Theists on atheist forums

[pocaracas]

I vote YES!
I'm for everyone coming over here! Theists stand to learn soooo much from coming here and reading some of the things we post. Even if they can (ir)rationalize to keep their belief intact, it's always good to teach people about where their reasoning can be going wrong.
I even liked Statler Waldorf and spent hours reading his posts and replying to them. He did come up with the most ludicrous things... like the moon recession being evidence that the planet Earth is much younger than the commonly held 4 Giga-years (that's billion years, 10^9).

[Catholic_Lady]

Voted yes and I don't mind getting a wide cross section of them.  Of course I prefer the thoughtful ones, but that is true regardless of whether they believe in gods or not.  

Favorites from the past include Jacob, Michael, Fr0d0 and Perplundy.  Sometimes I wonder what we could do to encourage the better ones to stay.  How about you, CL.  Are you being treated well?

There have been some people here who have been very kind to me, and I've come to really really like those people. You have been one of them, btw.

[Pizza]

Like what others have said in this thread, it depends on the theist. I have no problem with deists which are a subset of theists, but they don't argue much about deism here and there are only a few of them. My experiences with Christian theists on this forum is that they keep repeating the same arguments and clams over and over again, and reason in a circle.  
They don't care to back up and find common ground with freethinkers then try arguing to Christianity from that common ground. They always start with premises that presume that their dogma is true from the start. An example of this is all the shit arguments for Jesus being a deity. How the hell do Christians know what a deity would or wouldn't do? The buybull said so? Magic god detector?  

[Jackalope]

I wouldn't want to exclude anyone on the basis of what they believe. It's my goal to treat each person as an individual. There certainly are theists here I don't like for various reasons, but there's also quite a few atheists.

[Whateverist]

I think I see a pattern, Cthulhu. Maybe it is people you don't like.


Me neither, BTW. Most of them aren't even dogs.

[Alex K]

There have been some people here who have been very kind to me, and I've come to really really like those people. You have been one of them, btw.

Yeah yeah I haven't been so kind I guess. But there's always hope

[Nope]

I like theists being here. It would be nice if we had a wider variety of theists, perhaps some Buddhists or Pagans.


In real life, most of my friends and family believe in god so I don't dislike theists generally but I really don't like to discuss religion with my loved ones. Religion can be a contentious subject and sometimes it can be hard to explain why I am an atheist in a way that won't offend my friends. People sometimes see rejection of their religion as equivalent to rejecting them. When I told my little brother that I doubted god existed, he got mad at me and stopped talking to me for a day. Luckily, the silent treatment didn't last long but it made me wary about discussing religion with friends.

I like debating online because you can step away from the computer if the subject is making you mad. To me, that means a little more emotional control.

The only theists on this forum that I ever strongly disliked was Pious Paladin and she turned out to be a fraud.

[tonechaser77]

There have been some people here who have been very kind to me, and I've come to really really like those people. You have been one of them, btw.

I thought you were kind and then you told everyone about my reds erection. I was heart-broken.     

[rexbeccarox]

I will say this, as frustrating as it is, we atheists can do a better job of leaving emotion out of our discussions for the most part. Focus on the discussion not ad hominem remarks.

I agree big time. My one criticism of this forum is that there is too much of that and worse still, general remarks like "theists are idiots" which is simply untrue.

I remember seeing a lot of that back in the day, but I don't notice it much anymore.  Maybe I've become numb to it.  That member who's sock  we banned a couple of days ago said she came clean because I and another member called Catholics "assholes", but I didn't ever actually say anything like that. I for one tend to be very conscious not to say that kind of thing because I want my arguments to be taken seriously.

As to the poll, I voted yes but it's not so much enjoyment as it is that I see it as a necessity. Contrary viewpoints is what drives discussion. Like any other atheist who is a veteran of forums like this, I do tire of the theist who loudly barges in and proclaims he will demonstrates the folly of atheism and then dazzles us with Pascal's Wager . Yeah, we never considered that argument before. Even then though, it helps the recent deconverts even as us long-time atheists roll our eyes. So yes, I consider theist members a valuable part of the forum and I wish they were treated better.

I don't think we treat anyone badly who doesn't deserve it.  C_L, for example: the only times she's gotten derision are when we've noticed something hypocritical or wrong; other than that, she seems to be a nice person, so she gets treated as such.

Some other people (not just theists) on this forum are absolutely vile characters who come here, disrespectful at the outset.  I have no qualms about telling them exactly how I feel about that, colorful words and all.  People aren't treated badly around here for believing in deities, rather they're treated badly because they treat the community badly.

As to the OP, I think this place would get boring fast if we didn't have things to talk about other than atheism...

"Hey guys!  I don't believe in gods!"

"Hey!  Me neither!"

"Plus one!"

*crickets*

... and religion, or belief in deities in general, being something atheists tend to be interested in, is a much better discussion when you've got theists in the mix.  Yeah, some of them are horrible, but as long as they're not breaking the rules, I definitely welcome them here.

[Regina]

Depends on the theist.

I have respect for theists who come here out of genuine interest for atheist points of view and ask us questions rather than talk over us.

To echo what others have said, it's the vapid arguments that have already been disproved millions of times over that are frustrating. That said it's amusing to watch some theists back themselves into a corner.