That's a fair point. I guess I'm just more opposed to it on principle. Burning literature, art, or any creative work (fictional or otherwise) comes across as quite puritanical. At the extreme this sort of view can lead to the destruction of cultural works — like we have seen perpetrated by ISIS or certain Christian sects who believe that there can be no great works outside of their holy texts.
That is what the jealous god of the Jews demands, destroy all idols of other cultures.
From the Talmud Avodah Zarah 53a
Christians and Muslims doing the dirty work for Judaism.
True. They (Abrahamic) are all pretty similar in that view. And here I was thinking there were just more quadriplegics and disfigured people back in the day...
You know the strangest thing about Islam is that for their supernatural messiah to come, the Jewish Mashiach must first rule the world as the agent of Satan.
No, I think it's an honest and logical viewpoint. You know that "I believe in 1 fewer god" edgy atheist adage? It's possible to believe there is a higher power but no existing religion gets it even remotely right (and why should they?). And while everything in the world is (by definition) the result of a material, physical process, some of these processes are easier influenced through rhetorics and art. When soldiers are going into battle, you can say an inspiring speech ("blessed"), you can put them into gay therapy ("cursed"), or you can hand out speed (peak materialism).
What retirement? In the future we will all become immortal.
I don't know any atheists who are that autistic about cleansing society, but if they are, they should also give up on anything remotely associated with Greek, Norse, Japanese, and Egyptian mythology (no more anime and video games for you, buddy). Today's mythology is yesterday's religion, and they all had immoral, retarded beliefs. The entire history of our species is infused with retarded beliefs. There's no need to be anal about it. I couldn't care less that Sam Harris is fascinated by the "exotic" Muslim prayer call. Good for him. He's based on Islam where it counts, that's all that matters. Although I will say that communities are something I'd be highly wary of. Not in the atheists-enjoying-Christmas sense, but in the sense of letting religious ideas fester. In my ideal world, if theists/religious peeps want their communities, their beliefs better be extremely fucking harmless.
That's because they don't exist. The only reference to atheists who have such a hate boner against skydaddy comes from what I can only call religious propaganda, where atheism is presented as either an immature flailing against authority or a manifestation of a competing faith as I said before.
On the whole, many atheists are passive people for the most part. But there are some individuals that have more reason than most to feel a greater level of animosity towards religion, or who have been slowly moved to this view by their experiences. You only have to spend a few minutes listening to the accounts of ex-Muslims, say, before you start to realize that jettisoning these beliefs can have really serious consequences at the level of individuals. Now, I'm not suggesting that the edgy or more hostile approach is the best way to discuss these issues, but some people definitely have a right to be angry about the effect it has had on their lives.
We may start to see a resurgence of people promoting certain 'ways of thinking'. The scientific method and critical thinking techniques for example. But I don't think the fedora tipping "akctually...Jesus never existed" type of contrarian edginess will come back. With the rise of AI and the increased spread of misinformation and quackery these days, we need an emphasis on critical thinking more than ever.
Don't get me wrong, I'm one of those people myself and I want atheists to be a lot more hostile towards religion. Just not necessarily in a juvenile, "burn everything down" kind of way that ends up implicating all of human history.
I can. People have irrational beliefs, it's simply easier to have them. There are times I still knock on wood when I think of some misfortune, even if my mammal brain knows that it's useless to do so, it soothes my repitle brain.
Why are you taking that goofy shit seriously?
It seems this way because religion suffered a death blow severe enough (at least in the developed world) that mainstream religious bullshit from the past 2000 years is now the trendy counter-culture. That doesn't mean the pendulum is swinging; I'm generally pretty cynical, but I don't think Christ-is-Kangism will ever get mainstream appeal again, not in the information age. Unless something goes very wrong. It's similar to feminism; it's pretty hip now to discuss repealing the 19th and turning women into breeding factories again, but only because feminism was successful to begin with. That doesn't mean incel spergs have any actual hope of getting their handmaiden utopia, they're still as doomed as ever.
This is probably just differences in perspective. @The Deep State is right, in the West, Christianity has very little real power over society and institutions when compared to the past. You don't need to go back too far in European history before you reach the point where people were being burned at the stake for reading the Bible in English, rather than Greek. An argument you still hear made by committed Muslims about the Quran (Islam hasn't had any form of reformation or neutering to the same extent as Christianity). "Only the original Arabic version is perfect, you are reading a false translation". In those days, there was no real question of "punching down" on religion. If you spoke out, your risked being condemned for heresy. Today, this has shifted towards the equally ridiculous "hate speech", or "that's offensive" position against criticizing ideas — whatever they may be, and how ridiculous they are to the uninitiated.
I agree with you in part, but I do worry about how the advent of social media and the reduction in attention span will impact this topic. Unless people are talking about alternative points of view and responding to religious influencers, they will simply win the information war.