Thursday, March 31, 2011

Atheist Prick

Since I have become more outspoken as an Atheist I have noticed something about others who also call themselves Atheists. A lot of them are pricks. With a tendency to talk down to not just believers, but anyone they come in contact with. They will bounce into a conversation or forum with the sole purpose of trying to show others how smart they are. If a study comes out showing that Atheists know more about religion than believers, you better watch the hell out, the arrogance will be overwhelming. I remember when I was a kid and we expected my dad to acknowledge some task we had completed. Such as my going to school without cutting any classes. My father would remind me of a couple things. First, if I was going to school it was for my own good. Second, it wasn't a big deal to go to school. It certainly was not something anyone should get kudos for.It was normal behavior. When I was younger this point escaped me a bit. Now that I am older the point is very clear. I certainly don't expect my family to thank me every time I pay the rent and I don't expect my boss to shake my hand, look into my eyes and thank me from the bottom of her heart for showing up for work each day I come in. Such behavior is reasonable. I know the little guy on the Lucky Charms box is not real, neither is the easter bunny. Do I expect anyone to be impressed by this? No.

Would you like someone to thank you for putting on your pants every morning? You don't get acknowledgment for doing the basics. You need to go above and beyond, to excel, to put in extra effort, then people may notice... or maybe they won't. It shouldn't make a difference, you do what is right.
As Atheists who reject organized religions based on what they expect us to accept as reality we really don't have any right to think we are better than anyone else. We shouldn't expect anyone to consider us specially gifted in some way for having issues with what religion paints as truth.
Just to make my point clear....I am not talking about whether the Atheist movement should go around holding hands with believers and gently breaking the bad news about their god and/or religion to them or run up from behind and begin screaming "YOU ARE A FUCKING MORON!" Like I have said before, everyone has their own way of going about things, more power to 'em, no one way is going to work on everyone.
I would like to see more Atheists remove the chip from their shoulder, especially when dealing with those of a like-mind.From now on when I come across those types I will be running up behind them and screaming "Everyone is ignorant in some way, and arrogant pricks are just to dumb to know it." it's just my way.....

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you 100% and I've been meaning to say something about it too but haven't, I guess, for fear of coming off as too accommodationalist.

    Saying that someone is wrong is not mean and we should point out mistakes when we have these discussions. However, it usually serves no good purpose to automatically go off the rails, cussing and screaming like savages or tearing the other person down with smug satisfaction. I've had other atheists treat me that way as well - they didn't disagree with me but apparently just wanted to tear me down for the fun of it. What's the point of that?

    Now I understand that some people are unreasonable and hateful. Maybe those people should be taken out at ten places with a strong blow of the tongue. But everybody? Seriously? What's the point?

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