i myself am not an athiest, though i support many concepts puforth by athiests. i also follow athiest pages and thier websites. Though your question was to athiest , i too wanted to share my views in this post.

Athiest never hate religious people. They only hate the bad things done in the name of religion. One of my neighbour was a bully, he has also done many uncomfortable things which ended up harmful. But after that he started believing jesus and started going to church. Those his family had lots of athiest members . they never stopped him from believing . Because they believed he found out something that made him a righteous man. He found control over himself regardless of how he got it. Until it dint affect anyone.

What i understood from athiest pages is that . Athiest look people who believe in god similar to kids believing in imaginary friends. But the fact what angers them is that the religious people put nature and other people into trouble believing too much into what they consider as sacred without understanding the actual truth behind it. People are just scared of an entity and do wrong things rather than believing in what is right. In that process they become selfish and a zombie controlled by few who proclaim themselves as gods right hand man.

These are my views and am sorry if i have made anyone feel uncomfortable by this.

Jesse. Oh, Jesse. I hope you are really here to learn, or at least to understand.

Religions have always been about controlling people. In modern days, it was discovered that you could also make a bucket load of money while gaining political power-which is what controlling people is.

Lots of folks claim to be christian. (or whatever) They all claim their religion is the best, their cult of that religion is the best, their church of that cult is the best. That is all just human tribal nature.

What I hate about religion is it's constant effort to force others into it's fold. In America, that is the christian religion and it already has quite a toehold on our "secular" government. Now you have people out their so ravenous for money and power, that they will claim anything to get christians to do their dirty work. You know, like subjugating women, criminalizing race or sexual orientation through legislation. Look at all of the politicians using christianity to make abortion illegal or impossible when it is already a right for all women in this country. (not to mention contraceptives! I mean, how asinine is that?) It should be an everyday procedure for all women everywhere. But men, empowered by christianity(or islam-take your pick of them all), always want the total say over what happens to their pregnant "whores".

Now you will claim that "those people are not real christians". So why do all of you "innocent REAL christians" out there keep putting them into power in our government? How would you feel if Muslims were taking over the American government? That is exactly how I feel when christians are doing it.

Christians also seem to worry a lot about THEIR "freedoms", but no one else's. How would that make you feel, if the shoe were on the other foot? How would you feel if a restaurant forbid you to pray over your meal? How would you feel if your public buildings were decorated with Jewish symbols and no others? Would you want to live in a country where saying you are "christian" out loud is liable to get you harmed or even killed? You know, like atheist and LGBT folks feel now in the USA? Do you not understand that when it is OK with you that your "leaders" want to make law based on their egregious beliefs, that I, an atheist, feel the horror that you feel when your leaders continue to scare you into obedience with threats of "sharia law"?

If religious people could just take a few moments out of their self-righteous day and try a little empathetic thinking, perhaps you will have a clear understanding as to why people who do not share your religion find you terrifying and oppressive and even monstrous.

It is no different than all of those white folks out there saying that "black people were better off as slaves" or that "racism is in the past" while they know that they will never have to feel any of that in their lives. Like the rich have now gotten a good lot of "christians" in this country looking down on the poor-many of who were put there by the christian republicans in very recent years.

We know that all religions have blood on their hands. We all know that the bible and all the other books praise atrocity in the name of that religion's total power. Maybe those "leaders" have convinced millions of you that religion is all about joy and peace, kindness and giving. But still, you all rage for war and turn your eyes from dying children and homeless people that those wars create. Some of you even see war and natural disasters as a great opportunity to jump in and start converting those vulnerable people to your ponzie scheme, all in the name of "aid". You never give without a plan of some return.

I don't hate a person just because they are "christian". I hate what they do in it's name. I hate their hypocrisy and their callousness and their lack of empathy for anyone not on their same bandwagon. I hate that they continually justify all kinds of bad behavior in the name of their religion and call it "doing good".

If you are not a hypocrite, if you do not believe that the things that christians do all over the world (like denying condoms to people during an AIDS epidemic, like turning people in other countries against each other, all in the name of christianity, then why do you bother to believe any kind of religious dogma at all? People can, and do, wonderful, compassionate things for one another all of the time simply out of the genetically innate kindness and social order of all social beings. Do you really need someone else to tell you what is right and what is wrong? Or is it the fear, plain and simple, that the "christians" bang into your head day in and day out that keeps you from thinking?

These are just some of the reasons that I dislike religious people. I would hate religion,but religions is not a THING, it is it's people. It is a meme that has flourished far too long in human culture. It is destroying our very planet, has callous disregard for all other life on the Earth, a lot of it other human life. I believe that religion is the root of all evil in humans, not money. Because religion is what humans use to get that money, to justify their corruption, to blind their minions so they keep giving them that power to do it all over again.

I have lots of friends who "believe". Probably more than I know, since I never ask. I judge them on how they behave, as they do me. You wouldn't believe how many jaws I have seen dropped to the floor when they realize that I do not share their beliefs. They cannot comprehend that anyone could be a decent human being without following at least one of the religious cults. Because, if they can begin to see that, acknowledge that, their puppet masters will have a lot to worry about.

Jesse, I don't know, but I have a feeling that teh reason religious people everywhere hate people who have no belief in gods, is because they know that we plainly see that their emperor has no clothes. And the more people that see that, the less money and power they will have.

Hating believers isn't necessarily the central issue. Most people, when approached on a daily basis, are just people. The issue I have with Christians is their inability to keep their beliefs to themselves. Legislative impositions, social stigmatism, some cases of outright violence. The smug arrogance behind every declaration of "America is a Christian nation' while your leadership shits all over the founding principles on which this nation was founded...

Really, how could we possibly have an issue with you?

Um? Hello? Are you going to reply to any of us? All my questions have been asked. I'm just waiting for answers.

OP seems to be gone for now, so perhaps I can act as a substitute. Like OP, I was raised Christian, but I do not limit my beliefs or theories to any one religion or theory. Q&A format should suffice for this thread.

Q: "because your beliefs (and those who share them) can be major sources of oppression in our lives".
A: There should be no doubt in anyone's mind (theist or atheist) that this is true, especially throughout history. However, I don't hate religion, I hate the horrible behavior of the oppressors. Oppression isn't limited to religion. Hitler grew up Christian, but he was Atheist by the time he took power. He too believed science would dispel all myths. So yes, there are both theist and atheist oppressors. Oppression doesn't come from religion, it comes from humans.

Q: "[I] find the followING of (insert religion here) distasteful and silly."
A: For the most part, so do I. Let's make this clear: religion is doctrine created by humans, and is typically a tool designed to control other humans throughout history. Religion or not, I still see a theory of existence where a higher power exists is still the most feasible one.

Q: "I also find the behavior of some followers of (insert religion here) abominable."
A: Humans are humans, regardless of their walk of life. Yep, many people use the excuse that their sins are forgiven as an excuse to continue to sin. Don't throw stereotypes around though.

Q: Before we get into it, please define "God."
A: We can get into Hebrew on this one. Elohim is the Hebrew word for God in Genesis chapter 1, but specifically it refers to God in a particular role: Creator. That's the generic modern translation, but there is a more interesting older translation of the word Elohim: Those who came from above. I've said all that, because I see two possible definitions for God (as far as Christianity goes). 1) The entity that caused the Big Bang. 2) The beings who came to Earth (who may have done genetic experiments to life on Earth: I'm not saying I believe this, it's just an interesting theory).

Q: "That's great, but why would your representation of the "face of God' be more correct than anyone else's?"
A: I'm not that person, so I can't answer your other two questions, not can I say that I have the same answer to this question as her, but I believe what she meant by this was: Love. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered with: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and love your neighbors as yourself. As opposed to condemning homosexuals to hell, which has no love in it whatsoever. That's just my guess.

Q: "When I see people who believe in fairy tales and prioritize illogical belief over basic human decency"
A: As an extension of my previous answer, treating others wrongly isn't justifiable through religion. Besides, the goal of religion should be loving your neighbors. People are often blinded to that by their own preconceptions and fears. However, I would like to say I find it distasteful when people (I admit, doubly so against atheists) are so closed minded that they can't believe in the possibilities of anything that they can't see, touch, smell, etc. You may as well have been born without an imagination. I'm not saying blind faith is correct, just that being closed minded to the possibilities is incorrect.

I'd like to respond to more of your posts, but I'm stopping the Q&A here for now as this post is already getting quite long.

Now I will bring forth some reasons why I feel a creator theory has a high probability of being true. Disclaimer: this is all based entirely upon my current knowledge, so do your own research.

Both (most) religion and science agree that there is a beginning of this universe.
Religion: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Science: Knows the big bang happened, but can't explain WHY it happened.

Both religion and science agree that there is a beginning of life on this planet.
Religion: God created life.
Science: Knows life began, but can't explain WHY it began. Despite all evidence collected, and experiments done thus far, there still isn't an explanation. What I do know is that the odds of a protein forming by pure random chance are 10^360 or something ridiculous like that.

Both religion and science agree that there are kinds of life on this planet.
Religion: God created fish, birds, creepy crawly things, etc, etc.
Science: It's an observed fact, every documented fossil and species of life presently observable can be categorized into one type of life or another. But science can't explain where these kinds came from. There are no known transitional fossils. Every fossil discovered to date is either in one category, or another. Ie. there are no half dinosaur half avian fossils that share two categories.

Now, we do know that "microevolution" does exist, right? Small changes in a species occur over the course of generations. The classic proof being the beaks of birds. If these changes really do constitute evolution, why aren't there transitional fossils? It is my opinion that microevolution should be renamed adaptation.

In conclusion, I feel that, in its present state, evolution requires just as much blind faith to believe in as any religion.

Under the topic of cosmology, if we existed in a closed universe (one where a big crunch and big bang occur in a never ending cycle), I would actually lend more credence to the idea of evolution, but current cosmological evidence indicated that the universe is actually expanding at a rate greater than what it used to be. I understand that nothing is conclusive, but my first logical thought is that if the universe expansion is accelerating, then the big crunch can't happen. That means that this universe has only had one beginning, and if its not in an infinite loop, that means that there HAD to be some kind of catalyst to cause the universe to form in the first place. Thus, a higher power.

That is my theory. As a theory, consider it, modify it it, and test it. But don't put blind faith in it.

I left one thing out that I just remembered. Another reason I can't lend credence to evolution right now is the amount of fraud that has been going around among proponents of the theory. I mean, honestly, Nebraska man (and his family) were entirely reconstructed from a SINGLE TOOTH. It's almost like some of these evolutionists are so eager to prove evolution that they'll go to any length to do it. There's so much pro-evolution propaganda around today that evolution doesn't even feel like science anymore, it feels like a religion. Science needs to be done with open mindedness and unbiased. I can respect that, but when people start trying to make square pegs try to fit into round holes, I lose respect for them. That's my biggest complaint about today's scientific industries. It's controlled by politics. Often times science follows the status quo simply to keep their budgets secure. Results of scientific experiments are often skewed to fit an agenda. Science is about finding the truth, not about proving an agenda. None of you can deny that this isn't affecting human progress.

JesseJ, thanks for sharing your brave opinion. I respect your belief and I understand why you stay in your belief. It's nice to know that you're open-minded enough to join an atheists forum. keep your mind open and who know where it will take you.

then there is also the fact that SO MANY people SAY they are followers of jesus, but then cuss like a sailor.... Following someone doesnt mean doing what you choose to do that MIGHT be like him, it means FOLLOWING HIM COMPLETELY!!! Its not about TRYING to follow, or DOING OUR BEST....