We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!

[Mik]

A for atheists!

I made the comment as I have here that there are none so evangelical as atheists is a Christian bashing thread. Here was one response:

"I don’t even like the fact that there is a term to describe my belief position on gods. I don’t ski or collect stamps but society doesn’t work on the assumption that I do and therefore I need a term to assent my abstention from those activities. It is ridiculous that in the 21st Century we still need to identify as not believing in gods.

There are still US states in which atheists are not allowed to hold certain positions, we have religiously motivated laws imposed on us and there is widespread discrimination against us. The battle to reinstate the US as a secular nation is a civil rights battle. Just as blacks are the most outspoken against racism and LBGTQ+ people are most outspoken against discrimination on the basis of sexuality it is not surprising that atheists are the most outspoken on issues regarding Christian privilege.

I long for the day when I don’t have to use the term atheist to say that I don’t believe in any interventionist gods but until then I will use it and I will speak up on behalf of my fellow nonbelievers."*

I'm trying to figure out whether this person is being serious or tongue in cheek.

[Copper]

If we can have anti-vaxxers, we can have anti-godders.

[Mik]

I looked at his page and I think he's being humorous. The guy posts very original and hilarious stuff. I may invite him to join us. Case in point:

[Doctor Phibes]

@mik said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

I looked at his page and I think he's being humorous.

I'm sure we can all agree that there's nothing funny whatsoever about religion.

[Catseye3]

@mik said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

It is ridiculous that in the 21st Century we still need to identify as not believing in gods.

Lifted out of context, he does have a point here. Particularly since the concept of god/gods is so amorphous as to be impossible to nail down well enough to attach to identity.

[Doctor Phibes]

I was asked what religion I was, and due to my accent they wrote it down as 'nun'.

[Mik]

@catseye3 said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

@mik said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

It is ridiculous that in the 21st Century we still need to identify as not believing in gods.

Lifted out of context, he does have a point here. Particularly since the concept of god/gods is so amorphous as to be impossible to nail down well enough to attach to identity.

Why does someone need to identify as nothing? I dispute that point entirely. Who gets asked on any sort of regular basis what their beliefs, or lack thereof, are?

The idea of Christian privilege is absurd. Yes, there are groups pressing for laws based on their religious beliefs, but they by and large don't get too far. We have a Constitution and a Supreme Court that handles that quite nicely. I am confident that the recent spate of abortion laws that allow suits to be filed will be struck down.

I've never been particularly religious and have never been discriminated against for it, or even inconvenienced beyond the occasional missionary at my door.

Note: apparently he was serious. I'm not sure whether to apologize for taking his post as satire.

[Copper]

@mik said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

I've never been particularly religious and have never been discriminated against for it

It's the same as skin color

As long as you can pass you will be privileged

[Mik]

It's a lot easier to pass if you just keep yer yap shut when the subject comes up.

[Horace]

There are still US states in which atheists are not allowed to hold certain positions, we have religiously motivated laws imposed on us and there is widespread discrimination against us. The battle to reinstate the US as a secular nation is a civil rights battle. Just as blacks are the most outspoken against racism and LBGTQ+ people are most outspoken against discrimination on the basis of sexuality it is not surprising that atheists are the most outspoken on issues regarding Christian privilege.

I suspect he would not want to live in a society that lacked laws that could be traced back to a religious motivation.

Anyway, if he's this eager to play the role of an oppressed person, it's a simple process. Just engage in sexual activity with other men, and talk about it publicly.

[Mik]

That would be more successful than, say, blackface.

[Larry]

Everybody believes in God eventually.

[Jolly]

Many of them, too late.

[Doctor Phibes]

Allah doesn't like it when you convert on your deathbed.

[Catseye3]

@doctor-phibes said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

Allah doesn't like it when you convert on your deathbed.

Yup. Big ruh-roh.

[Larry]

@doctor-phibes said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

Allah doesn't like it when you convert on your deathbed.

Allah doesn't have anything to do with God.

[taiwan_girl]

What about the tribesman that lives in a remote valley in Papua New Gineau? Never had contact with the outside world.

I guess they have there own belief systems and gods.

I think it is human nature to develop gods to help explain things that cannot be explained.

[Doctor Phibes]

Personally, I have zero clue what happens after I die. I don't know whether getting religion 5 minutes before I snuff it would make any difference or not. I don't know whether God would shrug and say 'Well, Phibes, you did your best. You were a bit shite, to be frank, but you meant well, so here you are...' or whether he would say 'BURN FOR ETERNITY, APOSTATE!!!!'

And neither does anybody else.

[Jolly]

@doctor-phibes said in We have a new letter to add to the LGBTQXYZ acronym!:

Allah doesn't like it when you convert on your deathbed.

Jesus doesn't have a problem with it.

[Horace]

I've never given the idea of an afterlife that has any explicit connection with this life, any credence whatsoever. So I do not struggle with a lack of faith. My lack of faith, just is. But if I have a death bed revelation, I will accept it shamelessly.