Religion
Related: About this forumThe Amazing Atheist’s Racism
June 29, 2016 by Martin Hughes
Recently, The Amazing Atheist (the popular YouTuber TJ Kirk) answered 20 questions black people asked in a video.
His answers were proudly, ignorantly racist.
I’m sick and tired of people wondering where the heck black atheists are, when nonsense like this gets so much popularity.
It’s because a significant and growing portion of atheists are proud, outright racists that would make the Klu Klux Klan blush. It’s almost as if, now that black people have gotten a prominent place in Protestant Christianity, protesting white people are leaving so that they can claim the atheist circuit as a safe space for their racism and drastic misinterpretations of black culture.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/barrierbreaker/is-the-amazing-atheist-popular-because-hes-racist-yes/?ref_widget=gr_popular&ref_blog=grails&ref_post=atheist#sthash.alsHld0U.dpuf
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Socal31
(2,484 posts)Not believing in a "god" or gods makes one no more or less prejudice than anyone else.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Other prominent atheists behave in a similar, though not as bad manner. Not very surprising that most black atheists are not interested in the 'movement'. I do like the folks at the Atheist Experience, though, they are better at intersections.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Prominent <insert group's name here> have people who rant. It happens. The racist accusation seems to be more of the author's poorly considered reaction and the usual outraged response when someone points out the bigotry on the part of some members of a group dealing with racism. The author's lame attempt to cut off the obvious criticism to his article speaks more about the author than it does to highlight the supposed racism.
With all the actual racism we have in our culture, going after an atheist entertainer seems, at best, pathetic.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)"All atheists are racists" fits that definition of hate speech.
rug
(82,333 posts)All I saw is a righteous callout of "The Amazing Atheist".
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)So if I said something like "a significant and growing portion of black people are ...(something negative)", or "a significant and growing portion of gays are ...(something negative)", or "a significant and growing portion of Muslims are ...(something negative)"
Then that would be O.K? You seem to think it's perfectly O.K. to say that about atheists, as a whole.
rug
(82,333 posts)This is Martin Hughes on the topic:
http://app.stitcher.com/listenlater/45129906
No matter who said it, "a significant and growing portion of atheists" is a far cry from "All atheists are racists".
You can say whatever the hell you want to say. Just don't put those words in someone else's mouth.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)Well alrighty then. We know where you stand.
rug
(82,333 posts)Is your argument so weak and your defensiveness so strong that you have to type a black atheist actually wrote ""All atheists are racists" in response to his stunningly accurate call out of an atheist who is a demonstrable racist?
Go consult with your "we".
*please*
Chakab
(1,727 posts)a bunch of unhinged rants against "SJWs."
Hard to take diatribes against oversensitivity seriously coming from a guy who can be provoked into recording 20 minute screaming fits because he's read blog posts, articles and comments on social media that he doesn't like.
Those reply's by him were racist. That doesn't make all of us Atheists racist though.
MellowDem
(5,018 posts)There is a lot of community and help provided by religious communities, and giving up membership on account of belief is not something many people would like to do, because there are lots of advantages to continuing to be a member. I would imagine for members of disenfranchised groups, it would be an even bigger loss to stop identifying.
The Amazing Atheist's views are nothing new, I've been hearing the same for years among many other young white males, and it really reflects the attitude that many younger whites adopt as being viewed as oppressors. They generally don't understand racial issues in a segregated society, they don't understand the terminology being used, they don't identify with their more conservative parents and grandparents and don't like to be lumped in with them, and it results in a lot of misdirected anger and frustration.
I don't think it has anything to do with atheism, this guy and his audience are overwhelmingly the same demographic I think, it's just a reflection of how many in that demographic think about racial issues. I'm sure it hurts atheism as a label, an already toxic and misunderstood term on several levels.
rug
(82,333 posts)Okay.
MellowDem
(5,018 posts)Sure, the book of atheism explicitly says white privilege doesn't exist, but that is just a metaphor that atheistophobes ignorantly use to denounce atheism.