Conservative Atheists

[Revoltingest]

I'm curious. My experience has been that most opposition to these things is religious in nature. What non-religious arguments do you propose for banning gay marriage, banning abortion and banning drug use (although this last one is more understandable than the others - much drug use does cause readily apparent harm to people and society.)

In the case of abortion, an atheist could see the fetus as a baby, & not want it killed.

 

[Rival]

I'm curious. My experience has been that most opposition to these things is religious in nature. What non-religious arguments do you propose for banning gay marriage, banning abortion and banning drug use (although this last one is more understandable than the others - much drug use does cause readily apparent harm to people and society.)

I'm not here to make the arguments, because I'm not the Atheist in question. I'm just pointing out that such Atheists exist and I'm tired of Atheism being tied up with liberalism.

 

[Rival]

Also this isn't a debate section, so I'm not arguing anything.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm not here to make the arguments, because I'm not the atheist in question. I'm just pointing out that such Atheists exist and I'm tired of Atheism being tied up with liberalism.

I recall that once here on RF, a poster marveled at my being both an atheist and a capitalist.
Apparently, we're supposed to all be commies?

 

[Quintessence]

This. Pretty much. Without religion I simply can't come up with any reason, especially logical, to oppose gay marriage. Most "traditional" stances seem to have their basis in certain religious teachings. Take those away and there appears to be a lack of reasonable arguments (not that the religious arguments are reasonable to begin with) to advocate for many "traditional" stances. So for someone who admits to not having religious beliefs at all it seems utterly incomprehensible that they would have any valid reasons for said stances.

Culture. Cultural norms and traditions make it pretty easy for just about any pattern of human behavior to exist across the spectrum. Considering religion is a subtype or facet of culture, it doesn't seem particularly hard to imagine other aspects of culture serving the exact same role by enforcing the notion of "homosexuals = bad." Hell, we already have strong cultural narratives that enshrine monogamous heterosexual unions... no imagination is even necessary here.

 

[dust1n]

My father has been a conservative/libertarian and an atheist, if not a nihilist, as long as I can remember. No surprises here.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

That's the great thing about atheism, anyone can join! Even theists can have provisional membership! Hurrah!

 

[Mohammad Nur Syamsu]

Exist.

They do.

When I was an Atheist, my views were almost no different to to how they are now. As an Atheist, I opposed gay marriage, abortion, alcohol, promiscuous sex et al. I'm tired of folks thinking that Atheist = liberal and Christian = conservative. There are political views of all types on both sides of the theist-atheist spectrum.

I don't understand where this "liberal Atheist" idea has come from. Believe it or not, there are Atheists who are just as conservative as me. Why does this bother some people? Why don't they think they exist?

If someone is not religious, then they don't have the devoted part of emotional life, and they are flaky. conservative should be understood in regards to natural man, otherwise communist conservatives count as conservatives. And natural man just naturally has religion, and irreligion is just a societal disease of modernity.

 

[Desert Snake]

That's the great thing about atheism, anyone can join! Even theists can have provisional membership! Hurrah!

Atheism isn't an assertion, remember?

 

[Draka]

If someone is not religious, then they don't have the devoted part of emotional life, and they are flaky. conservative should be understood in regards to natural man, otherwise communist conservatives count as conservatives. And natural man just naturally has religion, and irreligion is just a societal disease of modernity.

Wow, that whole post is a ridiculous and false assumption.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I think the reason people assume atheists are more likely to be liberal (especially in regard to gay marriage) is because they have absolutely no reason not to be. Certain religions say being gay is "sinful," but why on earth would an atheist choose to hate on consenting adult people wanting to be married? What is the reason? (Seriously... atheists who are pro-treat-gay-people-like-trash - what is your reason? At least believing that a super-judgmental-ultimate-creator-and-destroyer being will hate our planet if gay people are treated equally is a reason that could legitimately terrify anyone who believes it.)

I can, however, see why anyone, religious or not, might be against alcohol (as it can be dangerous and kill people,) abortion (as it can be dangerous and kill people,) or promiscuous sex, (as it can be dangerous and kill people.)

No, seriously. I never knew being against alcohol was a conservative thing. I didn't know anyone was actively against it. I always saw it as more of a thing some people do and some don't. I never saw it as political. And abortion, while most who disagree with it are religious, I can totally understand someone disagreeing on a non-religious basis. I myself am against late-term abortion, and am extremely atheist. As for promiscuous sex? I'm not really sure what you mean by that...

 

[Jumi]

It depends how conservative is defined I guess.

 

[Revoltingest]

It depends how conservative is defined I guess.

Some definitions I've seen used here in N Americastan......
- Favoring the status quo
- Religious fundamentalism (particularly Xian)
- Favoring capitalism, independent of being socially libertarian or not
- Socially restrictive
- Republican Party affiliation or alignment

I prefer the Nolan Chart definitions.....

But I do quibble with "socialist" being under "Left".
They aren't necessarily the same, since they could also be under "Statist" (as allowed under dictionary definitions of "socialism").

 

[Jumi]

I guess I'd fall into the libertarian mold in that chart. I'm big on the freedom part.

 

[Revoltingest]

I guess I'd fall into the libertarian mold in that chart. I'm big on the freedom part.

As do I....in the extreme northernn corner of the chart.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

If someone is not religious, then they don't have the devoted part of emotional life, and they are flaky. conservative should be understood in regards to natural man, otherwise communist conservatives count as conservatives. And natural man just naturally has religion, and irreligion is just a societal disease of modernity.

I've had tastier word salads, but I'll give yours points for the addition of 'dead horse' as a spicy garnish.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I'm not here to make the arguments, because I'm not the Atheist in question. I'm just pointing out that such Atheists exist and I'm tired of Atheism being tied up with liberalism.

Ditto. I don't acknowledge any God whatsoever and have been a registered Republican for decades. I'm a huge proponent of conservatism and I vote.

 

[Penumbra]

Exist.

They do.

When I was an Atheist, my views were almost no different to to how they are now. As an Atheist, I opposed gay marriage, abortion, alcohol, promiscuous sex et al. I'm tired of folks thinking that Atheist = liberal and Christian = conservative. There are political views of all types on both sides of the theist-atheist spectrum.

I don't understand where this "liberal Atheist" idea has come from. Believe it or not, there are Atheists who are just as conservative as me. Why does this bother some people? Why don't they think they exist?

It's a statistical thing.

At least in my country, the US, poll after poll show that people that identify as atheists/agnostic/non-religious are more socially liberal than religious people, taken as a whole. By a significant margin.

Some small religious groups like Jews and UU's rival oreven exceed atheists in social liberalism, but the religious demographic as a whole leans much more socially conservative.