A strong theist friend of mine asked me why I do not believe there is a god. I had a long talk with her about evolution and the universe and concluded with, "When all the facts of existence come into view, there really is no need for a god to exist." (She does not approve of my atheism.) She shook her head at me, said that she would pray for my soul, and then walked away as if I had insulted her.
I respect other people's (theist's) beliefs and do not intend to insult anyone, but when asked about my beliefs as an atheist, I am met with harsh ridicule and disapproval. Does this happen to all atheists?
In addition, it is a christian belief to be understanding and caring to everyone "to love thy neighbor as thyself". Apparently the term "neighbor" doesn't apply to atheists.
Thoughts?
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Sorry about your experiences, and sorry that this happens so often to you guys. I'm not insulted by your beliefs, and I have great friends who are atheists and I really respect their views.
I suppose it is important for all theists to keep an open mind.
Feel free to express your opinions guys.
Yes christian values often dont apply to non christians hence the crusades the inquisition (even falsely accused a heretic was automatically non christian lol) witch trials slavery etc
Oh they also demand the upmost respect for their religious rights while happily trampling all over any non christians rights.
Case in point they are still demanding the bullshit known as creationism be taught despite the fact its only a failed hypothesis and against the faith of many students.
How dare you suggest I lie about my beliefs in order to have sex. Weather she was pretty and had big breasts or not is irrelevant to the fact that atheists are treated like this. I am not one to denounce all science and reason so quickly. I have the self respect needed to keep from selling out my beliefs.
Faith is really stupid and I can't respect stupid people, by definition they believe claims with no evidence. Just tell her the truth, that she is dumb. I hate it when religious people try to create a balance argument "you have to respect other peoples beliefs". Huh why? What if I told you that I believe that the earth is flat, do you have to respect that? I mean really just make fun of her and/or tell her to educate herself.
Honestly, I have attempted to educate people like that before. It never works. They're too close minded.
If someone told me they believed the earth was flat, I'd be so interested! I'd be like, "Really? Where did you get that from? How does it work? How do planes get to New York and London? What's the bottom bit like? Where does the sun go?"
I do a similar thing now with people who believe the earth is only 6000 years old. "Really? Why do you think that? Where are you getting that from?"
My experiences have been mixed. I have a friend who is (in her words) an evangelical, and so far we've had calm and respectful discussions. But in general, anyone who knows has definitely not been accepting. Don't get me wrong: It's not just Christians. I've been called all kinds of names and threatened by Christians, Jews, Wiccans, various pagans, and "religion du jour" types.
I don't think people like Ben are the problem. It's the acceptance of the quiet ones. They let the loud, violent ones yell and scream because they either secretly agree or they're afraid. That's why I have to be careful now.
And Ben, flat earth believers are real, and they actually try to explain it! Check out flatearthsociety.org; it's rather hilarious.
I had a look its ludicrous didnt anyone watch the live lap of the planet from the spacestation.
In one of their FAQs, someone asks if the earth is flat, why do NASA and all the international versions continue the lie of the spherical model? They say they don't know. The claims range from it would destroy our sense of sanity to they figured why not continue the lie.
Sometimes, conversing to close minded theist about atheistic belief is a waste of time and can even ruin closeness and friendship. If we know that a friend has a deep belief to his religion, we must try to avoid topics that may offend him to avoid misunderstanding. If asked, we can answer though.
Out of respect for myself, I have a very hard time counting those people who don't respect me and my beliefs (they don't have to agree with me in order to respect me) as friends.
So, I'm not really concerned with ruining my friendshps with overdefensive theists and evangelists. However, I tend to keep talk about my atheist beliefs out of my day to day life because when you don't believe in god, chatter about his nonexistence is largely irrelevant to most situations.
Once I've encountered such often scene of arguments... Checking how strong is your faith... At the end of such conversations we've had still the arguments and friendship goes on... But, I managed to instill to them to just respect whatever beliefs of others, friends or not,
I never had that. But then again, I live in the Netherlands where a big part of the population consists out of atheists or very mild Christians. Personally, I find it weird to ask people about their views - only to get angry with them. Of course judging someone for being an atheist is wrong to begin with. But if I'd shove my beliefs in a person's face it makes more sense than when they specifically ask me about it.