Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomenon).

[TheJilvin]

At my school there are very few atheists. I live in a relatively religious conservative area, and as a result almost everybody cringes at homosexuality. However, I found it disconcerting that this is true of *atheists* just as much and possibly more than it is true of the hardcore, Jeremiad-esque Christians. I am not talking about the atheists in my circle of friends (as I would never tolerate such behavior); but of these enigmatic "hardcore skateboarder" atheists (the disgruntled ones with a shitload of stupid adolescent angst who think its super bad-ass to not believe in God). I know this because I've seen them respond to questions by teachers (mostly during English or Humanities class discussions) that ask about homosexuality. They advocate various consequences for homosexuality, none of which fails to be a punishment, ranging from extra taxes, to fines, to capital punishment.

What is the explanation for this nonsense? Do the cultural views around my area have such a large influence that this viral notion has been lodged into their minds? Are they really just closet theists for some reason? Are they recent fundamentalist de-converts that carried some of their baggage with them? Has anybody else seen anything like this?

What the hell is going on? :|

 

[Aught3]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Like any other similar judgement it's just the eww factor. I find your actions to be distasteful therefore I condemn you. Religion just gives people a way to wrap their bigotry in a cloak of respectability. Remove the cloak and you're still left with the raw bigotry, plain for everyone to see.

 

[Nemesiah]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Aversion to homosexuality is very widespread, I believe much of it comes from slights and put downs all the time (these comes from a very biggoted past and unwillingnes to change "because if ma 'ma and ma 'pa said twas good then twas good").

"That's Soooooo gay", "Wanna know how I know you're gay?", "Dude don,´t be such a fag!" etc... in my country, Mexico even more so since we haven't caught the pollitically correct bug yet..

The thing is that in religious comunities Atheism is a way for kids to "rebel" against their parents, the same as going goth, and start piercing your eyeballs, is for some people a way of saying "Fuck you 'ma I'm NOT going to church on sunday so suck it!" and they do it because 'ma was fine untill they renounced Jesus beacause that is at the top of 'ma,´s list.

I'm sure that for many young people Atheism comes after much or at least some reflection but this is not always the case. I find that USUALLY the atheists that I meet are level - headed people, that like to talk matters until they get resolved; whenever I find Asshole Atheists they are usually teenagers rebelling against something their parents actually hold dear and they haven't really though matter through, I have even found a coupl of "Atheists" that belive in eternal life (Then again maybe eternal life without a god may be a topic worth discussing, I may open a new post about it); I believe this may be the case in your post.

"Fuck Jesus, fuck fags and fuck the flag.... Yeah!!!!" this attitude reeks of hormonal rebellion to me. This is just my opinion, I have no evidence to prove it more than my own experience and conjectures.

 

[AdmiralPeacock]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Since you said school I'm going to assume teens here.
Just because they're atheist does not mean they're immune to social convention - you live in a very religious region, therefore homosexuality is viewed as disgusting by the society of that area. Give them time to grow up, they may or may not overcome social norms.

 

[lrkun]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

At my school there are very few atheists. I live in a relatively religious conservative area, and as a result almost everybody cringes at homosexuality. However, I found it disconcerting that this is true of *atheists* just as much and possibly more than it is true of the hardcore, Jeremiad-esque Christians. I am not talking about the atheists in my circle of friends (as I would never tolerate such behavior); but of these enigmatic "hardcore skateboarder" atheists (the disgruntled ones with a shitload of stupid adolescent angst who think its super bad-ass to not believe in God). I know this because I've seen them respond to questions by teachers (mostly during English or Humanities class discussions) that ask about homosexuality. They advocate various consequences for homosexuality, none of which fails to be a punishment, ranging from extra taxes, to fines, to capital punishment.

What is the explanation for this nonsense? Do the cultural views around my area have such a large influence that this viral notion has been lodged into their minds? Are they really just closet theists for some reason? Are they recent fundamentalist de-converts that carried some of their baggage with them? Has anybody else seen anything like this?

What the hell is going on? :|

Atheist are people too. It means they have their own biases and it does not mean they are automatically freethinkers. The only commonality is that they do not believe in a god/ supernatural or they lack such.

 

[Unwardil]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Since you said school I'm going to assume teens here.
Just because they're atheist does not mean they're immune to social convention - you live in a very religious region, therefore homosexuality is viewed as disgusting by the society of that area. Give them time to grow up, they may or may not overcome social norms.

Yeah, adult atheists have a greater chance of having observed the available evidence and come to the conclusion that this whole god notion is a bit ridiculous and that on if we're going by the assumption that reality is what it appears to be, there is no God.

But Teens are idiots and they'll be atheists just because it pisses off their religious parents/people in authority, not because it reflects and kind of ration decision that they've come to.

I'm not gonna deny the yuck factor of picturing 2 dudes butt humping each other. Even attractive dudes. It's icky. If I weren't a sane and objective thinking person unable to see that instinctive reaction for it is, an instinctive reaction to difference, then I would be a bigoted little pile of shit. Not unlike people who harass gay people for their sexual preference.

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Like any other similar judgement it's just the eww factor. I find your actions to be distasteful therefore I condemn you. Religion just gives people a way to wrap their bigotry in a cloak of respectability. Remove the cloak and you're still left with the raw bigotry, plain for everyone to see.

This x∞

 

[AdmiralPeacock]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

:| I've never found homosexual sex to have an "ewwww" factor - well I find the idea of two fat hairy dude banging about as disturbing as the idea of a fat hairy heterosexual couple banging.

 

[aeritano]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

The thing is that in religious comunities Atheism is a way for kids to "rebel" against their parents, the same as going goth, and start piercing your eyeballs, is for some people a way of saying "Fuck you 'ma I'm NOT going to church on sunday so suck it!" and they do it because 'ma was fine untill they renounced Jesus beacause that is at the top of 'ma,´s list.

thats exactly what it is. This is why you see very little LGBT support in rural towns. The "atheists" you see in religious communities are in fact rebelling teenagers... It happens all the time in SoCal where i grew up. In the end, they end up going back to the church after their "rebellious stage."

One of my best friends in SoCal that i grew up with was one of those people. (i was in the closet at the time). he was so anti church and anti parents but hated the fuck out of gays. i aksed him why, he wouldnt give an answer. Last year i talked to one of my other friends and asked about him, and as it turns ut, he is going to Brigham Young university in utah...

So.. as you can see... they are not true atheist, because an atheist has no real reason why hate gays, eww factor aside because i get eewed seeing some gay couples myself. Getting grossed out by gays doesnt mean you are anti-gay, because even gays get the grossed out feeling towards certain gays. Limiting the rghts and imposing restrictions on gays is anti gay.

In my opinion, and thats all it really can be, is that these "atheists" are not real atheists, because there hatred to LGBT is unfounded and unjustifyable and illogical, which is counter to what Athiesm is all about. Atheism is based on rejection of god and religious beliefs because there is no evidence to support belief. There is no evidence other then "god says its wrong" to hate LGBT. they are not real atheists, unfounded hatred of something sounds like a theist to me...

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

The thing is that in religious comunities Atheism is a way for kids to "rebel" against their parents, the same as going goth, and start piercing your eyeballs, is for some people a way of saying "Fuck you 'ma I'm NOT going to church on sunday so suck it!" and they do it because 'ma was fine untill they renounced Jesus beacause that is at the top of 'ma,´s list.

thats exactly what it is. This is why you see very little LGBT support in rural towns. The "atheists" you see in religious communities are in fact rebelling teenagers... It happens all the time in SoCal where i grew up. In the end, they end up going back to the church after their "rebellious stage."

One of my best friends in SoCal that i grew up with was one of those people. (i was in the closet at the time). he was so anti church and anti parents but hated the fuck out of gays. i aksed him why, he wouldnt give an answer. Last year i talked to one of my other friends and asked about him, and as it turns ut, he is going to Brigham Young university in utah...

So.. as you can see... they are not true atheist, because an atheist has no real reason why hate gays, eww factor aside because i get eewed seeing some gay couples myself. Getting grossed out by gays doesnt mean you are anti-gay, because even gays get the grossed out feeling towards certain gays. Limiting the rghts and imposing restrictions on gays is anti gay.

In my opinion, and thats all it really can be, is that these "atheists" are not real atheists, because there hatred to LGBT is unfounded and unjustifyable and illogical, which is counter to what Athiesm is all about. Atheism is based on rejection of god and religious beliefs because there is no evidence to support belief. There is no evidence other then "god says its wrong" to hate LGBT. they are not real atheists, unfounded hatred of something sounds like a theist to me...

The only reason I can think of for atheists to be anti-gay is to them to consider homosexuality "unnatural", which, obviously, is based on a complete ignorance of reality. Nevertheless, it seems to be the only half-rubbish reason I can think of that explains this phenomena.

 

[TheJilvin]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

I'm seeing a surprising amount of support here for my "closet-theist" conjecture (i.e the "atheist" who later attended Brigham Young). I should monitor them a little to see how many of them are still professing themselves "atheist" in the near future.

 

[FaithlessThinker]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

These "atheists" are not true atheists. True atheists are those who reached their viewpoint that it's reasonable to say there is probably no god whatsoever, and we can live our lives without assuming a god, by their scientific knowledge and rational thinking. We exhibit a higher level of understanding in biological sciences, and hence understand how homosexuality is very natural and evolution is the ultimate truth... I mean, the most plausible explanation for how we got here.

As everyone else said here, these fakers are calling themselves "atheists" because they think it's cool and it's the in-thing to do now. Also because it's their way of rebelling against their parents, the same way others become goth and emo. The fact that they detest homosexuality shows that they don't have the slightest understanding of biology as we true atheists do.

I'm getting all religious about my atheism and saying 'true atheists' merely for satire and humour. But c'mon, if christians can talk about 'true christians' and muslims can talk about 'true muslims,' can't we?

 

[Memeticemetic]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

I'm getting all religious about my atheism and saying 'true atheists' merely for satire and humour. But c'mon, if christians can talk about 'true christians' and muslims can talk about 'true muslims,' can't we?

Sure, we can. We look pretty bloody foolish when we do so, though. (unless, of course, the satire is oozing from every word we speak) It's fairly odd to me to see such language bandied about quite sincerely though. But, I guess I'm not truly an atheist if I question essential atheist dogma. Perhaps I should branch off and form my own denomination.

 

[FaithlessThinker]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Sure, we can. We look pretty bloody foolish when we do so, though. (unless, of course, the satire is oozing from every word we speak) It's fairly odd to me to see such language bandied about quite sincerely though. But, I guess I'm not truly an atheist if I question essential atheist dogma. Perhaps I should branch off and form my own denomination.

:lol:... "Protestant Atheism" perhaps?

 

[Memeticemetic]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

Sure, we can. We look pretty bloody foolish when we do so, though. (unless, of course, the satire is oozing from every word we speak) It's fairly odd to me to see such language bandied about quite sincerely though. But, I guess I'm not truly an atheist if I question essential atheist dogma. Perhaps I should branch off and form my own denomination.

:lol:... "Protestant Atheism" perhaps?

Well, I reject determinism, so perhaps "Methodist Atheism". Or maybe I'm rejecting the Orthodox view so It would be more proper to refer to it as "Reformed Atheism". Or... ya know... no. Maybe I'll leave it with the little "a" and have it be the purely fucking descriptive word it actually is rather than prescriptive. Yes, I think that's proper; plain ol' atheist. Let's go with that.

 

[Gunboat Diplomat]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

The only reason I can think of for atheists to be anti-gay is to them to consider homosexuality "unnatural", which, obviously, is based on a complete ignorance of reality. Nevertheless, it seems to be the only half-rubbish reason I can think of that explains this phenomena.

I've never understood the "unnatural" argument. That's not reason enough to hate something. So much of what we do is unnatural, including our technology, but no one is objecting to them categorically. It's obviously not the real reason...

 

[borrofburi]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

I've never understood the "unnatural" argument. That's not reason enough to hate something. So much of what we do is unnatural, including our technology, but no one is objecting to them categorically. It's obviously not the real reason...

 

[amborgeson]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

on a side note, what's kind of ironic is that, since evidence leans towards homosexuality being mostly genetic, if the social pressures and laws were more liberal, over the course of a few generations, there would be less homosexuality. By forcing men and women to conform, they were forced to continue passing on homosexual tendencies (though as with any complex behavior, this is a far from 1 to 1 inheritance. )

But as religious people don't believe in evolution in any form, they don't believe that encouraging gay people to live a gay life, they'd be reducing the gay 'problem' in the long run.

To be clear, I personally have no issues with any alternative sexuality, but I am myself straight.

 

[Duvelthehobbit666]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

I'm getting all religious about my atheism and saying 'true atheists' merely for satire and humour. But c'mon, if christians can talk about 'true christians' and muslims can talk about 'true muslims,' can't we?

Sure, we can. We look pretty bloody foolish when we do so, though. (unless, of course, the satire is oozing from every word we speak) It's fairly odd to me to see such language bandied about quite sincerely though. But, I guess I'm not truly an atheist if I question essential atheist dogma. Perhaps I should branch off and form my own denomination.

A true atheist rejects the idea of a true atheist.

 

[Dean]

Re: Atheists that hate homosexuals (a very peculiar phenomen

@TheJilvin

At my school there are very few atheists. [. . .] this is true of *atheists* just as much and possibly more than it is true of the hardcore, Jeremiad-esque Christians. [. . .] stupid adolescent angst who think its super bad-ass to not believe in God). I know this because I've seen them respond to questions by teachers (mostly during English or Humanities class discussions) that ask about homosexuality. They advocate various consequences for homosexuality, none of which fails to be a punishment, ranging from extra taxes, to fines, to capital punishment.

What is the explanation for this nonsense? Do the cultural views around my area have such a large influence that this viral notion has been lodged into their minds? Are they really just closet theists for some reason? [. . .] Has anybody else seen anything like this?

What the hell is going on? :|

In direct response to the questions raised here, I happen to be a non-theist, and I have many friends of mine who are at least inclined in the same way. I am more, it is my fervent belief. I am a "strong" atheist, as I have no convincing evidence to the contrary, and I think that perhaps absence of evidence/evidence of absence are synonymous terms. Semantics aside.

I too have known this bizarre type of atheist you describe. Then again, this should come as no surprise, considering that atheism has no external connotations other than the mere fact of non-belief in 'God' or 'gods', who seem to think that non-belief in god is super-cool. In fact, most of the people back in my secondary school would have persecuted someone who professed non-belief in Gods. I do however, have some of my closest friends, surprisingly enough, taking a oppositional stance towards homosexuals, even expressing the most virulent disdain of such people, despite their atheism/nontheism. We don't talk about it, though it is occasionally brought up as a topic in conversation, when discussing religion-related topics. Most of the people I know who think in this manner seem to despise homosexuality, not because it is against "God's will", obviously, but because it just...well...."unnatural" and "disgusting". Although, I have not known anyone in my friendship groups to express that homosexual people are worthy of "capital punishment" (which is now abolished in the UK), thankfully. If they did say such things, frankly, we would cease to be friends.

What's even more disturbing is that other than these issues, they seem to be fairly tolerant and civil minded people, hence, one reason why I have gotten to know them so well. I reject, from mere experience, the notion that atheism and homophobia are or even should be mutually exclusive. My best friend even told be that he "hated" gay people. Describing it as "just.... not 'right'". Bear in mind that he too was an atheist. E.t.c.

I have seen people calling gays "scum", and so forth in my community, here in the North of England. There are parts of the UK which, despite being secular, are still not even close to acceptance of homosexuality and such like. So, I have not just seen this personally, but all over the place. However, I have a tendency to suspect that the whole deal here in Britain is nothing like that of America, where gay people are still often condemned to hell in screaming tones, and physically threatened. I have never known that to happen. The research i have done indicates only an incidental correlation between atheism and homophobia. There may be a positive correlation with religion, as is plain to see. I find it very unlikely that such people are closet theists. It's just the "eww" factor, like Aught3 pointed out earlier. It's the same with many other things.

That's not to say that you can't be friends with such individuals, so long as they are by and large decent people. For example, I just so happen to find foot fetishism pretty gross indeed, yet I have a friend who happens to have that particular fetish. And no, I am not correlating or comparing that to homosexuality. etc.

Oops! Almost forgot, the word "gay" in the UK seems to have been hijacked to connect with other things like uncool, Emo, etc.... Please see: . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7289390.stm

I am beginning to find this sort of treatment of homosexuality; religiously motivated or not, very worrisome.

And no. It is not a "peculiar" phenomenon. Not where I live... :arrow: ..... we'll get there, I guess.

So, I hope this is a good and well reasoned answer. I'm passionate about equal right too, which is also one reason why I decided to join this forum. It is a League - Of Reason. Perhaps it is a good venue to promote civic equality and equal rights, as well as promoting constructive discussion and debate therein. It's a great forum, and I always ready to engage in discussion of such issues here.

Regards ~