Goodbye Friendly Atheist

In an attempt to broaden my horizons, I spent some time trying to find atheist blogs that didn't come off with all the love and tolerance of a Fred Phelps website.  It wasn't easy, as so many are a bizarre cross between fundamentalism and radical Phelps-like hatred. I stumbled on the Friendly Atheist blog because, well, it said Friendly Atheist.  And at first, though obviously from an atheist perspective, the posts didn't seem that far off.  Sure, they seemed a little fundamentalist-like, but they weren't horrible.  The problem is, they never got good.  Like most fundamentalist natured things, the blog existed in a shell of its own making, with many commenters feeling that dropping F-bombs and calling names was appropriate for anyone who didn't think like they did and conform to their dogmatic definitions of free thinking.  So after a few months of trying to give differing viewpoints, only to be met with the usual fundamentalist comebacks of insults, prove 2+2=4, and you types are the cause of all suffering, I decided to call it quits.  I just don't have time with my busy schedule to deal with the fundamentalist atheist who believes all atheists are beautiful, all religion is evil, atheists are dying by the millions in America because of evil Christians, and P.Z. Myers is brilliant.  There are other atheist blogs I've been pointed to, and to those I go.  Here is my farewell post to that strangely named blog, no doubt leaving cheers from those atheists who survive best when everyone is there to confirm their bizarre fantasy worlds:

"Actually -, you've revealed why it is I have such a hard time on this blog. I don't get along well with fundamentalists - of any stripe. One of the classic traits of fundamentalist mentalities is, of course, a willingness to deny what's accepted as fact. Try explaining to a 6 day creationist that the universe likely wasn't created in 6 days. Just try it some time. You *think* you have evidence on your side. But you'll see that you don't. The 6 day creationist will argue, argue, accuse you of lying, twisting facts, dismiss the evidence you give. They will demand you account for things that at other times they will even admit!

So we have here, people suggesting I made up this whole violence among kids today in schools is worse than ever. Now, this very blog has had posts about bullying, how it's worse than ever, and many have agreed. That is, of course, part of the trend. Not that violence never happened before. Increasing violence began as early as the 40s, during the war. But it has gotten worse by every account. Nobody denies it. Until now.

Because I've come to see that this is really a fundamentalist blog, atheist style. It should have been obvious, but compared to some atheist blogs, this seemed the height of open tolerance and respect. Some are so crass and horrible, they make Fred Phelps seem sane by comparison. So this blog stood out like a shining star. At first.

But as so many would approach me as you have, which is not uncommon behavior. As I noticed the subject of so many posts having that whiff of 'woe is us, poor us, we're always beautiful, they're always the bad guys' (classic fundamentalist perspectives), as some posts seemed to be completely outside of an ability to see the obvious (proud that Jesse Ventura is an atheist? Thinking P.Z. Myers is brilliant when there are atheists who cringe at what he says?), then you can see that I probably won't make any headway here. Just as I never have with fundamentalists of any stripe, since one thing nobody has ever accused me of being is a fundamentalist. And at my age, I have not the time nor patience to deal with folks who must deny reality and live in a semi-fantasy world of self-imposed limits on what is and isn't true.

I think I'll go to some of the other atheist blogs I've been pointed to. Not all the commenters here are of that sort, of course. But enough are. Enough to spin the conversation toward useless bickering, rather than accepting the obvious truth that religion isn't the cause of evil, people are. And the reasons are complex and varied, and then looking for cause and solution accordingly. Actually engaging, rather than the usual fundamentalist retorts (with extra F-bombs and strange fantasies about people's sex lives thrown in)."