Another atheist’s experience on an atheist community has echoed my own experience with an online Australian atheist forum. Mano Singham recently posted Well, that was interesting!
PZ at Pharyngula recently alerted me to what happened to Chrys Stevenson when she pointed out to the people on a Facebook group that is called Atheist Safehouse that claims to have 42,4114 members that their page featured a montage of eight atheists, all of whom were male and only one was non-white.
She suggested that they might want to make the image a little more inclusive. She promptly got banned from the group because apparently raising the issue of the photo alone is sufficient to get you banned!
. . . . .
But then a moderator from Atheist Safehouse named Brad Hoschar chimed in and said that the reason Chrys got banned was not because she raised the topic of the photo but because (I kid you not) she did not speak politely!
That’s my own emphasis there. It echoes my brief experience on AFA, the Atheist Foundations of Australia forum. I have not yet been banned (though I have not revisited the site for some weeks to know for sure) but it was obvious that moderators and others there were seizing on every word of mine to twist in a way to represent me as a homophobic(!) arrogant, bullying, pig-headed intruder who had the gall to not politely accept their abuse over my attempt to point out the logical flaws in arguments in support of the historicity of Jesus. They clearly wanted me off their site.
Why are atheist communities like that?
Neil Godfrey
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What were the flaws you were pointing out? I could only evidence for the Egyptian Belief in their Ever Coming Son IOSA whom the Greeks called Iesous and this was translated into Western European languages as ‘Jesus’ – but virtually all the very same stories as told in the Gospels except that they are thousands of years earlier. We can even see the Egyptian originals in many biblical verses such as Revelation 11:8, Acts 10:39, Hosea 13:4. Revelation was previously called “the Mysteries of Osiris and Isis” (using the Greek names for Uasar and Ahst thus quite recent) and the last three volumes were eventually purchased by the Roman Senate around 510BCE as they were so popular with the public. Then there is Mark 8:33 which plays with a pun on the different meanings of the name ‘Satan’, one of which in Egyptian was ‘Rock’ – thus Petra or Peter. Judges 15:9 tells us about a name ‘En-Hakkore’, which in Egyptian was Ankh Ka Re – The Living Spirit of God and that is how Egyptians viewed the precious life giving waters of the Nile.
I have been shown so many things and guided to pages which have the answers and this tells me that there is a guiding spirit though I would never call it God – Even the Bible refutes that idea for the name ‘I AM’ is pure Egyptian – HEPRA – first person Singular of the Verb To Be. Qantum Physics now tell us that every particle in the Universe is connected one to each other. We are all part of a a great Universal Consciousness and just have to listen to it to receive those answers. The Biology of Belief by Human Cell biologist Bruce Lupton Ph.D. explains how every cell is conscious and has to be to know what outer materials are needed and what could kill it.
The problem I find with Atheists is much the same as with others who remain convinced that they and only they are right. We have to remain open minded to every possibility, including a Holographic Universe.
“Why are atheist communities like that?”
Why do you need to ask, Neil? Aside from not believing in any gods, we are no different from everybody else in this world. What some religious people will do in defense of their dogmas, some of us will do in defense of ours.
“We have to remain open minded to every possibility, including a Holographic Universe.”
Is it possible, in your judgment, for me to be open minded to a holographic universe while also believing that the universe is probably not holographic?
The problem is not with “atheist communities” per se. Rather, the problem is dogma, and atheists are as susceptible to being dogmatic about their un-beliefs as any believing community.
Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett are their main prophets, and Carrier, Fitzgerald, Bering, Darrell Ray, and a handful of others round out the Canon. One questions any pronouncement by any of them at one’s peril.
Just because we don’t believe in gods or supernatural forces doesn’t make us any more open-minded than the general populace, unfortunately.
Seems fairly consistent behavior with other cults. There must be a lot of comfort in one-dimensional thinking, the subject not mattering very much. Any deviation from the C. Manifesto, Little Red Book, the AA Big Book, Calvin’s dogmas, etc., can get you the stake, or, in modern times, barred from an online forum. You’ve been extinguished either way, except the modern way saves a lot of firewood, I guess. Seizing on a bit of rational thinking in one sphere seems to lead people to self-ordained sainthood. Been a long time since I read it, but I recall a passage in Hosea to the effect, “they came to Baal and bowed down before their idols and became like them.”
Who said becoming an atheist was the end of the line? It`s just the first step in developing reasoning or better critical thinking to develop our humanity. Otherwise, as has been said, it`s just another cult.
Meanwhile, I’m sure no one was ever banned or kicked from his (PZ’s) A+ community for not towing the company line there. Right?
If you don’t fit in with the sandbox you’re in, find a new sandbox. There is no dearth of them from which to choose.
Brilliant, Mr Anonymous. You completely missed the point being made.
PZ Meyers narked because someone is banned for being innocuous. Pot meets kettle.
I applaud your efforts over on AFA Forums, Neil. You probably won’t get anywhere but they can’t be left to spin obliviously and there does need to be content to the contrary on there that might alert the unwary that they are being misled.
Perhaps part of the opposition from some comes unconsciously from the embarrassment of being taken in by something that is so obvious when pointed out. Another reason might be that a Christianity with a mythical god and an allegorical Gospel would be that much harder for them to dismiss. The Creed is as much a rod for Christianity as their Charter is for HAMAS.