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

[SMOGZINN]

I don't know how we pulled it off here in Denmark, but somehow we managed to train our christians to keep religion to themselves and as a result we don't really have many outspoken atheists around (although the majority of the population will ridicule religious people when they start getting in our faces with religion and shit).

That last sentence is how you did it. The only reason we need outspoken so called asshole atheists is because atheists are treated like second class citizens in the US and a number of other countries. Until recently there were laws in US states that stated that you had to be of SOME religion to hold a job as a public servant. There are all sorts of places that start every governmental meeting with a Christian prayer. There is institutional discrimination against atheists in all levels of our society.
Only though activism are atheists changing all that. Of course the people that currently have the privileges are the ones that get to label us as assholes, because they don't like that they are slowly losing their privilege.

There are loud obnoxious atheists who declare anyone who believes in religion idiots.

And there are loud obnoxious theists who kill people who don't believe in their version of God. Somehow that does not seem to generate the same amount of hate as an atheist saying that a person that would believe in a God despite all the evidence is ignorant.

 

[lxskllr]

Atheists generally believe that people of faith are all stupid.

I think it's evidence of stupidity, not proof. Just like a college degree is an indication of intelligence, but not proof. I'm always a little dumbfounded when a brilliant scientist says they believe in religion.

 

[Eureka]

Religion, at it's core, teaches ethics and a "proper" way to live. Religion promotes loyalty and stalwartness.

Even if they don't follow your set of rules, you know that someone else who is religious follows a set of rules.

It's harder to figure out an "atheist" because, by definition, they disregard rules.

It's the same thing as trusting say, an employee with 20 years of experience or a new college grad. The college grad might be more up to date on certain things, but if the employee has the experience and professionalism, you'd be more trusting of the older employee to see things to the end, even if their methods are more "outdated".

 

[Broheim]

honestly if I were to pick a religion, Norse mythology would be the one; coolest religion around.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

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.

You are grasping at straws to keep to your beliefs; evident by the fiction you create about my level of knowledge, personality, and thoughts.

I can tell you that your post is all wrong as far as it pertains to me. Obviously, I'm the authority about myself and my experiences; you have no choice but to work with what I say. You can choose to believe that either I'm telling the truth about my own experiences, or that I'm lying about it.

Go read Romans 8. Story of my life so far. Christ called me before I knew much about him or the Bible. It's only after my conversion that I began to study Christianity in depth to expand my knowledge.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

I think it's evidence of stupidity, not proof. Just like a college degree is an indication of intelligence, but not proof. I'm always a little dumbfounded when a brilliant scientist says they believe in religion.

I don't think you're that bright if you don't understand why some very smart people choose to believe in religion.

Have you ever consider the possibility that they know something that you don't?

 

[Charles Kozierok]

You are grasping at straws to keep to your beliefs; evident by the fiction you create about my level of knowledge, personality, and thoughts.

I didn't create any fictions. I just asked if you've ever considered that you see as "proof" of your "one true god" because you've been preconditioned to believe in that, and so find confirmation in events that others would see entirely differently.

There are no gods. Sorry. What you have "experienced" is a construction of your own mind. I fully understand that it doesn't seem that way to you, but it's the only rational conclusion given the millions of people who "know" things that completely contradict what you "know".

You "know" that "the Christian god is the true god", and others "know" that their gods are "the true gods". The real truth is that it is all a bunch of nonsense.

I do find it interesting that you posted "don't cast pearls before swine" in another thread, but seem quite intent on doing exactly that here.

 

[Juddog]

You are grasping at straws to keep to your beliefs; evident by the fiction you create about my level of knowledge, personality, and thoughts.

I can tell you that your post is all wrong as far as it pertains to me. Obviously, I'm the authority about myself and my experiences; you have no choice but to work with what I say. You can choose to believe that either I'm telling the truth about my own experiences, or that I'm lying about it.

Obviously you are full of it.

Often when it rains, I can observe lightning. This is proof that Thor is real and your god is fake.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I can tell you that your post is all wrong as far as it pertains to me. Obviously, I'm the authority about myself and my experiences; you have no choice but to work with what I say. You can choose to believe that either I'm telling the truth about my own experiences, or that I'm lying about it.

Go read Romans 8. Story of my life so far. Christ called me before I knew much about him or the Bible. It's only after my conversion that I began to study Christianity in depth to expand my knowledge.

That's the problem with arguments from personal experiences. The person claiming them is either lying, hallucinating, mistaken, or telling the truth. Ignoring the lying option, that person of course believes they are telling the truth whether they are or not, so their opinion on the veracity of their claim must be discounted from the start. Whether your personal experiences actually come from God or not, you are going to believe they are. Someone who is delusional or mistaken will feel about their experiences exactly as you feel about yours. How then, do you know you don't fall into the delusional or mistaken category?

 

[crashtestdummy]

Religion, at it's core, teaches ethics and a "proper" way to live. Religion promotes loyalty and stalwartness.

Even if they don't follow your set of rules, you know that someone else who is religious follows a set of rules.

It's harder to figure out an "atheist" because, by definition, they disregard rules.

It's the same thing as trusting say, an employee with 20 years of experience or a new college grad. The college grad might be more up to date on certain things, but if the employee has the experience and professionalism, you'd be more trusting of the older employee to see things to the end, even if their methods are more "outdated".

I don't agree with you that atheists don't develop a sense of ethics, but I do agree that it's the way atheists are seen.

An atheist would simply argue that the religious person has the cause and effect of ethics backwards. The religious person says that our sense of ethics exists because it was given to us through the Word of God. I would counter that we only accept the supposed Word of God because it jibes with our personal sense of ethics. In other words, if Jesus had gone around with a set of principles people found abhorrent ("hate thy neighbor" and "do unto others as you would do unto cockroaches", say), no one would have followed him or accepted him as the messiah no matter how many miracles he performed.

 

[Eureka]

I don't agree with you that atheists don't develop a sense of ethics, but I do agree that it's the way atheists are seen.

An atheist would simply argue that the religious person has the cause and effect of ethics backwards. The religious person says that our sense of ethics exists because it was given to us through the Word of God. I would counter that we only accept the supposed Word of God because it jibes with our personal sense of ethics. In other words, if Jesus had gone around with a set of principles people found abhorrent ("hate thy neighbor" and "do unto others as you would do unto cockroaches", say), no one would have followed him or accepted him as the messiah no matter how many miracles he performed.

Doesn't matter.

Accepting a religion means dedication to a community, its ethics and laws. Being an atheist means denial of the community. Moreso, being an outspoken atheist means you are definitively an outspoken nonconformist.

Usually, at least in the religious communities I've been in, nobody really asks what you believe in. If you don't, it's the end of that. The "atheists" I know are usually the ones that go around with the mindset of "question everything". You can't even have a solid conversation without it devolving into some debate about ethics, morality, or laws.

It's less about religion as it is about the social aspects. When it's time to flock together, the one who refuses is the troublemaker. And you can't depend on the troublemaker because you can't be sure they follow your rules.

(And it's not completely wrong. These atheists are also usually the same ones that are generally paranoid overall, too).

 

[soulcougher73]

religion, at it's core, teaches ethics and a "proper" way to live. Religion promotes loyalty and stalwartness.

Even if they don't follow your set of rules, you know that someone else who is religious follows a set of rules.

It's harder to figure out an "atheist" because, by definition, they disregard rules.

It's the same thing as trusting say, an employee with 20 years of experience or a new college grad. The college grad might be more up to date on certain things, but if the employee has the experience and professionalism, you'd be more trusting of the older employee to see things to the end, even if their methods are more "outdated".

wtf, i dont even..

 

[Thebobo]

Story of my life so far. Christ called me before I knew much about him or the Bible.

I dont belive you are real

 

[soulcougher73]

I don't think you're that bright if you don't understand why some very smart people choose to believe in religion.

Have you ever consider the possibility that they know something that you don't?

And as a scientist they should be able to prove/demonstrate what they know. It goes with the title of scientist. So..you fail, obviously.

 

[Eureka]

wtf, i dont even..

Analyse religion from a social psychology viewpoint, and it makes a lot more sense why things turn out the way they do.

 

[soulcougher73]

Analyse religion from a social psychology viewpoint, and it makes a lot more sense why things turn out the way they do.

That is why you need a shepard for all your sheeple..

 

[Pray To Jesus]

DisgruntledVirus: 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.

Why should I explore it any further when others already have? I created the concept by myself to have a quick answer to tell my family of why I converted from Buddhism to Christianity. The total reason is very complicated, so I just use the quick version.

I studied Buddhism in depth, so I know that the core of Buddhism is compatible with Christianity.

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.

Many others do know a lot about their religion. You lump all Christians together and stereotype them because of your limited interactions with real Christians. I wonder if you also stereotype other groups of people based on your knowledge of a few.


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

You need to improve your reading comprehension skills. I didn't say I don't care. I said that for certain issues I leave it up to God. I do this because I trust in God completely. I do not judge people because I know that's not my role.

At this point in my life, I am perfectly willing to let God be in charge of my life. Whatever God wants me to do I will try my best to do because I trust my Father and I know he loves me more than I can imagine.

In any case, I believe when you say "how Christian of you", what you are trying to say is that I'm a hypocrite and I am not living according to your subjective beliefs of what Christians should act like. What you need to understand is that all humans are born sinners by nature. We're not perfect. However, Jesus came to save us from our deserved punishment under the law of God. You can know the real Christians by the fruit that he bears. This fruit is love and joy.

You need to understand is that it's useless to worry about things that are out of your power to change. Only think about how to change the things that you have the power to. It's a hard concept to live by, so try your best to remind yourself to not worry about things that you can't change.

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

God already said, "Do not murder." Therefore, I don't murder people.

God did not say, "Do not kill." Therefore, I would fight and die for God if he told me to do so. Alas, I already know what he wants me to do in this life, so I'm preparing myself to fulfill my mission.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

And as a scientist they should be able to prove/demonstrate what they know. It goes with the title of scientist. So..you fail, obviously.

Science can never prove God, because God is greater than the Universe. However, there are many arrows that point to God's existence. Only a fool, using willful ignorance, would ignore those signs.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Science can never prove God, because God is greater than the Universe. However, there are many arrows that point to God's existence. Only a fool, using willful ignorance, would ignore those signs.

The universe is everything. It expands definitely to encompass all that is. If god is something that exists, he exists within the universe.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Science can never prove God, because God is greater than the Universe. However, there are many arrows that point to God's existence. Only a fool, using willful ignorance, would ignore those signs.

Why isn't this thread in P&N? That being said...

I believe in a great Poodle God that will rid the world of trash! We will roll down the streets in PoodlePanzers en Masse running over those who oppose us!

Muahahahahahahaha.

My God is pretty cool .

 

[Dedpuhl]

Science can never prove God, because God is greater than the Universe. However, there are many arrows that point to God's existence. Only a fool, using willful ignorance, would ignore those signs.

Well, shit... How can I argue with that!

 

[Pray To Jesus]

That's the problem with arguments from personal experiences. The person claiming them is either lying, hallucinating, mistaken, or telling the truth. Ignoring the lying option, that person of course believes they are telling the truth whether they are or not, so their opinion on the veracity of their claim must be discounted from the start. Whether your personal experiences actually come from God or not, you are going to believe they are. Someone who is delusional or mistaken will feel about their experiences exactly as you feel about yours. How then, do you know you don't fall into the delusional or mistaken category?

Jesus had called me before I knew him. In order to do that, he has shown me he exists by answering my prayers better than I knew to ask for. He has also change me greatly for the better. He has shown me what true love and joy is. I choose to trust God and I try my best to follow his will. Therefore he has blessed me greatly by continually teaching me about wisdom and life through the Holy Spirit.

 

[Eureka]

That is why you need a shepard for all your sheeple..

See, that kind of thinking shows that you really aren't any better off than people who have accepted religion. You have one viewpoint that has been, more or less, given to you all your life. If you can't see things from the other side, then you haven't really made a choice after all.

 

[Pray To Jesus]

The universe is everything. It expands definitely to encompass all that is. If god is something that exists, he exists within the universe.

You're wrong. Look it up and do your research on why you're wrong, or stay ignorant because of your laziness.

 

[Juddog]

You're wrong. Look it up and do your research on why you're wrong, or stay ignorant because of your laziness.

Hahahaha wow where are you supposed to look this up?

Please show me where in the Bible it states that God is greater than the universe.