Anonymous wrote:Not to mention that humanity has a history of goddess-centered religions, which kicks out angry OP's "outdated, patriarchal norms." Tell that to Shakta Hinduism, which is thousands of years old in India, and the cult of the Maenads in ancient Greece.

and that has managed to sneak into some abrahamic religions too, such as the Marian cult in Catholicism, and the focus on the shekina in jewish kabbalah - though in fairness that is still compatible with day to day practical patriarchy.

The best thing about trolls, is knowing that even after they post something they think is witty and clever, they go right back to being the miserable, self loathing creeps they were right before they posted.

And that makes me smile.

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Anonymous wrote:I really don't understand these types of posts. I am not religious at all. I do not believe in God. But what is wrong with other people being religious, as long as they are not imposing their will on you? Just let people be. There are many roles that a religious community can fill for people. Ritual, community, support, meditation, self-growth. All kinds of things, positive things.

I agree with you. The point is that people here like to feel they are sophisticated and superior to any other group or demographic. Interestingly, they also claim to be open-minded.

It's tribalism, of the atheist flavor. It comes from a place of insecurity and anger, like other tribal types of identity.

The atheists I know who are at peace and self-confident don't act at all like OP.

+100

And the insecure tribalism isn't limited to online trolls. Prominent atheist leaders like Sam Harris stoke the insecure, tribalist flames as much as any evangelical religious leader. I know the difference PP is talking about too, since I've met awesome atheists who identify themselves as secular humanists, because humanism is what they believe in. Just the fact that they identify themselves as what they believe in, instead of what they don't believe in, makes me respect them. And their demeanor is self-confident, relaxed, compassionate, kindly and yes, at peace with themselves.

Not to mention that humanity has a history of goddess-centered religions, which kicks out angry OP's "outdated, patriarchal norms." Tell that to Shakta Hinduism, which is thousands of years old in India, and the cult of the Maenads in ancient Greece.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weak troll is weak

Sadly I think OP is sincerely bigoted, hate-filled and ignorant.

The sad thing is, a lot of atheists are bigoted as hell (not all, but the most visible and vocal ones), but they attribute those qualities to religious people. Hiding your emotion-driven beliefs and prejudices behind an illusory veil of "rationalism" is certainly very convenient.

Yo OP here. You sound high strung and easily offended. An illusory veil of rationalism? You mean making most decisions based on empirical evidence? Like science? I'd say if you're part of a fundamental Christian or Islamic religious group your beliefs are a bit emotion driven, outdated and oppressive. You've had a millennia to normalize weird outdated, patriarchal customs.

1. Your Original post and thread title referred to all religion, not only Fundie Christianity and Islam (and the word "fundamentalism means something different for Islam (and Judaism) than for Christianity - in the latter it means belief in a literal interpretation of the bible - in the former it generally means a strict approach to religious law).
2. Some people come to fundamentalist Christianity based on syllogisms (flawed, IMO, but still) not always emotion.
3. Millenia is plural. They have either had millenia, or A millenium
4. But they haven't. The great challenge to their beliefs came with the enlightenment. At most they have had 300 years. Not a millenium. And in fact for the first couple of hundred of those, "modernizers" including atheists generally continued to accept patriarchy, though on other grounds. Feminism and gender equality as a widely accept ideology is far younger than that.

"weird" of course is a subjective, culturally bound term.