h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm offended by this entry, but not for any of the obvious reasons. I'm not anti-atheism, I'm just against bad etymology.

I'm not offended by you, Alex. I find you quite good and reasonable; which is why there are a couple of things that I wish I had noticed while it was in PR.

Little things include the fact that the word atheist wasn't ascribed to any of the crimes in the first paragraph. I think that the connection for those inhuman wrongs should have been immediate.

A bigger thing, whoever invented atheophobia, I'm hoping just meant the Irrational Fear Of, and not the Simple Dislike Of atheism. Our suffixes have specific meanings, and I hate seeing attempts to pervert them to someone's agenda. Arachnophobia is an irrational fear of spiders, not just thinking they are 'icky'.

I also don't believe that the Roman Empire tried Christians for being atheists. I don't believe that the words they used translate to atheism. More likely the charge was heretic. I don't believe that it would have made any difference if the Christians had thirty gods if they were not the Roman Gods.

Certainly there is unlawful discrimination. I always believed that the US was founded (at least in part) on freedom of worshipt (which one must assumes extends to non-worship as well). Darn shame if these states got the idea that wrong. How could believing in no god be worse than believing in a 'different' god??

Strangely, it has been my experience that there are just as many flavours of atheism as there are of christianity, vegetarianism, sub-atomic physics, and beer.

I think it's as unjustifiable to hold atheism against a person as it would be to hold their blood type against them. But, even if I cannot agree with it, I can understand why militant atheism is so resented. Militant anything can have its place in bringing attention and focus to any issue, but it is almost always unpleasant for somebody for that very reason. And, anybody who tries forcing change to their side of an issue is acting with intolerance, something I just can't stand!

Language changes. People who are homophobic do not have an irrational fear of uniformity, as the word might suggest. They don't even have an irrational fear of homosexuals. No, they have an extreme dislike of homosexuals. That's the word, and that's what it means. So the word Atheophobe, although clumsy, is perfectly justified in meaning an extreme dislike of atheists. I wish it were otherwise, but it ain't.

But "atheophobia" is a neologism, a brand new word invented to mean fear or hatred of atheism.

If you're going to make up a new word, you should do a proper job. If I announce that Zubophobia means "extreme inclination to buy Zube a pint", that may be what it means, but it's a crap word.

Ditto "atheophobia", crap word.

By the way, atheists are not banned from holding office in Texas. The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) states:

"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this state; nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

So, as long as Diana Ross exists, atheists are cool.

Zube

So I could run for office in Texas based on my worship of Paul Weller, Barry Manilow, Tom Waits, Susannah Hoffs and Ellen Barkin (but not necessarily in that order)?

They might not take you too seriously if you did, Gosho.

Yes, language changes; but we try to retain the roots to ensure continued communciation. I'm glad that there are those who appreciate that constency in the use of prefixes and suffixes as valid.

Hmmm, Susannah Hoffs, eh?

Yeah, that was a little bit silly But if I remember rightly, some folks manage to get 'Jedi' recognised as an official religion... maybe when the last census was done in the UK?

And then there's the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Jedi isn't as crazy as it sounds. The Chinese Tao religion is basically the same. And the Hindu religion believes in the Force as the backing power for all the gods, although they call it Brahman.

Jedi doesn't sound crazy at all, but it's nowhere near as established as Chinese Tao and other established religions (even the minor ones) and therefore less likely to be taken as seriously.

So, would Jediphopia be the irrational fear of Jedi Knights; or could it simply mean a dislike for all things Lucas?

I would suggest that only the first would be a valid definition.

"The common thread in all these examples is 'atheophobia', a neologism (new word) meaning the fear and/or explicit dislike of atheism."

Every dictionary I've looked at, both online (including Wikipedia... are Researchers who refuse to name Wikipedia and type variants of W*k*pedia on h2g2 Wikiphobes?) and on my bookshelves, defines 'phobia' as an irrational and all-consuming fear of something. None of them mention 'an explicit dislike'. That's usually indicated by the prefix 'miso-', as in misogyny and misogamy.

I think most of the instances given in the entry are to do with hatred and prejudice more than they are to do with fear. I can see how, during the Inquisition for instance, fear of the non-believer might have been whipped up among the populace by the Church in order to keep them in line. Religion does that sort of thing all through history. Those in power will use any means possible to stay in power, and what better tool than to put people in fear of spending eternity in hell?

In more modern times though, and certainly where I live, it seems to be almost 100% prejudice by religionists against atheists. The religionists aren't in the least frightened of atheists - the religionists feel - and indeed are - powerful. They believe with not an ounce of doubt that they know best and that their way is how the country should be run. Anyone who believes otherwise, whether because they believe in a different religion or no religion at all, are the enemy. Since the election of Barack Obama I've heard a number of news reports on NPR in which the religious right have expressed their sincerely held belief that running this country is their absolute right and that the next four years are going to be a temporary aberration while they regroup and bring their perceived natural order of things back in 2012. Here's one http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96970061

These people don't fear atheists, they despise them with a hatred that is hard to understand in someone who calls themselves a Christian.

Ah, so I believe I'm hearing that you also agree that Atheophobia is find for the irrational fear of atheists, and not for simple dislike or prejudice.

I am having a bit of trouble over the Inquisition analogy, though, because I've always just considered that manic oppression, not fear-based hate. As you so rightly point out, power wants to maintain power.

"manic oppression"

I think you might be confusing the use of 'manic' here with manic depression (bipolar disorder), but let's not be picky about use of language, eh?

Good catch, Alex, it was an intentional play on Manic Depression.

But, I offer that The Inquisition was both Manic, in the fervor in which its mission was carried out, and Oppressive in the effect on the populace and especially the accused.

Just because one puts two words together that sound something like two other words, doesn't invalidate their usefulness in communicating a thought.

At least I didn't try to join them together and give the result a definition that violated the original meanings.

This is a belated response to Zube's earlier post about the legislation in Texas.

I quote:

(start quote)By the way, atheists are not banned from holding office in Texas. The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) states:

"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this state; nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."(/end quote)

You are disproving yourself in providing the relevant part of the Bill of Rights in the Texas Constitution.
An Atheist is in deed excluded from that statement as the word 'Atheist' means that a person 'denies or disbelieves the existence of a Supreme Being'.

On a personal note, I think the words Atheophobe and Atheophobic are stupid, and that's coming rom someone who has a hard time believing in any type of Supreme Being (although if someone were able to prove to me the existence of a Supreme being, I would consider it), making me an Agnostic.