WHEN ATHEISTS ATTACK!

Or:

Lost in Translation.

[Intoned in the voice of Rod Serling]: “Witness if you will…submitted for your approval.”

Last weekend was no picnic.

It began with Business As Usual: some teenagers, looking to stir up trouble, decided to wander on down to the NGB, and start picking fights. The usual scathing banter back and forth, the xtian kids (some people’s kids, I tell ya) making all sorts of adolescent commentary, ‘you’re going to hell, you losers’, etc. Virtual joyriders wanting to ‘see how the other half lives’, as it were.

This time, it became something OTHER, something alien.

My fault. Sort of.

I’ll give you a nutshell on the back story:

This one little troll blathered on about evolution being an ‘ideology’, going to hell, called an atheist a loser, etc. Standard stuff.

Thought I’d try something new. I took her aside on another thread, talked to her a bit, chatted briefly (told her I was a decent sort, why should I burn, etc.) After being told pretty much tough luck, I very paternally asked her to try being more courteous, polite, respect her elders, etc.

Shockingly enough, she agreed.

On another thread, two of my colleagues embarked on what I like to call, PTC (Prod the Christian). I informed them I’d asked her to be courteous, hey, hold on a minute, and don’t wail on the kid.

I was told tough stuff. Actually, I was told a lot of things. No commentary: the words exchanged are now a part of public record: read it here

Now, I’ve been advised publicly as well as privately to let this go. But there was just so much WRONG with the goings on, I don’t know where to begin.

The child in question was a 15-16 year old kid. Age of adulthood in California is eighteen. Don’t know about anywhere else. Hell, my opinion is that until you’re 25, you’re not quite an adult (yeah, some of my younger readers may bridle a bit, but when you’re 30, you’ll understand the statement. Hell, I’d have problems with it at 24).
Let’s just stipulate that under 18 is a bad idea.

I’ve been getting into some tussles with my own ‘brethren’ lately. “Hey, whose side are you on?” Trust me you, I’m on YOUR side. My actions do have a reason. There is method to my madness.

So the debacle deepened, harsh words exchanged, getting more and more acrimonious by the post. Truthfully, I’m a little embarrassed at some of it. But only a little.

Sidebar: so I’m at the park, a little later on (2-3 days later), telling my buddy the maintenance guy the story, and he asked something that cut pretty much to the heart of the matter: “How did the girl respond?”

Exactly. In the midst of flying vitriol amongst us, she pipes up with, “Wow, you are a good man!”

And later on, with: “I’m sorry I made you guys fight.”

Truth be told, she behaved admirably throughout the whole fracas. Yeah, it was blog. Yeah, I may be reading too much into it. Yeah, no way to verify how old, boy or girl.

Cuts both ways, though. No way to know otherwise. So this one fella, he deluges the place with voluminous posts, occasionally stopping to snap at me, and not only throws instances of rape and incest (biblical) at the kid, but also child molestation (catholic). I tried to tell him, not a good I-de-a, but wasted effort.

Now, I wish I could say that I was clever enough to have arranged the whole thing, some sort of social experiment. Naw. It just happened.

So I took a hit for the community, and shut up after a while. Hey, not my sandbox: still a guest.

Here’s my biggest problem:

We complain about not getting equal time. We complain about not getting a seat at the table. We bitch and whine about fair treatment, about negative stereotypes, about being pre-judged as being immoral.

And then we savage stupid kids? Hey, troll’s a troll. Hell, I’ve gone after ‘em myself. As I said in one post, “I can hear ‘em now: they’re beating up on an xtian teenager down at the Nogodblog. Oh yeah, THAT helps the cause.” It’s an adult? Gloves are off. It’s a teenager who’s been asked to be polite, agrees, and is promptly attacked without mercy? Am I the only one who sees the inherent bullshit in that? If she’d come back with a bunch of ignorant tripe (and truthfully? She could’ve, had I not intervened on her behalf. We’ll never know now, shall we?), well, compact’s out the window.

But I broke a stereotype in one mind; I’d like to think. Maybe a couple of minds; I’m hoping.

Here’s my point:

We are representing, as atheists. Nobody gets respect unless it’s earned. I don’t go along with all that fuzzy feel-good nonsense about how we automatically get respect for existing. Just ain’t so: a romantic notion fraught with peril.

Now, I’m not saying go into total lockdown, no more sniping, no more battles royale with arrogant theists (hey, some of ‘em got it coming: not all of them, though). I’m not a complete wet blanket. And hey, I get spirited, I get sarcastic, I’m probably more bellicose than most.

I also flatter myself to think that I return courtesy with courtesy. I’m human, I fumble sometimes. Them’s the breaks.

But I also say: walk the way you talk. You, me, everybody.

And also:

Don’t fuck with other people’s kids. That’s going to land a world of hurt on somebody: the cause, your fellow atheists, yourself (do you really want to answer the knock at the door, and find two cops quizzing you about some remarks you made last night on a blog?) whatever image we’re trying to build, whatever stereotypes we’re trying to negate.

And hey, I don’t even want to hear about the freedom of speech thing. That’s not a carte blanche clause that says you can say any damn thing you want to. Before you respond to that, think: If you had a twelve year old kid, some adult approached him/her every day (or once a week, or hell, just once) and proposed some lewd, horrid thing to said kid, well then, let’s talk about freedom of speech then. Hey, the guy didn’t do anything, did he? That was an example only: you ken me drift, methinks.

Furthermore: if you’re an atheist, I’m an atheist; I think you’re doing the wrong thing, you don’t get a free pass.

Nobody does. Theist, atheist, agnostic. Not me, you, not anyone. Until the day comes that we’re treated better, that we viewed as equals, when the fruitcakes and nut jobs have dimmed their clamor to the point of being whispers, we need to show a little more restraint.

And that, dear readers, is my nickels worth. Spend it wisely, and well.