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How common is it for atheists to be against homosexuality/abortion?

I posted this question on Reddit a while ago and it was an interesting discussion so I wanted to hear what Lemmings think.

It’s common for religious people to be against the above mentioned things due to their beliefs, but how common is it for atheists to be against them? What reasons would they have? How would they base their opinion if there was no belief system/religion to rely on?

I’m not trying to provoke or insult anybody with this question, and I don’t wish for people to hate on each other’s beliefs. I just think this is an interesting concept to think about.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

I suspect it’s far less common, but I don’t have any numbers.

It depends in large part how you define “atheist”- does this include people with religious or spiritual beliefs, but don’t believe in a diety?

Or does it exclude the supernatural altogether?

Regardless, personally… I don’t care. Like, yes, absolutely equal rights to love who you want. Absolutely should be codified into law. Don’t get me wrong… everyone should have that right… and equal access to healthcare, and the rights to decide what happens to and in one’s body.

But personally… I don’t care. I don’t care if you specifically are gay, or if you’ve had six abortions in the last year. It just doesn’t matter- and it really, really Shouldn’t matter at all.

That people are trying to make it matter… trying to discriminate and make it illegal? Yes. That matters. That’s wrong and evil. Their hatred is something that we need to stand against.

Fedegenerate ,

That was me, I was raised Mormon so I had a lot of common sense that turned out to be unquestioned prejudice. Not a defence of who I was though, I was a prick.

captainlezbian ,

In my experience it’s less common but not crazy rare. Atheism often comes with experience challenging society’s expectations and that means you’re usually more open minded. But these opinions aren’t inherently tied to religion. I’ve met people who argue their pro choice stance from a Christian perspective (life begins at first breath is in the Bible) and I’ve seen atheists claim that distinct genetics mean that fetuses are equally alive. Homosexuality is less easy for side switching as it’s not explicitly permitted in the Christian Bible, and opposition to it on science grounds are harder but it tends to come down to unexamined discomfort and the reasoning comes later. For atheists it will be related to the biological imperative to reproduce or eugenics and social contagion rhetoric.

Also there’s the new atheists who are basically all Alt right bigots

Jakeroxs ,

Most of the alt right bigots I’ve seen or heard of are religious too. I’m sure there are some that aren’t tho just doesn’t seem to be common

captainlezbian ,

Well yeah, but one pathway that eventually fed into the formation of the alt right we know and hate is new atheism -> gamergate/anti SJW -> alt right. It wasn’t the main contributor to any of these things, but it is there. And like I wouldn’t be shocked if some of these people wound up Christians at some point during that process.

Jakeroxs ,

I have heard that a lot but not seen it, but I don’t surround myself with those kind of people much.

I did New Atheism (never was really religious but Texan so… religion is everywhere in your face) > Secular Humanist while also being anti SJW because of how cringe/bad they make the left look > Gamergate… eh idk it seemed somewhat fair at first being a look at potential corruption in the game review sphere but spun out I definitely agree, though it’s hard to not feel it was co-opted or somewhat intentionally lead down a worse path for some reason.

Idk it seems like that’s definitely the narrative I’ve heard parroted online and on news articles but, I personally went down a similar path and am basically an atheist/agnostic secular Humanist and social democracy or straight socialist advocate 🤷‍♂️

The alt right existed prior to most of that, like the tea party in 2009

PorradaVFR ,

I would note that it’s not any part of the ethos so an atheist can be (or not) anything. A lack of faith in a deity and an absence of prescribed beliefs is precisely that after all.

So vegan and meat loving atheists can exist precisely as much as progressive and extremely conservative ones.

Is it likely or common? I’d venture so say I doubt it.

neptune ,

Are you talking about an atheist who thinks the government should stop gay people? Or an atheist who is personally homophobic or ambivalent?

I’m sure they exist to some point. To what degree do we mean atheist? Someone who self labels? Probably less so, as someone who self labels as an atheist is probably more in tune with prevailing ideas about church/state.

I’m sure things were different in the 80s and before versus now.

DaCookeyMonsta ,

I’ve met weird people who argue that homosexuality is unnatural because it doesn’t reproduce (and apparently that is the reason for existence) and thus wrong.

Same people ignore homosexuality in nature, that other animals in nature have members that contribute to their society without mating, and that no one cares what they think.

But I have met them.

MentalEdge ,
@MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz avatar

It’s not really that surprising. I’m straight, and thinking about sex with someone of my own gender, does repulse me. But it’s not really a different revulsion to thinking about sex with someone of the opposite gender, who I’m not into.

I can totally imagine less self aware individuals observing their own feelings, and failing to account for the fact that the feelings of others may differ, and that that is fine, and doesn’t need to affect them. Even if they are otherwise secular.

I’ve definitely met homophobic people, who literally go out of their way to feel queasy about it, when seeing it in public or the media. Mistaking their feelings for something more universal, than just their own personal sexual orientation.

Gradually_Adjusting ,
@Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world avatar

I don’t know how common, but I remember enough of middle school to know that just because you’re a budding atheist does not prelude deep homophobia.

tsonfeir ,
@tsonfeir@lemm.ee avatar

Or racism.

AllonzeeLV ,

The American scientific community was all in on eugenics prior to WWII. We were sterilizing people left and right for mental illness, being a minority with “too many kids,” etc.

Jeredin ,

STIM doesn’t include ethics, psychology, and sociology. It’s amazing how many book-smart people are terrible humans.

electrogamerman ,

The thing is, teenagers (usually) are a reflection of what they are taught in their houses. They are not mature enough to have their own opinions.

Better question is, how common is for adult atheists to be against homosexuality/abortion?

PoliticalAgitator , (edited )

“Teenage pseudo-intellectual edgelords” is a demographic targeteted for recruitment by the far-right and its a scene that was filled with them decades ago.

So now they’re not racists and sexists, they’re “race realists” and armchair biologists. All it took was a crooked scan of a figure in a published paper.

But there’s no critical thought behind it at all. Give them a list of IQ grouped by race and they’ll declare there are no contributing systemic problems or historical events, black people are just genetically inferior.

There are so many obvious threads they could follow.

Scientific ones like “Is IQ actually objective or can you easily be primed and trained for the test?”.

Moral ones like “Should people’s rights and freedoms be decided by their intelligence and if so, why is that being extrapolated from the color of their skin rather than giving IQ tests to white supremacists?”.

Innate ones that don’t require any further context like “If white people aren’t at the top of that list anyway, why is the ‘okay to abuse’ cut off at second place?”

Ultimately, they’re no different from the religious extremists. They’re bigots and they’ve worked backwards from that to find an excuse.

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