According to one writer, a "plague" of Atheists has descended upon his Church. Do you agree? (hell, Mormons)

[Spotted1]

The author seems so hateful and full of spite towards atheists. I get the feeling that he thinks atheists are a minority that should just sit down and shut up merely because they're out numbered. He seems angry that atheists have the gall to actually stand up these days and say "It's okay to not believe in God" rather than hiding in the shadows with fear. I also agree with Maia that I felt the author was using language to dehumanize atheists, like it would make his feelings towards them more acceptable since they're "beneath" him, if you will....

[rifleman]

The exhausted platoon sargeant looks out and sees he's about to be overrun. What to do, what to do...

You marshal what you have, fix bayonets, give the customary "Fight to the end! God Save the Queen" pre-battle pep talk, and charge for all you're worth.

After all, when you're about to be massacred, like the poor blokes on the line in the movie "Zulu", at Rorke's Drift, Natal. Of course, near the end of that event, the Zulu, out of respect for the Brit's fighting and bravery, let them off the hook instead of finishing them off...

No such luck for the Church and Christians, IMHO. They have not, after all, ever demonstrated any integrity or honesty, and they continue to insult and denegrate anything but the holy fantasy. They have never earned such accolades.

Interestingly, in the movie version of Zulu, there's a typically acolytic Christian minister who keeps suggesting a totally unrealistic approach, and is, of course, a closet drunk, fully believing in his imaginary friend on high.

[MontanaGuy]

The word plague is an interesting choice of words to describe atheists. It brings to mind a cloud of locusts descending from the sky devouring everything they can find or possibly a horrible disease like leprosy. That's a bit over the top but what the real issue appears to be is that atheism is spreading and the number of Catholics in Australia is probably dwindling like it is in other parts of the world. The world is changing fairly quickly and this is not something that would be appreciated by a very conservative organization that is many centuries old and inflexible in a great many ways.
I also don't want to see individual Catholics or any religious people actually harassed or mistreated but I think their church should be held accountable when they do something wrong and I also think that atheists should be able to express themselves just like everyone else.

[Organized Mess]

I'm just glad the author recognized Catholicism as a denomination, not a religion.

[KCfromNC]

Originally Posted by AREQUIPA

You have the right of it. "he provides his vision of the acceptable atheist; an eccentric man that keeps his mouth shut."

Yep, more of the double standard believers have. Outspoken in your face Christian - spreading the good news out of love. Outspoken non-believer - brash, noisy and hates Christians. After all, religion is special and can't be criticized, especially when it's being used to advance political goals in a secular society.

[Melvin.George]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

I'm more of an agnostic than an atheist. I don't believe in the Judeo-Christian concept of God, but I'm open to the possibility that the universe is organized at a higher level than we currently understand, and that souls or spirits may exist in some form that we don't currently understand. But I don't claim to know either for a fact.

I agree with Maia160 and AREQUIPA. I find the tone of Craven's article to be distasteful -- but I'd say the same thing if it were an atheist writing about Christians. Yes, there are vocal atheists who are rude and insulting toward Christians, just as there are vocal Christians who are rude and insulting toward atheists. I have no tolerance for either group. One can be vocal but civil. I'm married to a Christian, and she wouldn't consider Craven's article to reflect the Christian spirit.

Don't worry...all they have is the word of a group of Jesus' friends who didn't write a word about him till about 45 years after he died.

[Fullback32]

Originally Posted by AREQUIPA

You have the right of it. "he provides his vision of the acceptable atheist; an eccentric man that keeps his mouth shut."

The theists would love us to shut up and go away. We won't. We have the bit between our teeth, we have the logical worldview in which atheism belongs and we have the right of it. We will not be silent until all the Codswallop, illogic, lies, smearing, misrepresentation and the standing of words on their heads is exposed and they cannot any longer dupe the people into believing that there is any good reason to swallow any one of the theisms on offer.

Well, the Church has never been very good at dealing with things that threaten it, has it?

[Fred314X]

"Plague" is such a nice, all-purpose word. And it has the advantage of being slightly more insidious than "horde," or even "mob." Great cooga-mooga...there's a plague of _________ moving into my neighborhood!

[Thomas R.]

Originally Posted by KCfromNC

Yep, more of the double standard believers have. Outspoken in your face Christian - spreading the good news out of love. Outspoken non-believer - brash, noisy and hates Christians. After all, religion is special and can't be criticized, especially when it's being used to advance political goals in a secular society.

Generally speaking Catholics don't go door to door either. For that matter Cardinal Arinze even seemed to indicate that we're forbidden from proselytizing. We can tell people about our faith and why we believe, but we're not to demean or bully them on their faith.

The article does seem a tad goofy though. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with eccentrics who like nude artworks, but obviously most atheists are not that. To me the "traditional" atheist is more one who'll tell you why s/he is atheist if you ask, doesn't want you preaching at him or her, and otherwise devotes their lives to things that have nothing to do with atheism. (Career, research, art, philanthropy, sometimes family) The "New Atheist" is one who wants religion to never be expressed in public and mocks theists whenever possible. 3, 2, 1,

[calmdude]

Originally Posted by Thomas R.

Generally speaking Catholics don't go door to door either. For that matter Cardinal Arinze even seemed to indicate that we're forbidden from proselytizing. We can tell people about our faith and why we believe, but we're not to demean or bully them on their faith.

The article does seem a tad goofy though. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with eccentrics who like nude artworks, but obviously most atheists are not that. To me the "traditional" atheist is more one who'll tell you why s/he is atheist if you ask, doesn't want you preaching at him or her, and otherwise devotes their lives to things that have nothing to do with atheism. (Career, research, art, philanthropy, sometimes family) The "New Atheist" is one who wants religion to never be expressed in public and mocks theists whenever possible. 3, 2, 1,

I for one am glad that there are some militant atheists that try to balance the religious nuts. The later are far more in number - almost feels like a plague descending upon reason.