145 upvotes, 4 direct replies (showing 4)
The /r/atheism may-may uprising is one of the most mimetic events I've ever witnessed on the internet. The classical fall of a powerful kingdom leading to an ideological schism right down the middle. We have the memers to the south of the front page and the discussotoids to the north. The incumbent moderators have imposed sanctions and curfews to maintain any semblance of civility and avoid full blown anarchy.
Splinter groups and pockets of pro-/u/skeen users have wandered into other subs like /r/adviceanimals, all seeking asylum and platforms to spread their disdain.
A clique of ambitious users have conspired to bring the current /r/atheism to its knees by one method and one method only. A coup d'etat . Doxxing /u/jij would be the online equivalent of assassination and when that happens, you bet your fucking ass we're all gonna be stuck to our seats, popcorn in hand, watching this event unfold.
Comment by tarekd19 at 11/06/2013 at 19:48 UTC
63 upvotes, 5 direct replies
/r/atheism = game of thrones.
with less incest
Comment by KamalaKama at 11/06/2013 at 21:27 UTC
17 upvotes, 0 direct replies
... I know want to write a doctoral thesis on this event and analyze it as compared to other great empires.
Comment by Femperor at 12/06/2013 at 02:05 UTC
18 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It is amusing that this whole controversy is about iconoclasm. The echoes of the Byzantine iconoclasm is striking. To quote our friend wikipedia "In the Byzantine Empire, government-led iconoclasm began with Emperor Leo III, following what seems to have been a long period of rising opposition to the use or misuse of images." Substitute /r/atheism for Byzantine Empire, and moderator-led for government-led and Jij for Emperor Leo III and you get a good summation of the events. This is priceless.
Comment by abepop at 11/06/2013 at 23:41 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
There was similar fury when /r/atheism was removed as a default sub some years ago. Their users threw a tantrum, raised elaborate conspiracy theories, blamed theists and generally whined until they finally got their way.
Le science.