Explain to me why some people are accepting of other religions but not of atheism

[Spungo]

Pascal's wager has more holes in it than Swiss cheese..

It also assumes god is easily tricked. Following a religion out of fear is not the same thing as believing. God should be able to see right through that kind of deception. Even humans can spot that kind of deception. That would be like saying you support American values like family and marriage just because you know that saying this will get you elected even if you don't really believe in those things.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

Pot meet Kettle..youre both black. The fact you dont get the quote shows how ignorant you really are. But keep on believing bro.

I get the quote and what it's trying to say. I still believe the person who said it is ignorant of the truth.

I can't blame them though because God call those who he will. I just feel sorry for them. They're really missing out on a lot.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

It also assumes god is easily tricked. Following a religion out of fear is not the same thing as believing. God should be able to see right through that kind of deception. Even humans can spot that kind of deception. That would be like saying you support American values like family and marriage just because you know that saying this will get you elected even if you don't really believe in those things.

That's not taking Pascal's Wager. When someone take the wager they all in with all their heart. Otherwise it's useless.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Same reason that some atheists are tolerant of some religions, but can't stand Christianity or Islam.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

The OP's original question is based on a false assumption. Religious people are not tolerant. To me, they're both poor positions since one states that they know there is a god(s) and one states they know there isn't. I wonder how many people are really atheist vs agnostic. It makes more sense to simply say you don't know, don't care, and have better things to do with your life.

Bad sterotyping.

Atheists are not tolerant.
Blacks are not tolerant.
Whites are not tolerant.
Asians are not tolerant.
Babies are not tolerant.

Like I say, I find most atheists on this forum are ignorant of the things they say is false. Often they can't argue so they result to ad hominem.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

The answer is simple: atheists, by pointing out reality, are a threat to something that defines them.

 

[boochi]

Atheists generally believe that people of faith are all stupid.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

The smart ones stay agnostic. The truly smart one make Pascal's wager.

Pascal's wager is shit. You can't even think critically for yourself so you use something that somebody else thought of hundreds of years ago because it supports your view even though it's flawed. How enlightened of you... /sarcasm

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/#5

It also assumes god is easily tricked. Following a religion out of fear is not the same thing as believing. God should be able to see right through that kind of deception. Even humans can spot that kind of deception. That would be like saying you support American values like family and marriage just because you know that saying this will get you elected even if you don't really believe in those things.

Pascal's wager is totally crap and that is definitely one of those reasons. Some others:
-it assumes a moral and just God (which the Bible would suggest may not be the case)
--a subset of this is if God punishes people for not believing then how can he be a "good" God?
-it assumes that a fake belief = true belief
-"bad" and "evil" people (murderers, rapists, etc) could get into Heaven simply by feigning their belief in God, which brings us back to how is that moral and just to allow the worst of the worst in Heaven while good people who don't believe get banished to Hell?
-what if this God is actually the Islamic God? Or one of the Hindu Gods? Or, even just a subset of Christianity? Is he the Roman Catholic God? Lutheran? Mormon?
See http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pascal's_wager#Assumptions for many others

That's not taking Pascal's Wager. When someone take the wager they all in with all their heart. Otherwise it's useless.

I cannot "force" myself to believe something with "all my heart." So I should be sent to this Hell place for eternity because my brain chemistry doesn't truly believe?

 

[Pray To Jesus]

Pascal's wager is shit. You can't even think critically for yourself so you use something that somebody else thought of hundreds of years ago because it supports your view even though it's flawed. How enlightened of you... /sarcasm

LoL at your false assumptions. Shows how threatened you feel when you meet someone who knows God personally.

FYI I didn't even know about Pascal's wager until way after I came up with the concept on my own as a short argument for believing in Christianity vs. Buddhism.

A lot of your knowledge of God is wrong and is based on ignorance of Christianity. You have a shallow understanding of it. I see a lot of atheists use strawman arguments. I also see a lot of illogical reasoning based on emotion.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

I cannot "force" myself to believe something with "all my heart." So I should be sent to this Hell place for eternity because my brain chemistry doesn't truly believe?

I do not know who goes to Hell or goes to Heaven. That's up to God. Since it's not a problem that I can solve, I don't worry about it. I let God handle whatever he wants. I just follow his will.


I do know that the Christian God is the true god.

I am trying my best to glorify him, including learning all I can.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

I do know that the Christian God is the true god.

How do you know that?

 

[Pray To Jesus]

Atheists generally believe that people of faith are all stupid.

Intelligence is based on a standard curve. It would be unwise to jump to conclusions based on stereotypes.

 

[Juddog]

Atheists generally believe that people of faith are all stupid.

After reading through some of the responses in this thread I'm starting to see why.

 

[Broheim]

people, don't feed the troll, ignore him and he'll slowly wither away.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

How do you know that?

Personal experience in life events. The Holy Spirit teaching me to be more like Jesus. All I have to do is listen to God and I will hear him.

I read Romans 8 and I was blown away at how perfectly it describes my life up to this point.

 

[Mixolydian]

The answer is simple: atheists, by pointing out reality, are a threat to something that defines them.

:hmm:

 

[Pray To Jesus]

people, don't feed the troll, ignore him and he'll slowly wither away.

Often they can't argue so they result to ad hominem.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Personal experience in life events. The Holy Spirit teaching me to be more like Jesus. All I have to do is listen to God and I will hear him.

I read Romans 8 and I was blown away at how perfectly it describes my life up to this point.

And of course, it's never occurred to you that you have your cause and effect reversed here -- that you are seeing what you want to see because you desperately want it to be true.

It's funny how people who have never been taught about Jesus never suddenly become Christians.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Religions, even though they have very different mythologies behind them, generally accept a similar set of principles: There is a God, that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, God created us and so we are only his/her playthings, we must submit to and worship that God, and we must structure our society to adhere to that God's commandments.

Atheists insist that the entire model is incorrect and backwards. They suggest that humans exist only for themselves, that there is not mecessarily any all-powerful force giving direction to the universe, and that it could in fact be completely random. People are more willing to accept interfaith discussion because each religion is a different form of the same model. Atheists are a complete rejection of it.

I think in many cases you're right, and it's a vicious circle. christians hate on atheists who hate on christians for hating on atheists who hate on christians because they hate on atheists and so on....

I think there's a generational aspect to it as well. Atheists who come from conservative religious backgrounds, where they feel religion was forced upon them, push back hard against religion. Those who grew up relatively non-religious or with atheist parents end up being far more tolerant of religious people.

You'll notice that almost all the prominent atheist advocates are baby boomers and older. The younger generation, feeling less initial stigma for being atheist, also are less belligerent in espousing it.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

LoL at your false assumptions. Shows how threatened you feel when you meet someone who knows God personally.

FYI I didn't even know about Pascal's wager until way after I came up with the concept on my own as a short argument for believing in Christianity vs. Buddhism.

A lot of your knowledge of God is wrong and is based on ignorance of Christianity. You have a shallow understanding of it. I see a lot of atheists use strawman arguments. I also see a lot of illogical reasoning based on emotion.

404: threat not found. If you "found Pascal's wager" on your own, then why didn't you continue the critical thought about it? It's like you got to an answer that agreed with your personal beliefs and you quit thinking at that point instead of continuing to analyze things.

My knowledge of this Christian God is from their own Bible or through the history of Christianity. Many Christians do not know jack about their own religion.

I do not know who goes to Hell or goes to Heaven. That's up to God. Since it's not a problem that I can solve, I don't worry about it. I let God handle whatever he wants. I just follow his will.


I do know that the Christian God is the true god.

I am trying my best to glorify him, including learning all I can.

So because you don't make that decision you don't care? How Christian of you.

Since you just follow his will, if He commanded you to murder somebody would you do it?

 

[Red Storm]

I'm gonna guess it's because theists share a common belief regardless of the other differences.

 

[Broheim]

Often they can't argue so they result to ad hominem.

 

[Juddog]

That quote is really ignorant. I don't think other gods are possible at all. Just one. That's because I was shown the truth by God through events in my life. Therefore, I think that quote is just coming from an ignorant person.

I understand why I dismiss false gods, because I know them to be false. I don't understand why this person would dismiss God unless it's out of ignorance.

This statement is really ignorant. I was shown the truth by the one true God, Thor himself. Thor showed me that he was better than Jesus, and that Jesus was simply a wuss. He then showed me a bolt of lightning, which I felt was more powerful than Jesus.

 

[Rakehellion]

I hate to make a religion thread, but I have to ask a question.

I was just looking at a thread about the Boy Scouts of America. It appears that the Boy Scouts is tolerant of other religions, but will kick out atheists/agnostics.

I'm personally atheist, although I prefer the term non-religious as religious people seem to view atheism as a religion of its own.

When I "came out" as atheist as a teenager, I lost a bunch of my friends. I had friends of varying religions: Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, etc. A decent number of them told me that they could understand if I believed in a different religion, but they could not accept that somebody could be atheist. The mother of the last girl I dated refused to accept me because I was atheist, but she was fine with other religions.

Apparently this is a common view-point, but I don't understand it.

How could a religious person, who doesn't believe in all the other religions, be tolerant of all the other religions, but not of atheism?

The following quote comes to mind:
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours"

People aren't even accepting of their own religion. They cherry pick which parts they like and don't like and decide what to follow, neglecting the will of their god until every religion is essentially the same.

 

[Dedpuhl]

Atheists generally believe that people of faith are all stupid.

I don't think they are stupid. They only believe what they've been taught since they were in diapers. It's not my job to convince them there are no gods.