"Atheism+"

[Verbal Mike]

No idea if it's already been mentioned here, but this site is intriguing, and might conceivably be a place for gentle trolling and/or recruiting:
http://atheismplus.com/

Atheism+ is a safe space for people to discuss how religion affects everyone and to apply skepticism and critical thinking to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, GLBT issues, politics, poverty, and crime.

Heard about it from this vice.com article.

[Cain]

I've heard of them.  I have a problem with them, namely that it equates atheism with scientific expertise/feel-good American liberalism and social activisim.  Obviously no-one explained to them that correlation is not causation.  Or told them about Lysenkoism, it would seem.

It's also something of a hugbox for the worst offenders in the whole Skepchick/rape in an elevator debacle on Watson's "side", though I use that word loosely given how much damage they did to their own credibility.

[Lenin McCarthy]

Norway has a lot of atheists. Among them you find homophobes, racists, Maoists, conservative right-wingers. Lack of belief in gods is just one variable among dozens and does not in itself make a person any less of an idiot.

[Placid Dingo]

I'll sign up when I get back to a laptop or something.  Their bot test is impossible on a phone.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

No idea if it's already been mentioned here, but this site is intriguing, and might conceivably be a place for gentle trolling and/or recruiting:
http://atheismplus.com/

Atheism+ is a safe space for people to discuss how religion affects everyone and to apply skepticism and critical thinking to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, GLBT issues, politics, poverty, and crime.

Heard about it from this vice.com article.

Automatic retards.  "Safe space" = WE WILL BAN EVERYONE WHO DISAGREES.

Also, I notice that the "critical thinking" part doesn't seem to be applied to the obvious flaw in atheism, ie, "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".

Fuck these ass biscuits.

[M. Nigel Salt]

The problem I have with atheism is that it rallies an identity around a lack of belief in something.

 

If something doesn't exist, doesn't it make more sense to not define yourself by it at all? Also, spending time discussing and defending the lack of existence of something just seems mind-bogglingly pointless to me. In addition, I'm not entirely comfortable with associations of people that define themselves by what they are not.

[M. Nigel Salt]

I don't believe in an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon. WHO'S WITH ME????

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The problem I have with atheism is that it rallies an identity around a lack of belief in something.

 

If something doesn't exist, doesn't it make more sense to not define yourself by it at all? Also, spending time discussing and defending the lack of existence of something just seems mind-bogglingly pointless to me. In addition, I'm not entirely comfortable with associations of people that define themselves by what they are not.

I would have phrased it:

The problem I have with isms is that people base their identities on them.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I don't believe in an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon. WHO'S WITH ME????

I DON'T BELIEVE IN THE HAIRY THUNDERER, AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.  IF YOU DO THEN YOU'RE AN IDIOT FAITHFOOL.

(Sorry, Waffle, it's just the way it is.)

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Hey, everyone!  I don't believe in the Hairy Thunderer!

LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Internet Jesus]

No idea if it's already been mentioned here, but this site is intriguing, and might conceivably be a place for gentle trolling and/or recruiting:
http://atheismplus.com/

Atheism+ is a safe space for people to discuss how religion affects everyone and to apply skepticism and critical thinking to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, GLBT issues, politics, poverty, and crime.

Heard about it from this vice.com article.

I've had this come up in a number of different discussions on-line.  Even though I pretty much agree with them down the line - I still kind of resent it.  I mean, I get what trying to be done here, the folks at FTB are trying to construct a political identity for Atheists, in a distinctly American context, to serve hopefully as a counter balance to the religious right.  But my Atheism isn't the rock bottom of my personal identity, so why would I want to build my political identity on that?

More to the point if you're basing anything in your identity on your lack of belief in something, that just seems wrong at some level.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

No idea if it's already been mentioned here, but this site is intriguing, and might conceivably be a place for gentle trolling and/or recruiting:
http://atheismplus.com/

Atheism+ is a safe space for people to discuss how religion affects everyone and to apply skepticism and critical thinking to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, GLBT issues, politics, poverty, and crime.

Heard about it from this vice.com article.

I've had this come up in a number of different discussions on-line.  Even though I pretty much agree with them down the line - I still kind of resent it.  I mean, I get what trying to be done here, the folks at FTB are trying to construct a political identity for Atheists, in a distinctly American context, to serve hopefully as a counter balance to the religious right.  But my Atheism isn't the rock bottom of my personal identity, so why would I want to build my political identity on that?

More to the point if you're basing anything in your identity on your lack of belief in something, that just seems wrong at some level.

And that "safe place" thing implies they're huddling up for some good old collective fart breathing.

[Internet Jesus]

No idea if it's already been mentioned here, but this site is intriguing, and might conceivably be a place for gentle trolling and/or recruiting:
http://atheismplus.com/

Atheism+ is a safe space for people to discuss how religion affects everyone and to apply skepticism and critical thinking to everything, including social issues like sexism, racism, GLBT issues, politics, poverty, and crime.

Heard about it from this vice.com article.

I've had this come up in a number of different discussions on-line.  Even though I pretty much agree with them down the line - I still kind of resent it.  I mean, I get what trying to be done here, the folks at FTB are trying to construct a political identity for Atheists, in a distinctly American context, to serve hopefully as a counter balance to the religious right.  But my Atheism isn't the rock bottom of my personal identity, so why would I want to build my political identity on that?

More to the point if you're basing anything in your identity on your lack of belief in something, that just seems wrong at some level.

And that "safe place" thing implies they're huddling up for some good old collective fart breathing.

I don't know about that.  I understand the idea behind a "safe place" concept, and while it frequently does turn into just another echo chamber where you can tune out WRONGTHINK - al la FR or DU for the political junkie - it can be useful as a controlled discussion.  Whether it becomes the former or the latter is up to those who run it.  I have seen both, they do exist. 

Whether the folks at FTB can swing it or not - I'm agnostic about, just because FTB RAEPS the corpse of irony just by its name, but whatever.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I don't know about that.  I understand the idea behind a "safe place" concept, and while it frequently does turn into just another echo chamber where you can tune out WRONGTHINK - al la FR or DU for the political junkie - it can be useful as a controlled discussion.  Whether it becomes the former or the latter is up to those who run it.  I have seen both, they do exist.

I'll take your word on it.  My own experience is that any sight with the words "safe place" associated with it is ban-happy, with the ban trigger being "disagreeing with the group in an effective way."  They're there to slap-ass and high five about how much smarter they are than other people who believe things they can't prove. 

[Mangrove]

I don't believe in an angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon. WHO'S WITH ME????

I also don't believe in the angry unicorn on the dark side of the moon. However, I philosophically disagree with your definitions of  'angry', 'unicorn' and 'moon'. I'm going to call my new position 'I don't believe in an angry unicorn plus.'




A schism about 'absence' ITT