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In reply to the discussion: I am not religious. Can you please categorize Atheism into a "race"? [View all]cpwm17
(3,829 posts)121. I wouldn't call PZ Myers a "new atheist".
This could be a word definition issue, but many people divide atheists between liberal (progressive) atheists (DU types) and "new atheists" which tend to support bigotry and war.
PZ MYers and Sam Harris aren't fans of each other.
From PZ Myers just a couple days ago:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2015/11/24/jebus-sam-harris-again/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freethoughtblogs%2Fpharyngula+%28FTB%3A+Pharyngula%29
As expected, every time I highlight some reactionary idiocy from Sam Harris, I wake up to a chorus of his fan boys urgently typing at me to tell me the rallying cry of the Harrisites everywhere: HE DIDNT REALLY SAY THAT. Yeah, he did. He really does prefer Republican nutjob Ted Cruz over any of those leftists he despises on foreign policy, because Muslims.
But at least it was Cruz, right? He didnt say anything nice about Ben Carson, I would hope? Sorry to break your illusions, but another reader also told me I had to listen to his recent interview with British neocon, Douglas Murray. He was kind and told me I could skip almost all of it, and just zip up to the 1:56 mark.
Yeah, thats right. Ben Carson is a religious imbecile, but according to Harris, hes better qualified than some damn leftist on the basis of his foreign policy expertise, which consists of hating Islam almost as much as Sam Harris does.
But at least it was Cruz, right? He didnt say anything nice about Ben Carson, I would hope? Sorry to break your illusions, but another reader also told me I had to listen to his recent interview with British neocon, Douglas Murray. He was kind and told me I could skip almost all of it, and just zip up to the 1:56 mark.
"Given a choice between Noam Chomsky and Ben Carson, in terms of the totality of their understanding of whats happening now in the world, Id vote for Ben Carson every time. Ben Carson is a dangerously deluded religious imbecile, Ben Carson does not the fact that he is a candidate for president is a scandal but at the very least he can be counted on to sort of get this one right. He understands that jihadists are the enemy."
Yeah, thats right. Ben Carson is a religious imbecile, but according to Harris, hes better qualified than some damn leftist on the basis of his foreign policy expertise, which consists of hating Islam almost as much as Sam Harris does.
Douglas Murray is the one that Sam Harris interviewed on his podcast:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
http://www.amazon.com/NeoConservatism-Why-We-Need-It/dp/1594031479
Neo Conservatism: Why We Need It is a defense of the most controversial political philosophy of our era. Douglas Murray takes a fresh look at the movement that replaced Great-Society liberalism, helped Ronald Reagan bring down the Wall, and provided the intellectual rationale for the Bush administration's War on Terror. While others are blaming it for foreign policy failures and, more extremely, attacking it as a Jewish cabal, Murray argues that the West needs Neo-conservatism more than ever. In addition to explaining what Neo conservatism is and where it came from, he argues that this American-born response to the failed policies of the 1960s is the best approach to foreign affairs not only for the United States but also for Britain and the West as well.
Douglas Murray is British and he complains about all the brown immigrants to Great Britain, which is expected for someone Sam Harris supports since Sam Harris has said: "The people who speak most sensibly about the threat that Islam poses to Europe are actually fascists. To say that this does not bode well for liberalism is an understatement: It does not bode well for the future of civilization."
But since Sam Harris has said and believes: "Unless liberals realize that there are tens of millions of people in the Muslim world who are far scarier than Dick Cheney, they will be unable to protect civilization from its genuine enemies." some white fascist doesn't seem that bad.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Sam_Harris
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I am not religious. Can you please categorize Atheism into a "race"? [View all]
Quantess
Nov 2015
OP
That's a right wing Christian myth, Consevapedia and FreeRepublic claim atheism is a religion too.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#44
I noticed that too. Makes you wonder where else these people hang out.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#102
That poster said we worship and you argued the point so I'm asking you.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#49
I am not going to argue with it as a way of identifying the characteristics of a person's
MADem
Nov 2015
#62
Is bald a hair colour or not? Here's the dictionary definition if you need assistance:
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#63
Apparently--and this angers you because you keep asking the question--it is NOT a "yes or no"
MADem
Nov 2015
#73
Actually I knew you couldn't prove it, I just wanted to watch you try.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#74
Dropping the ball, pulling out the hat tip emoticon, running away from the argument, and
MADem
Nov 2015
#151
Because not believing in fairies is the same thing believing in fairies, amirite?
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#159
Now that you finally admitted that atheism isn't a religion we're all done!
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#169
It's kind of sad how you always try to play that "Now that you've finally admitted" game when
MADem
Nov 2015
#172
Ha ha ha....of COURSE you didn't! Can't have those paradigms challenged, can we?
MADem
Nov 2015
#176
Declare victory/TLDR/yawn--you'd be better off just buckling down and learning something.
MADem
Nov 2015
#181
These are the same folks who will bleat about pastafarianism not being "a real religion"
Warren DeMontague
Nov 2015
#242
The hypocrisy is unbelievable. Stereotyping, intolerance, redefining words, just like Conservapedia.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#244
No. But a group that gets together, has ministers, gets an IRS tax exemption in USA, and
MADem
Nov 2015
#162
"No." So atheism is not a religion? Good! Glad you finally figured that out!
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#166
All over the world. Go to Youtube, punch in Sunday Assembly, and watch what pops up.
MADem
Nov 2015
#195
Well, if these congregations aren't screeching and whining about it, why should I?
MADem
Nov 2015
#207
Right? I love how people expose their prejudices in threads like this.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#105
Maybe they'll evolve. It just takes some people longer to learn to be tolerant.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#239
Critical thinking is just another exercise in pursuing unsubstantiated bullshit!
Warren DeMontague
Nov 2015
#243
Sure, many outspoken minorities seem uppity to certain kinds of people.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#372
Well I'll just have to take your word for that, my sneering, self-righteous friend.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#374
I'm sorry, but weren't you just complaining about a smug sense of superiority?
Act_of_Reparation
Dec 2015
#379
And the irony is lost on you as you say this with your own smug sense of superiority.
cleanhippie
Dec 2015
#383
Years ago I used to refer to myself as agnostic because the label 'atheist' makes you a target.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#117
Me too, had a couple of close calls and never prayed. Never even thought about it.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#120
If atheism is a religion bald is a hair colour and barefoot is a shoe.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#16
On my government loan application, under spouse, I was instructed to write "none" or "N/A" if single
Hassin Bin Sober
Nov 2015
#88
Lol! That bald being a hair colour canard because...driver's licences is the same thing.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#99
Except for disease-free which is actually a type of STD you get from abstinence.
GoneFishin
Nov 2015
#111
On other parts of the internet, people don't mind the reference to atheism as a religion~!
AlbertCat
Nov 2015
#30
Nice gish gallop, but where do the people in the articles you cited claim atheism is a religion?
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#48
Gish gallop? You're telling me those people at those Sunday Assemblies are not atheists?
MADem
Nov 2015
#51
Now you're trying to move the goalposts. The question is whether atheism is a religion.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#53
I said it was a BELIEF SYSTEM. You keep throwing out the R word--and some atheists apparently
MADem
Nov 2015
#57
Because that was the claim we objected to, that atheism is a religion:
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#60
There are atheist ministers. If they want to call it a religion, I don't quibble.
MADem
Nov 2015
#64
It's not my job to disprove that poster's claim, and again they're not an atheist.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#69
Well there goes the theory that you believe you're the center of the universe.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#160
I never claimed to own it, I am just using the actual definition instead of your fantasy nt
LostOne4Ever
Nov 2015
#232
See, they aren't God EITHER! And listen to you, with your "actual atheist" snobbery!
MADem
Nov 2015
#229
You keep trying to insist that there are "rules" to atheism, and you're trying to act like the
MADem
Dec 2015
#251
Wow, you really have no freaking clue about anything you are talking about in this thread do you?
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#256
You should watch the videos, and listen to what the PEOPLE are saying. It would help you understand
MADem
Dec 2015
#257
No you were banned for telling people what to think just like you are trying to do now
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#262
'The linked source is spinning his words, it's a right wing rag run by the Heritage Foundation.'
MADem
Dec 2015
#263
The Sunday Assembly is not a borg. And unlike you, they have no doctrine or dogma.
MADem
Dec 2015
#279
No, just your arguments are nothing. Because you don't even understand the basic argument.
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#302
I provided links that stated otherwise. Not sure where you get the authority to make that claim.
MADem
Dec 2015
#308
Dead white racist atheists...I don't think these two wanted to kill any Muslims!
MADem
Dec 2015
#285
"Feynman: An atheist. Agnostic for me would be trying to weasel out and sound a little nicer..."
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#309
It's pretty clear that, no matter what he said in response to that question, that he was uncertain.
MADem
Dec 2015
#310
Agnostic atheists aren't certain, that's why it's called 'agnostic' atheism - still atheism.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#311
I didn't think you would understand, it's never easy for fundamentalist thinkers.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#329
Nothing to do with black and white--it has to do with what the gentleman actually said.
MADem
Dec 2015
#331
Read through all of the definitions again and let me know which parts are confusing you.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#333
So you refuse to even try to learn about agnostic atheism, how unexpected!
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#338
And then he acknowledges there is a possibility (albeit a low one) that he could be wrong.
MADem
Dec 2015
#314
As I said, and you're ignoring, he qualified his response with his waffling in the next paragraph.
MADem
Dec 2015
#317
Why do the atheists have to be dead? Live ones can't define atheism because...
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#293
You can keep running around and cheerleading those who are contributing to the conversation if you'd
MADem
Dec 2015
#296
I don't understand why you can't stop telling us we practice a religion because we say so.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#300
Well, I'm not really conversing with you. You keep jumping in with your booya stuff,
MADem
Dec 2015
#313
I asked a question. Why do you keep telling us what we think and believe?
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#315
Is Thomas Aquinas one of those "dead, white racist angry atheists" too?
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#269
Oops, I got confused. So much misinformation in this one thread I just can't keep track of it all.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#272
And Oxford University and the Religious Tolerance Website are devoted to Genocide of the religious
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#273
There seems to be a need for some to redefine a minority/movement whenever they get too uppity.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#276
EXACTLY! That could be any uppity minority saying "NO" to the majority!
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#278
Well in order to be correct one has to be dead, white, non-racist and an atheist.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#295
No one is getting riled up about the Sunday Assembly but you. Most of us are indifferent to them
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#330
You don't really know a thing about me. And bigger letters doesn't make it "better."
MADem
Dec 2015
#332
Your first video (the short one) didn't say a word about atheism being a religion
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#353
I don't know why you think that older atheists are the mouthy activists and the millenials aren't
cemaphonic
Dec 2015
#361
They said without a trace of irony after insisting only dead, white, non-racist atheists count.
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#301
You are hilarious. Link after link from credible sources proving you wrong and still you dig in.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#238
Why are the opinions of dead, white racist angry atheists "credible?" I don't think bigots are
MADem
Dec 2015
#260
ZOMG! ALL of the people in those links are "dead, white racist angry atheists"?
beam me up scottie
Dec 2015
#261
Well done, LO4E!!! I can't believe they're still pretending their definition is correct.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#236
Another fail! Strawman! Agnostic atheists don't "claim to have all the answers".
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#154
The referee meme only works if you speak from a position of authority, which clearly, you do not.
MADem
Nov 2015
#193
No, it's not a "belief system" either and that's why it is not a "religion"
rjsquirrel
Dec 2015
#350
What is a religion? A set of beliefs, principles, guidelines that people adhere to, in an organized
MADem
Nov 2015
#134
So AA is a religion? A book club? What about volunteers at a shelter?
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#163
Like I said, you've seen the error of your ways so there's really no need to continue.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#171
Again--there has been no "error of my ways" --trying to pretend otherwise is a real loser
MADem
Nov 2015
#174
The bible belt, well that explains where you got the bigoted stereotype about atheism.
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#97
No, I'm not--but you sure are. Here you are, continuing to "make the rules" for the atheists!
MADem
Dec 2015
#254
No, I'm not. I'm simply talking about one specific religion of atheists called the Sunday Assembly.
MADem
Dec 2015
#259
Yes, you are. You've been judging me and others in nearly every one of your posts
Orrex
Dec 2015
#264
Now you're down to name calling? Judgmental? A hypocrite? An outright liar? THAT's what you call
MADem
Dec 2015
#268
I called you judgmental and a hypocrite because you *are* a judgmental hypocrite
Orrex
Dec 2015
#341
That is simply not true. You're just angry that I don't agree with YOUR opinions, and so you
MADem
Dec 2015
#344
Atheists that despise Muslims and often are closely associated with the neocons
cpwm17
Nov 2015
#116
The term is used as a slur by anti-atheist bigots, and I notice you didn't eliminate Dennett, why?
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#122
No, new atheists do not "tend to be pro-war, or at least rather bigoted".
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#125
So what? Are all Muslims jihadists because some bigots associate them with Bin Laden?
beam me up scottie
Nov 2015
#127
Harris and the late Hitchens don't despise Muslims. They despise the text and what it teaches.
LiberalAndProud
Nov 2015
#131
I love how this thread reveals the subconscious self-loathing of religious folks
whatthehey
Nov 2015
#83
Race is a social construct rather than a biological division. Make your own categories
Agnosticsherbet
Nov 2015
#103
Atheism is a lack of belief in gods, but many atheists hold many false beliefs.
ZombieHorde
Nov 2015
#187
I am astounded at how many atheists are throwing out "rules" for a belief system that they insist
MADem
Dec 2015
#255
I am astounded at how you don't know the difference between a rule and a definition
LostOne4Ever
Dec 2015
#366