I'm not religious, I have a personal relationship with God."

"I'll pray for you."

"If evolution is true, why are there still monkeys?"

These are are things we have heard from theists and chances are good you have too. Or maybe you've even said them. We have posted more than a few blog posts in the past year that have offended people and garnered more than a few angry comments. "Ten Stupid Things Theists Say" by Atheist Republic writer, Lee Myers, is a classic example. It quickly became a favorite with our atheist readers, receiving over six thousand Facebook likes and over four thousand Google +1 hits. Understandably, it also irritated more than a few theists.

Atheists frequently encounter what appear to be scripted statements and questions from religious people. Some of these comments are from well-meaning friends and family, others are intended to be "gotchas". In his post, Lee listed what he thinks are the most absurd. These statements and questions have a reputation for very quickly shutting down any kind of amicable conversation between theists and atheists.

As one commenter pointed out, the "stupid things" listed are most often heard by Christians, and with over 200 comments between April and October, 2013 - one of the highest engagements on any Atheist Republic blog post to date - the list clearly resonated with our readers.

Several commenters had their own "stupid things" to add or shared how they respond when theists say "stupid things" to them.

Marcus Merrin said, "I sometimes use the 'I'll pray for you' phrase on theists who know I'm an atheist. If they raise their eyebrows, I just point out that my prayers have exactly the same effect as theirs."

Another well-liked comment was from Izlude Hyral who shared, "I just say, 'you go ahead and pray for me. In the meantime, I'll think for you'. It tends to make them feel about the same as saying they'll pray for me does to me."

Most of the comments were favorable toward the post; however, Emery A. Cournand had several problems with 3, 4 and 5 in particular and started a conversation that went on for over 100 comments and continued into August. The entire thread is worth reading.

In defense of Christians, Matthew Randquist said, "Interesting. I am a Methodist (I never use the term theist) but I don't say any of these things. Maybe I am hanging out with the wrong people?..."

Since our blog section was added, we have posted hundreds of entries, many of them have offended both theists and atheists. At Atheist Republic, we believe offense is taken, not given and that offending is sometimes necessary; not only to point out absurdities, but also to fight for complete freedom to criticize. By responding to these comments and questions from theists, you have the power to disarm them by showing them that their arguments have no merit.

We are excited to continue providing provocative, encouraging, informative and often humorous works from our diverse writing team. If you have ideas for content, please reply to this email.

Another popular list, also posted by Lee was "Ten Common Myths About Atheists".