The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Why Everybody Hates Atheists

Posted on | December 4, 2013 | 112 Comments

It’s not just because atheists kill babies, because not all atheists do. But let’s admit that, in a universe of accidental randomness, there is nothing particularly special about a little clump of cells.

Or a bigger clump of cells, for that matter. So if the atheists who don’t kill babies have a good argument against raping babies . . .

Look, I’m not saying all atheists are like Mark Newton and Peter Truong, and probably, some atheists are against raping babies.

But that’s not the reason everybody hates atheists, anyway.

It’s the pushy, arrogant self-righteousness. And I’m not even talking about atheists like Kim Jong-un. Not all atheists are brutal communist dictators. Some atheists are against communism, dictatorship and brutality. On the other hand, 70 percent of those who stated their religion as “none” voted for Obama. Just sayin’ . . .

Tuesday evening, I noticed Gabriella Hoffman was under attack by Twitter trolls. Gabby complained about “militant atheists who thrive on souring the holiday season while behaving like tyrants.”

Ah, the War on Christmas — and the same obnoxious atheists who have spent years waging the War on Christmas now claim that this is something that Fox News and Bill O’Reilly are just making up. In fact, it was Peter Brimelow who first described the “War on Christmas” in 1999 — four years before the Southern Poverty Law Center branded him a “white supremacist.” Probably just a coincidence.

Anyway, atheists trolls were attacking Gabby Hoffman, because they hate women. That’s not merely cheap sarcasm, because the atheist movement’s problem with women is rather notorious:

[Karen] Stollznow says that, when she told friends about her situation, many were unsurprised, regarding [Benjamin] Radford as “creepy … a weirdo … sexist … perverted.” Her accusation was made in the context of a general complaint among women in the atheist movement that they are victims of sexism, discrimination and harassment. These complaints caused a stir a couple years ago when a young atheist, Rebecca Watson, got into an Internet dispute with Richard Dawkins, a famed Darwinian opponent of Christianity.
Watson told how women didn’t want to attend atheist conferences because “they felt uncomfortable in a room full of men” and “were hit on constantly” by seemingly desperate atheist men who “try to get in the pants of every woman who walks through the door.”

It’s not me saying this, you see.

As I say, however, it’s the pushy arrogance of atheists that makes everybody hate them, because the atheist cherishes the notion that his disbelief makes him intellectually superior to those whom he disdains as being in the thrall of ignorant superstition.

Atheists therefore cannot keep silent, but must constantly mock and scoff, publicly disparaging Christianity and the Bible, supporting every measure to marginalize and stigmatize Christian belief, so that no Christian can ever enjoy a moment’s peace.

Because . . . Science!

Ace of Spades has commented on this tendency:

If atheists are so logical and rational and sensible — which is the key point of atheistic evangelism, of course — why are they behaving in counterproductive, emotional, cult-like ways? . . .
What it seems like is a lot of teenager-ish acting up, a lot of anger over hurts in the formative years, a seething need to get payback against faceless oppressors. . . .
If freeing yourselves from religion has really made you more rational and all-around better thinkers, why do I see not only no evidence of such increased rationality and overall brainpower, but what I’d mark as a net decline?

Indeed, it’s like people who aren’t intellectuals, but use a lot of fancy jargon because they want to seem intellectual — a narcissistic desire to see oneself as superior to others, to be regarded as belonging to The Intellectual Club, from which inferiors are excluded.

This craving for a sense of superiority is a central focus of Thomas Sowell’s The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy, and is closely related to the phenomena described by Christopher Lasch in The Culture of Narcisissm: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations. (These are books, by the way, which a lot of soi-disant “intellectuals” can’t be bothered to read.) Religion is an obstacle to self-worship, and the honest confession of ignorance — to say that we are mere mortals who don’t know all the answers — is a humiliation that the atheist arrogantly refuses to accept.

Barrett Brown promotes atheism on Fox News, January 2009

Pride goeth before a fall, and the first thing I ever knew about Barrett Brown was that he had been the communication director of the atheist group Enlighten the Vote, also known as the Godless Americans Political Action Committee, as I have remarked:

Brown’s atheism and his insuperable arrogance were hand and glove: Assuming that religious people are ignorant bigots, to whom he was infinitely superior, Barrett then proceeded to a series of assumptions that seemed to him equally plausible, ultimately including the erroneous assumption that he could get away with threatening to “destroy” an FBI agent’s life.

Barrett was a “Special Snowflake” to whom the rules did not apply, so that dropping out of college and “doing . . . a ‘heroic’ amount of Ecstasy and acid” was entirely acceptable, as was heroin, to which he became addicted. None of these failures was enough to convince Barrett Brown that he was less superior than he imagined; the belief in your own superiority is an article of faith in the Cult of the Self.

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Barrett Brown ranting on YouTube, September 2012

Well, not every atheist has a paranoid meltdown that lands him in federal custody facing more than 100 years in prison, but Barrett Brown’s fate seems rather symbolic of what Ace described as “teenager-ish acting up, a lot of anger over hurts in the formative years, a seething need to get payback against faceless oppressors.”

Not every militant atheist is a raving lunatic or a baby-raper, nor do all atheists vote Democrat. But all atheists deny God, and are contemptuous of Christians, whom they regard as ignorant bigots.

It is this arrogant attitude that makes atheists so obnoxious in their behavior, so that everybody hates them — except Christians, whom Jesus commanded to pray for their enemies.

That Jesus — always spoiling the fun!

 

 


Category: Christmas, Culture, Intellectuals, Religion

Comments

112 Responses to “Why Everybody Hates Atheists”

  1. CFLancop
    December 4th, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

    Why Everybody Hates Atheists http://t.co/HPY7Tkh2en A solid piece by @rsmccain. 100% agree that atheists are overly arrogant. #tcot #ccot

  2. RKae
    December 4th, 2013 @ 12:46 pm

    A good way to view it!

  3. StarCoreOne02
    December 4th, 2013 @ 12:49 pm

    RT @CFLancop: Why Everybody Hates Atheists http://t.co/HPY7Tkh2en A solid piece by @rsmccain. 100% agree that atheists are overly arrogant.…

  4. DutraGale
    December 4th, 2013 @ 12:51 pm

    RT @Citzcom: Why Everybody Hates Atheists: @rsmccain
    Science! http://t.co/eF0OvaV1A3 — Lee Ritz, M.D. (@lee_ritz) Dece… http://t.co/uCE4…

  5. DutraGale
    December 4th, 2013 @ 12:52 pm

    RT @rsmccain: FACT: 70 percent of those who stated their religion as “none” voted for Obama. http://t.co/DhBXoJPaZU

  6. M. Thompson
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:00 pm

    There is a great difference between those, like Dawkins, who reject the idea of God, and those who just don’t feel a reason to believe.

    One group can be saved, the other cannot.

  7. Stogie Chomper
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:01 pm

    Rick, you are correct in saying that atheism is a kind of faith. It is a negative faith.

  8. ewb
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:04 pm

    I am an atheist. I am not contemptuous of Christians. I do not regard them as ignorant bigots. I do not have an empty hole in my soul. I am strongly opposed to abortion at any point following conception. I am a human and I always root for the home team.

  9. richard mcenroe
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:29 pm

    Then we can rely on you against the Martian threat, I suppose.

  10. Anon Y. Mous
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:30 pm

    That Ace of Spades piece you quoted from is excellent. I have no doubt that you read the parts you didn’t quote, including the following:

    One of the reasons I call attention to such hypocrisies and sillinesses among organized atheists is to demonstrate a point.

    I myself am atheist/agnostic (or even Deist) depending on the day of the week.

    That’s why it surprised me to get to the conclusion of your piece, where you say:

    Not every militant atheist is a raving lunatic or a baby-raper, nor do all atheists vote Democrat. But all atheists deny God, and are contemptuous of Christians, whom they regard as ignorant bigots.

    Ace was talking about a certain kind of atheist, but did not make the category error of applying what he said about some atheists to all atheists (perhaps it was easier for him to avoid the temptation, having atheistic leanings himself). You are not so careful in your arguments and end up making some decidedly un-Christian conclusions based on some very sloppy logic.

    There is no doubt that there is a type of atheist who is very contemptuous of Christians. They don’t look at the person and engage them at a human level, preferring to let their bigotry define the other. As you so ably demonstrate here, there are some Christians who do the same to atheists.

  11. thomas1690
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:30 pm

    RT @rsmccain: FACT: 70 percent of those who stated their religion as “none” voted for Obama. http://t.co/DhBXoJPaZU

  12. thomas1690
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:30 pm

    RT @rsmccain: FACT: Not all atheists are brutal communist dictators. http://t.co/DhBXoJPaZU

  13. Art Deco
    December 4th, 2013 @ 1:44 pm

    She’s also advancing a nonsense thesis. Read the psychologist Paul Vitz on this subject.

  14. FenelonSpoke
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:02 pm

    I am not familiar with Paul Vitz. What do you recommend I read?

  15. robertstacymccain
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:07 pm

    Ace expresses doubt, see?

    He is not an atheist in the sense of certainty.

    To doubt — well, who doesn’t occasionally doubt?

    Doubt is human. It is the inhuman certainty of the militant atheist (or the militant anything) that we find so obnoxious.

  16. Adjoran
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:14 pm

    I’ve met a few, too. BUT – much like Bigfoot – they are blurry around the edges and don’t photograph well.

  17. Adjoran
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:15 pm

    Ya gotta get to ’em before they start taking Gender Studies courses.

  18. Adjoran
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:15 pm

    Nicely put!

  19. Quartermaster
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:21 pm

    Or, they will believe anything except that there’s a God.

  20. Quartermaster
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:23 pm

    “Irrational Atheist” by Vox Day is a good book to read. It used to be free to download in pdf format. He pretty much pulverizes atheism for what it is.

  21. Quartermaster
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:24 pm

    I call people like Dawkins and Krauss credentialed morons.

  22. Quartermaster
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:27 pm

    He’s given us many ways to find Him. People like Dawkins, however, pervert one of the most important sign posts available. The more I learn of Physics and Biology, the more I know there is a God.

  23. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:36 pm

    That is spot on about militant atheists. They love to lambaste believers and then go on their “rational” jihad. What they criticize about believers in a negative sense they adopt, by a factor of ten or more.

  24. RS
    December 4th, 2013 @ 2:51 pm

    The fact that many atheists feel the need to evangelize at all gives the game away. The obvious question is, “to what end?” Christian evangelism has a purpose, and indeed, Christians are enjoined to witness. What compels the atheist to do so? I’ve yet to read or hear any compelling, fact based argument that the world would somehow transform into some sort of Utopia from the Hobbesian nightmare it we all endure. The only reason I find persuasive is that most evangelical atheists are at heart, miserable people whose psychological make-up necessitates ruining other peoples’ days. Hence, the manufactured offence at something as pedestrian as “Merry Christmas” or the display of the creche. Or, if you’re in Texas, a prayer before football. You’d think the atheists would try to keep their ranks small. After all, with all the Christians in church on Sunday morning, there are great tee times available at the club.

  25. tlk244182
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:14 pm

    And their ‘goodness’ is purely natural, built on the shifting sands of attributes and circumstances. Here today, gone tomorrow. I cant imagine an unbelieving Thomas More, or Maximilian Kolbe, or even Don Bosco. I certainly can’t imagine an unbelieving Maria Goretti.

  26. Tom Kratman
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:15 pm

    You might enjoy this: http://www.tomkratman.com/Ranttuloriad.html

  27. tlk244182
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:23 pm

    “…believe anything, so long as it’s not in the Bible.” Mark Twain (I think)

  28. AmPowerBlog
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:23 pm

    RT @Citzcom: Why Everybody Hates Atheists: @rsmccain
    Science! http://t.co/eF0OvaV1A3 — Lee Ritz, M.D. (@lee_ritz) Dece… http://t.co/uCE4…

  29. tlk244182
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:24 pm

    Now THAT’S funny.

  30. AmPowerBlog
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:24 pm

    RT @RSMcCain FACT: Not all atheists are brutal communist dictators. http://t.co/kMRTAIAoVn …

  31. tlk244182
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:25 pm

    Christianity=only religion I ever feared.

  32. Red__Rover
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:25 pm

    RT @AmPowerBlog: RT @RSMcCain FACT: Not all atheists are brutal communist dictators. http://t.co/kMRTAIAoVn …

  33. MarkG_03
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:32 pm

    RT @rsmccain: Why Everybody Hates Atheists http://t.co/DhBXoJPaZU Hat-tips @Gabby_Hoffman @lee_ritz @aceofspadeshq #tcot

  34. pavaojc
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:42 pm

    Why Everybody Hates Atheists : The Other McCain http://t.co/JBustqyqdp

  35. Socialism: Organized Evil
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:43 pm

    If today’s liberals will callously murder the unborn, who won’t they attack?

  36. Socialism: Organized Evil
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:43 pm

    Do they use the Christian moral structure?

  37. Dawgeard
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:45 pm

    I am atheistic. I am merely ‘without god’. This does not mean I have no spirituality. I love my fellow humans and hope to be a good impact on the world I come in contact with. Blessings can happen with or without religion. I just feel it.

  38. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 4th, 2013 @ 3:58 pm

  39. Obama Donkey Kong? | Regular Right Guy
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:18 pm

    […] Why Everybody Hates Atheists […]

  40. DocWashburn
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:24 pm

    RT @rsmccain: FACT: Not all atheists are brutal communist dictators. http://t.co/DhBXoJPaZU

  41. Joe Dokes
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

    No truly convinced atheist would waste time attempting to argue theists out of their beliefs.

  42. Joe Dokes
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:54 pm

    Whoever said it knows better now.

  43. Joe Dokes
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:57 pm

    Yes. If they were consistent with their own (often unexamined) premises, they’d be unable to come up with an independent one of their own.

  44. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    December 4th, 2013 @ 4:58 pm

    Funny! There is a fish related Rule 5 today you might like. http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2013/12/women-with-fish-rule-5.html

  45. Socialism: Organized Evil
    December 4th, 2013 @ 5:28 pm

    At least marxism is consistent in the sense that it rejects the Christian moral structure for an anti-Christian moral structure of envy, deceit, theft, and murder.

  46. Joe Dokes
    December 4th, 2013 @ 5:51 pm

    “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
    unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

    Someone feel free to explain how this does not apply.

  47. La Pucelle
    December 4th, 2013 @ 7:27 pm

    That’s not atheism, that’s Buddhism.

  48. Dawgeard
    December 4th, 2013 @ 7:29 pm

    Why no, it’s not. : )

  49. La Pucelle
    December 4th, 2013 @ 7:48 pm

    Buddhism is considered to be a nontheistic religion. (A religion can be godless. God =/=religion by default) While is has its own philosophies (just as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and even classical paganism do) the difference is that philosophy deals strictly with schools of thought, while religion also covers spiritual/supernatural matters.

    Discussions about the nature of Nirvana lies outside the purview of strict philosophy. Spirituality without a god is also more widely known by another name: agnosticism.

  50. La Pucelle
    December 4th, 2013 @ 7:52 pm

    C.S. Lewis FTW.