9 Questions That Atheists Might Find Insulting (And the Answers) - crossposted from Atheists group

[EvolveOrConvolve]

http://www.alternet.org/belief/9-questions-atheists-might-find-insulting-and-answers?page=0%2C1&paging=off

I'm posting this because it does a really good job of succinctly describing how certain questions are insulting to many atheists and how those types of questions dehumanize atheists.

[Trajan]

1. I don't feel particularly insulted by those questions

I've lived a long while as an Atheist, and I've learned which questions to answer, and which to ignore ...

I never let anybody browbeat me on this stuff ... I rarely feel like I've lost the argument ...

[rurallib]

2. I find them more comical and shallow than insulting

they show a thought process that appears to be millimeters deep.

[rug]

3. There is a certain irony in her rationale.

Sometimes the questions are asked sincerely, with sincere ignorance of the offensive assumptions behind them. And sometimes they are asked in a hostile, passive-aggressive, "I'm just asking questions" manner. But it's still not okay to ask them. They're not questions that open up genuine inquiry and discourse, they're questions that close minds, much more than they open them. Even if that's not the intention. And most people who care about bigotry and marginalization and social justice -- or who just care about good manners -- don't ask them.

Good manners are good.

[goldent]

4. Sometimes "questions" are not really questions but rather "statements" intended to insult

If you look over the posts to this group, you will see a lot of in this.

But except for this case I don't think one should take offense. I think the author assumes that everyone knows all about atheists and atheist thinking, and of course this is not the case.

I work with a lot of immigrants and I get asked questions about America and American culture all the time, that could be taken as offensive, but I understand they are asked from ignorance, and just try to answer them as best I can.