Pissy Atheists

What's worse than a born-again Christian shoving the bible down your throat? It might be an Atheist waving Hitchens in your face. Well, I don't know if the Atheist is worse, but he's at least on par with the Christian.

I once went to something called a "Reason Rally" in DC (I'm an atheist) and, while I was impressed with a multitude of the speakers there, but the headliner was none other than Richard Dawkins and at the end of his speech, he trumpeted the rally cry of (quite literally) "Insult them thoroughly and publicly."

I'm sorry, but the Dawkins/Hitchens soap box speech gets old, especially Hitchens. I wish I could understand what he's saying, but unfortunately, I speak neither Asshole nor Fuckish. The sad thing is, the dude had some really great points, but they were so heavily punctuated with insults and obscenities that all I heard was "I'm a classless and pompous ass." It's like he's actively trying to project that image. Dawkins is a little better. He at least comes off as a rational person.

And the thing that tears me up is that these stupid little Atheist kids follow their example. The secular movement is a good thing. It encourages equal protection of the law. It encourages education and critical thinking skills. It supports the vital role of scientific understanding. And, most importantly to me, it encourages people to break down the barriers built by creed. But when its representatives make it a priority to abuse the viewpoints of others, it degrades the whole movement.

And honestly, who are you guys kidding? You're not crusaders for some great cause, you're bullies. You use inflammatory tactics that generally insult and demean your opponent. You say you're "taking a stand" or "proving a point," but that justification always follows an onslaught of insults, personal digs, and just enough worldly knowledge to make the opponent feel like they don't know what they're talking about. It's not a conversation, it's an assault, and people see that. It doesn't matter how right you are, nobody's going to listen to someone who presents their argument like a fucking asshole.

Think about it. The two biggest religions in the world are Christianity and Buddhism, and their figureheads were passive peacemakers who preached endlessly about the virtues of love, compassion, and service. The two most famous social leaders of the 20th century were MLK and Gandhi. Those people were famous not only because they were peaceful, but because they were effective.

Atheists are trying to liberate society from the bonds of organized religion. Or at least that's what they say, but they can't get over themselves enough to really think about how to implement it. Shit, we can't even get past infighting. Conversations between Atheists are fucking brutal. Way more brutal than conversations between Christians. Fuck.