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Atheism at the fundamental level

It seems that many, if not the majority of the users on this website define their atheism only through an anti-christian lens. I don't understand the focus on that perticular religion. Atheists should look at every religion or at no religion at all in order to be self consistent, and consistent with what they decry.

It simply is because, by definition, each religion is absolutely right and focusing on one gives it too much credibility. It is also because there are so many more ideas with which to come up. Sure, maybe everybody here knows how to explain whay the christian god doesn't exist, but can they say the same of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva? What about Anubis, Thor or Amaterasu?

I guess my point is that you have to ignore all of them or treat all of them equally. Atheism is much more fundamental than anti-christianism.

Any thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Sarutobi on August 4, 2008 at 9:37am

Do you guys not think that this outlook on atheism may shrink the potential userbase? Even I, seeing all the christian bashing going on, do not feel like I belong here. In the long run, atheistnexus should strive to be more inclusive.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Knight on August 4, 2008 at 12:33pm

I don't understand. You want us to bash muslims, hindus, and scientologists more?

'Cause that I can do.

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Permalink Reply by Sarutobi on August 4, 2008 at 12:35pm

Either bash everybody or bash no one, like I said in my first post. And bashing might be too strong a word.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Knight on August 4, 2008 at 12:58pm

Hm, I'm not sure I know any Zoroastrians or hear of them very much in the news. Besides, there's fewer of them than there are atheists.

How about we keep picking on religions where we are the underdog?

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Permalink Reply by Buffy on August 4, 2008 at 9:44pm

What exactly are you defining as "bashing"?

And if you actually suggest we ignore them that's downright dangerous. As someone on another board said, the last time we left them unchallenged was the Dark Ages. You know what that time period was like.

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Permalink Reply by Anath on August 4, 2008 at 10:06pm

"Strive to be more inclusive"... how? By censuring people? Most members here, from what I have read and myself included, don't much care what a person choses to believe, Christianity included, as long as they're not harming anyone or trying to force their beliefs on others or introduce them in the educational system. Problem is, thats exactly what a group of very loud-mouthed Christians are trying to do, so we're going to have to be loud opposing them. Most here are ready to oppose ANY belief system that infringes, but as I stated in my post, you're seeing a false majority here.

If you're not being a dick about your religion or trying to brainwash other people's children, you should feel just as angry about certain Christians as we do, and be standing with us, right? Theoretically the voice of someone who should be allied with their cause, allied with us, is louder than ours. When the moderate Muslim stands against extremism, when moderate Christians stand against the Fundies and the dissolving barrier between church and state, and so on, change happens.

Unfortunately the behavior of some ruins it for others.

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Permalink Reply by Anath on August 4, 2008 at 11:11am

I think the main reason is that the Christian God is currently the only one in question where most people here live. Using one of Dawkin's favorite arguments: "Everyone is atheist, we (living in a Christian society) just go one God further." There IS no question whether or not the gods of mythology exist here and there IS no question whether or not foreign gods exist such as the gods of Hinduism, but there IS question whether or not JHVH and Yeshua exist and are true gods, because they're currently winning the popularity contest. Allah is usually lumped in as being the same god as JHVH by those who are more interested in religious unity, and for those who aren't, he either doesn't exist, or he is a "satan".

Also its likely we're seeing a false majority as irreligious in the United States and Europe, and other more "free", "wealthy", and "predominantly CHRISTIAN" nations are more likely to have access to such a networking site, or the internet at all, or internet that isn't monitored. If every country (ESPECIALLY in the middle east and India) had that ability, we'd probably see a much more level playing field.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on August 6, 2008 at 8:05pm

Yeah, from what I hear it's a matter of focus. In our society (where the majority of us live) Christianity is the largest religion. If that were not the case then whatever was the largest would become the focus.

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Permalink Reply by Mark on August 6, 2008 at 8:14pm

I had a similar discussion with Ben on his site. I like his response, though I don't entirely agree with it.

I don't think you have to treat all religions equally, because not all religions are equal. That would be like solving world hunger by giving one type of aid package to every country; it doesn't work, different countries need different approaches.

It seems that many atheists are focusing on Christianity because it's probably the best way of investing their time and effort at the moment.

My approach is to try to get beyond the atheism/theism distinction, to encourage critical thinking regardless of whatever beliefs you hold. And I think the only reason I do that is because there are so many other people focusing on Christianity. They're much more likely to get immediate results.