Do Atheists pick on others (Off Topic version)

[Lamb]

I have quite a few Atheist friends and they constantly pick on Christians but I rarely see them bash any other religion. Is this true of most Atheists?

 

[Rens]

I have quite a few Atheist friends and they constantly pick on Christians but I rarely see them bash any other religion. Is this true of most Atheists?

No, they can make a joke once in a while but they even keep quiet before eating at the office for the one or two christians who want to pray. They do make comments about hypocrisy, about those christians in that place who hate gays but are gay themselves for instance, but not often.
My granddad was the worst. Flatout mocked and made fun of God and my dad used to make fun of Him too and I made jokes about God and mocked too as a kid. How I got saved, I was raised with a total disrespect of some made up non existant God, so when I needed Him I said a year long: if this or that doesn't happen I don't believe in God. Everything happened and then I was convinced after a year. It couldn't be coincidental anymore. Now my dad is respectful too. He sometimes goes to church. And even granddad got saved. Mom didn't care she and God were made fun of, she just shared the gospel just before he died.
But the extreme Dawkins like bashing you see on internet from ex christians I have never encountered irl. My dad used to say it was all nonsense but not that evil bashing you see, that they say God doesn't exist because He's evil.

 

[Rens]

I was on a christian school as a kid, my mother was reformed and the public non christian school was too far away so my dad was okay with me going there, but mocking christians, hmm, I said it was nuts that they believed God existed to some friends, but one girl was really religious, the earth was flat and she couldn't skate on sunday and had to wear a dress ad a hat to church. First we made fun of it, but then we felt really sorry for her that she always had to watch her brothers and sisters and couldn't skate with us. One moment she cried: I don't believe in God anymore! She got so sick of the rules. We were all shocked. And one was really christian. When I made an innocent joke that Moses was the first grocery keeper in the Bible because he offered God praise which in Dutch is a vegetable, she cried. Well that was my last funny joke.

 

[Stravinsk]

I have quite a few Atheist friends and they constantly pick on Christians but I rarely see them bash any other religion. Is this true of most Atheists?

Are your atheist friends also from a western country where Christianity is the dominant religion? Did they once identify as Christian, or were part of Christian traditions in some form or fashion but have left for whatever reason? Therein may be your answer.

I can think of one RL friend off hand who identifies as Atheist. We have had discussions on aspects of the bible, but he is pretty clear he doesn't believe major sections of it. That is also true for me, but the sections I believe and disbelieve are different, and I do believe in a Creator. The subject of Christianity is not a topic that is often broached between us, however, and so in my experience I can't identify with the generalization you have proposed (ie: true of most Atheists?) . His background is that he grew up in a Christian family and most of them still strongly identify as such, go to church, etc - so I don't think it's in his interest to make a major issue of it and still keep peace with his family.

 

[psalms 91]

I think it depends and is individual. On CF I had that experience and also had some good conversations as well. I dont think it is everyone by any means

 

[Lamb]

Are your atheist friends also from a western country where Christianity is the dominant religion? Did they once identify as Christian, or were part of Christian traditions in some form or fashion but have left for whatever reason? Therein may be your answer.

I can think of one RL friend off hand who identifies as Atheist. We have had discussions on aspects of the bible, but he is pretty clear he doesn't believe major sections of it. That is also true for me, but the sections I believe and disbelieve are different, and I do believe in a Creator. The subject of Christianity is not a topic that is often broached between us, however, and so in my experience I can't identify with the generalization you have proposed (ie: true of most Atheists?) . His background is that he grew up in a Christian family and most of them still strongly identify as such, go to church, etc - so I don't think it's in his interest to make a major issue of it and still keep peace with his family.

I think you might be onto something. I don't know if they were Christians but they had Christian families. With more Muslims coming to the US, I rarely see my atheist friends picking on their religion.

 

[Rens]

I think you might be onto something. I don't know if they were Christians but they had Christian families. With more Muslims coming to the US, I rarely see my atheist friends picking on their religion.

I was on a Dutch atheist forum. They were so worried about christianity and christian indoctrination from kids. They had some real bad experiences with church. I said who cares if my kids sing Jesus makes me happy, why don't you worry about Islam and showed them some stuff from radical muslims, even Ayan Hirsi Ali, who used to be an atheist Dutch politician who escaped raidical Islam, said that the churches should go into the business of converting those radical muslims, because they don't want atheism and christianity isn't dangerous.
Lol since then they had all these threads on Islam on that forum.

 

[TubbyTubby]

I hold ALL religions in the same contempt, I don't make special cases for Christianity. It just so happens to be that right now, Christianity is one of the 2 most popular cults so you're more like to be on the receiving end of criticism.

 

[Josiah]

I've met VERY few atheists in my life (probably can count them on one hand).... and MY EXPERIENCE is that they tend to be angry people who (for reasons Dr. Phil would need to explain) seem COMPELLED to denounce the concept of the supernatural, such REALLY, DEEPLY bothers them.

But a LOT of those I know (including those I work with) are agnostics. In MY experience, they tend to be quite respectful of theists and don't seem to have any 'agenda' I've never had one who argued with me or had any issues whatsoever with my rather well-known Christianity - they simply view our faith as lacking sufficient certainty to embrace. I've had more than one indicate that they rather envy the peace and hope that people of faith have.

An atheist (a - theos = no God) is one who dogmatically insists there is no god (and by extension, no supernatural): it is a dogmatic position, just as dogmatic as the theist position (just opposite).
An agnostic (a - gnosis = no certainty) is one who personally believes there is simply not enough to either affirm or deny the supernatural, but typically proceeds with the assumption that there likely is no such reality.



- Josiah




.

 

[TubbyTubby]

An atheist (a - theos = no God) is one who dogmatically insists there is no god (and by extension, no supernatural): it is a dogmatic position, just as dogmatic as the theist position (just opposite).
An agnostic (a - gnosis = no certainty) is one who personally believes there is simply not enough to either affirm or deny the supernatural, but typically proceeds with the assumption that there likely is no such reality.
.

Atheism isn't a position of stating that there is a god or not, it simply rejects all of the thousands of positive claims (books) that gods exist.

Agnosticism is the positive position that claims to know whether a particular god exists or not.

 

[Josiah]

Atheism isn't a position of stating that there is a god or not, it simply rejects all of the thousands of positive claims (books) that gods exist.

Agnosticism is the positive position that claims to know whether a particular god exists or not.

No. Atheism is a dogmatic POSITION: there is no supernatural. A = no. Theos = God. It is the antithesis of the "theos" (God) position and is equally a position held. Agnosticism is simply a lack of CERTAINTY about this (actually, the title can apply to anything about which one is uncertain, but it's typically directed to the issue of the supernatural). A = no. Gnosis = knowledge, certainty.

I've met a very small number of Atheists - highly dogmatic people who IN MY EXPERIENCE have been a very angry bunch, passionately opposed to any embrace of the supernatural by others (it at times seem to anger and offend them that OTHERS embrace a divine). A pretty high percentage of those I know are Agnostics. They tend to be respectful of theists.



- Josiah

 

[TubbyTubby]

This may help.

 

[TubbyTubby]

The anger is not usually directed at a personal level, more so at the religion in question. Unless, of course, said religion tries to impose it's particular dogmas on the rest of us, then it can become a personal attack on those responsible.

 

[Lamb]

The anger is not usually directed at a personal level, more so at the religion in question. Unless, of course, said religion tries to impose it's particular dogmas on the rest of us, then it can become a personal attack on those responsible.

Do you agree with Stravinsk's post how some atheists might pick on Christian's more because they have a deeper association with them in their lives?

 

[TubbyTubby]

Do you agree with Stravinsk's post how some atheists might pick on Christian's more because they have a deeper association with them in their lives?

I can imagine that would be true, certainly it's indicated on the atheist forums where an individual leaves the religion and is treated pretty shabbily for doing so. There are plenty of sad stories to varying degrees where parents reject a child for apostasy. I can understand why that would cause resentment.

For the record I would fall under the agnostic atheist banner. I don't buy any of the claims for any gods but I can't claim certainty that one doesn't exist (although I tend on the very high end of agnosticism towards the gnostic end of the scale).

 

[psalms 91]

Glad your here and hope that that will change over time

 

[tango]

I have quite a few Atheist friends and they constantly pick on Christians but I rarely see them bash any other religion. Is this true of most Atheists?

I'm usually wary of anything that refers to "most" of any hugely wide ranging group. Some atheists clearly have major issues with anyone following any religion other than atheism (while at the same time denying that their version of atheism is itself a religion).

Some atheists are very vitriolic towards religious people in general and if the only religious people they come across are Christians (or people who profess to be Christians) it's hardly surprising that Christians are on the receiving end of the vitriol.

When I was overtly hostile to any form of organised religion the people who were most prone to try and reach me were Christians, so they bore the brunt of my disdain for organised religion. It didn't help that the people who had put me off Christianity were themselves professing Christians, or that many of the people who thought their personal mission was to save me were very quick to lecture me on what the Bible said and often very slow to listen to why I thought the way I did. For added irony some of the people who were quick to quote the Bible didn't actually know it very well.

Of course some people don't process arguments with any more complexity than "this latest outrage was perpetrated by a Muslim, he follows a god, therefore everybody who follows a god is evil". Curiously this logic doesn't apply anywhere else ("my assailant was black therefore all black people are muggers", "this convicted rapist is a man therefore all men are rapists" etc)

 

[TubbyTubby]

I'm usually wary of anything that refers to "most" of any hugely wide ranging group. Some atheists clearly have major issues with anyone following any religion other than atheism (while at the same time denying that their version of atheism is itself a religion).

I deny the claim that atheism is a religion. What are the 'versions' of atheism you refer to?

How can rejecting ALL religious beliefs in gods be a religion? I don't have any atheist scripture to adhere to. There are no dogmas associated with being atheist and I have never conformed to any rules or guidance from the 'atheist church'. The ONLY thing that atheists have in common is not believing any of the multitudes of holy books and gods, after that it's an open playing field as to what we have opinions on - and we disagree amongst ourselves more often than not I assure you.

Look, if it makes you feel better to class me as a religious atheist fill your boots, but you're completely mis-informed or your definition of religion is wildly different to mine.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

I hold ALL religions in the same contempt, I don't make special cases for Christianity. It just so happens to be that right now, Christianity is one of the 2 most popular cults so you're more like to be on the receiving end of criticism.

Criticism without critical thinking and reasonable discussion breeds the same contempt, though. Why should the Christian consider you in that case?

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

How can rejecting ALL religious beliefs in gods be a religion?

Well, it fits within the definition of a set of beliefs on how and why the world works the way it does, its origins, and guiding principles on how to live one's life. Atheism is as much as worldview as any other set of 'beliefs'. I may not go so far as to call it a "religion", but those things are in common. And Christianity doesn't have a corner of the 'worldview' market, either. Do yo deny that Atheism fits this definition?