Reply #7: Likewise…

[ironbark]

I infrequently lurk and rarely post.
Encounters with “fundamentalist or evangelical atheism” put me off

In a nut shell- On this board I once dared suggest that the Islamic civilization bore fruit of which we are all recipients. This immediately provoked the expectation (from an atheist) that I should defend the Korans description of “Solomon talking to an ant” and that this verse be taken literally.
When I declined to interpret the verse literally I was deemed (by another atheist) to be just like all the other fundamentalists resorting to hiding behind metaphor and symbolism when it suits me.
And so it went…I was deemed a fundamentalist theist for >not< accepting the literal interpretation of verse from a (said) ‘Holy Book’ and this pov was being presented by devout atheists……go figure.
Any and all attempts to reiterate the original pov (fruits of Islam) evoked naught but reference to terrorism, female genital mutilation or dripping sarcasm emoticons.

Sure….” conservative politics” is a frequent indicator of fundamentalism…so too is insular closed minded arrogance, steadfast literalism, the refusal to hear the others pov and the refusal to answer polite pertinent questions regarding ones own.
Despite the claim to a ‘liberal’ political perspective all of these hallmarks of ‘fundamentalist or evangelical atheism’ are frequently displayed on this board.

I have indeed previously used the term ‘fundamentalist atheist’ on this board…I did so not to engage in “ad hominem attack or inflammatory bomb-throwing” at any individual but in response to clear and consistent >behaviour<…
ie The preparedness to so go locked and loaded for evangelical Christians that any sign of appreciation of a religions contribution is signal to open fire with straw man misrepresentation.

As an outsider I try to factor in that the US has a huge problem with evangelicals and the conservative Christian right and I keep in mind that many are still touchy about Islam since 9/11.

But I’m telling you frankly, as a non American agnostic, this board is (moreoften) a shitfest of “fundamentalist or evangelical atheism” that cannot tolerate even the suggestion that a religion made historical contribution to humanity without responding with hostility and bizarre attack.

“I can see why when people attack their religion, some will feel that they personally are being attacked. In my view, it is quite legitimate to assert flaws with a system of thought without projecting those same flaws onto people who think differently”. Varkum

Can you likewise see that when people speak positively of a religion that “some will feel that they personally are being attacked”?...that their atheism is thereby threatened or challenged?...and that whoever speaks of religion in positive terms must be a believer and (no doubt) a fundamentalist to boot and thereby becomes an immediate target…?