metapunk

…Frakking fundamentalists, too!

Okay, so I know, I know. Arguing on the Internet is pretty much always a waste of time. Every time I do it, I feel like I just crawled through a sewer pipe, looking for the elusive source of the world’s bullshit. But sometimes you just sorta get sucked in, y’know?

Before I go on, I should point out that atheists are not the problem. If someone chooses to believe in God, Gods, the flying spaghetti monster, the bloody timecube, or nothing at all… well, hey, that’s cool. I respect that decision—follow your experience where it takes you, I say. Be empirical. But those Richard Dawkins wannabe, down-with-spirituality-in-every-form, capital “A,” Atheists—well, I’ve got no time for them, because every one I’ve met is an arrogant asshole.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I had a long discussion with one such individual over the last few days and it went roughly like this: He disliked the very notion of God, all possible definitions of which he felt were nonsensical. When I told him that God can’t be defined, and is ineffible, of course he became quite upset; because that doesn’t fit the basic philosophical assumption of the scientific method—that everything in nature can be grasped by the intellect. The harder I tried to explain to him—referencing scientific examples—that this may not be the case, the more hostile and irrational he got.

It’s my fault, really, for trying to explain God to someone who really doesn’t want to understand it, only hate it.

But this is a common experience I’ve had talking to capital “A” Atheists. They respect science, except where it means questioning their assumptions. They say they respect evidence and precision, but make sweeping generalizations about religion as an evil; and then get nit-picky when examples of atheism gone wrong emerge. They believe they’re open-minded and immune to prejudice; but they think everybody who professes spirituality of any kind is some sort of bible-thumping apocalyptic Jesus freak (indeed, because all religions are hellfire Christianity, apparently).

And believe me when I say that I’m just as concerned about the bible-thumping Jesus freaks as they are; but I also happen to believe, due to direct experience, that there’s more to life than what my limited, mortal brain can intellectually analyze. And I believe people should be able to explore the edges of understanding more or less how they choose, so long as they don’t impose their view on others.

I mean, I agree with a lot of the things the secular scientific community is saying about how mainstream religion has failed. But big-A Atheists, just like crusading religious zealots, see—and create—enemies everywhere they go. Because I believe in God (without even qualifying what sort of God), I supposedly belong in the other camp. They’re turning away potential allies in the task of dealing with failed religion, because they’re far too hateful of religion in general.

I’m pretty sick of being caught in the middle of the culture war, as I think most people are. But to Atheists, I make it possible for religious fundamentalists to get away with inhuman atrocities, and to evangelical Christians I make it possible for those evil sinning atheists to summon the devil. They can both kiss my ever-loving pantheist ass, for all I care.

Not very enlightened, I suppose. *sigh* Okay, may they both find peace; hopefully without killing each other in the process. Or something like that.

There are two major lessons to be learned from this: Crusading Atheists, despite how rational they think they are, are no more immune to prejudice, emotionalism, cognitive biases, and all other forms of hubris, than any other human being. And they certainly don’t like to be reminded of that fact.

The other lesson: don’t argue on the Internet.

I wonder when that one will sink in.