Has Atheism become a cheesy fad?

Question

I'll acknowledge that on this site I've seen a few intelligent Atheists who have an open mind and don't judge others and who argue their point from a reasonable perspective.

For example, not all Christians (like myself) are Bible thumping, close minded freaks. Some of us are different.

Most Atheists on here, however, seem to say something like "god is dumb u suck!" or the classic "did god rape mary?" and "all Christians are judgmental b*tches!!!" and all the other stupid comments that are supposed to hurt my feelings but just sound...silly. Are there just ignorant kids out there who just think it's "cool" to be an Atheist?

When I was in higschool, worshipping the devil and all the goth crap was a fad...so has this replaced it kiddies? What will it be replaced with? Buddhism maybe? Fill an older guy in.

Ok rattwagon, I'll just address your response because I need a nap now after reading it.

You missed my point entirely....and funny, I haven't seen one "god hates fags" on the site, hmm, oh well. I've seen the religion haters comments outnumber the bible thumpers, so let's just agree to disagree there. You are right, however, by saying that no dialogue (long and overly detailed like yours) is offered by the people I'm talking about. My point was, and is, that they chose to be Atheists because it's cool and didn't bother to do any research or explore any other options. I didn't judge Atheists for what they believe in my question now did I? I judged the ones who say "god is a fag" for ex., because obviously there isn't alot of thought behind these statements and they just like to try and piss Christians off, which is understandable because of the stereotypical belief everybody has (which you have shown) about all Christians being bible thumpers...These people's entire list of questions are made up of the same nonsense

...ok, and you third paragraph, just more of you trying to sound wise and enlightened so moving on...ok and you end by again saying that I judged...I covered that point. Thank you and good night.

Answer 1

I agree with you. It seems like many of the athiests on here just insult those who are Christian. They are the only ones you see coming up with "witty" little questions to try and stump us. They aren't even polite. A few athiest on here are however open to debate and do not resort to insults. Those are the people I would be willing to debate with, because they have common decency.

Answer 2

Um stop thumping your Bible over my head and I won't call you a bible thumper.

Do some alternate reading...to expand rather than close your mind. And I don't mean the junk you pick up at the bookstore with the fish on the front.

We Atheists just want you to join us in the real world and we see religion...all flavors of religion...as blocking that from happening.

If you think about it throwing Bible quotes to try to win an argument is the same "advanced thinking" that dominated during the Dark Ages.

Wake up and join the scientific revolution....since it is more than 500 years old now.

HERE'S SOME ADVICE:
Read a different book! Put down that Bible and read something else...really.

Maybe you could start with the now 170 year old title "The Origin of Species" written by the Rev. Charles Darwin...yes he was an Anglican priest. This is a dangerous text because it blows the concept that Humans were some how "created" separately from everything else.

Or perhaps something from the last century...you know the 20th century..that seems to have passed you by. "A Brief History of Time" by Stephan Hawking...which probably has way too much math...so I'm sure you will avoid the headache.

Ok...How about this...find some used college textbooks like "Biology 101", "Basic Physics", "Chemistry 101" and "Physical Geography 101"

...get tuned up a little...and quit reading authors from 5000 years ago when the world didn't know sh**.

BTW I graduated from college 30 years ago...KIDDIE

Answer 3

I'm not in high school anymore, but I was a few years ago. I don't think it's a fad, or a least it wasn't where I live. I live about 20 minutes outside of San Francisco, in a middle-class suburban area. I would actually say that being Christian was a huge fad at my school. Kids would praise Jesus all day, and get wasted at night. Every group has their followers/hypocrites. That's the way life is, I respect that you brought up this question without attacking anyone. A lot of people who question Atheism attack the Atheists by calling their answers "sad" even before the are written.

Bottom line, there are idiots on both sides of the fence. Thank goodness someone who isn't one finally posed a question.

I don't think Buddhism will ever be a fad, but as long as fads exist there will always be a group who disagree with the norm just to anger other people.

Answer 4

No. However, it's not proper to draw conclusions based upon the content of arguments. I would guess that there's an equal number of bible beaters that argue in the same fashion as religion-haters, however I have seen more "God hates fags" than "did God rape mary".

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of argument or dialoge that is offered when inflamatory statements are posted. The primary divide rests in why people believe what they do, and what process they used in order to come to terms with those beliefs. Judging others by their beliefs leads no where.

Personaly, I am agnostic. Or more precisly, I have given up determining whether or not there is a god to believe in. Ironically enough, the same line of arguemntation holds true for strong athiests as it does for theists. Namely, because you believe in something, those beliefs make them absolute truth, or a true universal state of being. If there are more than one absolute truths expressed which conflict with each other, one or both of them are wrong. However, belief based arguments are not based upon logic or deductive reasoning. They are based upon personal experience and observation. And since personal experience is not universal, what we believe is less important than why we believe it.

Why we believe what we do interests me the most. Yet, most people never express that. Instead, outward judgements get far more airplay and and only serve to drive us apart. In the end, strong beliefs are not a bad thing since beliefs are complex and intricate. If you can truely understand someone else, then you grow as a person, too, even if you disagree with their point of view. So, if you really would like to understand the world as you stated, judging Athiesm as a cheesy fad will not yield the proper answers you are looking for. I'd suspect that all the answers below me will prove that.

Updated, since James didn't want me to talk to him ever again:

> You missed my point entirely....and funny, I haven't seen one "god hates fags" on the site, hmm, oh well. I've seen the religion haters comments outnumber the bible thumpers, so let's just agree to disagree there.

Hate flows from both directions. Quantifying it is pointless. Theists, nor atheists, live in an ivory castle of perfection. If you would like to change that standard, raise the level of discourse.

>My point was, and is, that they chose to be Atheists because it's cool and didn't bother to do any research or explore any other options.

How do you know how others have come to terms with their beliefs? Certainly making inflammatory statements doesn't help (see above: raise the level of discourse). Conversely, how many Christians ever explored any other options or did any research? I remember going to bible study at age 1 and no one asked me if I wanted to go. In your own life, what else do you know besides Christianity? Do you even know what Buddhism is, or understand the importance of Siddhārtha Gautama as much as you do Jesus Christ? Do you know what Daoism is, or ever attempted yourself to find "The Way"? What do you know about Islam?

>I didn't judge Atheists for what they believe in my question now did I?

You judged them for not coming to their beliefs in a proper manner, and then asking, “Help me understand why”. If you truly wanted to know why, your question should have been, “Why do Atheists, Goths, and Devil Worshipers believe the way they do? I’d like to understand.” Sans the lecture about everyone hating Christianity.

> I judged the ones who say "god is a fag" for ex., because obviously there isn't alot of thought behind these statements

Same is true for theists that make unfounded statements. Why does that not bother you?

> There are theists and atheists that put no thought into arguments.

My point exactly! So, put some thought into your questions and/or responses to me.

> ok and you end by again saying that I judged...I covered that point.

Yes, we both agreed that you did.

> Have a great day and don't message me back, no need to argue back and forth because you are obviously the type who thinks he's always right, so just tell yourself you're and have a cookie.

I never said your beliefs were wrong, only that you won’t find out anything if you judge others. Right or wrong doesn’t exist to me. I think that there are a lot of interesting viewpoints out there, and only when we can raise the dialogue will we ever be able to grow.

Answer 5

I agree with you that there are a lot of Athiests that are not very open minded. I am a Christian as well, but I am not a Bible thumper. I dislike those who claim God sucks.

However, I don't think Athiesm is the newest fad. If I were to guess, I would say Scientology. Ever since Tom Cruise began his crusade on the Today show, a lot of celebrities began jumping on the band wagon. Unfortunately, a lot of teens look up to those celebrities as role models, and therefore follow in their footsteps.

Take care by Christian Brotheren.

Answer 6

Cheesy-sometimes it seems...fad-perhaps-by some mindless idiots that just jump in on any bandwagon.
You are right,however,when you mentioned the positive & negatives of both sides(Atheists/Christians)...
There are always gonna seem like more of the bible thumping,closed minded,sometimes obnoxious types of Christians on this site for some reason.
On the other hand,it will also seem like there are mostly idiotic,mindless,immature Atheists spewing out crapola about any & all religions(I see nothing different with their kind compared with religious fanatics-when it comes to being distasteful!!!)...
That doesn't speak well for both Christians and Atheists that are more intellectual/intelligent and openminded...the bad always seems to outweigh the good in this site for one reason or another...

Answer 7

For some people it may be. But you could say the same for Christianity... or any other religion for that matter. In fact, just about anything you do, whether it be a particular diet, the clothes you wear, or the car you drive, could be a fad. Not all people buy into these things, though. Some people genuinely believe certain things or like certain things.

Answer 8

I am an atheist, i wouldnt call it a fad any more than i would call fundimentalism or patriotism a fad, though by your logic they would be.

It's unfortunate that many athests, or atleast those who claim to be atheists, can smear the image for those of us who are rational thinkers and actually have intelligent arguments to support our viewpoint. I often lose it and begin generalizing as well... sometimes it can seem like the world is full of crazy believers.

My personal view is that it's ok for you to have any beliefs you want, as long as you dont let them cloud your judgement enough to cause you to do things that are harmful for yourself or others, cause you to become a biggot, deny rights of others, or lose all touch with reality.

Yes there are plenty of level headed believers out there... but as long as belief continues there will always be that contingent of crazies that ruin it for everyone.

Answer 9

(Goth is actually back in now in the schools.) Atheism or Buddhism I couldn't really call a fad as they are both pretty strong belief systems. (yes, Atheism is actually the "belief" that there is no god)
They can no more be called fads than if you called Christianity a fad during the 1950's.

Answer 10

as an old atheist i would have to say no. most of those you mention are most likely not even atheist in the true sense of the definition, but rather kids who are just trying to get a rise out of people. i see some people claiming to be theist doing the same, and i just figure they are kids who don't really know what they are talking about. i just wish we could all agree to disagree and get to work on solving more important problems.

Answer 11

It's less of a fad than a calculated move by the education board; since most of them don't believe in God, they want to make sure God isn't even a believable theory in their schools.