Your perception of theists

[Catholic_Lady]

Eh, sorry but I really don't think this has anything to do with it. :

Catholics identify with an organization that did those things, and only stopped doing them because secular authorities forced them to stop.  That is why the Inquisition ended in some countries before it ended in others; if it had been ended as a matter of church policy, it would have stopped everywhere all at once.  The organization has not been changed to get rid of such things.  

These are incidents that happened centuries ago by people who are long dead. The Catholic Church is a huge promoter of life, even taking a stand against the death penalty for all criminals world wide. I don't think any of my atheist friends fear that I would either a. torture/kill them, or b. support the torture/killing of them. Lol.

I did not say that they thought you were going to torture or kill them.  The secular authorities will not allow you to do that with impunity.  But it does illustrate the level of hatred that Catholics have had for certain kinds of ideas, and you may (or may not) have that level of hatred yourself.  The fact that you identify with an organization with such a brutal past does not encourage people to tell you things.

I think they just don't feel comfortable talking about these things with a strong theist (whether Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, or whatever), for fear of getting into arguments, offending each other, getting in awkward situations, etc. Friends generally like to get along and don't like to get into deep topics with very opposing views. I can understand that, but still find it unfortunate.

I stated that in the part of my post that you omitted in your quote.

Ok, I will ask them then if they see me in that sort of way and if this makes them feel uneasy about talking to me. ;-)

And as for the bolded, yes, I think that's all it is.

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I believe in free will of actions. But certain things like emotions or beliefs cannot be controlled. If I lost a loved one tomorrow, I would have no control over my feelings of grief. An atheist (at least for the most part, as I have heard) has no control over the fact that he simply just doesn't believe that God is real. He can come to this undeniable conclusion either by merely a gut feeling or by thoroughly informing himself... or other, I'm sure.  

I have respect for anyone who thoroughly informs themselves in regards to any belief.

Right, I agree with you. But saying people have no control seems like a misnomer to me. If they are in control of their actions, and their actions are what leads them to their feelings/emotions/beliefs, then how can you say people have no control?

Someone from the Westboro baptist church may have no control over the fact they were indoctrinated from birth, but they are in control of their subsequent actions. They can choose whether or not to pursue further knowledge, or just go along with what they've been told. I think this is true for anyone. It doesn't necessarily have any bearing on how easy it is, granted, someone indoctrinated from birth is less likely to scrutinize their beliefs, but it doesn't mean for one second they are not in control.

I have had atheists tell me that they cannot control their disbelief in something. That's what I was going by.