I also have a question for atheists

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I go by the live and let live policy as much as possible, provided they don't fit into the categories I describe below.

I only ever discuss it usually if someone asks me outright if I believe in god. Since I am agnostic, I make it clear to them what it means.

I have often been met with either open hostility or barely concealed hostility because of answering their question honestly. If they aren't hostile to me, it's generally because they either are too busy being judgemental or immediately start trying to shove their beliefs down my throat and try to indoctrinate / convert me.

I have never attacked someone on the grounds of their religion and I probably never will. I have questioned some of them about it out of curiousity at times, and with some of the more level headed ones I have even had some very engaging and thought provoking debates, but I have never attacked them.

It doesn't matter if they are hostile to me or if they try to shove their beliefs down my throat, as soon as I see what they are trying to do, I walk away from it. There is absolutely no point in engaging with those sort of people because they aren't going to be mature enough to actually have a discussion about the topic.

Some of them do just label all atheists as godless heathens and as such we are of no value. I have certainly had people who are antagonistic towards me for no other reason than they have been attacked by atheists before (and by doing so, they hope to provoke enough of a reaction to justify attacking me outright). If they can't work out on their own that every person is different and that a label can mean very little, that's their own problem though.

I have found I think critically on most subjects rather than just accepting what I am being told. I consider my ethical and moral choices much more and weigh up all the available options as well as the long term implications and follow them to conclusion. Yet many religious people have repeatedly told me that I have no morals or ethics simply because I am not religious. That does not make sense to me. I have to choose my ethical choices wisely rather than just being told the rules. I would argue that some atheists (though not all) are much more concerned with morals and ethics than many religious people are (again, not all). I am very tired of the attitude that "if you are not this, then you must be the other" or "you can't be both those things".

Last edited by Kjas on 21 May 2012, 4:46 am, edited 3 times in total.

Yes I do get the negative looks, comments etc. I used to be very passive Atheist. Live and Let Live. however due to the recent political climate and seemingly more extreme right religious zealots I have become much more Active in my Atheism. I have a" Vote Atheist" Bumper sticker on one car and a pic of 2 towers with "imagine no religion" bumper sticker on the other. I want to get the Dinosaur eating the fish emblem too
Like when local religious groups are putting up billboards of aborted fetuses in front of planned parenthood here in town. You don't see billboard put up by Atheists of priests raping little boys in the confessional...

It also ticks me off that Atheists are the most hated group in the USA... seems like many Theists think that the 14% or so Atheist in the USA are responsible for 100 % of the problems..
I am actually surprised that any AS are theists as we need logic and fact to believe in things. I bet most of those who are theists were born into a religious family...

I like your perspective, Since being on this site I can't help but think that AS folks are the next Evolutionary step as religion is going to destroy mankind so man is becoming more independent and rely on fact not faith or emotion to guide them. We now have the technology to destroy our own kind which in the course of human history we never had before... It maybe a bit of a pipe dream but its no crazier than believing in Imaginary Superfriends
as the saying goes" the difference between religion and insanity is how many people believe in it"

Any person who tells me of their religion is then informed of my non belief, this includes customers. So far I have not had a particularly bad reaction, many debates though.

This statement is patently false, their are many on this site who believe all kinds of illogical and non falsifiable stuff. I am not sure what it is that defines AS but good logic and provable facts are not it.

I will refer you to my subsequent post that was inspired by this one Atheist/Theist Poll
so far as I asked NT not to vote, 73% of those with AS responding are Athiest. 44% started out in a Theistic family... Also my hypothesis is supported so far in that all but 1 of those who have AS and are religious were born into a religious family. So your statement is patently false thus far and my poll show my hypothesis to be valid.. I said I was surprised there are AS Atheists, no where did I claim they do not exist... this is my opinion so it cannot be false. In such I claim that AS seeking logic and provable facts are a significant part of defining many diagnosed with AS

^ There have been many polls regarding religion on this particular forum, from memory the votes were very close, with atheism just getting the nod, nothing like the 73% recorded in your poll. It is not only religion that has had a large representation on this forum, we have seen the many a conspiracy theorist, spiritualist etc supporter. Heck you only have to visit the general forum to get an idea of some of the loony theories expounded by some with AS, the most prevalent being that we are somehow a more evolved form of humanity or that we have a direct genetic link to neanderthal.

I actually came up with the idea of being the next step in human evolution. Though I am sure many others have before me. I don't really believe it at this point but its a fun theory. Though I do believe that religion is the greatest risk to the extinction of humanity. Chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in the hands of extremist religious groups or worse entire countries is the real threat. Religion will be the cause of WWIII if and when it happens. Heh I'm gonna start a AS evolutionary thread now.

Religion has already created enough wars in the past. Today, it cannot. Since at least the French revolution, ideology has mostly taken the place religion had in international relationship. (The most obvious case being the Alliance of the Three Emperors between the Protestant German, the Catholic Austrian and the Orthodox Russian emperors.)

The fact that Protestants and Catholics basically stand together in defence of religion (or Christianity) in general shows how weak religions are today, except where they are part of a cultural identity (e.g. in the Balkans, in the Caucasus, in the Middle East).