AskAtheistReddit: What are the small ways in which an atheist can fight religion? What are you doing?
Posted May 1, 2009, 11:53 PM UTC
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I like to write small (always polite) comments in Hotel Bibles such as :
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Bronze age superstition is not the answer.
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If you seek answers, ask the questions that have real solutions to them.
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A life spent believing a lie, is no life at all.
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Don't waste your life on magic, wishes, and superstition.
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The pinnacle of man's knowledge did not stop 2000 years ago when some uneducated people decided that, since they could not explain the things around them, then a magic man in the sky must have done it all.
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I steal hotel Bibles.
And order free Creationism DVDs.
And write about evolution on Facebook (I pretty much have all-Christian friends and family) which leads to great discussions.
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RL trolling - love it!
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As a religious philosopher, I quietly spread philosophy of ethics and logic into conversations. I found an easy way to steer conversations to intelligent ravings instead of just ravings, and introduce ideas of how things can be done without god.
Sometimes I even add a bit about my philosophy, but if you do too much they shut down and say 'I believe in jesus!'
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Just be open about your convictions.
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In my country, most indigenous people are atheist. Discussing atheism with muslims is likely to get you beaten up.
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most indigenous people are atheist
Do they know that they are atheists?
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I think so. It fits my experience, and there are statistics about this sort of thing.
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I ask because I think a lot of indigenous people aren't aware that they are atheists, it's just not a concept that ever came up. You have to know about other people's religious beliefs before it's clear which ones of them you reject.
So, I would say something you could do is spread information about Islam to these people, so they can develop opinions about what they do and do not agree with in it.
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Are you from New-Zealand? If not, please let me know where you're from. I'm looking to make a move and I would love to live in a country as secular as I can find.
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Denmark. It's pretty secular apart from the Muslims, and isn't as politically correct as the rest of Scandinavia (freedom of speech is still valued - remember the cartoon crisis?). Also, everyone speaks English.
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dane here: I would say sweden, but norway isn't that bad either.
btw you are not coming to denmark, unless you are a citizen of EU, we got extremely strict laws on immigration.
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I don't think the key is in fighting religion, but in promoting atheism.
Don't hide from it. With family, friends, co-workers, or anyone else. If religion comes up in conversation, let them know where you stand. If people who trust you know that you are an atheist, that goes a long way toward their perception of atheism as a whole.
I think atheists are a much larger group than people realize because so many are in the closet. And many are in the closet because they think almost everyone else is religious and will judge them harshly for it.
Also, when you do something widely seen as a "Christian" act (donations, volunteering, etc.), make sure people know that it is not out of religious belief, but out of compassion for people.
I think there is still an "evil" connotation surrounding atheism to the religious, even the non-practicing. Most people have never seen anything good from an atheist. Or they aren't aware that they have because the atheist never identified him/herself as such.
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Not be religious.
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I challenge people on their beliefs sometimes. Not often. I know a woman who is having lots of troubles. She wants to blame the devil. I keep telling her it's her problem, and not some ghost's. (Yes, Christians, Atheists don't believe in Satan either).
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Learn enough science to combat conspiracy theories and health food crazes. Tell them horror stories about people who reject science/medicine outright, and end up murdering their own kids.
Learn their motives, and argue in this fashion: "Tithing is great. It helps the community at large. But, knowing the average church collection puts less than 5% back into the community, I'd put my money towards local food banks and soup kitchens, or sterilization/immunization of feral cat colonies, where I know 100% of my donation helps."
I could care less if they believe they'll suffer in the afterlife if they're not good. It works in my favor; I'd like them to be good, too. I'd also like to convince them that God hates bigotry of all forms, and I can bust out Jesusy scripture for that.
The religious have very narrow perspectives, and they're prepared to clam up if attacked. So, argue on their terms, with things they can agree with; claiming there is no higher purpose will end their listening outright.
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Every time I drive by a church, I fantasise about going back under the cover of darkness and changing the letters on the sign out front to something silly.
That would show 'em!
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i dont try to fight it at all, other than trying to keep it out of laws, of course
i mean i really dont care what the religious believe, as long as they arent using the state (guns) to force it on me
so i guess the answer to your question is, dont vote for candidates who will inject religion into law
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Ummm... Fight it? I have better things to do with my time.
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We must fight religion; it has created an arrogance that disregards and abuses other species, has rejected science (with grave consequences), and also been used as a justification for wars and for opposing most social justice progress.
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Yeah, well. I still have more important things to do.
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Like redditting?
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For a start. Listen, I'm old. I surf a lot if it's too cold for me to be outside. I don't care if someone wants to believe in a god or not. I've seen people worship the fucking moon, animals, and piles of rock. Don't mean nothing.
I'm going to do what I want, regardless of any rules or laws. You'd be better off doing the same, IMHO.
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In my opinion, simply living your ideals works out best. Anyone that you know for any length of time will eventually figure out that you're an atheist.
Simply demonstrating that one doesn't require fear of some horrid afterlife in order to be a good person will soften people up towards the atheist cause without making you look like an annoying in-your-face activist.
That being said, if anyone ever tells you that it's impossible to be a good person and tells you with a straight face that you're going to hell for your beliefs, feel free to punch that ignorant trash in the face.
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Stop using the words "pervert", "slut", "whore", "skank" and the like, since there's nothing wrong with sex or sexuality, only religion makes it so.
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Some expressions of sexuality are problematic, if not downright wrong. Bestiality, coprophagy, rape, child pornography. I think it's fair enough to call a pedo a pervert.
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In most kickass countries a pedo is a pervert, but in many countries older men can marry you know like 8 to 17 year old girls, I don't know if they have sex, but they're not considered paedophiles there... Usually this is allowed through religion ofc.
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Bestiality
What is wrong with this? I don't see any harm.
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I don't want to fight religion, really. I can't say I even want to subvert it. I want to replace it.
I think that the majority of humans feel the need to interconnect with others. A lot of people go to church for this very reason. It's become a social part of life. I want to replace that with something secular and independent of faith.
I want to establish some sort of secular local community. A place where people, regardless of their beliefs or faiths can come to meet interesting people, hear interesting talks about politics, science, or just how to better themselves.
I just have no idea how to go about doing this.
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I just have no idea how to go about doing this.
Have them volunteer for environmental groups (and actually do something useful) or join Meetup.com groups.
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I am looking into meetup.com groups, and plan on attending one in particular.
However, what I mean is a way of substituting the church, a sense of community and togetherness that a lot of people seem to require in their life, with something secular.
True, it could be something environmental, but that requires belief that planting a tree, or being an activist is somehow worth their time/is changing things.
I'd rather not have people be required to do anything, other than communicate with each other rationally and peacefully.
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I post various interesting videos featuring atheistic views (including Sam Harris, Pat Condell, nonstamp collector, and many more) on my facebook profile. Most of my friends are raging fundamentalist christians (since I used to be one myself). That's my way: debunking religious nonsense and promoting logical reasoning through facebook.
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I spend a lot of time on the atheism subreddit. That should do it.
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Just encourage people to watch certain comedies like Blackadder, Father Ted, The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, etc.
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Have you tried crossing "In God We Trust" off of your one-dollar bills? That should keep you busy for a couple minutes.