Any other atheists just feel an acute intolerance for religious people?

[WisdomOfTheTrees]

Seriously, who goes around the internet proselytizing about catholicism. Yuck.

[abaris]

Seriously, who goes around the internet proselytizing about catholicism. Yuck.

Blocked? Seriously, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the fire. Coming to an atheist forum and expecting everyone's the same cardboard as you, seriously?

Atheism is just the absence of belief. The ironic part of all these people actively proselytizing atheism isn't lost. You're just the same. Just coming from the other direction. Nothing more than any wayward missionary.

[Catholic_Lady]

Seriously, who goes around the internet proselytizing about catholicism. Yuck.

[WisdomOfTheTrees]

Seriously, who goes around the internet proselytizing about catholicism. Yuck.

Blocked? Seriously, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the fire. Coming to an atheist forum and expecting everyone's the same cardboard as you, seriously?

Atheism is just the absence of belief. The ironic part of all these people actively proselytizing atheism isn't lost. You're just the same. Just coming from the other direction. Nothing more than any wayward missionary.

I'd be a missionary if I actually went to religious forums and talked to people and argued with people about atheism. That probably wouldn't even be entertaining for me, it just sounds like something frustrating. I don't think you can really make the comparison with coming to an atheist forum, and talking to other atheists, that is in any way analogous to proselytizing atheism.

[Whateverist]

Well if you thought this was the 'Atheists ONLY' club you should reread the sign. We're the forum for the discussion of all points of views. Your petulance is unbecoming.

[robvalue]

Almost everyone I've ever got to know in real life has been an atheist, and not by selection. People just don't tend to get indoctrinated now in England. Religions were born out of ignorance, and are perpetuated by indoctrination. People aren't naturally born with a theistic mindset. They may plug holes in their knowledge with vague notions for comfort, but they certainly don't arrive at beliefs about zombie Jews, sky fairies and barbarians cutting the moon in half on their own.

[abaris]

Almost everyone I've ever got to know in real life has been an atheist, and not by selection.

I can do you one better. I don't even know what the people I socialise with are. It doesn't come up. My brother, sister in law or nephew - not even with them I know what they are. My sister in law seems a bit new agish, but I never really talked about it with her.

[SteelCurtain]

Seriously, who goes around the internet proselytizing about catholicism. Yuck.

You're my favorite, C_L. I'll take 1000 C_L's over any of these bi-polar twats.

[Catholic_Lady]

You're my favorite, C_L. I'll take 1000 C_L's over any of these bi-polar twats.

Aww, thanks love. 
.
I have lots of respect for you too. You're one of the really good ones. 

[Homeless Nutter]

Well .. natural provided they are indoctrinated at birth at least.   

I don't think so. Religion is as old as time.

LOL... No, it demonstrably isn't. The Big Bang happened 13.82bn years ago. Religion dates back tens of thousands of years at most.

All the civilizations across the world have had their form of religion/god.

All the civilizations that we know of - perhaps. But that's being very generous, by classifying all the different systems of belief and spirituality as what we now call "religion". The kind of religion you know is a fairly recent development and we can never know how our ancestors saw spirituality and rituals in the context of their lives. Largely because of all the thousands of years of continued indoctrination.

I think it's intrinsic to human nature. Though there are exceptions.

Also - all the civilizations across the world have had their form of sexually transmitted diseases. That's not because it's "intrinsic to human nature", but because diseases and parasites evolved with humans and "learned" to exploit our sexual behaviors for their benefits. Similarly, an argument can be made, that religions and religious organizations evolved to pray on the common weaknesses of human mind.

And just like with parasites, bacteria, and viruses - you can't become "infected" with religion, unless you have contact with it. Humanity developed immunity to countless microbes, which have since become extinct, or harmless - just as we developed immunity to many spiritual ideas.

"Old time" religions are losing influence fast. They may never completely disappear, but hopefully - in time - they'll become a minor inconvenience at most. Sure - dumb people will probably always give money and power over their lives to some opportunistic charlatans and demagogues, in exchange for some pleasant nonsense to believe in. That's just unfortunate effect of having a brain, that only just evolved to the point of consciousness and can't really deal with it.