/r/Atheism and The Mob Mentality
“Such a fine line between institutional crazy and culturally-sanctioned crazy.” ~ Reddit User ReverendDizzle
While hearing voices from God and dancing in the mud might not classify you as normal (or even sane), it does apparently classify you as fodder for members of the /r/Atheism group on Reddit.
In what can only be described as an Internet-flash-mob, a group of Reddit members found and attacked a MySpace user who had posted a blog over three years ago, in which she stated she heard voices from God. And while this Skewism article could definitely go after her, I’ve chosen the /r/Atheism group instead, for one major reason: They claim to be the rational ones.
From her grammar to her weight, the users of Reddit bombarded her blog with negative and hateful comments (4chan style). It was only after dozens of negative comments were posted that a few /r/Atheism members came in and apologized for their behavior. In fact, a lot of members who did state their disapproval were quickly downmodded.
In short, I realize that Reddit has grown a lot in the three years since I joined, but I’d think a group of people who claim to be more rational than their religious counterparts would want to walk the walk… On the other hand, this is the Internet.
The entire ordeal reminds me of Neil deGrasse Tyson and his rebuke to Richard Dawkins and his rhetorical style:
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\skyü-izəm\: a belief which conforms to a specific concept, attitude, or planned result
1
Sick6Sick — March 16, 2009 #
I think they just got some 4chan in my reddit.
2
Ashton — March 16, 2009 #
I agree with you, but these things just happen on the internet. It’s just what happens when a site like reddit starts to get really big. The atheism subreddit has kind of always been a bashing grounds of sort.
If the chick wouldn’t have posted a public blog about hearing voices she wouldn’t have gotten all of the attention.
3
frenchwhores4everyone — March 16, 2009 #
I knew something like this was going to pop up within 24 hours of seeing that submission. There are a lot of really smart people on reddit and I think a few childish people are starting to make everyone look bad. If you look at chickensofdoom’s comment he ended up leaving because people downmodded his comment about disapproving of all the hate. This is what I’m afraid of, we’ll run off all of our intelligent users and all we’ll be left with are the childish 4chan kids.
I don’t think we put atheists in a very good light when something like this happens and it just makes our mission even harder.
4
dd3 — March 16, 2009 #
Idiots are everywhere. The fact that this article has been voted up in /r/atheism and all of the comments are from people who don’t endorse this sort of behavior speaks volumes. *This* is what makes reddit different from other sites like 4chan.
5
subigo — March 16, 2009 #
@dd3 - I agree with you 100%.
6
blah — March 16, 2009 #
blah blah blah. the bitch WAS fat and crazy. she deserved everything she got. you fucking pansies.
7
what — March 16, 2009 #
It’s the internet. It has nothing to do with mobs or group think, it’s simply mass communication. If you publish your junk where the entire world can comment, you’ve got this sort of lambasting coming.
If you don’t want to be ridiculed, you should publish your stuff in your newsletter and hand them out to the freaks at your mega church. I’m sure they’ll care.
8
Areocam — March 16, 2009 #
What a load of self important nonsense! This whole “I’m so morally pure because I defended someone who was being attacked” schtick may fly with your hipster buddies but like the man said, this is the internet and if you post stuff which may bite you on the ass, well it may just bite you on the ass! For those of you who expressed disbelief or disgust or whatever at Reddit being infested with 4chan users, you’re a little naive. There are no borders or suchlike online. Get used to it.
9
Brenton — March 16, 2009 #
Please understand that those people do not represent the rest of the atheist reddit users, one of whom is me.
I’ve been telling people for a while now to not attack like that, it does more harm than good. I can understand the frustration some of us have as we are the minority and are often the subject of much discrimination from theists. I’ve been verbally attacked many times on sites like youtube for simply stating scientific facts, which is something that is very frustrating. I appreciate when people argue with me, but I don’t appreciate any hatred or scathing remarks coming from either side.
If we, as atheists, want to be taken seriously, we have to be adults about this. We lose ground by acting out like some of us did on this girls myspace page. The girl clearly has issues according to the story she posted, but that’s not something to ridicule her about. Why rub in the hate? I can get behind a few of the comments which warned her of a mental disorder that she may have, those commenters seemed to be legitimately concerned for that girl. After all, a crazy person never asks themselves if they are in fact crazy. But I am upset that people were so mean to her. If we want her and the rest of our country to rid themselves of their delusions, we have to be nice about it, we can’t try to force or to guilt people into it, we aren’t christians after all.
I ask all atheist reddit users to please be polite and adult in any confrontation with a theist. I know it can be very difficult sometimes, the tactics they use are extremely irritating and not accepting of logic, but if we want to be recognized as legitimate and rational people then we cannot act the way we did on that myspace page. We must kill them with kindness and with logic. We have the winning cards in our hands, we just have to play it right.
Please don’t be rude or mean to anybody, it makes us look bad as a whole. I don’t want people judging me wrongly based on the actions of a few rogue internet bullies.
10
Brenton — March 16, 2009 #
Contd:
Yes, the internet and myspace are designed for anybody to comment as much as they like and however they like, but does that mean that we should post those mean and hateful remarks? Those comments don’t reflect well on atheists, they do more harm than good. Please recognize that you are hurting the atheist movement and feeding into their stereotypes of us by acting this way. Please don’t fuel their fire, please don’t give them anything to use against us. If you really want your views to be taken seriously you should act civil and adult. Science bless all of you
11
Philipe — March 16, 2009 #
Were they so awful because they disagreed? Was it bad to say it is silly to live your life like the Myspace user does? No, it isn’t.
We need to treat crazy people like they are crazy people, instead of coddling them. Perhaps then they may re-examine their beliefs.
12
Matt — March 16, 2009 #
“The Mob Mentality”? A chick that was completely batshit insane got called batshit insane. It just happened to be by a whole lot of people because a whole lot of people just happened to read her blog all at once.
13
MikeD — March 16, 2009 #
/r/atheism users are a bunch of fucking hypocrites and they are ruining reddit. See all those people defending the actions or excusing them by saying, “it’s the internet, it happens”? Yeah, those are the same people who spend half their waking life attacking people online because they think they are crazy.
/r/atheism users are just a bunch of assholes who think they’re better than anyone who believes differently from them. The whole subreddit group IS a circlejerk.
From one reddit user to the entire subreddit: fuck off. You annoy the rest of the site at best and ruin it at worst.
It’s obvious they can dish it, but they can’t take it. I think that chick was a bit nuts, but I doubt she ever went around calling random people online crazy or fat (which I’m sure a lot of the /r/atheism members are).
14
MikeD — March 16, 2009 #
And just to followup, FUCK, /r/atheism members are the quickest group of people to judge someone without knowing anything about them. Apparently you’re a hipster if you point out anything negative about their behavior.
What a bunch of fucking crybabies. I seriously want to fight every single one of them in the ring.
I left digg because it became a fuckslopfest and now I’ll be leaving reddit for the same thing. Anyone have any recommendations?
15
Anonymous — March 16, 2009 #
This whole article is based on a confusion.
When atheists claim to be more rational than the religious, what they mean is rational with respect to beliefs: they mean that solid evidence and good reasoning is what guides their beliefs and nonbeliefs, far moreso than the religious.
But this sort of rationality has absolutely nothing to do with immaturity and namecalling and mean-spiritedness. Someone can be perfectly rational in their beliefs and still perfectly childish in their behavior.
And that means it’s just plain stupid to say “They claim to be the rational ones” and make a big deal out of it.
16
subigo — March 16, 2009 #
@anonymous - The article isn’t really aimed at Atheists as a whole, just the /r/Atheism subgroup on Reddit.
17
Anonymous — March 16, 2009 #
subigo,
Granted, but the point stands. The rationality they’re boasting of is in no way contrary to mean-spirited childishness. To think otherwise is to evince confusion.
18
dd3 — March 16, 2009 #
Anonymous,
I think he was probably (correct me if I’m wrong) trying to point out the hypocrisy of their actions. Go back and look at the comments on reddit. It was the MAJORITY and not the minority who was attacking this girl. People who called on it to stop, like myself, were downmodded into oblivion.
Is the /r/atheism group trying to change people’s minds with rational debate, or are they simply attacking a girl here for not thinking the way they do?
IMO this was a prime example of groupthink and I believe a lot of people who were part of the attack yesterday probably regretted it today.
And yes, it was an attack and you can’t defend it no matter how hard you try.
19
noname — March 16, 2009 #
DD3 - “Is the /r/atheism group trying to change people’s minds with rational debate, or are they simply attacking a girl here for not thinking the way they do?”
haha, you haven’t been on reddit long have you? they aren’t trying to change anyones mind. they are a giant circlejerk of hateful socially retarded losers. rational debate, hah. 99% of their submissions are mocking someone.
20
Anonymous — March 16, 2009 #
dd3, I’m not defending the attack. What I’m doing is pointing out a confusion in the article.
If you want to criticize the attack, feel free. But this ‘gotcha’ point involving rationality is just plain stupid.
21
dd3 — March 16, 2009 #
Anonymous,
Attacking a girl because you don’t agree with her beliefs is rational? I think we might have different definitions of the word.
22
Anonymous — March 16, 2009 #
dd3, it’s neither rational nor irrational. That is, it has absolutely nothing to do with rationality, in the sense boasted of by atheists (or the /r/atheism crowd). Why? Because it has nothing to do with having beliefs backed up by evidence.
Call it mean-spirited childishness. But rationality is completely beside the point.
23
dd3 — March 16, 2009 #
Anonymous,
You really think the /r/Atheism crowd was rational? You really think this defined them: “having or exercising reason, sound judgment, or good sense: a calm and rational negotiator.”
I call it irrational mean-spirited childishness.
24
subigo — March 16, 2009 #
@dd3 - Could you leave your real e-mail in the next comment or give me your reddit username? I’d like to send you a private message.
25
Anonymous — March 17, 2009 #
dd3, it would do you good to actually read what I write.
I’m not talking about ‘rational’ in all its many senses. I’m talking about ‘rational’ in the sense having to do with beliefs being backed up by evidence. I’ve been extremely clear about this. Please pay attention.
If someone boasts of being rational in one sense, and then you point out they’re not being rational in another sense, you are missing the point and wasting everyone’s time.
26
Anasdf — March 17, 2009 #
Flip it where the people listen to god who attack atheists it happens both ways. I do not agree with the personal attacks on the individual separate from their scientific knowledge and a generally mockery of religion. ie Don’t attack their personal appearance dont threaten them and when you are attacking someone’s grammar you should realize that this is the internet and that is someone’s log or journal and an informal piece that does not require formal grammar.
27
Gino Barcal — March 24, 2009 #
The Atheist Counter-History
Behind the pacifist and loving speech, the majority of the religions promote in fact the destruction of everything that represents freedom and pleasure. They hate the body, the desires, the sexuality, the women, the intelligence and all the books, except one. The religions promote the submission, the chastity, the blind and conformistical faith on behalf of a fictitious paradise after the death.
Only an atheistic person can be free, because the idea of a god is incompatible with the freedom of the human being. The idea of a god promotes the existence of a divine dimension, which denies the possibility to choose your own destination and to invent your own existence. If god exists, the Is is not free; on the other hand, if god does not exist, the Is can be free. The freedom is never given. It is acquired day by day. However, the basic principle of a god is an inhibiting impediment of the autonomy of the man.
It means that when a person does not content himself only in believing dully, but starts to make questions on the sacred texts, the doctrine, the teachings of the religion, there is no way not to reach these conclusions. It is about not to leave the reason, with capital R, in second plan, behind the faith, and to give to the reason the power and the nobility that it deserves.
The mechanism of the religions is of an illusion. It is like a mysterious toy we try to decipher by breaking it. The enchantment and the magic of the religion disappear when we see the mechanism and the reasons behind the beliefs.
The priests are limited to use only one handful of words, texts and references that allow to better assure the control on the bodies, hearts and souls of the followers. The mythology of the religions need simplicity to become more efficient. The religions make a permanent promotion of the faith, the belief before the intelligence and the reason, the submission of the followers against the freedom of the independent thought, the darkness against the light.
The necessity of cultivate culturally a god is based in ridicules ideas. We don’t have nothing in the brain beyond what we put in it. Have you seen a child believing in gods? Religions and gods are human beings inventions, just like philosophy, arts and metaphysics. These creations have been made to answer the necessities of confront the anguish of the death; But, we can react in other ways: For example, using the philosophy.
The believe in a god is an impotence signal. We must be conscious of our possibilities. When we cannot prove something is necessary to recognize these limitation and not make concessions to tale-stories or mythology. The idea of the divine child is a species of infantile illness of the reflective thought.
The majority of the people is allured by the elected icons of the media, and believe more in them than in the physical truth. The truth is that the role of the religions was not the best one: Attacks against Galileu, genocide during the crusades, the Muslim radicalism, silence before the holocaust, etc. What history show is that the religions instead promoting peace, love, fraternity, friendship between the people and the nations, for the most part produced most of the time the opposite. It does not seem very worthy that the monotheists generated some good here and there. In compensation, they generated extreme human barbarity; and this seems much more important as prove of the impotence of the doctrines.
We cannot make much about it, except to say what it is truth. The Christians have little moral to disapprove old truths, when they themselves promote old errors until today. The philosophy can allow each one of us the comprehension of what is the world, of what can be our morals, our justice, the rules of the game for a happy existence between the humans, without the necessity of appealing to a god, to the holy ghost, to the sacred one, to the skies, to the religions. It is necessary to pass from the theological age to the age of the mass philosophy.
The weakness, the fear, the anguish before the death, are the sources of all the religious beliefs, and they will never abandon the humanity.
The history of the Christianity has just as much value as the mythology of Santa Claus. It is in the same level of the fairies stories, where the animals talk and the witches eat little kids. A thought that only serves the children.
It is necessary to allow the free construction of ourselves as independent beings. To develop the counter-history of the atheist, sexualist, hedonist and anarchist philosophy.
Gino Barcal
28
Fisk — March 25, 2009 #
“They (Christians) hate books….”. I’ve averaged a book a week since I was thirteen. When I was younger and had more time I often read a book a night.
Yes I’ve read Darwin and Dawkins. Darwin was one hell of a scientist and Dawkins is a very poor philosopher.
I won’t even touch the rest of this. The author lives in no world I am familiar with and speaks with no people I have ever met. Since what he says is largely fantasy content, I imagine he can arrange to win almost any debate.
But as someone stated above, blogs like this are not about sharing ideas or coming to the truth. My advice to the author is go to church. But since he’s not likely to do that, I advise him to get drunk. It would be more rational than what he’s doing.