I have been kicked out of yet another atheist Facebook group by “mightier-than-thou” administrators. Getting kicked out of atheist Facebook groups has become such a common occurrence over the years that it’s become a sport for me.
The group was called “Atheists Unite” and had over 13,000 members. It is a general atheist group with no directly stated agenda. I normally do not participate in this group, but recently decided to share a quote image from Republican Atheists to enlighten group members and see what kind of response is received. Typical anti-Republican jargon began trickling in, but within an hour the post was deleted without warning.
I skimmed through the content of the group and noted much of it was typical liberal-leftist anti-Christian, anti-Trump rhetoric that was not exactly atheist-related. I posted again pointing out that biased liberal political content is permitted in the group, yet a post from an actual atheist organization is not. Immediately administrators stated that the post had been deleted because it was “advertising.”
I know atheist Facebook administrators too well to take the “advertising” scapegoat seriously. I prodded a bit and eventually an administrator made the general argument that atheist Republicans are so few and far between that they should not be able to post content in the group. Bingo, case dismissed, but at the price of being banned from the group (yep, they banned me).
You may think I am kicked out of atheist Facebook groups for insulting people and causing mayhem, but this is never really the case. I do not insult people because I consider insults to be an inferior form of communicating. I actually take the time to explain my stance reasonably; however, many atheist Americans cannot handle such a rational approach from an atheist Republican and become irate. It’s like they reach a “can’t compute” mode and go haywire. In a sense I go haywire as well because I can’t understand how a general atheist group can be biased against atheists (if it was called “Liberal-Leftist Atheists” I can understand).
The more I communicate with atheist Americans, the more I see their foundation is not about atheism, but rather combating Republicans (whether atheist or not) and ultimately pushing a liberal-leftist agenda that focuses on gender rights, free education, free healthcare, etc. They have intertwined atheism into their political ideology so now an “atheist” is pre-defined when it comes to political and personal views, which is crazy since all atheism is is not believing in a higher spirit. When I go into atheist Facebook groups, and even atheist groups that meet in person, there is a protocol that must be followed in order to be accepted into the community, which primarily entails bashing Republicans and Christians.
If these groups were truly about atheism, the members would be relatively welcoming towards me as an atheist Republican. Of course they don’t have to love me, but they would recognize that I too am an atheist and therefore am a part of their community and deserve a level of respect. But this is usually far from the case and I am often swiftly ostracized.
Another thing I take into account in this event is the word “fairy tale” which is often used by atheists to criticize Christianity. They will often say, “I don’t believe in fairy tales.” Yet they often will reject atheist Republicans and act like they don’t exist, which I consider to be a form of “fairy tale,” considering it is make believing that something isn’t there when it is. The more I observe the atheist American community the more I relate it to religion.
Feel free to share your experiences and thoughts with me.
Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.