Allow me to explain, in the form of a list of four statements, what the Anti-theistic, "there is no god" fundamentalists and the "My religion is the only one and you should all bow to it" have in common, which is to say, allot:
1:
THE BIGGEST THING THEY HAVE IN COMMON, THEY BOTH MAKE THE MAJORITY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE GROUPS, THE MODERATES, LOOK BAD.
How many times do we feel embarassed for being "one of them" in the sense that we share their belief system, but not their world view and certaintly not their habits? How many intelligent, tolerant Atheists look down and turn red when some Emo kid goes on a rant about "
GOD IS ONLY FOR STUPID PEOPLE!" and throw some half thought out verbal venom about how "evil" religion is? How many moderate, well meaning Christians watch fundies screaming about hell and damnation and Harry Potter and just rub their eyes and shake their heads? Tons.
The biggest thing anti-theists fundies and religious fundies have in common is that they make intelligent, thoughtful, well meaning Atheists and believers look bad by appearing to be the same group as they are while having a ridiculous view on their respective group.
2: They both feel as if they know more about an "opposing" religion then the people in them do.
I have had so many arguments with Anti-Theists radicals who preach on and on about "God being a fairytale". I say that as a Gnostic, we are suppose to doubt and take scripture as not literal and understand that it is not the belief and faith, but the practice and understanding that matters...and they say "no, you believe in a fairy tale!" I say "no, we understand the Myths and how they relate to everday life in the form of a metaphor"...they, again, say "NO! YOU BELIEVE IN A FAIRY TALE!"...
I have also seen the dumbest things from religious freaks as well. They argue with Catholics and say they pray to saints, when they do not, and do not listen to an explaination about what they are really doing, they argue with Buddhist and say that Buddhism teaches that if someone is a bad person he will be reincarnated as a frog, and do not listen to a Zen master's explaination that that is not the case.
Both groups go on and on thinking they know more about your religion then you do. I can understand not argeeing on the doctrine...BUT DO SHUT UP WHEN TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO HAS THAT DOCTRINE INSTEAD OF GOING AROUND TALKING LIKE YOU KNOW IT BETTER THEN THE PERSON FOLLOWING IT.
3: Neither groups want to learn anything about their own bloody history.
Go to any Christian fanatic and point to the Crusades, the Inquestion, or the massacre of the natives, and they will say "NO! those weren't real Christians so I don't have to think about that!" Go to any anti-theists and point out the Soviet Unions oppression of religion, Enver Hoxha's "scientific, rational" state of oppresion or the Atheistic Cult of Reason's bloody massacre of Christians in the French Revolution and they will say "No! They weren't real Atheists, so I don't have to think about that!"
Both the Reverend Falwells and the Chrisopher Hitchens of the world have this deluded, "ignorance is bliss" attitude about the bloody history of their own fanatical brand of their belief systems that is unsettling to say the least. Reverend Falwell would just shrug at someone pointing out how the bloody Protestants forced so many Native Americans to convert to Christianity:
Americanization (of Native Americans) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On the same hand, if I approached some radical Anti-theists like Hitchens with the existince of the Cult of Reason in France, a radical Atheistic terrorist faction existing in the French Revolution who massacred tens of thousands of innocent people, including old ladies who had the nerve to keep a cross in their homes, they would just snort and walk away, while completely ignoring the facts:
Cult of Reason - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The majority of the moderates in both camps would look at these two examples and say "yahh, we should learn from those things and see that even our views can lead to something no one wants to see", while the fanatics remain too blinded by their own fanatical ways to see that they have a very scary resemblance to those mad men of yestyear.
When ever I hear or read the hate filled venom of either a Christian fundie or a Anti-Theists extremists, I cannot help but think of the words of George Santayna, "Those who cannot learn from the past, are doomed to repeat it."
4: Both are positive beyond any measure of the word that their view is the right view.
Both the radical Atheists and the Fundamentalist are absolutely convinced that their view is the only view to the very core of their being, and that is why they are so dangerous. While majority of people on Earth can shrug and say "well, who know really if I am right? I feel I am right, but then again, so could that other person and that other person, therefore, should be allowed to have his/her opinion".
It is that understanding that there is a chance that we are wrong that is the basis for allot of our tolerance.
For the anti-theists radical and the fundie, however, it is just
"I AM RIGHT BECAUSE (insert the Bible or the sciences/Reason here) SAYS SO AND I THEREFORE DO NOT HAVE TO SHOW ANY RESPECT TOWARDS ANYONE ELSE'S VIEW BECAUSE THEY ARE WRONG AND I AM RIGHT!
"
It is that boneheaded, intolerant attitude that makes them so dangerous indeed.
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