So what if Mullen really was an atheist?

[MrHooch]

This most recent rash of mudslinging seems to all have been spurred from rumors that Freeze accused Mullen of being an atheist... my question is, why is that a bad thing? <div>
</div><div>It's 2012, and if you don't understand what an atheist REALLY is today I feel sorry for you. An atheist does not worship satan, they do not kill indiscriminately, and they do not eat babies. EVERYONE is an atheist to some degree, and if you don't believe me, then tell me that you truly believe in all the gods that are and ever were. Because if you don't believe in Zeus, Odin, Ra, Imhotep, etc. then you are an atheist with respect to those deities and religions. The average atheist in America simply believes in one less god than christians. We are still good, decent people who have morals and values (yes I said 'we', I am an atheist, which some of you already know).</div><div>
</div><div>A lot of people will point to recruiting and the damage it can cause with potential recruits, and to this I say I understand, but I think a few well defined comparisons would clear it up easily. Mullen is an atheist??? Well what if he was a Buddhist or a Jew... if someone discriminated against him if he were Jewish the entire country would be up in arms at a moments notice, but insinuating that he believes in NO gods is somehow more worthy of derision and justified? Why don't we tell this to recruits and their grandmothers when and if the question comes up? Some recent demographic evidence has shown that atheists are the least trusted minority in the US... people trust murderers, rapists and pedophiles more than atheists... really??? That's just pathetic...</div><div>
</div><div>So for all the Ole Miss fans to rally around the battle cry that Mullen is an atheist just goes to show that they are as backwards, racist, hate-filled and narrow-minded today as they ever were. Instead of slinging mud back we should be pointing out their obviously slanderous accusations as what they really are... more hate-speech from a university renowned for spewing similar venom for much of it's history. </div><div>
</div><div>Now all of you who are offended by my candidness may flame away...</div>

 

[MrHooch]

This most recent rash of mudslinging seems to all have been spurred from rumors that Freeze accused Mullen of being an atheist... my question is, why is that a bad thing? <div>
</div><div>It's 2012, and if you don't understand what an atheist REALLY is today I feel sorry for you. An atheist does not worship satan, they do not kill indiscriminately, and they do not eat babies. EVERYONE is an atheist to some degree, and if you don't believe me, then tell me that you truly believe in all the gods that are and ever were. Because if you don't believe in Zeus, Odin, Ra, Imhotep, etc. then you are an atheist with respect to those deities and religions. The average atheist in America simply believes in one less god than christians. We are still good, decent people who have morals and values (yes I said 'we', I am an atheist, which some of you already know).</div><div>
</div><div>A lot of people will point to recruiting and the damage it can cause with potential recruits, and to this I say I understand, but I think a few well defined comparisons would clear it up easily. Mullen is an atheist??? Well what if he was a Buddhist or a Jew... if someone discriminated against him if he were Jewish the entire country would be up in arms at a moments notice, but insinuating that he believes in NO gods is somehow more worthy of derision and justified? Why don't we tell this to recruits and their grandmothers when and if the question comes up? Some recent demographic evidence has shown that atheists are the least trusted minority in the US... people trust murderers, rapists and pedophiles more than atheists... really??? That's just pathetic...</div><div>
</div><div>So for all the Ole Miss fans to rally around the battle cry that Mullen is an atheist just goes to show that they are as backwards, racist, hate-filled and narrow-minded today as they ever were. Instead of slinging mud back we should be pointing out their obviously slanderous accusations as what they really are... more hate-speech from a university renowned for spewing similar venom for much of it's history. </div><div>
</div><div>Now all of you who are offended by my candidness may flame away...</div>

 

[CagerMania]

I could care less whether Mullen is an atheist. As a matter of fact, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the fact that it appears that Freeze is using the Mississippi football program as a revival. I don't think he should stop sharing his faith, but it appears to me that he's more concerned with 'saving' recruits than winning football games. Maybe as a Christian that SHOULD be his purpose in life, but in that case he needs to stop taking tax dollars to do it. There are plenty of private universities where he can ply his trade.

 

[Goat Grindin]

It's not like he and I are friends. I want him to get the most out of our football program. That's it. <div>
</div><div>Sort of like how I wish celebrities would STFU about their political views. Nobody cares about anything but their acting. All they do is make enemies when they open their mouths.</div>

 

[LiterallyPolice]

Anyone who uses "atheist" as a derogatory term is, at best, very ignorant.

 

[ckDOG]

Not suggesting that it's appropriate for this to be reality, but

Some recent demographic evidence has shown that atheists are the least trusted minority in the US... people trust murderers, rapists and pedophiles more than atheists... really???

sums it up.

Atheism doesn't go down well in any part of the country, and it especially doesn't go down well in the deep-South. In reality, it's a label that you don't want to have to fight against. Just speaking realistically if a big part of your job is making good impressions on strangers' children.

Then, there's the whole aspect that it's 99% likely that the label isn't true and can be verified as false by things that take 5 minutes to look up. From multiple accounts, he attends church in Starkville. He went to a Catholic High School and has also named his child Canon. Those are 3 things that an atheist is going to do.

 

[Incognegro]

As far as I'm concerned, I don't exactly consider myself Christian, but I do believe in a God and a lot of what is said in the Bible and a few other texts. The main reason I choose to differentiate is because I see the label Christian as something that man use to differentiate themselves from other religions, even those similar to theirs. I won't go too deep into it as I don't really want to make this too much of a religious debate than the point that you're making though.<div>
</div><div>The way I look at it is I have respect for people for doing things that are good simply because they want to. I don't think that a person's religious views really changes how a person is internally. Sure, it may effect a lot of which they believe, but an Atheist can be just as good of a person as a Buddhist or Christian. I do however feel that a lot of the issues that people tend to have with Atheists is that a lot of the times you find Atheists have a pot meet's kettle complex. I've seen plenty of times where they call people who choose to believe in a religion as idiots and that they're bad people for criticizing them for not believing in a God or gods in the same breath.</div><div>
</div><div>Then there's also the issue that it's just not a "popular" view and with differing views leads to uneasiness with a lot of people. It's kind of odd really...</div>

 

[Johnson85]

<div>Some recent demographic evidence has shown that atheists are the least trusted minority in the US... people trust murderers, rapists and pedophiles more than atheists... really??? That's just pathetic...</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

The last "study" I saw talking about trust of atheists gave a "survey" where the question stated something along the lines of "there was a hit and run accident, do you think the perpetrator was more likely to be a murderer, rapist, pedophile, or atheist?" <div>
</div><div>For one of the few times in my life, the study actually reaffirmed my faith in humanity, as even the average person on the street seemed to know that there are many more atheists driving cars than the other categories combined.</div>

 

[LiterallyPolice]

Not saying its wrong, I just thought the statement was confusing. Mind clarifying?

 

[saltslugs]

Surely...

 

[MSUArrowCS]

For me the problem isn't that someone is calling him an atheist just because they think being an atheist is terrible. That's absurd to me, but I do realize that sentiment is prevalent. I think it's also an issue that someone is saying "Mullen is an atheist" when Mullen is actually not an atheist. Sure, lies of all kinds happen during recruiting, but it's pretty rough to lie about someone's religious preferences just to get an LOI.

 

[LiterallyPolice]

http://newsjunkiepost.com...and-distrusted-minority/

This is an article with a link to the study, conducted by University of Minnesota Minneapolis.

 

[was21]

nm

 

[LiterallyPolice]

That lying to a recruit is worse than prejudice against a religious view (or lack thereof)?

Sure, as a State fan, and on a MS State board, your point is probably more relevant. But in the broader sense, thinking Atheism is evil is a bigger problem.

 

[Incognegro]

Let me preface this by saying that not all atheists do this, but I remember listening to a few argue down Christians and other religions and a lot of their arguments are aimed at most of these people not living up to what they preach. They talk about a lot of these individuals who are on Facebook praising Jesus for blessing them this day and the next night they have pictures of them posted on their feed of them in the club doing less than Godly things. They even refer to a lot of others who feel the need to demonize them and saying that because they're ungodly that they're bad people. Then, there are many others who question their intelligence/common sense for not being able to accept that there is a God. I agree with them in that this is a problem that's been running rampant from long ago...this honestly isn't anything close to new.<div>
</div><div>But a lot of those same people will come right after their argument by generalizing religious types (regardless if they practice what they preach or not) as being close minded individuals that are being manipulated into believing something that they can't prove (when they fail to accept that they can't disprove it either) and going as far as to calling these people idiots. The way I am, I try not to discriminate against anyone's beliefs unless I know for a fact it can bedisproved, but even then... people choose to believe what they want and because it's their lives...they should live how every they want to.</div><div>
</div><div>Now again... not all atheists are like this, but the ones that tend to be the most vocal...I see a lot of this from them. A lot of my friends that choose atheism (or to a lesser degree of being agnostic) are relatively level headed and don't fall into that category. That's all that I was saying out of it. I probably could have phrased it better.</div>

 

[MedDawg]

<span> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vKvURliwsfY?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355" allowScriptAccess="never" ></embed> </span>

 

[eurotrash]

Spread rumors that he's really gay and has a Guatemalan grandmother and we hit the multicultural trifecta. MSNBC calls and we make the lead story on the Huffington Post. And after finally getting over Croom's dismissal, Ronny Atmosphere runs off to touch himself with glee.

 

[Incognegro]

had any other options to select if the person truly didn't feel any discrimination towards any group? If not, then I think that would have inflated some of the votes, but for the most part I think it's pretty accurate.

 

[LiterallyPolice]

I think your point is valid. Hypocrisy can be found just about everywhere.

 

[LiterallyPolice]

I clicked on the study, but it didn't have any funny gifs, so I clicked on back over to SPS***

 

[RonnyAtmosphere]

multiculturalism & diversity. Well, except atheists.


Now you can return to your live feed of the CPAC convention.

 

[Sapsdawg]

You're focusing on the wrong thing.
If he were an atheist this question
may be legitimate. They are lying
about him in a very personal way
that is offensive and they know
they are lying. You may not have
any bias toward homosexuals but
if you are straight, it would be offensive
for people to suggest you look at another
guys hairy *** and say whoo look at
that ***. Anyone giving credence to the
assertion by asking so what if he is gay
makes the question stupid because you are
not. You get the point.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

As a fellow athiest, I hate how we get portrayed.

 

[saltslugs]

I'm more curious about the biased study that the previous poster suggested. I am agnostic and do feel discriminated against from time to time. I felt downrightoutcasted a few times as a kid, including when my best friend (now an atheist) told me he could not be friends with a non-Christian.

 

[gravedigger]

Some recent demographic evidence has shown that atheists are the least trusted minority in the US... people trust murderers, rapists and pedophiles more than atheists... really??? That's just pathetic...
<div>
</div>

Dont irrational religious zealots use arbitrary bias statistics to make their point too?

To claim as pathetic anobviously irrational and illogical conclusion from anunknown source is no better than the bible thumping hypocrites you oppose.

Atheists are not bad because they are atheists any more thanChristians are good because of Christ.

IfMullen worships something I do not, I'd love to have a discussion with him as to why. Whether I think that is relevant to football is another matter.

And that is also to say, I'd love to have a discussion with you aswell. But not on the pack.

 

[saltslugs]

nm

 

[JackShephard]

You expect me to believe that you don't believe in dead Indians or their curses?** No wonder no one trusts you!**

 

[FlabLoser]

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[Incognegro]

[No message]

 

[MSUArrowCS]

that the only reason this is being discussed is because of one coach lying about another, and in this case about his religious preferences. That's the catalyst and this discussion, while important, is definitely secondary to that situation.

As for judging which one is more evil than the other in general, I think that's going to come down to someone's own beliefs about what makes something "evil," isn't it? What does it even mean for me to say that I think that atheists are evil? What does it mean for me to unilaterally show prejudice based on someone's religious views? My answers to those questions, while made in light of my beliefs, will be judged in light of yours. For example, if I'm choosing a minister for a church, then I have every reason to judge early and often their religious beliefs. But if I'm choosing a professor for a math class, odds are I don't care. We all judge others' beliefs all the time, whether we "should" or not in all kinds of situations.

IBTL?

 

[awalkerdog]

Ku

 

[eurotrash]

and you'll drive some crazy. And no I'm not mocking fundamentalists or evangelicals, most of whom are fine, well meaning, compassionate, and decent people who make wonderful neighbors, friends, and citizens. I'm referring only to the holier-than-thou types I bump into on occasion...the ones who need a little dressing down.

It's sort of like my liberal friends who support draconian, unreasonable gun control laws (btw, I have guns and support some modest restrictions) and get offended when I point out that the overwhelming majority of murderers are not members of the NRA.