do some atheists hate religion?

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Votes: 22

do some atheists hate religion?

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Jul 23, 2002

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In order to find out, I decided to read what atheists had to say. The short answer is: yes, yes they do, they hate it very much.

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I decided to begin by reading about the Koran and the Mohammedan religion. Before, my case against Islam began along the lines of "Islam denies fellowship between God and man." After reading the atheists' web page, I found out there was more to it than that.

They prefer their religion to be called Islam (from Arabic 'islam, meaning 'submission') rather than Mohammedanism. Most western scholars have gone along with this, rather than risk the wrath of purportedly peaceful members of 'the third great Abrahamic faith'.

It was news to me that suicide bombers and other wicked terrorists had terrified Western scholars into altering their culturally-neutral scholarship! Likewise, we read:

From [the battle of Badr] forward, the name Islam ('submission') was to belie the true nature of the militant polity which to this day is an obstacle in the path to planetary peace.

It is clear that these atheists have shown that Muslims are violent and barbaric.

Now, Islam is well know to be a religion of peace. If these even these religious 'lovers of peace' are too violent and evil for the the atheists, religion itself must be at fault! And, it's clear, only through the atheist alternative will we come to planetary peace, which is what we all want, right?

	Yes, and they're hypocrites too. (none / 0) (#1)
	by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 10:54:51 AM PST

	as are any other religious folks who hate other religions. I am amused by the Americans' attempt to describe Islam to their fellow Americans. I liked their reasoning for giving someone else's religion a new name of their choosing. Unfortunately, I was bored to tears after a couple of pages, and left the article unfinished. Much as I would like to praise my fellow atheists for our shared belief in the non-existence of god(s), in this instance I disagree with them. They appear to be a bunch of contemptuous, Arab-hating assholes with no concept of religious tolerance. All they need to do now is start waving Israeli flags. adequacy.org -- because it isn't

	these types (none / 0) (#2)
	by nathan on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 11:03:20 AM PST

	Like Palestinians much better, so long as the Palestinians are acting secular. Nathan -- Li'l Sis: Yo, that's a real grey area. Even by my lax standards.

	Secular Palestinians? (1.00 / 1) (#4)
	by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 11:06:28 AM PST

	That's an oxymoron, surely? adequacy.org -- because it isn't

	Christ, don't be anti-Social. nt (none / 0) (#5)
	by nathan on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 11:15:28 AM PST

	-- Li'l Sis: Yo, that's a real grey area. Even by my lax standards.

	I apologize for my poor reading comprehension, (none / 0) (#9)
	by because it isnt on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 01:23:33 PM PST

	and my innate gittishness. I also eat mud. Sorry, everyone. adequacy.org -- because it isn't

	There are plenty of secular Palistinians (none / 0) (#12)
	by madtimebat on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 08:24:24 PM PST

	There are actually a number of secular Palistinians. Arafat is actually not that religious. His wife is a Christian Palistinian, but I believe isn't very religous. Some of the organizations that split off from the PLO are communist/athiest. If you think about it, the reason the Palistinians want to live in Palistine is because that is where they are from. Most Israellis choose to move to Israel for religious reasons. There are several secular arabs in general. One of the worst is Saddam Husayn. Just because we don't get along with someone, does not mean they are religious.

	Still, (none / 0) (#15)
	by First Incision on Wed Jul 24th, 2002 at 09:38:42 PM PST

	This does not change the fact that Arafat is a stinking leftivist. This is one of the many reasons I feel sorry for the Palestinians. It seems their only choices are Muslim extremism and the socialist left. _ _ Do you suffer from late-night hacking? Ask your doctor about Protonix.

	Leftivists everywhere. (none / 0) (#22)
	by Naive Fool on Sat Aug 24th, 2002 at 11:20:27 PM PST

	Arafat's personal higeine is entirely besides the point. It's worth pointing out that it is really nothing to do with Palestinian attitudes or practices that leaves them with no choices, but rather circumstances. As a brilliant political strategist, Sharon realises that the only thing keeping his government afloat is having Arafat to blame things on. As long as Arafat remains the target of Isreali retorec, he remains the only plausable leader of a Palestinian political movement, and the more loudly he is criticised, the more it is assumed he is an effective agent of protest. It really has nothing to do with left or right, let alone religion. If anyone wants to understand Israeli/Palestinian politics, they should read "The Prince", by the artist formerly known as N. Machiavelli.

	While I'm here, (none / 0) (#3)
	by Anonymous Reader on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 11:03:43 AM PST

	I should inform you that your diary title is not controversially banal enough. RobotSlave will help fix this by changing it to "do all atheists hate religion?", then iat will change it to "do all atheists hate god?" and then refutation will perform the grand finale, "why do all atheists hate god?" and change all your links to scientology and christian science pages, depriving everyone of the genuinely stupid views of the American Atheists. A case of "too many cynics spoil the satire", or such. R.I.P. Leo McKern. adequacy.org -- because it isn't

	Planetary peace... (0.00 / 1) (#6)
	by tkatchev on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 11:18:06 AM PST

	...will come only after people are forcibly put into reeducation camps. Sadly, the weight of our collective prejudices and silly supersititions is too strong for such a wonderfully logical and rational idea as world peace. Ideally, of course, children should be separated from mothers at birth and educated under guidance from trained professionals according to rational and carefully balanced scientific programs, but, alas, biological instincts that were viable only during the stone age will probably make such a program unpopular with the mostly uneducated and illiterate populace. What with the universal principles of evolution, mankind needs to quickly adopt to more rational and logical practices, or else those lackluster specimens that resist evolution will risk going extinct. Also, we will need a global government and a global police force to enforce world peace, since some of the more slowly developing specimens will probably try to aggressively resist our rule; even though arguing against the mathematical might of science is a completely ignorant and stubborn thing to do, those with an underdeveloped rational apparatus probably have much difficulty coming to terms with their new, more rational, way of life. Anyways, I predict it will take two to three generations to selectively cull those who resist evolution from the global populace -- which means that universal happines is only a few decades away. -- Peace and much love...

	The whole world is one big re-education camp. (none / 0) (#7)
	by elenchos on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 12:03:02 PM PST

	And Adequacy.org is the teacher. We are pleased with your progress so far, by the way. I do, I do, I do --Bikini Kill

	Go back to school, kid. (2.50 / 2) (#8)
	by tkatchev on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 01:14:02 PM PST

	And learn some manners, for ghod's sake. -- Peace and much love...

	Community. Identity. Stability. (5.00 / 1) (#10)
	by jvance on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 02:36:46 PM PST

	Aldous Huxley, I thought you were dead! Oh, wait a second, you are. -- Adequacy has turned into a cesspool consisting of ... blubbering, superstitious fools arguing with smug, pseudointellectual assholes. -AR

	Hmph. (5.00 / 1) (#17)
	by hauntedattics on Thu Jul 25th, 2002 at 02:55:08 PM PST

	You beat me to it. Shit.

	We require the evolutionary failures (none / 0) (#11)
	by KingAzzy on Tue Jul 23rd, 2002 at 05:11:24 PM PST

	The Division of Labor has become a centerpiece of our evolutionary development. As such it has become increasingly important to maintain an ignorant but hard working lower class for the many undesirable manual labor and service jobs. Would you rather have a highly educated person as your housekeeper who will undoubtedly be constantly attempting to out-think you and knock you off of your social pedestal or would you rather have a dumb-as-dirt-barely-mentally-functioning foreigner from some third world cesspool who will work their fingers to the bone and never talk back? And as many of us know, attempting to artificially transplant someone from one social class to another almost invariably results in a significant degredation of standards when it comes to the subject. Have you ever met a negro who grew up in the ghetto but thanks to scholarships and liberal government was sent to college? They usually are just basketball players and end up dropping out anyway so the point is moot.

	Division of labour (none / 0) (#13)
	by ausduck on Wed Jul 24th, 2002 at 12:27:12 AM PST

	Would you rather have a highly educated person as your housekeeper who will undoubtedly be constantly attempting to out-think you and knock you off of your social pedestal or would you rather have a dumb-as-dirt-barely-mentally-functioning foreigner from some third world cesspool who will work their fingers to the bone and never talk back? Once we selectively rid ourselves of such a class of people we will be free to pursue full robotisation for such processes without having to listen to complaints about taking away people's jobs, high unemployment and so forth.

	*Cough* (none / 0) (#14)
	by RobotSlave on Wed Jul 24th, 2002 at 02:40:30 AM PST

	© 2002, RobotSlave. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	My Two Cents. (none / 0) (#16)
	by Illiterate Bum on Thu Jul 25th, 2002 at 02:08:30 AM PST

	Yes. Some atheists hate religion. But as Mr. Isn't has pointed out, they are hypocrites. My experience has told me that most atheists that aren't part of the "hip counter-culture I actually think Ginsberg was a poet because that's what all the hip people say and I'm trying to build my indie cool cred points by watching foreign movies I don't understand and listening to the most obscure music I can find even if I don't like it or it just isn't very good and hey look I'm a rebel and individualist just like all my friends!" crowd (a minority, I assure you) just don't care. Apologies for the rant. I live in Chicago. I'm surrounded by these people. ----- "...normal, balanced people do not waste time posting to weblogs." --tkatchev

	Likewise, (none / 0) (#18)
	by Anonymous Reader on Fri Jul 26th, 2002 at 04:41:26 AM PST

	I am irked by celebrities and their followers joining faddish 'religions' or cults. Look, Madonna, Travolta or whoever, people will respect you if you have serious religious beliefs. If you're a secular humanist at heart, damn well be a secular humanist. Joining fake religions, is fooling nobody but yourself. adequacy.org -- because it isn't

	Well.. (none / 0) (#19)
	by DG on Fri Jul 26th, 2002 at 10:17:16 AM PST

	I'm more of a deist than an antheist. But my thoughts are this. religion teachs many good things. but some of them are more commonsense than anything, ie: treat others as you would want to be treated, help the poor, love your parents. After all wouldn't you want to be treated with kindness and respect? The fact is I don't think most antitheists hate religion so much as they hate the hypocrocy that seems to follow anything that allows such influnce over peoples minds. Religion teachs people not to think but leave thinking up to the religous leaders. Some people might say "good stupid people shouldn't think!" thats the first thing that makes people stop thinking, having someone else do it for them. if they had the chance I bet they could. © 2002, DG. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

	Well... (none / 0) (#20)
	by hauntedattics on Fri Jul 26th, 2002 at 12:57:22 PM PST

	after wading through the morass of your comment, my best interpretation of what you are trying to say is: "Religion teaches people not to think, and therefore truly religious people don't think." There is a whole long line of theologists, scientists, mathematicians, composers and other geniuses of human history who would politely beg to differ with you. Please think before you make any more sweeping, biased and (on the whole) mean-spirited generalizations.

	No. (none / 0) (#21)
	by DG on Fri Jul 26th, 2002 at 09:24:22 PM PST

	where did i say "religous people don't think?" Maybe you are pulling that out of your ass? <P> I said people get lazy and stop thinking becuse they are told "god did this, god did that." <P> Maybe in America we have less of this but in a lot of countrys religous figures have more of a mindshare than the goverment <P> © 2002, DG. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

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