It's not that I don't have a sense of humor or take my lack of belief all that seriously. I just don't find creating a strawman then laughing at it all that funny. I'm not one of those atheists who "are the ones that love to provoke by simplifying and humouring the beliefs/theories of believers..." and similarly, I find that type of joke made by some atheists about christians, equally unfunny. Both are just stupid, dehumanizing and I don't much appreciate the stereotype, quite frankly. I've been an atheist all my life and up until recently I never paid much attention at all to people's beliefs or lack thereof. It was only when atheists became public enemy #1 and it seemed as though some christians (probably fundy types) started defining us as a group with no morals, as not worthy of citizenship and all this blurring of separation of church and state, christian nationalism, and so on, got loud, obnoxious and intrusive, that I even took note of anyone's religion. I really don't give a rat's ass what anyone believes and have no interest whatsoever in convincing them otherwise. I don't often paint with a broad brush and I don't find it humorous when others do it. If I make some criticism or joke about christianity or some other religion, I'll be sure to keep it specific, as accurate and impersonal as possible. There's a problem though when influential christian groups replace science with superstition in public schools, worm their way into every level of government with the objective of creating what amounts to a theocracy, replete with laws that tell me what I can and can't do with my body, who I can and can't have sex with. This is the type of christianity I object to most and unfortunately, it's the type that seems most prevalent these days. The rest - the more benign type of christian - stay ominously silent while the theocrats attempt to shake the foundations of our democratic nations. It's not a quantum leap to interpret that silence as approval. Given that intrusion into the public sphere, religious belief becomes fair game for both criticism and humor. Christians have been erroneously defining atheists for centuries. It's only recently that some have taken it upon themselves to retaliate publicly...and just look at the hysteria it has stirred up. People who are secure in their beliefs don't need to publicly demonize those who don't share them.
Recently, I heard part of a talk by Richard Dawkins in which he said atheists should "ridicule" Christians. Where did I hear this? On a Christian TV show. With atheists like this, who needs Christian fundraisers? Atheists, of course, are free to ridicule whomever they please, but as a minority that is still more despised than loved, they might consider whether or not this is tactically the best approach. The major hurdle atheists have to surmount is the perception that they're evil or weird. This might seem silly to you, but many believers hold this impression. I know I did, until I met some atheists and noticed they didn't have horns and tails. I think the most effective PR move atheists can make is the same for Christians: to be genuinely decent, neighborly, and loving folks. People will notice.
I think there's nothing wrong with some ridicule where ridicule is due. It doesn't mean you have to hate everyone who says they're christian (most don't even know what it means, and don't believe it in any real way). An atheist philanthropist group, I think called the foundation beyond belief, tried to give relay for life a 250k matching donation, for a national team, which would be similar to other national teams and their sponsors. At first relay for life was all over it, then gave them the run around for months, issuing private and public conflicting statements that waffled about all sorts of different LIES to make people look the other way and settle down. The only thing they remained consistent on was that they would not turn down atheist money, and beginning with their second communiqué, that they would not allow the atheists to sponsor a national team. I mean, I already knew relay for life to be a sham and a scam, but now I won't even put quarters in the donation jars that people jam under my nose. Fuck that and fuck them, there's legitimate charities that could use that money.
What god wants, part 1: What God wants, God gets... God help us all What God wants God gets The kid in the corner looked at the priest And fingered his pale blue Japanese guitar The priest said God wants goodness God wants light God wants mayhem God wants a clean fight What God wants God gets Don't look so surprised It's only dogma The alien prophet cried The beetle and the springbok Took the bible from its hook The monkey in the corner Wrote the lesson in his book What God wants God gets God help us all God wants peace God wants war God wants famine God wants chain stories What God wants God gets God wants sedition God wants sex God wants freedom God wants Semtex What God wants God gets Don't look so surprised I'm only joking The alien comic cried The jackass and hyena Took the feather from its book The monkey in the corner Wrote the joke down in his book What God wants God gets God wants boarders God wants crack God wants rainfall God wants wetbacks What God wants God gets God wants voodoo God wants shrines God wants law God wants organized crime God wants crusade God wants jihad God wants good God wants bad What God wants God gets
and if thats not enough.. Part 2. The priest said: God wants goodness God wants light God wants mayhem God wants a clean fight What God wants God gets Don't look so surprised It's only dogma The alien prophet cried The beetle and the springbok Took the Bible from its hook The monkey in the corner Wrote the lesson in his book What God wants God gets God help us all God wants peace God wants war God wants famine God wants chain stores What God wants God gets God wants sedition God wants sex God wants freedom God wants semtex What God wants God gets Don't ok so surprised I'm only joking The alien comic cried The jackass and hyena Took the feather from its hook The monkey in the corner Wrote the joke down in his book What God wants God gets God wants borders God wants crack God wants rainfall God wants wetbacks What God wants God gets God wants voodoo God wants shrines God wants law God wants organised crime God wants crusade God wants jihad God wants good God wants bad What God wants God Gets
It has often been said that organizing atheists is like herding cats. We don't all agree about everything and despite some of the more vocal atheists like Richard Dawkins and their adherents there is no organizing body that can decide on PR moves or anything else. Indeed there are some rather bitter disputes between many atheists about how public dialog about religion and action to maintain secular society, keep theocrats from perverting science education, constitutional and common law, etc. should proceed. Not everyone supports the ridicule approach. Some are very concerned with the public perception of atheists, often humanists, and there are growing numbers of organizations focused on providing secular charities and social services and so on. There are other atheists still, who don't give a tin shit about any of it and just want to quietly carry on living their god-free lives. I may be an atheist, but that is not all I am. Likewise a christian, muslim or buddhist is also more than just their religious belief. These are not typically sole definitions of us as individuals and we shouldn't be exclusively defined as such. I support secularism because it is the only way that allows and protects the right of all individuals to freely believe whatever they want. Whether anyone likes it or not, the western world is multicultural. This entails a multitude of different beliefs about the nature of life and the universe. The imposition of any one religion obliterates that freedom. If christian nationalists have their way in the US or elsewhere, the country will become little different from the islamic theocracies that pepper the middle east. In the past, literal interpreters of the bible tended to segregate themselves from the secular world in order to protect their belief from the cornucopia of other beliefs, from non-belief and from science because it often contradicts literal, biblical interpretation. With the advent of the internet, instant global communication and access to just about any kind of information about anything, self-segregation is difficult if not impossible. The solution then has been to interfere, primarily in science education and social policy - to try and bend it so there are no glaring contradictions of the biblical text. For such literal believers the choice has likely come down to extinction or theocracy. But religion (like political ideology, love and probably a few other things) is like a fart. If it has to be forced, it's probably crap.
my favorite quote is by Phil Plait @ The Amaz!ng Meeting 8 in Las Vegas: it captures the heart of the problem.
I'm not sure where I heard this, but I love the quote(it's in my signature, for those of you who can't see sigs): "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime. Teach a man religion and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
When one man suffers from a delusion, it's insanity. When a small group of people suffer from the same delusion, it's a cult. When millions of people suffer from the same delusion, it's a religion.
“When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, 'Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?” ― Quentin Crisp, The Wit and Wisdom of Quentin Crisp
That is what I tell religious people. You believe in such and such god just because you are born in this time and place. And still, mostly they don't get the point.