Atheism
Community Guide
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Statement of Purpose
- This is a support and conversation community for people who don't believe in gods.
- Superstition hucksters have no reason to subscribe or post here at all.
- If you are looking to debate or proselytize, options will be linked lower in the sidebar.
Acceptable
- Honest questions or conversations.
- Discussions on parenting or advice.
- Struggles, frustrations, coming out.
- Atheist memes. We can have fun!
- News headlines relevant to atheism.
Unacceptable
Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.
- Anything against site rules.
- Illegal and/or NSFW material.
- Troll posts and comments. There will be no attempt to explain what that means.
- Leading questions, agenda pushing, or disingenuous attempts to bait members.
- Personal attacks or flaming.
Inadvisable
- Self promotion or upvote farming.
- Excessive shitposting or off-topic discussion.
Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.
If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.
Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.
Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.
~ /c/nostupidquestions
If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we'll have a look!
Connect with Atheists
- Matrix: #atheism:envs.net
Help and Support Links
- Freedom From Religion Foundation
- The Secular Therapy Project
- Secular Students Alliance
- Black Nonbelievers
- The Clergy Project
- Atheist Alliance International
- Sunday Assembly
- Atheist Ireland
- Atheism UK
- Atheists United
Streaming Media
This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.
- Atheist Debates - Matt Dillahunty
- Rationality Rules
- Friendly Atheist
- Making Sense with Sam Harris
- Cosmic Skeptic
- Genetically Modified Skeptic
- Street Epistemology
- Armored Skeptic
- NonStampCollector
Orgs, Blogs, Zines
- Center for Inquiry
- American Atheists
- Humanists International
- Atheist Republic
- The Brights
- The Angry Atheist
- History for Atheists
- Rationalist International
- Atheist Revolution
- Debunking Christianity
- Godless Mom
- Atheist Freethinkers
Mainstream
Bibliography
Start here...
...proceed here.
- God is Not Great (Hitchens)
- The God Delusion (Dawkins)
- The End of Faith (Harris)
- Why I Am Not a Christian (Russell)
- Letter to a Christian Nation (Harris)
Proselytize Religion
From Reddit
As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.
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At a different thread, an user expressed doubt about the idea that every single person who showed a hostile attitude towards religion online had been victimized by religion. While such a thing is impossible to prove, there are researchers currently finding out that religious abuse if far more common than the average person probably imagines. This is something that should be brought up whenever we discuss whether religion is positive or not to society, overall.
I know how I feel about it. There are many good and unique things about religion.
The good things are not unique and the unique things are not good.
I would argue anyone who has ever spent time in any kind of fundie christian church has been traumatized whether they realize it or not. The ones who break out do, the ones who didn't, don't.
I grew up atheistic and never really had any negative experiences with religion. Nevertheless I'm rather strictly against organized religion while not opposed to individual spirituality what so ever (as long as it's not forced on other).
Modern religion seems to be overrun with people who have mental illness. Growing up, all the religious people I knew were simply the worst people. They only went to church to be better than others who didn't. Narcissism. And I met one preacher who actually preached Jesus's teachings. And of course the whole congregation hated him. The rest preached about how everyone but those in that room deserved damnation.
I'm an atheist, but saying every single person who is hostile towards religion has been traumatized by it is not a true statement. One single counter-example blows up your whole point. Arguments that say "every single person" are usually a bad idea.
How about the vast majority? Maybe, but even then, we have no numbers, this is another losing point to make. It might be true, but we don't have enough info to back this assertion up enough to change anyone's mind. It is easy for a detractors to roll their eyes at this.
The best you can hope to say without making a fallacy is that a disproptoinate number of anti-religious people have experienced religious trauma. I'd even argue the same for the extreme religious supporters too if they were receptive to the first point.
You have to meet the cognitive dissonance of others half-way or you might as well be talking to a wall. Overstating your point where it is no longer even a logical statement just hurts your own efforts.
It wasn't a statement I made, but "a sizable proportion of people hostile towards religion has been abused by it, and has perfectly legitimate reasons for their positions", which is my own position, is quite defensible.
I’ll add here, I’m not an atheist and I have religious trauma. Don’t confine yourself to those who are hostile to religion or you wind up with a narrow view of the damage done and preselect a solution.
Atheism to sufferers of religious trauma is an extremely healthy first step, and an extremely healthy final step, but it doesn’t need to be either or both.
When you introduce the concept of religious trauma, some, especially those in an abuser-victim state will look to this as an attempt to dissuade them from any religion, and it’s fine to try to do that, I personally dislike proselytization of any form, but regardless, they won’t be open to reevaluating their relationship with their beliefs, including the ones actively harming them. I don’t personally care if the victims leave religion entirely or even the general religion. If we can make people who are perpetuating the cycle of abuse through their religion reevaluate and stop that’s what I want.