SO I am powering forward after a brief hiatus. I still have a goal I’ve finishing in the 2ish weeks so I can then go into my food induced coma in till new years 😉 I do celebrate the holidays and I don’t want to get caught up in them and totally shaft atheist/Agnostic so I will be posting a lot in the next couple weeks.
So Godless Paldin recommended 2 web series for me http://www.youtube.com/user/QualiaSoup and http://www.youtube.com/user/TheraminTrees both are very well presented and focus on facts and rationality rather than just ripping apart other religions beliefs. Godless Palidin also has his own Blog on here http://godlesspaladin.wordpress.com/ where he calmly covers atheism. Lots of great info there too.
I am sad to say this is one religion where it seems to be hard to find calm rational thoughts. When exploring for it I came across the negative websites right out of the gate. Other religions painting them as awful, hate filled, baby eating demons. Atheists contend to just throw more stones than facts. It pains me that these are the people who seem to have the voices that are being listened to. There are negative people in every movement just usually they tend to be towards the middle or back of the line, but with this one it seems like the louder and more hate filled you are the faster the pass to the front is. It’s not Atheists fault either, after a waded through all that BS I found a lot of tolerant, rational people, who are more the willing to share views with me and respect mine. Yes they are godless and some are religiousless but they are still good people and putting the assholes at the front is doing them a great injustice. I challenge those of you reading this to befriend an atheist and see who they really are! I know it is a hard religion to be confronted with, it does bring to light doubts and questions, but religion should challenge you. If it’s not challenging you you’re not growing. I have had a bit of a hard time with Atheism because of my own fears and doubts but now that I’m further in I have worked through those and I am stronger in my faith. Thats not me discounting Atheism or Agnostic views, they have valid points and I see their side of things but I also have seen my faith grow which is why I am on this journey to challenge myself.
Explore atheism don’t fear it.Don’t dismiss the people involved in it either. They are just as important and wonderful as any other religion.
Blessings
Lucy
My Journey 
Posted by godlesspaladin on December 8, 2010 at 8:29 am
(Dang, I had a nice response typed up and hit refresh by accident >.<)
It is really unfortunate that there are a lot of very loud jerkish atheists getting press, and this is actually the subject of a fierce debate within the atheist community. Should we mock religion or try to be nice? I really hope this hasn't scared you away from us (from your post it doesn't seem like it has) but I can explain why there are a disproportionate number of angry atheists.
We're a demonized, unelectable minority that is the last group where it's socially ok to bash and discriminate against. I'll elaborate:
In 2006 the University of Minnesota did a study on how various social groups are perceived in America, and found that atheists were the *least* trusted group. That's below Mormons, Scientology, gays, and Muslims. Why? Well at least those groups believe in a god.
There are currently 7 states with constitutional bans against allowing an atheist to hold public office. There are 435 seats in congress. 2 of them are filled by atheists, yet we make up 16% of the US population. When Obama included non-believers in his first address on swearing in day, church leaders all over the US condemned him for it. (It was the first time since the founding fathers that atheists were mentioned by the president in a positive light) George Bush senior said that we shouldn't even be considered citizens.
A lot of atheists are forced to lead double lives. To come out atheist means the very real chance that you will loose your job, your family, and your friends. It is a social death sentence. In many countries they will stone you to death for it. This stuff destroys families and lives because people hate us so much for no good reason. There are so many people who call into atheist podcasts and radio shows who have to keep their true self secret for fear of retribution.
Just last month a father in Illinois lost custody of his three children for the crime of not believing in god:
Now that we're getting close to Christmas, this is the time of year everyone is hyper sensitive about atheists. You might have heard the term "War on Christmas" which gets thrown around a lot. Bill O'Reilly on Fox News invented it because he was disgusted by how some atheists were standing up and say "hey, we exist too!" and trying to keep government buildings religious neutral during the holidays. You might also see a lot of signs say "Keep the Christ in CHRISTmas" which are aimed specifically at atheists. (I wrote a post about it here: http://godlesspaladin.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/christmas-the-worst-time-of-the-year/ )
Speaking of billboards, since everybody hates atheists, people put up signs like these and nobody bats an eyelash:
Yet when atheists put up a non-confrontational sign like "Don't believe in god? You're not alone" people go insane and demand that it's pulled. 😦 Driving around SC there are plenty of anti-atheist signs everywhere. A local gas station even programmed gas pump displays to read "It's one nation under GOD, don't like it, then get out!"
At the same time, this horrible 15 second TV commercial threatening atheists with a gun is allowed to air
On top of all of this add the sustained attacks on science in the classroom and all the pain, suffering, and violence around the world done for religious reasons and you'll understand why a lot of atheists are angry. Every movement has these divisions, the black panthers vs the Martin Luther Kings for example.
I am sorry you had to slog through a lot of those sites to find some more calm, less angry people, but at least now you now know why they're so angry. Hope they didn't turn you off to us, though from the sound of it doesn't seem so. (Dang, this is long winded :p )
Anyways, best wishes
–GP
Posted by Lucy on December 10, 2010 at 7:30 am
lol it marked you as spam cause your reply was so long! 😀
I can believe that atheists can’t hold public seats! That so crazy and makes it hard to beleive we live in America and it still happens!
It doesn’t turn me off Atheism, I feel a kinship with you guys I’m a witch so I know something about hate for no reason. Atheist, Witches and Muslims are Americans least favorite people I think though were Athiesm isn’t a religion feel they can attack you guys and not feel like they did anything wrong which it’s just stupid! After you get through the bitter ones Atheists are some of the nicest people I’ve met so far!
Thanks though! 🙂