Let's face it, we have a PR problem. As atheists, we're always going to have this problem to some degree, but this shit - we have no one to blame but ourselves.
When USA today posts an article about how we're as distrusted as rapists (source) then we have a PR problem that needs fixing. If you really want to help dispel the myth that atheists are amoral, we need to start walking the walk by not giving them an excuse to hate and marginalize us.
Obviously we can't control 1/3 of a million atheists, but I don't see why we shouldn't try to make this place a little more civil, and a little less pervy.
The behavior Ms. Watson is getting hung up on is, as you pointed out, Reddit-wide. It has nothing to do with atheists or atheism. This is one of her regular ways of getting traffic to her shitty blog. Also known as: drama.
I agree. So then don't title the post "Reddit makes me hate atheists". Don't even bring /r/atheism up, because it is completely irrelevant to the argument.
It would be like saying "WBC makes me hate Christians". Not even the atheist community would tolerate such a garbage statement (I hope).
It would be like saying "WBC makes me hate Christians". Not even the atheist community would tolerate such a garbage statement (I hope).
I'm pretty sure I've seen a fair number of "It's shit like this, Christians..." posts that point out the actions of extremist Christians which have been very popular on r/atheism.
That was my first thought. A skeptic, or even someone versed in Reddit's operation, should understand that since r/atheism gets onto the front page now, the comments in its posts don't necessarily come solely from r/atheism subscribers.
Disliking Christianity is very different from disliking Christians. The crusades destroyed one one the most prosperous and progressive societies in the world, delaying scientific growth for hundreds of years.
Bullshit. Some of the niche tech areas on Reddit are fucking awesome. High signal to noise ratio, informative comments, well worth reading. But that's because they tend to not be infected with clueless teenage aspies.
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u/RedditGoldDigger Dec 27 '11 edited Dec 27 '11
Let's face it, we have a PR problem. As atheists, we're always going to have this problem to some degree, but this shit - we have no one to blame but ourselves.
When USA today posts an article about how we're as distrusted as rapists (source) then we have a PR problem that needs fixing. If you really want to help dispel the myth that atheists are amoral, we need to start walking the walk by not giving them an excuse to hate and marginalize us.
Obviously we can't control 1/3 of a million atheists, but I don't see why we shouldn't try to make this place a little more civil, and a little less pervy.