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Mocking of atheism

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Although the secular left is known for ridiculing religion since at least the time of French Revolution (see: Atheism and mockery), the secular left is known for its humorlessness when it comes to others mocking of its ideology (See also: Atheism and humor and Atheism and intolerance).

In 2017, the atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, wrote: "...the growing popularity of jibes associating outspoken atheists with fedoras, neckbeards, and virginity, led to an exodus of liberals and leftists from the “atheist” tent. Those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness, and the results were disastrous."[1]

Humor is central to social life and humor can be a societal expression of ridicule/scorn.[2] Concerning various views on atheists, research in the American Sociological Review finds that among several groups listed, atheists are the group that Americans relate least to in terms of their vision of American society and are the group most likely to be mentioned as one that Americans would not want to have marry into their family. [3] A UK study found atheists widely distrusted - even among themselves (see: UK study regarding the public's views of atheists). Psychologists at the University of British Columbia and the University of Oregon published a study which reported that Americans and Canadians distrust atheists as much as rapists (see: Views on atheists#Americans and Canadians distrust atheists as much as rapists). Dr. Sam Harris is one of the founders of the New Atheism movement. Sam Harris is quite aware of the stigma surrounding atheism and has even advocated that atheists no longer call themselves atheists.[4] In fact, Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation."[4][5] See also: Atheism and social outcasts and Closet atheist

Reddit post on the mocking of atheism

See also: Reddit atheism and Internet atheism and YouTube atheism

The article Internet atheism: The thrill is gone! points out that internet atheism has been in a significant slump since 2011. See: Internet atheism

Reddit atheism, also known as r/atheism, is one of the largest internet groups of atheists.[6] See also: Internet atheism

A 2016 Reddit post entitled Why is everyone mocking atheism all of a sudden? declared: "Now making fun of religion gets you labeled as a neckbeard or edgy, when like 2 years ago atheism was the main driving force of reddit?"[7] See also: YouTube atheism

A member of Reddit responded to the post indicating:

“ A few years ago r/atheism had a "faces of atheism" campaign where people submitted pictures of themselves with some comment on atheism on them. It was so embarrassing and cringeworthy that the reddit mods removed r/atheism from the frontpage/main reddits because the reputation of the site itself was being tarnished. Since then, people started combining the (already existing) "fat neckbeard" stereotype with atheism and made parodies of the faces of atheism, like some ugly/underage fedora wearer saying cringe stuff like "intellect is my blade" etc.[7] ”

See also: Unattractiveness of atheism

Atheist trolls and individuals trolling atheists

creationism
"But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them." - Psalm 2:4 (ESV)

See also: Atheist trolls and Atheism and humor and Atheism and arrogance

Both atheists and Muslims have developed a reputation of being thin-skinned (and for wanting to impose their ideology on others). It has been quipped that "Atheism is the easiest religion to troll".[8][9] Internet trolls often actively pursue trolling atheists due to their penchant of being so proud and so easily angered.[10]

In 2012, The Guardian published an article entitled Limmy's Show: Confessions of an internet troll which had the subtitle There's a witch-hunt going on against internet trolls right now. But, argues Scots funnyman Limmy, randomly goading atheists, jocks and non-existent techno geeks can be fun.[10] And of course, being thin-skinned is symptomatic of having excessive pride.

Breitbart journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-described provocateur, indicates "the reason I have a go at atheists is that it's fun. They are so thin-skinned. They are like libertarians, or...they are like liberal Democrats in the UK or..feminists in fact. They are so easy to wind up... They are so touchy."[11]

Most people and cultures take a very dim view of proud people and some cultures are known for actively engaging humbling successful people and/or proud people (Several Anglosphere nations are known for having tall poppy syndrome and Filipinos are known for having a "crab culture". Crabs in a bucket of water will pull down crabs trying to escape from the bucket).

Atheist trolls and atheist bullying:

See also: Atheist trolls

At the same time, atheists are known for trolling others and for engaging in internet atheist bullying.[12][13] See also: Atheist trolls

RationalWiki.org, the Kiwi Farms website and individuals going to RationalWiki.org to troll politically left-leaning atheists

See also: Mocking of atheism and Atheist trolls and Atheism and humor and Atheism and arrogance

RationalWiki.org is a politically left leaning website that skews towards atheism/agnosticism in terms of its worldview.

The editors of the website RationalWiki try to portray the website as a thinking person's wiki where the editors carefully analyze various matters.

But SimilarWeb.com data shows a significant portion of RationalWiki's web audience is interested in "adult" material as can be seen by the "adult" audience interests in the above graphic.

Many feminists contend that pornography exploits women.[14] RationalWiki is a pro-feminism website.[15]

RationalWiki.org is a politically left leaning website that skews towards atheism/agnosticism in terms of its worldview.

As can be seen in the graphic above from SimilarWeb.com, the 5th most similar website audience in terms of RationalWiki.org is Kiwifarms.net. According to Wikipedia, which is a website founded by an atheist and agnostic, "Kiwi Farms, formerly known as CWCki Forums, is an American Internet forum dedicated to the discussion of online figures and communities it deems "lolcows". The targets of threads are often subject to doxing and other forms of organized group trolling, harassment, and stalking, including real-life harassment by users."[16] At the Kiwi Farms website, there is currently 136 pages of discussion pages at the Kiwi Farms website dealing with RationalWiki and much of it is of a disparaging nature.[17]

Parody and satire have their place - Christian parody of atheism and evolution

Although mere appeals to ridicule is a logical fallacy, parody and satire certainly have their place. Because Christianity is so well attested to via evidence and sound argumentation such as the work of Simon Greenleaf and other Christian apologists, Christians certainly have liberty to use parody and satire.

In terms of Christian satire, the Christian apologist JP Holding features a humorous Christian satire work entitled You may be a fundamentalist atheist if..... The biblical creationist organization Answers in Genesis has used satire to ridicule evolutionism.[18]

Thin-skinned YouTube atheists and humor

As far as Christian internet evangelism, YouTube is a popular online video sharing site that provides a method distributing Christian/creationist videos across the world. The YouTube search engine is the second largest search engine in the world.[19]

Logo for the Shockofgod YouTube channel

The popular Christian YouTube channel, Shockofgod, which often uses humor to poke fun at the foolishness of atheism, was shut down several times by atheist cyberbullying through false reports, but he developed counter measures to overcome this problem.[20] These false reports were not isolated incidents. Atheists, during the time that atheists were more active at YouTube (which was at the peak of the New Atheism movement), repeatedly used this deceitful tactic to block out Christianity and creation science videos. See also: YouTube atheism

Oswald Chambers declared about atheism: "The real attitude of sin in the heart towards God is that of being without God; it is pride, the worship of myself, that is the great atheistic fact in human life." [21] See also: Atheism and arrogance

It is often said that atheism is a result of demonic deception (see: Atheism and satanic deception).

In a 2008 interview, Dinesh D'Souza declared:

“ Look at Satan's reason for rebelling against God. It's not that he doesn't recognize that God is greater than he is. He does. It's just that he doesn't want to play by anybody else's rules. This idea that it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven is Satan's motto, and it turns out that this is also the motto of contemporary atheists such as Christopher Hitchens.[22] ”

Thomas More said, "The Devil, the proud spirit, cannot endure to be mocked.".[23]

Christian comedian Brad Stein comedic routine on the irrationality of atheism

See also: Atheism and irrationality and Atheism and logical fallacies and Atheism and logic

The Christian comedian Brad Stein has a popular comedic routine on the irrationality of atheism which has received over 1,500,000 views on YouTube.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Poisoning of a movement by PZ Myers
  2. ↑ The Darkside of humor
  3. ↑ Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Roberts, Jessica, et al. (June 19, 2007). "Interview with an atheist". News21. Retrieved on July 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ NEWSWEEK Poll: 90% Believe in God, Newsweek 2007
  6. ↑ Reddit Atheists Have New Leadership After Turbulent Coup
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Why is everyone mocking atheism all of a sudden?, Reddit post
  8. ↑ "Martin Wefail" on Twitter
  9. ↑ Atheism is the easiest religion to troll
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Limmy's Show: Confessions of an internet troll, The Guardian, Brian Limond The Guardian, Friday 9 November 2012 10.00 EST
  11. ↑ Milo Yiannopoulos vs Atheism
  12. ↑ Atheist trolls
  13. ↑ The distribution of atheist intelligence by Vox Day
  14. ↑ Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October 6, 2020
  15. ↑ RationalWiki - Feminism
  16. ↑ Wikipedia - Kiwi Farms
  17. ↑ Kiwi Farms - RationalWiki discussion pages
  18. ↑ Satirical Cartoons by Answers in Genesis
  19. ↑ http://www.tgdaily.com/trendwatch-features/39777-youtube-surpasses-yahoo-as-world%E2%80%99s-2-search-engine
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kax-zAJxi-U
  21. ↑ Chambers, Oswald (1953). God's Workmanship (London: Oswald Chambers Publications Association and Marshall, Morgan & Scott).
  22. ↑ Salvomag.com The Apologist, An Interview with Dinesh D'Souza, Author of What's So Great About Christianity by Marcia Segelstein
  23. ↑ Advice to Hell Raiser by Carl Sundell, New Oxford Review, June 2011
  24. ↑ Atheists Are Irrational, Brad Stein