Reply #18: Man, I've argued the same thing. [View All]

And this applies to Christians too. I've always felt uncomfortable when people say that liberal christians are responsible for their fundie brethren. To some extent, all of us share some responsability for not expressing our distaste when bad people talk, or responding with action when bad people harm others.

Every human being has to determine when it is their time to accept responsability. I can not punch a man if his brother fucked me over, but I can stop defending my own brother if he deserves to be punched.

It is not my fault if some other atheist offended you. I am not the person who offended you. Similarly, if I am a gardener, or a socialist, or a stamp collector, I am responsible for other gardeners, or socialists, or stamp collectors that offended you. However, it is my personal conviction that if I see an injustice done by another atheist, then it my job as a human being to confront the injustice. And if the injustice is horrible enough (not just some shitty post on a stupid website), then I will even understand the anger directed at me.

Sometimes I see posts, for example, from female DUers who have been sexually assaulted, who may be angry or accusatory to men in general. And I understand the anger completely. And I hate it when the first responses to those posts are "I am not like that" or "not all of us men are like that" because we should be using the time that we are protesting to instead understand and learn to take action. Have I ever sexually assaulted someone? No. But instead of wasting my time protesting, I realize that as a man, if I am not trying to be part of the solution (and whining about a person who has suffered a severe injustice having an unfair characterization of me is not a solution), then I'm part of the problem. I recognize that men do indeed do a lot of horrible things, and I take responsability for not doing enough to stop that shit, and I take it upon myself to confront other men. It's not something other people get to put on me. It's what I CHOOSE to put on myself.

That being said, if some theist calls you a fundie, or some atheist calls you delustional, and you respond in an equally negative fasion, then it isn't some fucking important injustice done to you and I won't interfere because I don't give a shit.

However, if some theist is ever trying to pass legislation to force your kids into a religious ceremony, or some atheist is trying to tear down your church, you can bet I'll be there with my piercing palm strikes, dragon punches, and flying haymakers to take care of the asshole.