So I was wondering what you guys think of each of these four YouTube channels made by atheist activists.
- TheAmazingAtheist
- ZOMGitsCriss
- Thunderf00t
- PatCondell
I chose them in particular because they're the ones with the most subscribers (80k or more). All of them are critical of religion in general, particularly Christianity (with the exception of Pat Condell who focuses more on Islam).
Do you find that they are "voices of reason" or at least doing a good job trying promote secularism and highlighting some of the negative aspects of religion? Or perhaps the contrary, maybe you find them biased, rude or even bigoted, and unlikely to change people's mind? Or maybe, you see them more as entertainment for people who were already atheists or agnostics when they found the channels, rather than effective activism and ultimately everyone needs to do their homework and decide if their worldview is plausible? Or maybe you just hate them or don't care what they have to say. (I've seen mixed reactions among other atheists about them from both extremely positive or extremely negative.)
I would say they're alright, I'm not under some illusion that they're these exceptional, never-seen-before beacons of rationality and hope that some people think they are, (although Thunderf00t is a scientist IRL and pwns the crap out of creationism and pseudo-science) but overall I'm glad they're there, speaking out and encouraging other atheists to speak out. I doubt they "deconvert" many people, (and honestly who suddenly changes his entire worldview by watching a few YT videos?) but they (along with this whole "new atheism movement" by people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens or Sam Harris) I think has certainly tilted the balance a bit and made it more socially acceptable to be openly atheist than a decade or two ago. And yeah, they're pretty entertaining too.