What is the big deal of Atheism?

[Nihilego]

I'm an Atheist and I can see why a religious person would dislike some of us. It's unfortunately true that some of us can take a bit of a "LOL YOU BELIEVE IN GOD HERE LET ME REMIND YOU THAT HE DOESN'T EXIST" approach upon meeting a religious person and it's annoying that this can tend to set the tone for many other Atheists like myself who will respect a simple variation in opinion.

Inversely though, I do know a fair number of people who would try to get on a moral high horse, so to speak, for believing in a God which I think is also wrong. A belief on something like this can't make you any better or worse than anyone else unless you're pastafarian (reading material) or something like that which is just tbqh ridiculous.

Basically people just need to be more reserved about their beliefs until they're with someone who shares the same beliefs as they do and this whole thing wouldn't even be a problem. =/

 

[Tropical Sunlight]

I, speaking as an atheist, I do not believe in a god or any other deity. I seem to get amused by people who try to prove that God is real, or those who try to prove he isn't.

I used to go to church when I was little, and I celebrate Christmas and Easter, and stuff, but I just don't believe.

 

[Esper]

When you (the hypothetical you) say "I'm an atheist" there are people out there who hear "I don't believe in God and you're wrong because you do." This is because some atheists do in fact act and speak that way and make the rest look bad. It's also because some of those listening don't have a proper understanding of people who believe differently from them. It all comes down to people with different views not being able (or willing) to communicate or understand each other.

I had more to say, but my browser ate the rest of it. :/

 

[JimJams]

I'm an Atheist and I can see why a religious person would dislike some of us. It's unfortunately true that some of us can take a bit of a "LOL YOU BELIEVE IN GOD HERE LET ME REMIND YOU THAT HE DOESN'T EXIST" approach upon meeting a religious person and it's annoying that this can tend to set the tone for many other Atheists like myself who will respect a simple variation in opinion.

Inversely though, I do know a fair number of people who would try to get on a moral high horse, so to speak, for believing in a God which I think is also wrong. A belief on something like this can't make you any better or worse than anyone else unless you're pastafarian (reading material) or something like that which is just tbqh ridiculous.

Basically people just need to be more reserved about their beliefs until they're with someone who shares the same beliefs as they do and this whole thing wouldn't even be a problem. =/

But Pastafarianism is so FUN! I might make an elaborate Flying Spaghetti Monster costume this year for Halloween. :)

 

[Oryx]

There's already been one in this thread; an atheist who is outright rude when discussing the beliefs of theists. It's much, much more common than the opposite in my experience. Because atheists feel like they're going to be attacked, they automatically go on the defensive. "I'm an atheist and you better respect my beliefs because X, Y, Z, and by the way your beliefs are stupid!" Because they feel like theists are going to immediately tell them why God exists, they start their conversations about it by telling them why they're wrong. There are also many atheists who, because in general most people aren't born atheists, feel like they had somewhat of a "conversion experience", like a lot of religions. One day they saw the light of atheism and want others to experience that conversion, and feel like they're a better, smarter person for "figuring it out" while the rest of the ignorant masses are wallowing in the dark ages.

I'm not saying every atheist is this way, of course. But in my experience, I've met honestly, a lot more Christians than atheists, but a lot more rude atheists than rude Christians. Even the nun who runs the dorm I live in at school said multiple times when we first moved in that she didn't care about our beliefs. My place of work is Church-related but they hired me knowing that I'm agnostic, and made sure that they mentioned in the interview that religion isn't important to get the job. Modern Christians tend to have the "accept everyone" vibe drilled into their minds, while modern atheists tend to have the "I'm better than those dumb Christians" vibe instead.

 

[JimJams]

I didn't realize that I was being 'rude'. Just explaining things. Sorry.

 

[parallelzero]

There's already been one in this thread; an atheist who is outright rude when discussing the beliefs of theists. It's much, much more common than the opposite in my experience. Because atheists feel like they're going to be attacked, they automatically go on the defensive. "I'm an atheist and you better respect my beliefs because X, Y, Z, and by the way your beliefs are stupid!" Because they feel like theists are going to immediately tell them why God exists, they start their conversations about it by telling them why they're wrong. There are also many atheists who, because in general most people aren't born atheists, feel like they had somewhat of a "conversion experience", like a lot of religions. One day they saw the light of atheism and want others to experience that conversion, and feel like they're a better, smarter person for "figuring it out" while the rest of the ignorant masses are wallowing in the dark ages.

I'm not saying every atheist is this way, of course. But in my experience, I've met honestly, a lot more Christians than atheists, but a lot more rude atheists than rude Christians. Even the nun who runs the dorm I live in at school said multiple times when we first moved in that she didn't care about our beliefs. My place of work is Church-related but they hired me knowing that I'm agnostic, and made sure that they mentioned in the interview that religion isn't important to get the job. Modern Christians tend to have the "accept everyone" vibe drilled into their minds, while modern atheists tend to have the "I'm better than those dumb Christians" vibe instead.

I really think it comes down to where you live. Different areas have different general religious backgrounds. In my area, it's actually the religious who attack the non-religious because there is a decrease in the number of people who have any kind of faith. I'm sure we can agree that both sides are just as bad - it just depends on where you're located. I'm an agnostic myself, so I generally don't get involved, but placing blame is really what causes these issues in the first place.

 

[Oryx]

I didn't realize that I was being 'rude'. Just explaining things. Sorry.

You did back off, but when it came to this post:

Atheists feel god?

No.

Also, the existence of air can be proven scientifically. That's kind of an important point to that argument that people seem to miss. Is it deliberate or are people just that oblivious?

You were slipping into the "I'm smarter than theists" mentality by insulting the person who made the analogy and implying that people who believe that aren't as smart as you.

@parallel: I'm from the Northeast, so that could be part of it, although a lot of my experience has also been online. While there are Christians that like to argue about why they're right, in my experience they've been completely eclipsed by the amount of atheists who want to argue about why they're right. Not claiming that being an atheist is a bad thing, but it just reminds me of (language warning in this link) this video.

 

[GXS]

I believe that people have the right to believe anything they want, and they shouldnt be able to critisize others for ther beliefs. I consider myself an athiest but i still go to a catholic school and hang around many of my catholic friends. We basically have agreed to dissagree and not to discuss my beliefs, and it works great. Ive been baptized and confirmed as a christain but I now consider my self not catholic. But thats just me and i still totally respect catholics for what they believe in.

 

[Alley Cat]

People don't "hate" atheists any more than they "hate" Christian's. When ideas a thoughts rise up, there are going to be those who believe them, and those who don't. Because of that difference in belief, people are going to get frustrated thinking that "their belief" is the right one. A lot of Athiests(and Christians) follow the whole "My belief is better/true, because I believe in it." That doesn't really make sense, but it happens to be the cornerstone for a lot of arguments used by people. They know they can't just out right say: I believe in ________, so that makes it true. So they reserach a few facts and figures. But when they don't have enough knowledge to argue their point beyond a point of reasonable doubt, then they start to get angry(afraid) and that's when fights(flame wars in the case of the internet) break out. I said afraid, because anger is fear. They are afraid that MAYBE just MAYBE their belief isn't right. They couldn't exactly prove it, and here someone else is providing a bunch of evidence/coming at them with plenty more believers that their beliefs are truly the right ones.

I would be Agnostic. Simply because, I really don't care how we got here. All that matters to me is: we are here. This life, I might only have one. If I do, I want to be able to have said: I lived my life. I had fun. I made mistakes. Things didn't always go my way. I had my problems. But then.. there were the good times. The times that made my life worth living. The times that I'm glad I have. I loved my life, and I have no regrets. I can't do that if I spend my time worrying over what might have brought me to be about on this planet. I can't do that if I spend my time trying to please a deity that may or may not exist. I just cant. When you have too many worries(i.e. making it to Heaven, pleasing god, or being too concerned about religion/how we got here) then you don't allow yourself to have fun, because you are constantly stressing over what to do now, or what am I going to do if I screw up here? Best solution? Don't think about it. Just have fun in the one life you are absolutely positively sure that you do have, the proof of that one life being, the simple fact that you are right here living it. If their turns out to be an afterlife(whatever it may be) then the time that you die and are introduced to it, is the time that you are going to learn to deal with it. Or not.

Part of the reason that I personally don't necesarily believe in Religion(note: not God/other diety) is the fact that many religions label me a fail and reject right from the start. Why? Because I'm gay. I simply refuse to believe in anything that is damning me from the start, because of something that is the way I am. I could understand being damned to hell or whatever for choices made, but not for something completely out of your control, something you didn't choose. This reason, however is just for me. Also probably a lot of other homosexuals. This isn't to say that you can't believe in God(Religion) while being homosexual. Because you can. I know plenty of gay/bisexual people who do in fact believe in God, go to church on a regular basis, pray, and etc. It's just not for me.

Still though, even with my dislike of religion, I can't deny the importance of it all through out history. Religion brought people together and unified them, it was the start of many societies and countries, and the values and foundations behind many great people. But for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. That is to say, while religion has done a lot of good, it can also be the cause of a lot of bad.[AGELIMIT]Contains spoilers about a fantastic movie that I reccomend you watching. Does contain some good info, I believe.[/AGELIMIT]

Spoiler:

If you have seen the movie The Book of Eli the world is in such a hopeless, desperate state. Destroyed, and barren. The remaining people are viscious and untrustworthy. There are people who have banded together to survive in this new lifestyle. Some to search for one thing, the book. The protagonist of the story, his goal is to keep the book from falling into the hands of the wrong people. Power in the wrong hands is bad. It is revealed later that the book is in fact a bible. I know a movie can't really "prove" anything. But what it does show(fiction or not) is that religion has the capability of bringing people together. Such people that if not brought together, would not have made the social/technological advances that we have in our modern world.

As for the people who mentioned the hate depending on where you live in the world, that is something very true. Different areas of the world will have the various different beliefs and the percentages of people who follow those beliefs. When anyone is a minority, the smaller man, is much easier to be the majority, the bigger man, and swing your club at them, than it is for them to swing their club at you.

 

[HarrisonH]

Let's start this off with this: Do not capitalize the word "atheist". It does not get capitalization because it is only a word, a word that means "lack of belief in a god or gods".

Why do some people hate atheists? It's simple: We go against everything that they believe in. They say that this Earth was created for humans, we say that we got here by "chance". They say that we're always being watched over and protected, we say that we're on our own. They say that you can't be good without a god, we're living proof that they're wrong.

And that scares them.

People tend to hold their religious beliefs extremely close to their heart. It's understandable, belief in god means that you're never alone, someone is always there for you. The belief in a deity can provide comfort when things aren't going your way.

Most religious beliefs also include some sort of an afterlife. People, in general, are afraid of dying. They don't want to imagine no longer living, no longer seeing their friends and their family. Belief in an afterlife remedies this; You get to see everyone again eventually, and live eternally.

When people hear that someone is an atheist, that means that the person is extremely different than them. This person doesn't believe in a god, doesn't believe in an afterlife, doesn't get their morals from god.

The religious person has a twang of doubt: "What if I'm wrong?"

No one likes to be wrong. The most common response is "No, I can't be wrong. They must be wrong." The religious person can't fathom that someone can be good without instruction from god, so that person must be bad. That person must live an empty life because they don't believe in god. That person must be alone because they don't have god in their heart.

Of course, we atheists are nothing like that, but will that person listen? No, their convictions, pounded into their head since they were a child, are set in stone. If one works at it, maybe one can chip away at their beliefs, not turning them to atheism, but opening them to the reality that atheists are good people too.

 

[NDogg45]

I don't think like those annoying atheists... I just accept everyone and expect the same(but almost never get that way... :/)

@HarrisonH Ok, I will not capitalize that anymore, I thought it was an actual religion.. XDDD

 

[Dawn]

There's a stigma associated with atheism that causes it to easily come off as pretentious. I'm just saying, it's probably a large factor.

Note the people attacking the religious in this thread. They are why you have this stigma. What they say is pretentious, and they are easily assumed to be atheists themselves, though they may just be trolls. (Though many are sadly real)

I trust you can decide how to deal with it now that you know the cause.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I think atheists have something beyond just faith upon which they base their beliefs, and with that comes a level of certainty that religious people may find scary or even pretentious, as it goes against the way their minds work.

That might have come out harsher than I meant it, but I can't find another way to word it lol

 

[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

Before I reply, let it be clear that I'm agnostic.

Let's start this off with this: Do not capitalize the word "atheist". It does not get capitalization because it is only a word, a word that means "lack of belief in a god or gods".

Why do some people hate atheists? It's simple: We go against everything that they believe in. They say that this Earth was created for humans, we say that we got here by "chance". They say that we're always being watched over and protected, we say that we're on our own. They say that you can't be good without a god, we're living proof that they're wrong.

And that scares them.

Okay, I don't really think you should generalize religious people like that. You can't know whether it scares them or not. It's an assumption just as frail as how you think faith in God is.

People tend to hold their religious beliefs extremely close to their heart. It's understandable, belief in god means that you're never alone, someone is always there for you. The belief in a deity can provide comfort when things aren't going your way.

While I agree with some stuff here, I think you're still assuming every believer base their faith on the same emotions. Not all people look just for comfort in religion, be careful.

Most religious beliefs also include some sort of an afterlife. People, in general, are afraid of dying. They don't want to imagine no longer living, no longer seeing their friends and their family. Belief in an afterlife remedies this; You get to see everyone again eventually, and live eternally.

When people hear that someone is an atheist, that means that the person is extremely different than them. This person doesn't believe in a god, doesn't believe in an afterlife, doesn't get their morals from god.

The religious person has a twang of doubt: "What if I'm wrong?"

This is quite the prime example on why people catalog atheists as pretentious people; the assumption that atheism is absolute certainty whilst faith is not.

True faith can constitute absolute certainty too. You can't just say believers have doubt as if you knew the truth to life and creation.

"What if I'm wrong?" If anything, atheists ask themselves that question more. For devoted religious people, that inquiry will seldom exist. However, as much as one won't believe in a deity, an atheist will never be certain about things that believers, because of their faith, are absolutely sure about.

No one likes to be wrong. The most common response is "No, I can't be wrong. They must be wrong." .

That goes pretty well for atheists too.

Of course, we atheists are nothing like that, but will that person listen? No, their convictions, pounded into their head since they were a child, are set in stone. If one works at it, maybe one can chip away at their beliefs, not turning them to atheism, but opening them to the reality that atheists are good people too.

Many religious people are nothing like what you described, so who's ever going to listen?

 

[Who's Kiyo?]

There are extremists in everything who condescendingly look down upon others like they live in God's attic.
Or a cloud's attic.
Or one of the Hindu god's attics.
Or- GWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH.

The point is, no one likes someone who is preachy, and there are plenty of people on each side who are like that.

Personally, I don't hate atheism, I dislike pretentiousness.
If someone and I were to engage in a conversation about our religious beliefs, and they were atheist and they believed there is too much evidence to not be so to them, and I present my reasons for believing in god, we understand each other and possibly strengthen our relationship because of which.
If the same conversation were to come up and the atheist looked down upon me and called me stupid because I believe in god, then obviously I'm going to display some animosity back, since it's not the atheism, it's the "holier then thou" vibe. Or, "smarter then thou" in this case. Reaping what you sew. This can also be flipped to the god-believer being condescending to the atheist.

So extremists hate the opposite side's extremists, and sensible people hate both of them, regardless if they're on the same side or the fence because they're getting nowhere fast. Mutual understanding and solutions come from conversations, not pointless and mindless flame wars.

DANGIT PEOPLE JUST LIVE TOGETHER PEACEFULLY ALREADY.

 

[HarrisonH]

Before I reply, let it be clear that I'm agnostic.

Agnostic what?

Many religious people are nothing like what you described, so who's ever going to listen?

You know, I almost added a disclaimer to the end, stating "This of course doesn't apply to all religious people, only the ones that this topic is about, the ones who hate atheists".

 

[Alley Cat]

The thing about religious people, though, is they have faith. Faith is believing in what can't be proven true. Even if their is no real proof or reason, you believe it anyway, for whatever reason.

Also, though, some Religious people tend to use bad logic when arguing their point. It is a simple rule in logic, that you can't use what you are trying to prove, to prove it. For example, you can't say God exists, because God. You'll have to use other examples to prove that, such as our existence here. But if you use an example such as that, you'll have the job of proving the connection between the two of those. An easier task, maybe, but still difficult. But like I mentioned up above, this where faith comes into place. They believe in their religion, and nothing said or done will change that. It'd be the same way you have faith in your bestfriend to do the right thing, even if they have done something that has caused them to lose their credibility.

Kiyoshi hit it pretty spot on. Extremists hate other extremists, the sensible people hate both. There are people out there who take what they do and their beliefs too far. Then, those few people, generally create a bad name for the others like them. It also turns out that even most people who believe in the same thing as them tend to dislike them too.


I'm honestly fine with what people do, believe, say, whatever. That's their choice. If we get in a talk about it, I'll say things from my perspective, and they'll say things from theres. I'll respect them, and they should respect me. Like the Mormons that walk around.. they are annoying. They come up and practically force their beliefs down your throat. It doesn't take much to disband them though. The said that proof for god was all us around, this planet, us humans, we came from God. Everything comes from something. So then I asked, "Where did God come from?" To which, they did not have an answer and spent the time looking like idiots. Point of this is, if you are going to step up for your beliefs, at least know what to say in the possible situations that will arise.

 

[Townes]

As far as I'm aware, atheists around my area don't get a hard time... In fact it's usually more obvious Christians/Muslims who get targeted mostly. No matter who it is, you must respect their beliefs no matter how different, stupid, weird or impossible their ideas are- because they aren't yours. Of course, I don't mind Atheists telling me "I think you're wrong," because that's their opinion. However, I do mind it when Atheists tell me "I think you're stupid because you believe in God," because that's offensive and I can reassure you that I am most certainly not stupid. Everyone has the right to believe or not believe in what they wish, and it's a Divine and Human right.

 

[dante1w]

Personally, i think its stupid and careless to hate someone for their beliefs. Whatever one thinks and believes is one's buisness. The world is too big for people to worry about the millions of beliefs out there. Just live your life and enjoy it, and besides, you can't judge someone based on his beliefs, even if they don't believe in god, all that matters is how they act , their morals and behavior.