Opinion of internet atheists

[angus]

What is meant by "internet atheists"?

I'd never heard the term before either.

according to UrbanDictionary.com it would be an

"Angry atheist who trolls internet sites denouncing God, Christians and religion; Atheist internet troll who demonstrates a basic ignorance of reason; Atheist internet troll who is ignorant of science and logic while claiming strong adherence to the same; Atheist who contradicts themselves through poor reasoning, especially one who exhibits hypocrisy."

another source claims that internet atheism "concerted effort to win the youth of America and the world. Hundreds of websites and blogs on the Internet seek to convince and convert adolescents, endeavoring to remove any residue of theism from their minds and hearts by packaging atheism as the choice of a new generation."

yet another source calls them "a socially inadept hack that copies and pastes hate-filled, profanity-ridden blasphemous rants over and over again and congratulates himself for being a Thinking Man."

Google it and you'll get a googol of hits.  The label seems rather like the term "fast fashion" in the sense that no one who uses it seems particularly complimentary to those they label thusly. 

I learn all sorts of stuff here. 

[angus]

I took "internet atheists" to be a slightly derogatory term aimed at defining the known and unknown quantities who "evangelize" atheism in pop culture.

I think your intuition is in sync with most of what I looked up. 

I also think I might be tempted to quibble with some of the rest of your post--Dawkins is a typical academic??  I certainly hope not--but I also haven't voted in this poll and don't intend to, so I won't quibble.

Just nice to learn some newspeak now and again.

[angus]

that was brutal and beautiful at the same time,

That's what I thought as well, but I'm glad no one locked the thread.  I haven't voted in the poll.  Probably won't.  The atheists on this forum are far more preachy, in general, than any of the mono- or polytheists here, but they're just as preachy about everything else as they are about their atheism, and anyway the thread has the potential to generate an interesting discussion. 

DemPGH, I don't know much about Dawkins other than he coined the term meme, but I'm assuming he's not what is meant by the phrase "internet atheist."

[angus]

I don't find Dibble or memphis particularly hackish or preachy with regards to this particular issue, although to be fair they're both preachy on a number of other issues.

Afleitch didn't used to be, but he's on a roll lately.  It's as if the Archbishop of Canterbury took a shit in his cornflakes and he didn't discover it till he got to the bottom of the bowl.

[angus]

I don't find Dibble or memphis particularly hackish or preachy with regards to this particular issue, although to be fair they're both preachy on a number of other issues.

I will readily admit to being preachy about it, actually. Maybe even insensitive, though that's kind of my general nature as an INTJ.

Now are you the quintessential internet atheist?  I'm still trying to sort this all out.  I generally find atheists to be at least as insufferable as the Jesus people, but so far I've only read your reasonable and logical responses in this thread.  Also, your rebuke of BRTD was not nearly as poetic as Afleitch's.  Internet atheist seems like a euphemism that must be earned, not bestowed.  You'll just have to turn it up a notch.  Then again, I skipped a couple of debate threads.  For all I know, you might have been calling Joseph Smith a pedophile.