Anger

[Christa]

We all feel it from time to time, that anger at how stupid these religious people are. They do look stupid, don't they? They act stupid, they say stupid things, they don't seem to think much at all and they certainly don't even begin to question their little convictions.

Man, I used to be in a constant state of outrage over these morons. Jesus this, god that, sin, sin, SIN!!! Alah be praised, reincarnation, hare krishna, all that flapdoodle that so many people have taken to define their lives just so they never have to think.

I was briefly a member of another atheist website and it was most unpleasant. What I saw was people posting raging profanity, mindless raging anger expressed in barely coherent statements. "This," I thought, "is how atheists choose to represent themselves?"

I really think that atheists need to choose their battles wisely. When I see that a guy wants to sue the town council for having a nativity scene in the town square during the christmas season I get a little annoyed. What good is that going to do except to make people think that atheists are a bunch of cranky nuts?

Being angry at all the crap that religion, any religion, has promulgated and enforced is futile. Worse, it makes atheists appear to be radical activists bent on destroying the fabric of society, whatever that means.

Reason and the respect for all humanity is our greatest "weapon." A frowning, bitter old intellectual in a tweed jacket denouncing religion and calling into question the intelligence of its adherents just isn't going to do it. But if people could see the joy and wonder that is the result of the freedom from a mindless belief in the supernatural, the freedom to be truly human and decide for one's self, then we just might have a chance of putting the thin end of the wedge into this world and its way of viewing humanity and the universe.

But anger is just not the way to go about it.

http://atheisttoolbox.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10884

[Deep13]

1. But I really LIKE Dawkins!

:(


:hi:

[Jokerman]

2. Anger can be a great motivator.

I'll agree that displays of anger are often misplaced and counter productive but if anger is what it takes to get some people off their asses and working for change, then it may be time to piss more people off.

The election of 2008 was a prime example of anger turned toward a positive goal. Huge numbers of people who had never had any interest in politics got so angy at GWB and the republicans that they banded together and threw the bums out.

"When I see that a guy wants to sue the town council for having a nativity scene in the town square during the christmas season I get a little annoyed"

When I see ANY property or institution that is built and maintained by my tax money being used to support a religious cause I get way more than "a little annoyed", I get angry. I don't express my anger by screaming, shaking my fist or attacking religious people, I put my anger to work. If the only way to ensure my rights is to sue, then I hope to get an attorney on my side who also gets angry when confronted with injustice.

Edited to add:

I've never been angered by "how stupid religious people are", in fact that kind of anger seems a bit pathological. I save my anger for any person, religious or not, who refuses to respect my rights.

[dropkickpa]

3. I prefer to laugh and point most of the time

But then, I'm an asshole who also finds dick and fart jokes funny (I grew up with 5 brothers, I can't help it).

[Warpy]

4. Nearly all newly minted atheists are angry

whether it's at their own self delusion or other people for perpetrating what they now see as a con job. It makes them pretty unpleasant to be around a lot of the time.

I've been an atheist since I was ten, so that anger is long gone. Most of the time I really don't give a rip what nuttiness gets people through the long and lonely night.

The only time I get angry is when some self appointed saint tells me I'm going to hell for one reason or another. My response is always, "I know god is dead, but I didn't realize you'd gotten the job! Congratulations!"

That usually gets me a clean getaway while they turn purple and splutter.

And that's as angry as I ever get these days.

[moggie]

5. That's the way the theists like to frame it

No matter how measured and polite an atheist is, they'll hear this repeatedly: "why are you so angry all the time?" It's a way of marginalising them, in much the same way that the adjective "shrill" is used against feminists. And some atheists fall for it and join in the chorus (not to mention the "I'm an athiest but..." concern trolls). Why let theists control our perception of ourselves?

Newsflash for the kumbaya crowd: they still won't accept you. You can smile and nod all you like, but as long as you're an atheist, they'll think there's something wrong with you, and never entirely trust you. And if you're doing this because you think it's better for recruitment, isn't that rather simplistic? There's no reason to believe that the same technique is best for everyone. Some people will be persuaded by ridicule, some by "angry" atheists turning over rocks, while others will respond to a positive portrayal of the benefits of free-thinking. We should credit people (the ones who can be reached) with the ability to think "I don't much like how atheist x sounds, but atheist y makes a lot of sense".

[trotsky]

6. Excellent response.

:applause:

[Strong Atheist]

9. Great analysis!

:yourock:

[onager]

7. I sure don't walk around angry all the time.

That wouldn't be any fun.

You will see me going into Flamethrower Mode sometimes, mostly in R&T or GD (Godless Damn), when somebody puts out the same Atheist Bait we have seen over and over again.

I think it's the amateur shrinks who piss me off the most. Never having met any of us IRL, they play the same stack of moldy oldies over and over:

"You were hurt by religion at a young age." No, I wasn't. I have mostly fond memories of church, and I was a Southern Baptist in the rural South. Well, except for the vivid dreams of burning in hell that led me to get baptized at age 9.

Shoot, I had my first French kiss at a church social function. (Spin The Bottle!) And before some wise-ass brings this up - no, she wasn't my cousin. We Southerners didn't French kiss our cousins. We just had sex with them.

"You're mad at God." That makes as much sense as saying I'm mad at unicorns.

"Why are you so angry about religion all the time?" If I hear that one more time, I'm going to choke somebody. Just kidding.

I'm not angry about religion all the time, or even most of the time. In the average day, I don't even spend much time thinking about religion. Well, until I log into DU, anyway. And read that I'm Joe Stalin Junior because I believe in one less god than the Xians.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. "I believe in one less god than the Xians"

I've often thought that the wording of that point diminishes its impact somewhat.

If you take zero as a base, then the difference between zero and one is infinite (1/0). In other words believing in one god v. zero gods is a pretty huge difference.

However, if you point out that you disbelieve in one more god than they do -- 319 v. 318 to pull some numbers out of thin air -- then I think the point is more forceful. Xtians deny the existence of many, many proposed gods and don't feel bad about it at all. They just can't see that theirs is in the same boat.

Here's a dramatization that you've probably already seen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0A4_bwCaX0&feature=related