#atheist extremism

[nightly-sun]

About New Atheism

You can always count on New Atheists to be advocates for tolerance and opponents of extremism, only to attack anyone whose views are the slightest hint more spiritual than theirs regardless of nuance and claim a very smug, zealot-like air of moral and intellectual superiority. If they want to keep their minds and hearts closed to anything outside the material realm, I can’t fault them for that. Some people really are better off without some form of spirituality or even if they’re just not predisposed towards it, but what these trilby-tippers don’t understand is that it isn’t a one size fits all situation. Certainly, it’s wrong of them to outright dismiss others’ personal experiences or accuse them of fraud, delusion, or attention-seeking, because it just goes to show how little they actually know or understand.

Additionally, this particular breed of atheist lends credence to many Christian stereotypes. Remember that fabricated story about the Christian student who humiliated his atheist professor? Or the movie they based on it starring Kevin Sorbo? Yeah, it’s when atheists and anti-theists start embodying the otherwise comically ignorant caricatures pushed by those stories, attacking theists* or even anyone who keeps an open mind, that they add fuel to the fire. It’s bad enough that conservative Christians (and the far-right in general) have such a severe persecution complex, or at worst, project their persecution of others who they would persecute should they reject their attempts at conversion, onto those same others. New Atheists are practically just handing out free ammunition to the religious and spiritual people they so avidly despise, then exposing their bare flesh and begging to be shot by the same extremists who are the reason behind their irrational hatred for anyone who is not an atheist, or who they perceive as not being enough of an atheist.

One thing I will concede is that I have no rebuttal for atheism as a whole. I have no way of knowing or proving if any of the "supernatural" things I've encountered are real or not, and I accept that there might very well be a rational, scientific explanation behind them. I'm not smart enough to fully grasp, let alone explain, exactly how we play such tricks on our own minds, but I'm willing to believe it's possible. I already accept evolution and the Big Bang as facts, even if there's still so much left to piece together. Likewise, I acknowledge all spirits, gods, and entities as — if nothing else — archetypes and energies, extensions of the unconscious with the myths surrounding them being just that: myths. Where once these myths were created to explain the unexplainable in primitive civilizations, they still serve a core function in present-day occultism, which is to give the practitioner something to work with.

Regardless, the New Atheist movement is quickly becoming just as much of an extremist sect in and of itself, even if that was not the intention of, say, Richard Dawkins. Similarly to many Christians who preach fear and post scripture to anyone outside their faith on the Internet in the futile hopes that they'll convert, the average Internet-dwelling New Atheist will mock and ridicule them and tell them their beliefs aren't real, seemingly somehow under the misguided impression that it will convince them to close their eyes and their minds to what they have experienced firsthand. Ironically, you may even encounter these two polar opposites in tandem with each other. No, seriously. Just check out look up occult questions on Quora. And needless to say, there's the occasional Craig Stephen Hicks, whose hatred for believers takes a murderous bend. They may be a rarity compared to other extremists, but they still exist, and that's a problem.

Furthermore, I find the insinuation that spiritually-minded people are somehow complicit in the atrocities committed in the name of religion to be absurd. By that same logic, shouldn't atheists be considered complicit in the Soviet Union's suppression of religion? Don't get me wrong, I think atheists have every right to be angry about the persecution they've faced. Unfortunately, many vocal New Atheists refuse to distinguish between your everyday person with spiritual or religious beliefs and practices, and those who would strap a bomb to their chest and take as many people with them as they can. That sort of absolutist thinking is on par with Christians who justify their antisemitism by blaming the Jews for the death of Christ, or their misogyny because Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and prompted Adam to do the same.

People will always do ugly things. It's human nature, and regardless of what ideology humans follow, if any, that's not about to change, and if it would, the change wouldn't be through any amount of harassment or suppression, not in the long run.

*Should mention that I don’t identify as either a theist or as an atheist, but having a mystical framework helps, even if only looked at through an allegorical lens.

[despazito]

[captainjonnitkessler]

Sometimes people will say things like "minority and mainstream religions should be treated equally". But this is a trap and they will get VERY mad if you say that you do treat them as equally false or equally damaging, because what they actually meant was "it should be considered equally wrong to criticize or disrespect any religion in any manner".

[hybbat]

I do think a good chunk of the 'cringey atheist' stereotype did come from the fact that, especially americans, regardless of their actual religious status are just casually christian and refer to things through a religious filter and that isn't seen for how overwhelming/obnoxious/frustrating it is. Its absense, such as when writing a story and things like "oh god" or other casual references are remove or replaced, is seen as notable the same way people find the cast being all women or queer being 'abnormal'.

And I think more people, especially here on tumblr, should take a moment from ragging on some kid being "cringey" saying god doesn't exist or making atheist jump around like dancing monkeys to establish they're one of the good respectful ones before they ever even begin to talk about their own thoughts, and examine why so much content just inserts god into a conversation that had nothing to do with religion like it's the expected norm, the same way they examine the invasiveness of casual heteronormativity.

[djarindykes]

[karamazovanon]

the brothers karamazov, fyodor dostoevsky (tr. mcduff) // strawberry blond, mitski

[morgenlich]

i love when polls ask if i believe that god exists or not. idk, that's not my business

[yellowocaballero]

I love how your Bruce is traditional but it is also like a mix of different types of traditional. Like he comes across as both "Rich white old money type" traditional AND "member of a marginalized minority group who take great pride in their identity to cope with years of ostracization and going "the world wanted me dead for my culture and religion so i might as well die loud and proud instead of conforming to their unachievable ideals" " traditional

Thank you for this ask, I really love it! I have a shitton to say on this topic, including a lot of worldbuilding decisions on Gotham cultures, immigrant spaces, segregation, how it ended up like 1920s-1930s NYC/Chicago mixed with my own city, Jason "Foil" Todd's Inferiority Complex, but that would make this depressingly long. Long time readers would know that I have, like, really complex and discrete religion headcanons for everybody I write. It's important.

Any decent Batman Story (TM) is about Gotham. It has to be a huge presence. It's like writing Dick Tracy without Chicago, or Cheers without Boston. When he's written well, Batman is a reflection of Gotham, and they metaphorically represent each other.

Most Batman writers get this, so there's always a lot of historical worldbuilding and everything. But I'm a community health person, and I grew up in the inner area of my own very large city, and creating a Gotham that feels real and rich is more complicated than the Court of Owls stuff. For me, cities are the intersection of culture, community, history, oppression/SES/war etc, and the modern day to day lives of people. When I want to make a rich city that was relevant and important to the story, I wanted to focus on immigrants and cultural minorities. You know - the people who create the cities lol. I decided on a history that involved the idea that Jewish families were the oldest in Gotham, and that they were one of the people to help create it and influence its culture.

I read a Daniel Handler quote just now that said "there is something naturally Jewish about unending misery". What is more Batman, Bruce, and Gotham than that, lol. The Jewish diaspora experience - the traditional history just as you outlined it in your ask - is baked into Gotham, it's the foundation. Gotham is a city of unending misery, but it's a city that stands tall. It takes a thousand hits and always gets back up again. People within it experience unending poverty and suffering, but they stand together. Just fucking refuse to die, as a whole. What's more Jewish than that! What is more Batman than that! Gotham should always be allegorical for Batman and Bruce, and through Gotham existing in that traditional Jewish experience, I think that's where you got the impression of Bruce as very traditional too.

Tim and the Drakes are the modern reflection of this. I was extremely explicit that Tim is alone in the world because of the Holocaust. I talk a lot in the story about how war and violence destroy children's lives, and that stretches back to the 1940s. About how war and violence creates violent children, which is what Tim became. His acting out was from the trauma of seeing his family slaughtered in front of him, and like a lot of people he used his religion to justify it.

There's a reason why the very first moment when Tim and Bruce actually connect as a family is when they find kinship and understanding through their shared backgrounds and values. They both saw their families slaughtered, they're both alone in the world - but they found each other, and they'll keep living.

OK BELIEVE IT OR NOT THAT'S THE SHORT VERSION. Seriously, though, I'm not. Uh. Actually fucking Jewish. This is like the fourth time I've talked out of my ass about this. I'm actually really interested in reading about the actual Jewish themes in Batman, because from what little I know they HAVE to be there. Any smart people out there who know about it, or who can link something written about it?

[nando161mando]

Right wing Jesus....

[sasukemexican]

READ THESE TAGS

[satanourunholylord]

Lucien Greaves' (Founder of The Satanic Temple) opinion on Jewish people:

(Antisemitism TW)

(Note: I don't agree with this. However, I want the information to be shared as much as possible so that people can make up their own minds on whether they want to support Greaves/TST or not. I recognise that TST as a group does a lot of good, but I personally can't see past this)

“Like, I think it’s okay to hate Jews if you hate them because they’re Jewish and they wear a stupid fuckin’ frisbie on their head [correct term: yarmulke or kippah] and walk around [and] think their God’s chosen people, but it’s not okay to hate somebody [‘born of Jewish blood’] just because their parents were stupid fuckin’ Jews and wore stupid frisbies on their head and thought the Jews were God’s chosen people […] Not everybody of Jewish blood is okay with me, it depends on if they follow the Jewish, uh… […] Satanic Jews are fine”

[prince--kiriona]

all the catholic anime girl stuff is just reminding me of when i got handpicked out of my (secular) ((supposedly)) public high school art class to go help paint murals of the pope for his JMJ/jornada mundial de juventude event. in retrospect why the Fuck did they do that

[apanthropydotorg]

The Top 25 Metal Demos of 1988

Disclaimer: Please don’t unleash years of suppressed anger and throw a hot cup of coffee in your dog’s face if you don’t see (insert band name) at (insert position) or any such situation. This feature is based on the opinions of an author that writes, primarily, based on experiences and makes no claims that the collection of releases you’re going to be reading about is certified by God, Satan,…

[goodnightwindy]

just to be clear btw i have zero intention of becoming a christian. i am simply reading the book because i am interested in it and also im a gay tumblr user who likes angels. what else can you expect of me

[modeus-the-misanthrope]

A sneak peak into my creative process for how I wanna set up some things in my Slay the Princess fanfics.

I chose Modern day Spain specifically as a nod to the amount of Spanish people I've seen enjoying this game, and my conversations with @7w7m7w7 who is wonderful.

I'm trying to be as respectful as possible, which means doing research and double checking that what i just read isnt some hyper specific and outlier persepctive, so chapter 5 is gonna take a minute I'm afraid.

If anyone else from Spain wants to give me tips and pointers for how to translate Spanish Catholicism into Slay the Princess, I would be grateful.

[hyenaswine]

red flag number one was when i was explaining my connection to judaism to B & they said "oh, so you're a food jew." no actually, that would imply that i have enough jewish family left for someone to be feeding me, but i don't even have that. thanks for the reminder.