DU atheists "not very popular" on new "progressive" site

[jonnyblitz]

<snip>
"Wanna know why so many people hate atheists- especially lefty ones? Just read the spewage in their little forum.."
<snip>

http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=164&topic_id=243&mesg_id=243

[geniph]

1. Man, some nastiness in there!

More power to you for trying to clarify that we're not all just BIG HATEFUL MEANIES in here, Jonny.

Jeepers, a "DU Recovery Room"? Urgh.

[jonnyblitz]

2. AZ did a much better job (as he always does) than I did.

I get so flabbergasted i get tongue(or finger) tied. I tried to quietly just deactivate my account and no longer participate by THAT was made public and I have since been reading snarky remarks (whiner etc) elsewhere on that site about me. :shrug:. whatever.

[PassingFair]

3. Thanks for the link, jonny...

and kudos to you and Az for standing up to them and defending our "spewage".

[jonnyblitz]

5. the comment that floored me was the one i put in my original post

"Wanna know why so many people hate atheists- especially lefty ones? Just read the spewage in their little forum"

substitute the word gay or black or jew for atheist and what does that sentence sound like. I can't believe that went over their heads.
since i had my account deactivated i have read snarky comments about me in other places on that site. I am the whiney one who takes myself to seriously. :eyes:

[salvorhardin]

6. I thought you handled yourself very well over there

My personal feeling is that if those people are that far gone, then they're beyond reason and nothing we can do will help the situation. When "water lily" wound up your last thread there with comments about our "agenda" I felt the need to snark, and Az came along later to correct the misleading statements in her original post. Beyond that it's probably best just to leave them alone. I know I don't want to clean up after their group conspiragasms.

[jonnyblitz]

7. thanks.

perhaps i shouldnt have posted a link on here to there but I was annoyed , after my request to be "deactivated" , that my "deactivation" became public and all the snarky comments that followed were brought to my attention by somebody. I figured my fellow DU atheists needed to see how they were being characterized elsewhere. I have a hard time just letting things go like maybe I should. :shrug:

[Az]

8. Always keep an eye on the goal

Of course the first trick is figuring out what the goal is. If you just wade into an angry mob within a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish you will get snipped to death by a 1000 bites. None of them strong enough to bring you down on their own. But in a group they will tear you to pieces.

[jonnyblitz]

9. i basically said my piece and had my account deactived

I suppose i could have let that thread go , stayed at the site but it's not in my nature. so i posted twice in that thread and requested that my account be deactivated and i was going to just move on. I wasn't aware a public announcement of my deactivation was going to occur and then the subsequent snarky posts in regards to it. I do totally appreciate your articulate comments in that thread on behalf of all DU atheists. It wasn't just about me. I get too emotionally angry and end up sputtering and spouting.

[jonnyblitz]

11. crap..too late to fix the spelling. i butchered the word deactivated

oh well. :P

[Az]

13. Thats ok, I butchered the word without

Switched it to within. :crazy:

[PassingFair]

10. The persecution thing is starting to get on my nerves...

I mean, it would be like me saying every time you say "Have a Blessed Day", you offend my sense of reality!"
How dare they question reality!?
Is NOTHING sacred to them!?

[Zenlitened]

4. Ugh. Another site by embittered ex-DUers, complaining about DU?

:eyes:

[enki23]

12. Pyrzqxgl!

*poof*

sorry. i got nothing.

[BiggJawn]

14. I am SO damn glad they have a place they can go where everybody knows...

...their name....

Being Rational in the world today,
takes everything you got.

Fending off the slings and arrows,
From people with brains of ROT.

You tell 'em you dont believe in GAWD,
And then they go and shoot their WAD.

And they curse you in His name,
And the bullshit's always the same.

You wanna be where people think,
where Carl Sagan has some Fame.
you wanna be where nobody knows your name...

I think some of them spend more time over here lurking than they did when they were active members...

Fine, let 'em have their "Woo-Woo Underground"

[Zenlitened]

20. Cheers!

:D

[NMMNG]

15. Whatever

:eyes:

[progressoid]

16. Yet another site I'll be avoiding....

[JNelson6563]

17. Very interesting

apparently where ever you go there will be the way over-reacting X-tian who is deeply offended by (insert whatever). While I am stunned at some of the idiocy in that thread, I see lots of names on that forum that I really like and that I notice less of here at DU.

Considering it's run by Tinoire I'd wager big it isn't started to whine about DU but as an alternative. I'm sure the DU recovery part is to contain talk of this forum to one area so that those not interested can just avoid that topic.

Additionally some of the disappointments I've experienced here I can relate. Some take if very seriously and get a little too emotionally involved. To be tombstoned or whatever must be shock to some. I know some bannings have stunned me greatly, Modem Butterfly comes to mind.

I've signed up, hope to enjoy some good discussion there (while carefully avoiding the religious discussion, lest I offend anyone with facts on that touch topic). It's another place (aside from the atheist forum here) to stop in when fed up with idiocy and/or vanity crap permeating DU GD.

Julie

[jonnyblitz]

18. yup, tinoire is/was my good friend and she is the one that invited

me to join but she thinks I am overeacting, since I lead a life of priviledge I have the luxury to waste time whining about some prissy perceived slight while prisoners are being beaten in abu graib, etc. :eyes: my intention was not to argue religion but when i read that post i couldn't keep silent over a blanket accusation and misrepresentation about my favorite group of people at DU. it's not in my nature.

whatever, though. i guess sometimes we all get full of ourselves when all we are doing is posting on political sites that nobody has ever heard of.

[JNelson6563]

19. I thought you made good points

and took the OP to task effectively. That was a knee-jerk, emotion based post (the OP) and was all the things the OPer was accusing others of.

I am sorry to see you withdraw from there though, especially just as I get there. Hope you'll reconsider in the future. I think Tinoire is misunderstanding the situation and I would wager it's cause she's not an atheist or member of any other group that is consider "lesser" by many. Maybe I'm worng, it's just my guess.

Hugs and encouragement to you for the painful stuff you revealed there. Thanks for taking a stand for yourself and all of us too.

:hug: Julie

[jonnyblitz]

21. tinoire is catholic and i have seen her stick up for the pope

when he was an issue here at DU,which is her business. As an atheist and a gay guy i find the last pope and this pope the religous counterpart to the political fascists she claims to be against but that isn't for me to decide in regards to her beliefs although it makes me scratch my head.

I appreciate your comments and always appreciate your posts which I always agree with. the people i always tend to agree with stick out for me and i remember them even though i might not converse with them often. :hug: :hi:

[JNelson6563]

35. Thanks Jonny

Your kind words are much appreciated. Tinoire is terribly upset that she may have hurt your feelings. She is not alone in being sad to see you go, I hope you'll stop back in sometime.

I think you're great and so do many others. In fact, I think you'd be surprised at how highly you're thought of.

Your fan and friend,
Julie

[jonnyblitz]

36. ha...she didn't hurt my feelings. i am not that fragile. i just

am not going to let some loon (the one who started that thread) on another site trash a whole community of people on DU who I like and relate too more than any other group on this site. I was sad that tinoire thought I was overreacting. it wasn't about me! the poster of that thread made out like the people of the atheist forum have so much sway at DU we convinced the admin to start these subgroups so we could continue our arrogance without bothering the rest of the community on this board and that it was some sort of favoritism accommodation because we are so powerful here. it was a lunatic thread. It seems like the poster of that thread was angry over discussions from back in the days of "the meeting room", which I never frequented. :shrug: :hi:

[reprobate]

22. Randi is their leader? 'Nuff said! I'll not go there again.

[FM Arouet666]

23. Wow, all the nut jobs from the meeting room on the new site

Truth is, I wonder how popular atheists are on DU. Judging from the virulent attacks aimed at posts offering a divergent point of view.

[jonnyblitz]

24. atheists aren't popular anywhere except on atheist specific sites

it is easier to be an "out" gay than it is be an atheist. for some reason it's ok to challenge political philosophies but not "religious" ones, so they become the elephant in the living room that nobody is allowed to talk about. I was willing to avoid religion all together on that site but I couldn't let that insane post go unanswered. silly me.

[ozone_man]

25. Being tolerant

of what I think of as delusional thinking is a continual challenge. I doubt there would be this backlash, if religion had not been used for so many evil purposes in the world. But we're under a continual assault by religion, in our government, schools and private lives. So, it seems natural to explore why this is so. But questioning the negative aspects of religion has a tendency to raise the hackles of the "left religious" also. There's a fine line between expressing anger toward the religious dominionists and ridiculing religion in general. To expect complete tolerance may be a little unrealistic. I think Az excersizes proper control and tolerance, and yet he can ask the challenging questions in a less confrontational way. I'm not there yet. Maybe one day, but some folks are just more tolerant than others. Also, tolerance is not always the appropriate response.

Toleration is not the opposite of intolerance but the counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms: the one assumes to itself the right of withholding liberty of conscience, the other of granting it.
-- Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man

[jonnyblitz]

26. good post. I believe, it depends , for each individual, what their

life experience has been with the "religous" determines their level of tolerance . my experience has NOT been a pleasant one and I have a hard time holding back. that is why, as soon as I read that post on that site, I knew it would be futile to remain a participant there with such a small membership and a condescending admin that saw nothing wrong with that post, but thought I was overreacting and being petty.

[salvorhardin]

27. But should we be tolerant of intolerance?

I'm not at home right now so this is just a 'post and run' but what I saw in that one thread was a general intolerance on the part of a few specific posters (as usual). And delusional is the right word for it. Sorry Az, while I agree with you that a very large number of people that hold theistic beliefs are not insane, it's clear to me that a certain number are. C'est la vie and all that.

[ozone_man]

28. No, like Paine says.

Of course its not always a clear line in the sand. Some people are more apt to play on that boundary line, perhaps go over the line and become intolerant of religion, becoming even an "antireligious bigot". So, trying not to be branded a bigot, how do we ask the questions and probe some of the more negative aspects of religion? I was just noticing that Az seems very good at it.

But one does have to recognize when the time comes to resist intolerance, like being in an abusive relationship. So, being intolerant appropriately is the key.

Part of the frustration comes from the "religious left" not taking an active enough role in discouraging some of the malign attributes of religion. Part of the "delusion", even for liberal religionists, is being blinded to the full harm done by religion. So they are too tolerant of abuses, or don't fully recognize an abusive relationship, or maybe it is simply they don't feel that abused, and therefore have less stake in the situation. I don't know.

[trotsky]

29. You did good, jonnyblitz.

Nice work standing up for so many who could not speak to defend themselves from the OP's screed. She clearly has a full-blown hatred of anyone who DARES to view wild claims with a skeptical eye. And when people like atheists and skeptics keep harping for just a little bit of tangible proof of a claim, I'm sure it gets very stressful for the new-ager because they can't really prove anything - it's all just something they feel.

[jonnyblitz]

30. sadly I usually agree with "the admin" of that site politically

and she was one of my favorite posters here at DU when she posted more often. I was stunned that she thinks I am being petty in my outrage over that ignorant post. she thinks that since I wasn't singled out specifically that I have no reason to be upset. the person who started that thread on the site labelled this whole forum a certain way, even accusing of us "controlling" what goes on at DU. please. :crazy: I guess I needed confirmation one way or the other that I wasn't being unreasonable therefore I posted a link to it to get the views of others here. I generally don't even start threads. I appreciate your thoughts on this. :hi:

[Taxloss]

31. "A community of independent thinkers"

:rofl:

[neebob]

32. Who's James Randi?

And can I still be an atheist if I don't know who our leader is?

[trotsky]

33. Hehe

http://www.randi.org

The guy with the million dollar challenge - a standing offer to pay $1 million US to anyone who can demonstrate the existence of anything paranormal. Needless to say, no one has claimed it, and woo-woos love to badmouth Randi and claim that the test is biased and so there's no point in proving that their particular brand of magic really works.

Randi's also made a career of debunking frauds, you should check out what he did to Uri Geller.

[neebob]

44. Oh, that guy. Thanks to you and the pink unicorn.

I'll try to remember his name and get with the program of worshipping him.

[PinkUnicorn]

34. The Amazing Randi

Bow before your Illustriuos leader you heathen!


Randi is a professional magician and debunker, best known for his exposure of the Popoff faith healing affair and the $1 million prize for proof of a paranormal claim. Woo-woos of all stripes steer clear of him as he tears strips off them, and his experience as a magician helps him pick up fakery.

Randi's site bio
Wikki Bio

[BurtWorm]

37. James Randi is our god?

:wtf:

Is she confusing this with the magicians' forum? ;)

[jonnyblitz]

38. please be nice and try to keep a straight face...

our lack of "respect" is why they go completely off their sanity rocker like this.. :silly: :crazy: :silly: :crazy: :silly: :crazy:

[BurtWorm]

39. Ooops!

I mean, "What the fuck, please!"

:blush:

[jonnyblitz]

40. hehe..oops

i forgot my sarcasm tag on that last post..:hi:

[Kolesar]

41. Another "flee from DU" site

..for the banned, shunned, or just-plain-pissed-off. I recognize a lot of the names on the main forum page. Hope y'all are well if you are lurking. There are better things to do in life than find & while away your life hunting down another message board (sez the DUer who just passed 10000 posts).

[really annoyed]

42. Oh Well....

I'm not an atheist - I'm agnostic - and I don't stay up to code with the secular community. I'm too busy with my life to worry about what people are saying about my beliefs.

All I know is that I'm agnostic and religion doesn't pay a major role in my life. And I also know that I like to talk with other people in my "camp." I also know I have friends who are conservative Catholics and devoted Christians. We get along because - oddly enough - we share similar values, if you can believe that!

[GOPFighter]

43. "Wanna know why so many people hate atheists"?

'Cause the vast majority of the true believers are scared to death we're right. They hate us because we remind them there is no real evidence that God exists and their belief in God is the only security these insecure people have in life.

If God existed we would know it. It's as simple as that.

[immoderate]

45. I like it.

True and well put.

--IMM

[muriel_volestrangler]

46. The strange thing is the original poster went from

"Wanna know why so many people hate atheists- especially lefty ones" to "quite frankly I see this as more a skeptic - non-skeptic thing than atheist-theist discussion. Far as I'm concerned the religious & non-religious can argue the merits of each side til the cow flies over the moon. As I am neither atheist or theist, the discussion doesn't really interest me" without the least acknowledgement that she had completely changed her argument. She just pretended that other people had diverted her discussion.

Perhaps that's because "why so many people hate skeptics - especially lefty ones" would sound like complete tosh - the only people who hate skeptics are those trying to perpetuate con tricks and loony conspiracies about sylphs. The "I hate lefty atheists" crowd are 'righty' fundamentalists - and they hate us because they're a bunch of self-righteous, misanthropic authoritarians, who hate the members of PI just as much as they hate us.