An atheist on youtube. Thoughts?

Question

I can't remember who it was... but he said something that made me re-think something.

I've said before I tolerate Christians (to a certain extent), and do not respect them.

After hearing something he said, I'll rephrase what I think: I tolerate Christians, do not tolerate Christianity, and do not respect them when they are intolerant to others who are not of their faith.

... if you're interested, he basically just said, "I tolerate Christians but not Christianity."

And I hope that other atheists are on this line of thinking. We shouldn't spew hate at Christians (and other theists)... unless they are intolerant to us. We should just try and educate them... or, the other option is to simply ignore them. It's not THEIR fault the past generation indoctrinated them with myths. We atheists should, at the very least, try and bring them out of their theist virus of the mind, and show them how freeing it is to live without it. Anyone agree with me?

I think it was youtube user "OneLessGod".

I'm going by what Richard Dawkins said (and I agree with him) that theism is a virus. It is a mental disease. There is no way getting around that. It's not ridicule. It's a fact.

"Also, I don't mean to be rude in saying this, but aren't you being somewhat hypocritical in saying that you should try to convert us to atheism, yet we shouldn't try to convert you to Christianity?"

Not at all. Christianity has no evidence of which to speak. Therefore, one should logically be an atheist and question theistic religions' claims. Use the scientific method throughout life instead of trying to find data in the universe that supports theistic claims whilst ignoring or denying evidence that contradicts them. Therein lies the problem of theism. It is illogical to be in a theist position as this is how theists go about figuring out about the world. They make up things, find data to support them, and teach them off (using indoctrination) to the next generation as facts. It must be stopped.

Answer 1

1. We should all be tolerant of everyone, regardless of their faith or absence of faith. This is the problem with any extremest Muslim, Christian, athiest, etc. who is so blind to their own way of thinking that they cannot accept others' viewpoints.

2. By saying that someone who has faith has a "virus" is being intolerant, because you are implying that a Christian/person of faith doesn't have a choice in the matter. Some choose to become Christians/Muslims/athiests/etc. because that is their personal belief.

3. The only intolerance that should ever be tolerated is an intolerance for NOT respecting others' views. Not one human is going to agree with EVERYTHING another human being believes. To try and change, legislate, etc. those beliefs is preposterous.

Answer 2

Sorry, but I don't think this is a fair judgment at all. There is no denying that I am somewhat predisposed to be Christian, but I have definitely questioned my faith, and I am most certainly a reasonable and highly intelligent person (and I'm not trying to brag here, I'm simply trying to prove a point). For example, I figured out the sum of an arithmetic series in the 4th grade, coincidentally in the same way that Gauss figured it out (he and I were both asked to add up the days 1-365, and we both came up with the same method; I had no knowledge of who Gauss was or what an arithmetic series was).

I don't accept things blindly. I have questioned and changed what I believe on multiple occasions. I still believe the Bible is true, but it is not always literal. I apply a few methods for analyzing passages:

1. Would the subject matter have required scientific evidence that was not available at the time? If yes, then it is not completely literal.
2. Are there obvious poetic or allegorical elements in the passage? If yes, then it is not necessarily literal, though it does not prove that it is not.
3. What is the passage attempting to convey? If there are seeming contradictions, it could be that the author did not deem certain details relevant to the meaning of the passage, so the details have been left out. (Ex.: Saul repeatedly meeting David in 1 Samuel 16-17)

These are some of the primary methods that I use, and they make the Bible make a lot more sense.

Also, I don't mean to be rude in saying this, but aren't you being somewhat hypocritical in saying that you should try to convert us to atheism, yet we shouldn't try to convert you to Christianity? Furthermore, the only benevolent thing to do if you think that people are going to Hell would be to try to save them from going there. Anyone who truly believes this should try their hardest to save people. Of course, many people take this as a license to bash people over the head with their respective religious texts, and that's not an effective method of convincing at all. The condemnation that the religious exert against the non-religious is a cancer that is tearing our society apart.

EDIT (response to your additional info):

First off, I don't think any real psychiatrist could diagnose theism as a mental disease. This is Richard Dawkin's intuitive opinion. In many cases, he is right, I believe, and people use theism as a mental crutch to help them through otherwise normal lives; however, there are a few of us who really do believe the principles taught in the Bible.

I openly admit that the ID guys are really stupid and go about science in the exact wrong way; however, we're not all like that. I, for one, am a Christian theistic evolutionist. We use science to observe and understand the universe, but not all things can be readily explained away with facts (and no, I'm not about to jump to the God of Gaps). History, for example, cannot be explained with facts. It is all circumstantial evidence. We believe what we will about history because we interpret documents about historical events, and we look at archaelogical findings. None of it is "fact", because it is all open to interpretation. I suppose we can still use scientific method on things, but it's really not the same as it is with actual science. Should we then discard history? No, because we use it to learn about our past, what works, and what doesn't.

Christianity is the exact same way: we have a set of documents that support each other on the key ideas (the New Testament). We have outside historical evidence for a number of things (such as Josephus' writings at the very least indicating that Jesus existed). We have another set of documents that actually predicted the things that happened in the New Testament (the Old Testament). The Old Testament has also accurately described a number of historical events (see Daniel 11-12). We also have countless testimonies of angels appearing to people who are sick or in other sorts of conditions (sometimes when they're completely normal); furthermore, all of the descriptions of angels mimic the descriptions of those in the New Testament, particularly of the angels at Jesus' tomb. Also, recent exploration has uncovered chariot wheels under the Red Sea.

I believe for reasons besides simply these, but these serve as a reinforcement of my faith. I did not find any of this out at "Jesus Camp" or anything -- I researched it on my own.

I'd love to continue this conversation, so please keep updating the information, or allow yourself to recieve emails.

Answer 3

There's a LOT of atheists on YouTube. OneLessGod, AmazingAtheist, chaddag, ridi0t, brettkeane, dravenbane(somenumbers, can't remember) etc, etc, and so on.

I like a lot of their videos, especially the ones that make you want to think... Really, even as a deist, I'm more into people questioning their religions and thoughts than converting them to mine.

Converting is converting, whether it's to a religion or to no religion.
This is my problem with Atheists and other former Christians, is they feel the need to save me from myself. Question me. Talk to me. But don't preach at me.

Answer 4

Like you said, I tolerate Christians, not necessarily the religion itself because there are things in there I disagree with. I'm glad that Christians found something that makes them happy. I'm happy with myself, having knowledge and being able to look outside the box. However, if someones going to start hating on my because of what I believe in, I'm not going to spew back because I don't stoop that low. I will question them, and tell them how I feel, and ignore them if they continue.

To be honest... being agnostic/atheist myself, I disagree with the attitudes that my siblings on Y!A have toward Christians because they like to spew out all sorts of hate toward Christians themselves, and some tend to be arrogant about it. It's a little embarrassing, actually, and I hate to be grouped with blind atheists like that.

Answer 5

Yes, I agree that atheists and Christians should not hate one another and I even agree that you have the right to try to get Christians to see things your way providing the opposite would also be true. As a Christian, are you willing to listen to my views as well?

Answer 6

People have a right to their own beliefs. It is wrong to shove those beliefs down others throats. That being said - most religions or groups such as atheists have tried to shove things down others throats. I tolerate atheists - but not atheism.

Answer 7

If your not for us, your against us. There is no toleration involved. You have tried to "educate" but it has gotten you no where. Most people choose to believe in some form of god, weather right or wrong. What's the big deal? Or better yet, what is the threat?

Answer 8

More or less. I think it's good to respect people, and it's also good to respect what benefits religion brings people -- community, calmness, etc. We should just condemn strongly intolerance and also perhaps condemn superstition.

Answer 9

i agree with you. I don't like how people will jump on you for not agreeing with you. I feel that they should out the person---walk a while in that person's shoes, but after hearing that person's viewpoint he or she still tries persuading him or her to the other side. I don't get it.

Answer 10

It was probably Brett Keane. He's a really popular youtube atheist.

Oh, and agree with his (and your) sentiments.