Are atheists "better" than Christians?

[Unknown Soldier]

There's conventional paranormalism and unconventional paranormalism, maybe that's the best way to say it. Woo is woo whether it's popular and normalized or whether it isn't. Going into a magic building on a Sunday to sing songs to spirits is considered pretty rational in some circles. If you see it as group meditation then maybe it is.

Isn't it weird that people sing love songs to a killer-spirit on some day of the week that that killer-spirit reputedly says is special? Yes, if that singing is seen to be conventional, then we don't see it as strange because even people who don't do it have become desensitized to it. If people were to gather in some place to chant to what they thought was a being from another planet, then most of us including the religious would think they were off their rockers. Chanting to a being from another planet isn't conventional, so we wouldn't accept it as sensible. So whether we see the act as odd or not depends on what we're used to.

Here's another illuminating illustration: Say I tell people I worship an evil spirit that tortures and mass-murders people and sends young girls into sex slavery. If I tell people the spirit is Satan, then most Christians would angrily denounce me as a Devil-worshipper. If I tell them the spirit is God, then they would admire my spirituality.

In the end it's the behavior that matters. The insidious element in all this is how far a person will go to preserve their group identity, whether they accord the same acceptance, respect and rights to non group members or whether they allow harm to occur to others because they are not perceived members of their preferred tribe.

Anybody can fall into the trap of groupthink including atheists. Any atheist groups that encourage groupthink are no better than Christian sects, in my opinion. Most atheists, I think, are not members of such groups and may feel no reason to join them. That freedom to be independent I see as the advantage of atheism.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I do not put any stock in those kinds of 'scientific studies'. There are studies to make any point you want.

While I agree that studies are available to support almost any point of view, it doesn't follow that all studies are flawed. I think it's best to check a study's methodology and its conclusion(s) to see if there's some validity to them.

If the meaning of atheist is simply rejection of deities than the OP has little meaning.

How so? All you need to do is replace the word "atheist" in the OP with "person who simply rejects deities" to see that the OP still has the same meaning.

As has been covered many times in the past atheist is not an affirmation of any belief or philosophy or morality.

Actually, there is no universally accepted definition of "atheist." Some philosophical dictionaries would define atheism as the philosophy that there is no God.

You are saying all aspects of the progressive left are good with no negatives? That would be biased and unscientific.

Right, and that's why I never said it.

There are Christian liberals and conservatives. That is politics which both sides can justify biblically.

Wouldn't that be religion rather than politics?

 

[SigmatheZeta]

The stereotypical Christian, at least according to many of the critics of Christianity, is narrow-minded, fanatical, unreasonable, dishonest, untrustworthy, ignorant and bigoted, and those are the Christian's positive qualities! I think there's some truth to this view, but are atheists any better? I used to think that yes, atheists are generally open-minded, logical, truthful, trustworthy, educated, and willing to accept people who are different from them. However, in recent years I'm not as sure as I used to be that atheism is a cure for religion's ills. Atheists can fall in love with ideas and defend those ideas with as much zeal as Christians defend their beliefs. Atheists can play fast and loose with the truth to uphold their pet philosophies. "Unbelievers" are often attacked with insults and name-calling.

Nevertheless, I think atheism is a step in the right direction because unlike Christians, atheists need not defend ideas. They are free to think what they want without pressure, or at least do so without fear that they will be punished.

I think that as long as Christianity is popular, those that observe it will have a certain degree of intellectual dishonesty simply due to the religion being popular. A person that wants to become popular without really doing anything genuinely worthy says what it is popular to say. A person that wants to be in a position of influence without really exercising any genuine leadership says what it is popular to say. A person that wants to be trusted with children, regardless of that person's real intentions, tells their parents what it is popular to say. The "safe" thing to say is always the most cowardly thing to say.

When atheists are in the majority at a social venue, though, I say other things that make me unpopular.

Call it a form of social asceticism :3.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I always liked Glinda's line in The Wizard of Oz when she asked Dorothy, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" I often reflect on the fact that paranormalism is so popular. It says a lot about our brains and our evolution, a biology question ultimately. Have a discussion with your brain, ask it why it enjoys acting so irrationally, why it likes to pretend.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I think that as long as Christianity is popular, those that observe it will have a certain degree of intellectual dishonesty simply due to the religion being popular.

Popular ideas among atheists seem to have the same effect. That is, some atheists will play fast and loose with the truth by using underhanded tactics to keep the cherished ideas alive defending them from being falsified.

A person that wants to become popular without really doing anything genuinely worthy says what it is popular to say. A person that wants to be in a position of influence without really exercising any genuine leadership says what it is popular to say. A person that wants to be trusted with children, regardless of that person's real intentions, tells their parents what it is popular to say.

Yes, Christian or atheist, we may say what we want others to believe rather than say what is true.

The "safe" thing to say is always the most cowardly thing to say.

It can be if we fear that our true thoughts revealed will get us into trouble. Most men, for example, will tell a man his teenage daughter is "pretty" while his true opinion is that she's sexy! LOL

When atheists are in the majority at a social venue, though, I say other things that make me unpopular.

I have done the same thing, and those atheists responded with faith more furious than the most fundamentalist Christian.