Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Tyler on September 28, 2009 at 5:29pm

Yes and No... a lot of Extremists say that YouTube is AtheistTube but, thats only because YouTube is one way ANYONE CAN EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS to the world and it doesn't have to be Religious or go along with how Society feels.
Than again, it may have an impact because you can see first hand how Creationists act/fail and how much calmer, logical and/or just plain fun Atheists can be and the fact Creationists censor Comments/Video Responses. Their scared yet say we are afraid of god... HOW can we be since there is NO GOD to be AFRAID of anyways?!

ALL MY VIDEOS ALLOW ANYONE TO POST A VIDEO RESPONSE AND COMMENT WITHOUT APPROVAL.
I NEVER DISABLE RATINGS.
I SOMETIMES DISABLE COMMENTING VOTING BECAUSE BOTH SIDES SHOULD BE HEARD.
EMBEDING AND SYNDICATION ARE ONLY DISABLED ON THINGS LIKE MY MSN ADDRESS VIDEO.

Permalink Reply by Shane Smith on September 29, 2009 at 11:33am

I don't think Youtube specifically is to blame. I think the internet itself is the culprit, making ideas to be more freely shared and allowing information and to be fully accessible. It is very hard these days to be sheltered from ideas or beliefs, explaining the rise of conspiracy theorist as well.

Permalink Reply by Ben on November 21, 2009 at 12:42am

I honestly don't think this is the case. Sure, the large amount of atheistic and anti-religious videos on youtube (there are a lot...there was a time when simply being an outspoken atheist would get you a few hundred subs regardless of quality of videos...hell, we're not really out of those times). I think the reasons for the fall of religion's popularity in the entire planet the Western world are the following:
1: Religious people portray themselves poorly constantly. Between Fred Phelps, the crazy muslims who protested those Danish cartoons, radically anti-abortion types, creationists, end time prophets, the entire Religious Right, etc. it's hard to find religious people who any sane person would like to associate with. Even if you can disassociate the people with the religion, if enough people act foolishly for the religion, it's hard to see the religion as anything but foolish, even if you're part of the religion.
2: People just don't have time to devote to boring shit like religious studies anymore. When you're not going to religious services or reading holy texts, you'll fall out of whatever religion you were raised in. Atheism, by contrast, has no time requirement.
3: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and to a lesser extent, Daniel Dennett, have brought atheism into the public eye, as has the Rational Response Squad (which did so more via NBC than it did via YouTube). Combine this with the various atheist celebrities without anti-religion books (Angelina Jolie, Lance Armstrong, Seth McFarlane, Ricky Gervais, Penn & Teller, every punk rocker and heavy metal musician worth mentioning, etc.) and the anti-religious messages they regularly put into their interviews and their art (McFarlane, Gervais, and Penn & Teller especially) and we have atheism not only being acceptable, but suddenly it's "cool." Not "fad cool" but "legitimately cool."
4: As the latest issue of Skeptic tells us, the rise in Abstract, Critical and Theoretical thinking skills aids greatly in the end of one's religious ideologies. This is why areas with high levels of education, especially education that focuses on ACT thinking, have rising atheism, while everywhere else is still ridiculously religious.
5: While many religious types are making themselves look like asses, others are making religion look positively vile. Between the religious wars that still pop up, repressive theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia, the rather hateful anti-gay movement, pedophile priests, religious terrorists, and the abortion clinic bombers (amongst others), more and more people are jumping ship because of the fact that many religious leaders (and their followers) are fucking scarily evil.


By contrast, kids telling other kids that god isn't real on YouTube has a minimal effect. Yes, it helps, and I've seen at least a few people who have left religion due to watching youtube atheist videos. It's also a very quick and satisfying way to get down to the intellectual reasons for being nontheistic, especially if you look at videos by guys like RabidApe, philhellenes and TheoreticalBullshit. Guys like Thunderf00t, AronRa, and cdk007 have done a great deal to end creationism. Even TheAmazingAtheist (pre-selling out and taking down all his controversial videos) and CapnOAwesome (pre-porn career) made some excellent points against religious and creationist arguments. So it's a good way to destroy the reasons for faith, but let's not give it more credit than it deserves.

Permalink Reply by Ally on January 27, 2010 at 12:08am

I agree with all the points you have made, but I dissagree that it is getting more credit than it deserves. YouTube is what lead me to this site, Sharing YouTube vid's on Facebook has started many fantastic conversations among my friends, atheist video's of all types helped me be more "out" about my atheism which has enriched many of my relationships in real life. That is people I 'came out' to were generally delighted to have someone to talk to about it and I often found out they shared my views. So for some of us You Tube has been quite important, and is a powerful tool that should not be underestimated.

Permalink Reply by Ben on January 27, 2010 at 8:26pm

I am pretty sure I said that it does help...

Permalink Reply by The Atheist Jew on November 21, 2009 at 8:29pm

I think because we have facts going for us regarding evolution, the big bang, and our reasoning against biblical figures even existing, atheists on the internet and Youtube especially are making young people think (maybe some not so young people too), and at least doubt much of the brainwashing they've been exposed to.
It is hard to argue with one plus one equals two.

Permalink Reply by Ben on November 22, 2009 at 4:19am

Creationism isn't religion, and science isn't atheism. There are just as many (if not more) religious people who accept the Big Bang and evolution. I seriously wish other atheists, as well as creationists, would recognize this. Hell, I've met a few atheists who didn't believe in evolution OR the Big Bang.

Yeah, we have the facts going for us, but not the way you think.

Permalink Reply by The Atheist Jew on November 22, 2009 at 7:14am

I'm fully aware of what you are saying, but the biggest conflicts atheists have to overcome are the Fundies who do not accept evolution and the many who believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Yes, even the Vatican accepts evolution.
I don't have a major problem with people who add God to the equation. I believe innately us humans have the susceptibility to believe in the supernatural and this is a product of our ancestors not being able to explain lightning or understand death.
I'm not out to turn more people to atheism, though when we discuss things like the big bang and evolution we are basically saying that God is not needed and that there everything seems to be explained away without God having anything to do with it, so those we engage with will start to question the evidence for any supernatural being.

Permalink Reply by Ben on December 1, 2009 at 12:18pm

I'd just like to add something else here: There are other people spreading their views via YouTube. I've heard of plenty of muslim converts who discovered islam through videos of Dr. Zakir Naik or some other muslim preacher on YouTube, and at least one YouTube atheist who became christian through videos from YouTube christians. And then there are the anarchists, racists and conspiracy nuts...Atheists seem to be doing better, but it's a mixed bag

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