Comparing Perceptions of Religion Online and Offline
This meme is playing on the Biblical idea that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. It uses scientific evidence such as dinosaur fossils to debunk that notion and brings in the humor of Jesus trying to shoo away a dinosaur because it's presence conflicts with his story.
This meme is citing science to back their claims for the impossibility of a God and write off religious beliefs as "magic". This meme undermines certain ideologies by claiming they are fairy tales and the only truth lies in science and the factual world.
My case study focuses on how Atheists use memes to present an amplified view of their "religion" and how they use sarcastic rhetoric to belittle or minimize the beliefs of other religious traditions.
All of the memes I have chosen thus far come from an insider perspective and portray an Atheist view of Atheism as opposed to an outsider view of Atheism. This is made clear by the tone of the memes and the messages they express, both of which present Atheism in a positive way and put down other religions. The key message of these memes is that Atheists are intellectually superior to those who believe in a supreme being and their way of viewing the world is the only right way to perceive things. Atheist originated memes are highly sarcastic and condescending and utilize this dark humor to undermine faith-based religions.
There are not necessarily any "official" Atheist beliefs or understandings aside from the belief that there is no one true God and that science is the only way to verify ideas about how the world operates. The messages of these memes align very closely with the insider Atheist perspective and is evident when studying the content of the memes.
The scholarly article claims that Atheists use online spaces as a means for activism and to enhance their offline identities as well. A great deal of importance is placed on the Internet as a venue for "contemporary secularists to develop a group consciousness based around broadly similar agendas"(Smith & Cimino, p. 2). This substantiates the claim that Atheists use memes and other forms of online culture to supplement their offline image and rally collective action both online and offline.
The most popular assumption or stereotype about Atheism that is communicated through these memes is that Atheists want to portray an image of intellectual superiority over religious people because they have reason and science on their side. Another main message of the memes is a condescending interpretation of organized religion. It is interesting to see how Atheists want to be viewed by the outside world, yet it is problematic because they choose to belittle other religions instead of opening up a dialogue to facilitate conversation and find common ground.
I am not sure what you mean that these memes present and amplified view of religion/atheism, please explain this more. You also need to draw on scholarly sources that explain the core beliefs of atheism and the extent to which these memes you are looking accurately or inaccurately portray these.
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