Athiest Forum Full Of Arrogance

[ChristineES]

What I've noticed is that there are a lot of people out there who seem to have little tolerance for those who don't think the same they do or who aren't the same as they are. It isn't limited to people of religion or people without religion, but for anything at all. Certain thin people might torment overweight people, smart people may torment people who don't have a lot of book smarts, and I could go on.

Most people can deal with differences, but some people can't.

 

[psychoslice]

What I've noticed is that there are a lot of people out there who seem to have little tolerance for those who don't think the same they do or who aren't the same as they are. It isn't limited to people of religion or people without religion, but for anything at all. Certain thin people might torment overweight people, smart people may torment people who don't have a lot of book smarts, and I could go on.

Most people can deal with differences, but some people can't.

Yea I agree, what I have noticed is that if they don't agree with someone, they will all come in for the attack, like vultures, when I say those I mean the egocentric ones, for of course there are also deccent people there.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Anytime people isolate themselves in a bubble of exclusivity, they seem to become reactive, aggressive, and antagonistic to outsiders, and also seem to grow increasingly narrow and rigid with their views. The key to any healthy community, no matter the scale, is some level of diversity.

 

[psychoslice]

Anytime people isolate themselves in a bubble of exclusivity, they seem to become reactive, aggressive, and antagonistic to outsiders, and also seem to grow increasingly narrow and rigid with their views. The key to any healthy community, no matter the scale, is some level of diversity.

Yes that makes sense, I feel that this particular atheist forum only want religious people to join, so they can ridicule and have fun together, which they seem to enjoy.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

An atheist has been defined as one who cannot imagine that anything could exist superior to themself So, what else can you expect? Actually, I have known some very nice atheists, but the arrogance of what one might call "evangelical atheists" can equal that of any other fundamentalist.

This forum is very civilised. Recently I made some similar posts here and in another place about the Old Testament. Here, two people thanked me. There, I was branded an antisemite and lost so many reputation points that I'm officially described as "infamous". Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me!

 

[Quintessence]

Diversity doesn't always work, though. It doesn't make up for poor moderation. That was my experience participating in a very large web forum many years ago. I mostly discussed things with other people who identified with a specific subculture, but a cadre of people within this subculture tended to troll anyone who didn't agree with their way of seeing things. This aggressive cadre effectively ended up dominating conversations because they bullied everyone else into silence. This created a toxic environment that dominated for years, and that wouldn't have happened if the board was correctly moderated. The same thing could happen here, regardless of diversity. Diversity must be accompanied with an ethic of respectfulness that is enforced with rules or laws.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Perhaps we should judge the forum on its own merits rather than on the eagerly shared impressions of one opponent.

 

[Vinayaka]

Although nobody has named the other forum, doesn't our rule 9 apply?


9. Bashing Other Forums
Where it is necessary to the context of a thread, it is permissible to mention other forums/boards and their content. It is never permissible to attack them or belittle them or show them in a bad light. Posts that do so, will be edited or removed and may be subject to moderation.

 

[psychoslice]

An atheist has been defined as one who cannot imagine that anything could exist superior to themself So, what else can you expect? Actually, I have known some very nice atheists, but the arrogance of what one might call "evangelical atheists" can equal that of any other fundamentalist.

This forum is very civilised. Recently I made some similar posts here and in another place about the Old Testament. Here, two people thanked me. There, I was branded an antisemite and lost so many reputation points that I'm officially described as "infamous". Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me!

Yes no matter where you go you will always find those who just cannot connect with what we share, they are too ready to jump onto anyone who says something that they don't agree with, but that is with all, atheist or religious people.

 

[psychoslice]

Diversity doesn't always work, though. It doesn't make up for poor moderation. That was my experience participating in a very large web forum many years ago. I mostly discussed things with other people who identified with a specific subculture, but a cadre of people within this subculture tended to troll anyone who didn't agree with their way of seeing things. This aggressive cadre effectively ended up dominating conversations because they bullied everyone else into silence. This created a toxic environment that dominated for years, and that wouldn't have happened if the board was correctly moderated. The same thing could happen here, regardless of diversity. Diversity must be accompanied with an ethic of respectfulness that is enforced with rules or laws.

Yes and this is what I was about to say, if this forum didn't have the rules that it does, how would most of us truly act, and that includes me.

 

[psychoslice]

Perhaps we should judge the forum on its own merits rather than on the eagerly shared impressions of one opponent.

So true, but this particular forum had just about no rules, everyone or most were in complete chaos, the filth that they were saying was the worse I have ever heard, and I have head a lot of filth in my time.

 

[psychoslice]

Although nobody has named the other forum, doesn't our rule 9 apply?


9. Bashing Other Forums
Where it is necessary to the context of a thread, it is permissible to mention other forums/boards and their content. It is never permissible to attack them or belittle them or show them in a bad light. Posts that do so, will be edited or removed and may be subject to moderation.

Yes I realized that, but I am not going to name this forum, so I see no problem in that, we all here talk about other people or whatever, there's no difference.

 

[dust1n]

Although nobody has named the other forum, doesn't our rule 9 apply?


9. Bashing Other Forums
Where it is necessary to the context of a thread, it is permissible to mention other forums/boards and their content. It is never permissible to attack them or belittle them or show them in a bad light. Posts that do so, will be edited or removed and may be subject to moderation.

Hmm, I not sure that applies if the other forum isn't mentioned. It would difficult to go about a forum and not end up discussing how many of us didn't quite fit in there or something. But as long as a name isn't stated, I'm not sure why I would see it would it matter.

 

[psychoslice]

Yes, and I think we need to know what is out there, who knows you might go to that particular forum, but having known about such forums would be a advantage, where I found out the hard way. But saying that, I must also say that they are treating me much better, only because they found out that I was schizophrenic, which is really sad.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

It really depends on the culture of the forum. There are both atheist and Christian forums out there where people are generally mean spirited or suspicious of outsiders just has there are forums where the culture is more open to newcomers and actually want to have meaningful discussion.

It was probably just a bad mix of people, believe me I have been to some psychotic and mean-spirited forums before...but they didn't involve discussing religion...it was mostly about comic books. Those Marvel fans can be vicious.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

That's exactly how it went for me too back when I was seeking an all-atheist group. After that I decided to go to an all-Christian group, that didn't work out either. Then I tried a General Pagan forum, and all that I could see there is arrogance widespread and people saying random, meaningless sentences jumbled words that didn't even make sense.

What I've come to realize is; variety is the only good, having something consist of only the exact same thing that something will eventually get way out of hand there'll be nothing to influence change and moving on, and a culture out of motion, staying exactly the same, is the worst kind of hell you can possibly imagine.

 

[Vinayaka]

Yes, and I think we need to know what is out there, who knows you might go to that particular forum, but having known about such forums would be a advantage, where I found out the hard way. But saying that, I must also say that they are treating me much better, only because they found out that I was schizophrenic, which is really sad.

I'm glad you were aware of bashing other forums. I don't see it as a problem in this case, and only mentioned it more like a question. I'm a moderator at another forum, and I've taken the heat more than once on here, but ignored it.

As for the schizophrenia, and change of behaviour from others, that makes total sense to me. I taught for nearly 30 years, and as teachers we felt we needed to be privy to student's medical issues just so we could adjust our behaviour to better meet their needs. A simple example was a kid with bad hearing in one ear placed on the side of the classroom where he wouldn't have to turn as much.

Here on line of course things are different, but I know I'm sensitive to other people's traits. I tend to be more tolerant of someone who is grieving, old and set in their ways, moody, etc. I feel it's the human thing to do. In real life, reading up on certain things helps in observation. Asperger's is a classic example. One guy I knew, I thought was a real _____! but then when I Asperger's was revealed, and I read up on it, it all made so much more sense.

Not that everyone needs to advertise it all, but from an observational and compassionate standpoint, it can help.

 

[psychoslice]

It really depends on the culture of the forum. There are both atheist and Christian forums out there where people are generally mean spirited or suspicious of outsiders just has there are forums where the culture is more open to newcomers and actually want to have meaningful discussion.

It was probably just a bad mix of people, believe me I have been to some psychotic and mean-spirited forums before...but they didn't involve discussing religion...it was mostly about comic books. Those Marvel fans can be vicious.

Yea I suppose your right, its mainly an atheist forum and so you are going to have people who arrogant because of numbers, the gutless usually come in for the kill when someone is down already.

 

[psychoslice]

I'm glad you were aware of bashing other forums. I don't see it as a problem in this case, and only mentioned it more like a question. I'm a moderator at another forum, and I've taken the heat more than once on here, but ignored it.

As for the schizophrenia, and change of behaviour from others, that makes total sense to me. I taught for nearly 30 years, and as teachers we felt we needed to be privy to student's medical issues just so we could adjust our behaviour to better meet their needs. A simple example was a kid with bad hearing in one ear placed on the side of the classroom where he wouldn't have to turn as much.

Here on line of course things are different, but I know I'm sensitive to other people's traits. I tend to be more tolerant of someone who is grieving, old and set in their ways, moody, etc. I feel it's the human thing to do. In real life, reading up on certain things helps in observation. Asperger's is a classic example. One guy I knew, I thought was a real _____! but then when I Asperger's was revealed, and I read up on it, it all made so much more sense.

Not that everyone needs to advertise it all, but from an observational and compassionate standpoint, it can help.

I suppose I went into that forum being naïve , I didn't like all the religious stuff because I don't have a belief in a god, so I thought the atheist was the way to go. I realize now that atheist are no different than most religions. Because they knew I didn't believe in a god, they told me that I was an atheist, but I said I don't want to be labelled an atheist. I don't want to be labelled anything, I am a free sprit and that is how I want to be, but no, they still said I was an atheist.

 

[Vinayaka]

I suppose I went into that forum being naïve , I didn't like all the religious stuff because I don't have a belief in a god, so I thought the atheist was the way to go. I realize now that atheist are no different than most religions. Because they knew I didn't believe in a god, they told me that I was an atheist, but I said I don't want to be labelled an atheist. I don't want to be labelled anything, I am a free sprit and that is how I want to be, but no, they still said I was an atheist.

My brother would like it there.