Why are Atheists so Scary?

The question, as far as the U.S., since that is the country I live in, begs to be asked...

Why are Christians so Scary?


oh....wait.....

not all of them are?
hmmm....let me rethink this.

And fat. Don't forget what fatties Christians all are. And stupid too. Also they smell funny. Why is that?

No offense.

There are also a significant number of atheists at the PF (a majority, I would guess), including Krumple. I can't speak for them, but I guess that none of them will have felt offended by what sometime sun wrote, because they know him. Many of them must have read this thread, but I haven't seen any of them, including Krumple, expressing any sense of offence. I can't speak for sometime sun, any more than I can speak for PF atheists, but I also guess that this thread illustrates one reason for his apparently extreme anxiety over the move from PF to a2k. That's another thing that has been surprisingly scary for him. Feel free to be surprised by his fear, but please try not to take too much offence at it. If there are reasons for both his fear and your offence, then let those reasons be spoken: neither denying those emotions, nor letting them predominate. Here endeth the lesson. (I thought the music said it better. Oh, well.)

I think so too, but atheists do feel the insensitivity, the assumption that theism is default.

I'm not so sure I have any thought or feeling at all about whether someone is theist or a-theist. It mystifies me there is such strong feeling on A2K expressed by each 'side.' Maybe that's because I still wonder about it all, and that I still love to research, read, think about, not whether there is God but where and what that means and how to put into practice. Religion means nothing to me, but it does to some. I admire people who have overcome the negative effects, the lies, that accompany religion but don't know if I feel respect for those who just practice what they were taught as children without question or study.

I don't know at all, however, why the thoughts of others should be "frightening." Theists think there is God, atheists say no God exists. Then, there are others, like me, who don't really care whether God exists, or not. As an adult, I am my own authority and as such I am responsible for what I say and do to others!

That being said and the metaphysical law of mind action being: "Thoughts in mind produce after their kind" I just try to 'think' well of others, no matter. Now, that is the most difficult thing in the world to do.

There is strong feeling on the "side" of the atheists because the religious constantly attempt to shove their beliefs down the throats of others, both atheists and other theists who don't hold exactly the same beliefs.

But you've got one part ass-backwards . . .



Theists don't say that they think there is a god, they claim to know it for a fact. The majority of atheists i have ever know don't run around saying that no god exists, in fact the majority of atheists i know never bring the subject up. Rather, when someone starts that god bullshit with them, they simply reply "i don't believe that," expressed in one way or another.

The religion, which the members of this board are most probably familiar with, is christianity. Christianity, is a doomsday cult, and the methodology of cults is recruitment. Atheism is not a cult.

That's definitely how it is in the world at large. (This thread under "Related Topics" reminds us - if any of us needs any reminding! - of how obnoxious religion can be: http://able2know.org/topic/142785-1)

But it's definitely not how it is in online philosophy forums. In my months in the Philosophy Forum (and in my days in one other much less civilised forum, before that) I have only ever seen one theist trying to "shove his beliefs down the throats of others".

I refrain from commenting on the way a great many atheists on these forums respond to any mention of "God" whatsoever, however mind and undogmatic, other than to say that it is very seldom just "I don't believe that."

It is, however, true that it is mostly theists who bring the subject up. Almost as if we are asking for it.

I don't have this type of discussion with anyone and don't hear it outside this forum. But, should a religionist start the god bullshit with me, I would simply say "I'm not interested in discussing that, but thank you for explaining your side."

thanks, twirlip...

and to a2k:
at philosophy forum nobody was ever offended by anything sometime sun said, as i can recall. we knew him instantly and accepted him unconditionally as we accept each other even while sometimes calling names (some of us).

sometime speaks in poetry...everything he says is creative writing. it does not matter what is his background or age, he is a beautiful soul and i dont for the life of me understand why you would all suddenly turn on him. of all the number of people here on this thread that i have seen making coherent posts, respectful, lighthearted, to suddenly turn into a lynch mob...why?

right, crucify me too-i dramatize when i speak.
this is a ******* lynch mob.

The reason why you fear intolerant atheists is they call you stupid, ignorant, irrational etc... there is a social prestige premium on these things, no one wants to be called stupid ignorant and irrational. On the converse side the intolerant religious call atheists immoral, base, and currently unworthy of a diety's compassion. There is also a prestige premium on morality, worthyness, and sanctity. It really doesn't matter that the theist might be very intelligent and savvy, or the atheist is very moral and sancified in his realm. The issue here is not the belief system it is manner in which the practitioner approaches their own ideaology.

An intolerant person is going to draw lines about many things, especially if s/he feels threatened by the people who do not share their ideology. This is often the case in situations where one grows up in one ideological system and later changes. This change is never done without sincere and sustained internal trauma. This intolerance can also be an aversion to change when someone is raised in one system and is introduced to another but is so scared by it that they produce within themselevs or seek out externally an extreme reactionism or reactionist group in which to feel comfortable.

This intolerance happens in many more arenas than theology. It is one of the bases of racism, sexism, ageism, and every other culturally institutionalized form of discrimination. Both parties are participating in the root of discrimination, dehumanization. Oh you are stupid and irrational = you are less human than I because my ideology states that a human is a rational animal. You are immoral and unworthy = you are less human than I because human is one worthy of god's acceptance and guidance.

but life goes on I suppose.
I'll be awaiting the hate flames from both sides.

That's because you don't shave or comb your hair.

So, no need to.

Pfff... Try believing in More Gods for a change. Do not limit U-self to God - Only ! Believe in Isis; Bes etcetera. Have some Fun worshipping All aspects of Live & Death.

PepI Magister

Some people think there is glory in being a martyr.

It's not a lynch mob here. People are going pretty soft, IMO. Having said that, you can't have a glass jaw in debate.

A
R
T

I will respond to this thread this one last time. Yesterday, I thumbed it down, to keep myself from saying something I should keep to myself.

The originator of the thread complains atheists are angry. That’s true, to an extent. It arises from frustration. When I was a kid, I struggled very hard to accommodate the religious way of life. Went to church and all. But, I lay awake many a night, struggling to resolve the inner conflict. Finally, I accepted my atheism and stopped going to church.

At very nearly the same time, the Pledge of Allegiance was altered, to read, “One nation, under God,” in part. It was a slap in the face. After all that struggle, I am suddenly expected to say that phrase every school morning. I simply remained silent.

Mostly, I kept my thoughts to myself. But, at age 20, I became very nearly engaged to be married. Then, she asked about my religion. I told her the truth. A friend in the room stood up, aghast. “Well, you can’t marry him.”

But, the girl said she could. All that it would take to make it right would be for me to go to church every Sunday.

We did not marry.

From that point on, every time a person discovered my atheism, they got in my face and insisted I had to be like them. A friend that failed in his attempt to convince me brought over his friend. The friend says, “I don’t want to argue. I only want to discuss it.”

After I got a sentence or two out, he began screaming, until I had to walk away.

When I served in the Navy, three of the guys decided I needed to be harassed. They began putting a Bible on top of my rack (bed) every time I left the room. I told the one named Yancy, “The next time somebody does that, I am going to rip it in half.”

Yancy figured that nobody would do such a thing. He also figured I could not be that strong.

Well, I went down the ladder to our quarters that evening, and there it lay, on top of my pillow. A fat, black, Bible. I saw Yancy hiding, peeking. He had a smile on his face. I picked up the Bible.

When I opened that book to about the middle, and began tearing it down the spine, the grin became a look of horror. I pitched the two pieces of book on his rack and went about my business.

I am continually assaulted by slogans. “There are no atheists in foxholes.”
Theodore Roosevelt (of Thomas Paine): “That filthy little atheist.”

Wrote a letter to the paper, in defense of evolution. Went to my aunt’s house after that. She screamed at me for being an atheist, until I went away.

Worked with three different guys at three different times. All three took it on themselves to convert me. They did stupid things, like shut the door and grab a Bible to read to me. “You’ve got to get right with God,” one told me repeatedly.

At my present job, the other day, a woman came at me, hollering. “Some atheist judge in California made them leave.” I have no idea what that story was. Another guy said, when I admitted I don’t go to church, “Can I send someone to your house in the evenings? Teach you about Jesus.”

I have barely skimmed the surface of these nut jobs who can’t stand to let a person simply live. You think atheists are scary? Many of the so-called religious are monsters.

Fail:
In this thread, sorry to say, we have yet to see a debate, but I'm down with your point about debating in general.

I know some folks who bring this up other than online. They run the gamut, too. I know a gentleman who is now in his 70s, and a conservative who was an admirer of George Bush--and you want to be careful about bringing up religion around him, for fear that he'll go off on 'em and his blood pressure will rise. I also know a young woman who one might generally call liberal, who went out and got vanity plates for her car with the word atheist on it--but she misspelled it. Even then, the people at the DMV didn't want to give her the plate until she threatened to sue them. Some few, very few, atheists i've know have a chip on their shoulder.

When the bible thumpers come to the door, i smile and i'm polite and i run them off as quickly as possible. One group of elderly ladies came to the door a few weeks ago, and the one who had knocked on the door asked me if i just didn't feel that there weren't enough hours in the day to get done all the things i wanted to do. I told her, no, that's not a problem for me. She was kind of nonplussed, but she soldiered on and asked if i ever felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. I laughed and told her i haven't got that kind of a sense of responsibility. She stood there for a moment, at a loss, and then just came out to ask if she could talk to me about Jesus. I told her no, smiled, and closed the door.

Many? I'd say most. (I've got experiences of my own which I'm keeping to myself.) Not sunshine sun, though.

You wouldn't notice it now, but not that many years ago, this place was a battleground about religion, and theists were picking a lot of fights. One of them was going to god squad web sites and recruiting the members to come here. She lied about, and then got caught in her lies.

It has calmed down considerably since those days . . . until you Phil O. Sophie dweebs showed up . . . Who is this guy Phil, and why is he bothering us?

Which is why some of us are asking to learn more about him, starting with some background info. We'd like to get to know him so we may better understand his anxieties.