Actually, some might go so far as to say that that’s all a child is; a slobbering wobbly billboard for your beliefs and behaviours. It’s really what they’re best at.
Hey! I like Reddit and Fedoras and am an atheist. You’ve cut me to the quick!
I still wouldn’t buy these shoes. But I wouldn’t care who else wants them, I’ve seen worse on a onesie.
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Religion actually has quite a few good qualities associated with it, and any reasonable Atheist should be able to recognize them.
Religions have a long history of fostering community, education, charity, and other good works. That’s not to say that religion always results in these things, or that religion is necessary to result in these things, but they’re certainly markedly prevalent among religious populations.
Being part of a religious community has the immediate social and psychological benefits of shared communal experiences - it gives people a reason to interact regularly, bringing them together through shared values and beliefs, to take part in personally meaningful activities. Everything from regular worship, to weddings, to funerals, to individual crisis assistance - one’s fellow believers are often there to offer support and fellowship in times of fortune and misfortune alike. And religions even engage in and organize many “secular” community events such as festivals, contributing to the general public even outside of matters of faith.
Religions also have a strong association with charity, education, and good works. Pretty much every religion strives to help the poor, the sick, and the needy - to teach the illiterate, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, to shoe the shoeless, to protect the weak, and to comfort the suffering. They may each have differing methods of going about and doing these things, or different reasons and motivations for doing so, but good works are still good works.
Sure, there are a lot of problems with many of the world’s religions. But those problems should each be addressed in their turn. One doesn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, and one shouldn’t condemn the good that religions can do simply because they are also capable of harm.
Rather, seek to root out the negative aspects from religion, and to foster the positive ones in their place. It does no one any good to condemn religion wholesale - it simply alienates people and fosters negativity and toxicity among a massive segment of the human population that is ultimately only guilty of the very human flaw of needing some form of spiritual guidance and structure in their lives in the face of a strange, confusing, often painful world.
Science and Religion need not be enemies. Rationalism and Spiritualism can coexist harmoniously - if only we can take the time to appreciate the good in each, and seek to minimize the bad.
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I especially hate how all those religious types paint hastily in broad brushstrokes when making bullshit pronouncements about social forces and structures they clearly don’t understand the first thing about…
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Someday, child, you will see the error of your ways and return to the path of righteousness.
Which isn’t the path of theism, it’s the path of realizing that fedoras are really fucking stupid.
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First of all, ew. Second, I think people are reacting to how gauche it is to put such a message on a baby, especially when it’s fashionable for militant atheists to complain about overt religious symbolism in Western culture.
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Sad, sad perspective on children really.
I don’t think it’s any worse than putting “Mommy drinks because I cry,” on a onesie. It’s tacky but ultimately harmless.
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Hee hee. I’ve secretly loved fedoras since the Blues Brothers. I’m not going to stop now because it’s trendy to hate them. Maybe one day…
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You’re absolutely right. But together, through mockery, we can move towards a less tacky society.
Those are more accurately described as trilbies.
I think what people have against todays fedora obsession is that they’re worn not as an accessory but as an identity. That by adding a shitty looking Jason Mraz hat they can “class up” their Slipknot t-shirt or ill-fitting suit (solid black Calvin Klein separates with all three buttons done up). This particular item of clothing just doesn’t work with greasy, stringy hair, pimply skin, or a neckbeard. It’s a desperate cry by the hopelessly dorky of “I’m cool and sophisticated! Like Cary Grant or Frank Sinatra or other people that I’ve heard of!”
stupid commenting system wont let new users post images
Helicopter atheists.
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You probably wouldn’t approve of my toddler’s Wiccan neck tats, then…
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See, I recognize that this is almost certainly very blatant sarcasm, and yet I’m shuddering at the thought… 
My work here is done. 
This is probably the most succinctly balanced thing I have ever read on the subject of religion. Wonderful!
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Fmeh. Do they come with a “My parents are insufferable assholes and all I got were these stupid shoes” onesie?
I’m an atheistic agnostic, and I find militant atheists to be just as annoying as rabid evangelicals. I don’t give a damn about your religion or lack thereof, unless you start using it to impose your ideals on my existence. Your continued insistence on talking about it, putting slogans on yours and your kids’ clothes, etc. pegs my Don’t-Givashit-o-Meter. Sometimes, the eyeroll is so violent, I think I might sprain something.
“How can you tell if someone is a vegan/atheist/feminist? Oh, don’t worry - they’ll tell you.” Sure, it’s a dismissive, semi-offensive stereotype. But if you think someone means you, maybe some self-examination is in order.
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Oh yes, the old “religion as social club” argument. The obvious answer is all the good parts of such community can come from rationalism as well. That’s the whole point of having a government social network to provide welfare and other support to the needy. Not terribly surprisingly, it’s the religious right who wants to dismantle the secular social network.
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Oh they absolutely are. They are the perfect tool to project the parents’ likes and interests onto, and lets the world see how cool and hip they are.
Examples:
Hey - at least it’s not a weed leaf,
“Cruisin’ down the street in my six-fo’
Jockin’ the bitches, slappin’ the hoes”
… Five Years Later…
“Wha - What do you mean you like Jar Jar Binks? Empire Strikes Back was boring? WHO ARE YOU? YOU’RE NO SON OF MINE!!!”
http://pqkydmoidmhefgli.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/il_570xN.359062052_dn4i.jpg
Riiiigggghhhttt…
Tell us your wisdom on, say, black people and women. I’d love to hear it.
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