Such as social media, reddit or YouTube on non religious channels?
They just start preaching at you even if you made a post that had nothing at all to do with religion too.
It’s not exactly a good look for them. It just seems to sweeten stereotypes like “there’s no love like Christian hate” and makes it feel more true than ever.
Yes.
Franklin
Make 20 characters.
EDIT:
Sorry. I missed the “Why” and read it “Do Xtians troll atheists on other platforms”
Why do they? The Great Commandment, as they call it. They are to bring all of humanity into the enslavement of their invisible friend, regardless.
Franklin
Why observe the virtues of self discipline and moderation when your imaginary friend is in a feeding frenzy for souls?
Full Disclosure: I do not frequent any social media platforms except for YouTube. Nevertheless, I think I know the answer to the question asked. So here goes:
Why do Xtians troll Atheists on other platforms?
First, you have to realize it is CONSERVATIVE Xtians doing the trolling – and these folks are not only religiously conservative, they are politically conservative as well. They are followers of a certain Tangerine!
What drives these folks is fear. They are afraid of things not like themselves, so they lash out. Notice that Muslims, Hindus, etc., don’t receive as much or as severe trolling. That’s because they can at least partially understand a person who has a different faith, but they really can’t fathom anyone not having any kind of faith. It’s a complete contradiction of their position. They can’t wrap their heads around this, so they attack hoping to silence the contradiction.
What is funny is that this prompts more, not less, contradiction. The good news is that the more they troll – and the more responses they get – the more familiar atheism becomes, thereby counteracting the fear they feel. In the long run, it is better to respond rather than ignore the trolling. The more the negative response, the faster they get used to hearing the contradiction.
HOWEVER, be aware that in the short term, the opposite occurs – their position hardens. But this is a war, not a single battle.
As a fundamentalist, to give the slightest credence to the idea that their faith is not only possible to reject, but to even criticize, is deeply threatening to their foundational assumptions: that the Bible is the inerrant, literal Word of God, and that it removes all ambiguity or uncertainty from their world. You are correct that other forms of theism can be rationalized as simply mistaken or misguided or perverted; but atheism is a rejection of the very premise, and of their imagined “evidence” for the faith. Atheism says that their faith is not at ALL self-evidently true.
Couple this with their failure to understand the difference between their beliefs and their identity (because there IS no difference so far as they’re concerned) and the violent abreaction is easier to understand.
Exactly. It’s a very slow game, but it works if there is a constant and sufficient stream of people doing it. It will eventually desensitize religious people in order for them to get less offended by opposition and even stuff they consider blasphemy.
If most fundamentalists are as conflict-averse as my tribe was, I’m guessing that most don’t expose themselves to atheists or debates. And that theory is supported in venues like this one by the high number of “drive by” postings or posters who don’t last more than a few exchanges before disappearing, flouncing, or earning the ban-hammer.
It’s one thing to dip in with some imagined “gotcha” that they can’t believe we’ve already heard a hundred times, lay an egg, and leave. Then they can brag (at least to themselves) that they entered the Lion’s Den and showed us what-for. But it’s another thing to really engage. I honestly doubt most of them have the stomach for it. A few young hotheads maybe?
I suspect that where the desensitization actually plays out is in the general populace when their bigoted and hateful thinking is driven underground by social pressure, their children drift away from the faith when they leave home and go to university, and they have less and less company. Sadly, that progress is being undone in the US currently. I think it long since did its work in places like Europe. It would have taken longer here, probably a few more generations.