Atheism is a huge trend in the 21st century. People like Richard Dawkins make money hand over fist writing about the phenomenon and tearing down the structure Christians have put in place and jealously guarded. As a movement, Atheism has roots dating back hundreds of years, but only recently has it gained power, and little wonder! Christianity has been a world power for thousands of years, and despite its profession of love and peace, there is little love and peace amongst its followers.
Yes, Christianity seems to bring out the worst in people. But why is there such ugliness and bigotry in a religion founded upon the teachings of a supposedly good and holy man? It may have something to do with the rejection of human nature Christianity puts forth. Most of what Christianity calls sins are acts and thoughts human beings have been doing and thinking since time immemorial. To reject this is to cause needless strife.
It seems as though atheists have a particular bone to pick with Christianity, and many I've encountered fail to realize there are other religions that have nothing to do with the Abrahamic god. Worse, they mislabel and misunderstand neo-paganism as much as most fluffy bunny middle-aged housewives. To be fair, many atheists could be properly labeled anti-theists, not because they reject the belief in a deity, but because they actively assail the belief in a deity.
Atheists and anti-theists have the tendency to rebel against the dogma of most of Christianity's followers by saying "you can't push your beliefs on me", and while some are well-intentioned, many go on the attack and denounce theist beliefs as bad for the world, or outdated and outmoded methodologies. The very freedom to believe they claim to defend seems to only pertain, in their minds, to their fellow atheists, as evidenced by the poison dripping in their words when viewing theistic beliefs.
There is no doubt about it: theism is under attack, and Christianity is to blame. Many atheists were raised, or are being raised, in a pious Christian household, and their experiences were almost universally negative. Small wonder, then, that they'd be so aggressive in speaking out against the beliefs that were being pushed on them by their family. But are their attacks on theism justifiable? I don't believe so.
Given that the main offender seems to be Christianity, why are atheists so gung-ho to say that *all* religion is bad? Are they truly so knowledgeable that they can paint theism with such broad strokes? I have no qualms with hypothesizing, likely accurately, that most atheists have no such experience; neo-paganism is itself such a large umbrella that it's nearly impossible to say that all religion is equally as bad as Christianity.
It is true that many Christians denounce science, logic, and much more. It is true that people like Rick Santorum exist. However, Christians and Rick Santorum do not accurately represent every human being with religious beliefs. Not every individual with religious or spiritual beliefs is going to reject science and logic in favor of nonsensical dogma. Intelligent, reasonable, science-loving theists do exist!
Hello, I am a hard polytheist. I have a love of psychology, I am pro-choice, I have no issues with homosexuals, transsexuals, or transgendered individuals, I enjoy a good argument, and I do not depend on prayer (a largely Christian concept) to magically or mystically get things done. I do not believe that earth is actually made out of the corpse of a celestial giant, and I do not believe the first man and woman were made from driftwood found on a beach. Creation myths are called myths for a reason.
Some may find it strange that reason and religion can go hand in hand, yet I can safely say I manage it just fine. I've surprised a good number of people by speaking of science and the like and then mentioning the fact that I am a hard polytheist. Is it so odd? Am I less of a person?
This is not a defense of Christianity, mind you. Christianity and its followers have a lot to atone for, especially in the eyes of fellow theists. But to say that all religion and theism is bad simply because Christianity has made a lot of mistakes is just as illogical as Christians stating that homosexuality is a sin by quoting Leviticus.
Atheists are capable of as much bigotry and blind hatred as any member of Christianity, and they are just as apt to wield it against others. That atheists attack and denounce Christian belief as dumb and illogical is evidence of this, and the attacks against theism in general show that not all atheists understand everything about every religion and prefer to paint with broad strokes - exactly what they accuse Christians of doing.
If you don't believe in deities, that's fine! There are atheistic religions, too! Believe what you want; I could care less. But don't tell me that my belief in multiple deities is bad-wrong simply because you had a bad experience with an entirely unrelated religion. It doesn't make you cool, it doesn't make you smart, and it doesn't make you a better person. What it does make you is an ignorant jackass, and looking at the majority of Christians in America, we have enough of those.
Don't be an ignorant, atheistic jackass. Not all theists hate you and want to kill your children.
For fuck's sake, people.
