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But why would it become a youthful trend when it is so hated?

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Check out 'recent' history. The youth of America has had a 'rebellious' nature for a very long time... if there is something they can do that shocks their parents, and just in general the previous generation, they will go for it. Rock'n'roll in the 50s, free love and drugs in the 60s, etc, etc.

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"God does not play dice" - Albert Einstein
"God does play dice" - Stephen Hawking

Bohica

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1

If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

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Hated the the American population at large. I linked the survey.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1

If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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Quote: from Moridin at 5:16 pm on July 6, 2009

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Hated the the American population at large. I linked the survey.  

 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1  

 If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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So you're making the claim that there are no young people who say they are gay, lesbian or bi but are really "just kidding"?

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No, all I am saying is that such an opinion with respect to homosexuality is most likely statistically incorrect. Sure, there might be a few random people who does that, but that amount would be, in my opinion, statistically insignificant.

In fact, most of the intellectual culture in the west is science and secularism, yet do you not hear about massive waves of teens actively rebelling against them?

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

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Quote: from Forever Angel at 1:34 am on July 7, 2009

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Quote: from Moridin at 5:16 pm on July 6, 2009

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Hated the the American population at large. I linked the survey.

  http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1

  If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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So you're making the claim that there are no young people who say they are gay, lesbian or bi but are really "just kidding"?

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No, all I am saying is that such an opinion with respect to homosexuality is most likely statistically incorrect. Sure, there might be a few random people who does that, but that amount would be, in my opinion, statistically insignificant.

In fact, most of the intellectual culture in the west is science and secularism, yet do you not hear about massive waves of teens actively rebelling against them?

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Hated the the American population at large. I linked the survey.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1

If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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Fuck that.
It is much easier to be an atheist. It is not about spiting one's parents, its just about doing something rebellious. Even that is too strong a phrase to use. It's just something that happens to generations, as was pointed out; who knows why, it just happens.

I'm just saying that I would hate to see atheism rise simply as a cultural phase like free love and then be recognized as such and--perhaps--rejected by later generations.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

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Quote: from S0LITUDE at 8:07 am on July 6, 2009

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I think it's fine until these kids start turning into atheist bigots who want everyone to be like them. Extreme atheism tends to get close-minded at times, and then there's a lack of tolerance towards otehr peoples believes. But I also think it's just a phase.  

 Also, I don't think that in order to be an atheist you have to have any profound thoughts or analyze things. Some people simply don't care much about the god debate, and seem to care more about other things.  

 oh and the five ways only does for kinkiness and nothing else

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Name a single atheist extremist and what properties they have. Claiming that there are atheist extremists is like claiming that there are not-collecting-stamps extremists. Yes, there are marxist extremists and Buddhists extremists and there are atheists who are also at the same time extremists, but there is nothing called atheistic extremism.

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Jesus

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All I know is that I know everything
-S0LITUDE

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Quote: from Moridin at 6:16 pm on July 6, 2009

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Hated the the American population at large. I linked the survey.  

 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1  

 If your reasoning is true, it would apply equally to homosexuality. After all, what would shock a devoutly religious family more than their son chosen the gay lifestyle? But this is of course not the case. You don't choose to be gay. So therefore, your argument is invalid. It is not the case that youth acts in order to upset the prevailing culture. Such a belief is almost Marxist.

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Fuck that.  
It is much easier to be an atheist. It is not about spiting one's parents, its just about doing something rebellious. Even that is too strong a phrase to use. It's just something that happens to generations, as was pointed out; who knows why, it just happens.  

I'm just saying that I would hate to see atheism rise simply as a cultural phase like free love and then be recognized as such and--perhaps--rejected by later generations.

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Again, why would they want to become hated by their own culture? Do you think gay people are gay because they are just rebelling?

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

1. The impact that those who "hate" atheists have on those who are atheists. I myself am an atheist and I know several; I know not one person who has been outwardly persecuted for their theological views. I have never felt hated or belittled.

2. The degree to which youths are affected by the disdain of aged and unknown strangers of the other generations.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

Just ask PZ Myers or Richard Dawkins to share some of their hate mail with you.

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

That doesn't stop people from rebelling against any number of things that are considered reprehensible or vile.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

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Oh, I imagine that the very outspoken people get hate mail very often. But then, who isn't persecuted in the south, except the sheep?

That doesn't stop people from rebelling against any number of things that are considered reprehensible or vile.

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Do you think Richard Dawkins is merely rebelling? He became an atheist and a biologist at a very young age.

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

I was simply saying that I fear that atheism is becoming trendy as a youthful rebellion, as free love was in the sixties, as the party-hardy scene was in the '20s, etc. I would never claim that atheism is the product of mere rebellion.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov

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No. Like I said, you are misunderstanding what I was saying.

I was simply saying that I fear that atheism is becoming trendy as a youthful rebellion, as free love was in the sixties, as the party-hardy scene was in the '20s, etc. I would never claim that atheism is the product of mere rebellion.

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Oh I see. Thank you for that clarification.

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"The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the
shoreline of wonder" (Ralph W. Sockman)

I don't know if I'm write. It was just a thought that occurred to me; I keep seeing these younger kids running around saying "I'm an atheist, that god stuff is crapola" and it just seems far too immature to me to be something that they came up with all on their own.

I'd not like to see the sheep simply switch pastures.

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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.It's the transition
that's troublesome.   --Isaac Asimov