. I don't give a shit anymore.

[BiggJawn]

17. And I got a post hidden!

Guess cookies and flinging poo upset our trolling tattle-tales...

[backscatter712]

19. Oooh! Linkage!

You've got to tell me where!

[BiggJawn]

21. Oh, yeah, I forgot that..

Here's the thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1230&pid=7297

[daaron]

20. The most rigorous study of intercessory prayer -->

was the STEP study (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studies_on_intercessory_prayer#The_STEP_project), which would seem to suggest that prayer has either no effect, or (when the patient knew people were praying for them) a deleterious effect.