I don't see the anti-theism here to be any worse than the anti-atheism,
First off, overt anti-anything doesn't belong here. Anyone who comes into RF preaching either for or against religion, or bashing any group, is in the wrong place.
The purpose of this place is to share information about what you believe, not to tell anyone else what they should or shouldn't believe.
Secondly, I disagree: I see a lot more instances of people bashing religion(s) than I see of religious people bashing the non-religious.
One thing that really bugs me is that, if you'll notice, anytime we get a militant religious person in here---bashing atheists or proselytizing--- the religious people are just as likely to call him on his crap as the non-religious people are.
On the other hand, when we get a militantly anti-religious troll in here, you'll see all kinds of other non-religious people lining up to give the troll a cyber high-5. Even some of the educated non-religious people---people who know better and who know for a fact that the troll is spouting nonsense---chime in to give an "amen".
except that there seem to be more atheists who are up for religious debates than theists. Let's not forget that this portion of the forum exists for the purpose of conducting debates over religion, and debates of that sort can get heated and, for many people, abusive.
Debate is fine. Getting upset over the course of a debate is understandable. On the other hand, when you see people taking every opportunity to malign religion/theism, even when it has nothing at all to do with the topic, this is something else all together.
This is especially true in an internet forum, where it is easy to mistake the intentions of others and to read things into posts that weren't there in the first place.
Still, when you see some of the same people doing the same thing consistently, the pattern speaks for itself.
What bothers me about theism is not just the belief that it trains people to suspend critical thinking or engage in special pleading, but that it can have a profound impact on public policies.
"Theism" doesn't train people to do anything. All theism is is the belief that there's sentience behind the ordering of the universe. And in a lot of instances it isn't a matter of suspending critical thinking, it's a matter of being open-minded enough to pursue the idea that there may be something beyond or out of the reach of critical thinking.
I live in a country where politicians are often required to declare their religious affiliation while running for public office, even though the government is officially secular.
And whose fault is that? Traditions don't develop in a vacuum. A lot of the reason the religious right has the power and influence that they do is because they're playing to the sensibilities of an organized, cohesive demographic. And it's a demographic that votes.
Science classes in public schools are dumbed down to avoid offense to a minority of religious believers, and women are harassed or denied the right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term because of the religious views of--again--a minority of citizens.
Yes, there are still scenes of pampered, spoiled middle and upper class Americans standing outside of abortion clinics and Family Planning offices shouting insults and pointing their fingers at less privileged women, often just girls, and spewing a lot of self-righteous nonsense that does nothing at all but make a traumatic event in the woman's life even more traumatic.
If someone were to organize a counter-protest to that, or take an active stance to make it harder for these self-appointed prophets of morality to do what they do, that person would deserve support and respect.
Coming into an internet forum and bagging on religion and religious people in general doesn't do anything at all to alleviate that problem, or to take any of the power out of the hands of the religious right.
All it does is offend a lot of innocent bystanders.
But that political influence is not a necessary consequence of theism. It is just an unfortunate fact of how religion plays out in my country in these times. When religion is a matter of personal conscience, not public policy, then I have no problem with it. I'm happy to carry on a religious debate with those who wish to, but I have no desire to impose my religious opinions on others.
Then you aren't one of the people the OP is talking about.
