Thread by @ErikMKort

Hot New Take: White Dude Atheists are awful.

But why, though? What is it about that combination of factors seems to fairly reliably make people into hateful phobic assholes? This is my very rough theory, and I'd love a discussion about it.

twitter.com/i/moments/1067…

I'm tackling this from an Evangelical-to-atheist trajectory, although I certainly don't believe all atheists were once religious, nor do I believe that they're only atheist cause they're mad at god or the divine.

However, in the broad spectrum of human experience, it helps to start somewhere and (hi, have you met me?) this happens to be one of my interest areas so we're starting here.

Please know that I'm trying to be as detailed as possible mostly for myself, so I don't skip a step. I certainly don't mean to mansplain, I'm just hoping for clarity.

I think there's a danger inherent in the deconstruction process that white dudes are particularly prone to. This is because white dudes are: 1) taught that they have the right AND duty to lead; 2) are always asked for their thoughts to the exclusion of other voices;

3) are more frequently criticized for not using their privilege than calling out their privilege; 4) are taught by purity culture that their minds and instincts are dangerous.

This is on top of all the other mind-fuckery that Evangelism and purity culture teach. Important for this discussion is the subtle building of tolerance for cognitive dissonance, and the inability to systematically update our belief system.

Not to mention the well trained practice of flinching away from a close examination of painful truths, such as the inherent sexism and racism baked into the EC worldview.

For what it's worth, I think that a lot of secular cultures share many of the above flaws where white dudes (WDs) are concerned. All of America is built on white supremacy, and the patriarchy, so there's a lot of mind-fuckery that white boys go through as they grow up.

What about this toxic stew has to do with why white ATHEIST dudes are the worst? Because I think there's a glitch in the deconstruction process as they make new beliefs. If you want more info about HOW beliefs are formed, my thread can be found here:

https://twitter.com/ErikMKort/status/1103686676549787648

In short, the steps are:

1) We encounter Something New.
2) Search for meaning/understanding.
3) Evaluate the belief against existing beliefs.
4) Accept (or reject) the new Belief.
5) Consequences (integration) of New Belief

I think the problem is in steps 2-3, because when the New thing hits - There is no God - the meaning is created by and pressed against the beliefs and systems that create and support the old belief and also all the current awful beliefs.

Often, the deconstructing process triggers a domino effect ("if I was lied to about this, what else was I lied to?") but the beliefs that make us assholes tend to be sheltered from this search.

Now, all of that is pretty generic, though "white" and "dude" have their specific beliefs that impact the above in unique ways.

What happens next is that our WD rejects the old in-group that he existed within and comes under fire and pressure from his old world.

He starts looking for another group to belong to. Since our WD is used to being treated as a Respected Leader among his Peers, he flinches away from justified criticism from the feminist groups, and anyone not-white.

Those criticisms may (and ought to) invite him to look inward, but our WD is used to all of his privilege which sheltered him from such searches, and has left him too brittle.

There's also a feeling of self-righteousness that WDs are given - "I rejected my whole faith, my whole community, and now you say that's not enough? Fuck you!" - which bounces our WD to a community that gives them the respect and prestige they're looking for.

In our case, the atheist community.

[IMPORTANT ASIDE: It is absolutely NOT the job of non-cis-dudes and PoC to withhold their criticism, their anger, or their voices for the sake of white dudes. White fragility is a Thing, and few things on Earth are more fragile than a confused white dude.

It is up to us fellow White Dudes to identify what is happening, support the justified response, and to approach the wounded confused white dude to help in a space where we're not centering our white experience inappropriately. END ASIDE.]

Once there, they rebuild their self-ego to the status it was when they were EC. Before, they were told that they had Many Important Thoughts, that they were Right, that they were Leaders, that they were Owed Things.

They likely still believe that, and now, they believe that they're learning the "real truth" about the world, along with superior ways of thinking.

So, they rebuild their self-ego to be even more than before. Their worldview is still mostly EC in that it's built on a sexist, racist, colonial empire-building belief foundation.

That was the micro, with one WD. Let's look at the macro - what happens to the Atheist Community?

I think that all communities are in danger of distilling their awful. That is, humans in poorly defined communities without clear boundaries are more likely to leave then they are to be pushed out.

It's like if you're at a party, and there are a few drunk assholes. Chances are, you'll go home earlier before you try and get them kicked out, especially if the party is at a neutral venue and not your bestie's house.

Then, since the balance shifts towards Drunk-Assholes, people are more likely to get drunk and behave badly, until when a Drunk Asshole wanders into the party, he'll feel comfortable.

With that analogy, I think the white dude atheist community is pushing out moderates or "woke" folk as more of us feel unwelcome and upset at the beliefs being proposed. Which then distills the awfulness that atheism is vulnerable towards.

One of these vulnerabilities is a black-and-white understanding of SCIENCE and REALITY. That is, within many forms of religions and spirituality, there is space for mystery even within the known.

This sense of undefined mystery (drives me nuts, but also) creates space for tolerance. In a binary view of reality, though, things are either True or False. Everything that is False must be destroyed by the Truth.

And, when you've solidified your confidence in your own ability to be Right, then you feel a moral mandate to enlighten those suffering under the delusions of falsehood.

After all, you remember when YOU used to believe untrue things, but now you know true things, and shouldn't you spread your light and give the gift of Truth to the deceived?

This makes you into an asshole, and an unpleasant one at that. So our WD will get rejected again and again, and comfort himself that it's not him that is the problem, but them and their refusal to see the Truth.

So, when our WD goes looking for a community, he passes by the people leaving, and finds a group that's happy to include him, raise him up, and influence him towards the crumminess to which he's become accustomed.

Anywho, that's my current working theory on why White Dude Atheists are the worst.

What do you think?