Question For Fellow Atheists...

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'd rather build bridges than walls, myself.

Nah, I'm a 'walls' kinda fella.  I had some Theists tell me that I should be burned alive or gassed to death for my Atheism and as I understand it there are even those who'd try to slice my head off with a rusty bread knife if afforded the opportunity.

I guess that I might consider a draw-bridge as a compromise but I'd send you across first if you'd be cool with that...

Doesn't rustle my jimmies one way or the other.

I live in Central Texas openly as an atheist, and I've never once had any believer express to me that I should be burnt alive or gassed. Never once since I've moved back here has anyone told me even that I'll burn in Hell. My experiences don't comport with yours, but it's my experiences that guide my attitudes, and yours that guide you. I'm not sure where you live but it sounds like the people there just ain't very friendly. That can understandably lead to the bitterness that permeates your sentiments as expressed in this thread ... but even so, ought you not question the generalizations you're making?

[Cyberman]

Good to know Rob. But I do believe that calling the queen a parasitic old hag in public will still get you decapitated? Yes?

Probably a strongly worded letter to The Times at most. Royalists don't tend to do the hacking off body parts thing nowadays.

[Crunchy]

This is my first visit to your forum.  I have been a full-hard-right Atheist for at least twenty five years but I would like to ask a question that I think only another Atheist might be able to help me with.

I've spent several years discussing religion both on and offline but I think I have reached a point of 'Atheist burn-out'.  I don't think it would be a surprise to any Atheist here that such discussions rarely actually accomplish any tangible results reference changing the mind of a Theist and far more often than not usually only end up in generating a considerable amount of animosity between both parties. 

I would like to know how you other Atheists deal with and view Theists?

It seems to bother me more and more that there are so many people who continue to buy into the B.S. that is Theism.  I recently watched the 'Jesus Camp' documentary and found it unsettling and even a little depressing.  How do you fellow Atheists reconcile the fact that most of the people that you know are basically mentally 'screwed-up'.

A few weeks ago a christian neighbour of mine made a religious comment so profoundly absurd and ridiculous that it almost sent me into shock.  How do you cope knowing that many so people are this messed up?  I sometimes feel like I'm trapped in some sort of surreal 'Twilight Zone' type of parallel universe that is controlled and run by total nut-cases...

I'm even more negative than you in that I've come to realize that all people... even atheists, believe in all kinds of nonsense just because it makes them feel good. 
Stupidity is not just relegated to Theists, it's everywhere.

[Astonished]

This is my first visit to your forum.  I have been a full-hard-right Atheist for at least twenty five years but I would like to ask a question that I think only another Atheist might be able to help me with.

I've spent several years discussing religion both on and offline but I think I have reached a point of 'Atheist burn-out'.  I don't think it would be a surprise to any Atheist here that such discussions rarely actually accomplish any tangible results reference changing the mind of a Theist and far more often than not usually only end up in generating a considerable amount of animosity between both parties. 

I would like to know how you other Atheists deal with and view Theists?

It seems to bother me more and more that there are so many people who continue to buy into the B.S. that is Theism.  I recently watched the 'Jesus Camp' documentary and found it unsettling and even a little depressing.  How do you fellow Atheists reconcile the fact that most of the people that you know are basically mentally 'screwed-up'.

A few weeks ago a christian neighbour of mine made a religious comment so profoundly absurd and ridiculous that it almost sent me into shock.  How do you cope knowing that many so people are this messed up?  I sometimes feel like I'm trapped in some sort of surreal 'Twilight Zone' type of parallel universe that is controlled and run by total nut-cases...

I'm even more negative than you in that I've come to realize that all people... even atheists, believe in all kinds of nonsense just because it makes them feel good. 
Stupidity is not just relegated to Theists, it's everywhere.

That's why I hate when people throw around Atheist as a label when it really means nothing beyond the literal definition and no further implications whatsoever. Rationalists/skeptics are a more appropriate label for the type of atheists who, say, have youtube channels and attend and speak at conferences and the like. Atheism casts a wide umbrella if you're doing a google search but if you can ascribe any negative things to atheists, that usually refers to a much narrower minority within that field and pisses off those of us that have taken the trouble to go the next several essential steps further to make it actually worthwhile and reject all absurdities.

[Autolite]

I'm even more negative than you in that I've come to realize that all people... even atheists, believe in all kinds of nonsense just because it makes them feel good. Stupidity is not just relegated to Theists, it's everywhere.

But I have a problem with the legitimacy and credibility that we are expected to afford believers.

If I were to tell you that I have an invisible, magical flying friend named Frank who speaks to me I'd be branded as a complete and total nut-case. Yet if I were to tell you that I have an invisible, magical flying friend named Jesus who speaks to me, society expects you to afford me respect and credibility.

And yet both claims are equally profoundly absurd and ridiculous...

[robvalue]

Religious people are deluded, yes. But it's a set of very organized delusions that have been nurtured for a very long time. The power of indoctrination is astonishing, and it takes a strong mind to break out of it. Most people won't even see that there's anything to break out of. Their brain has been altered.

So they do indeed sound like crazy people. But they're not, on the whole, crazy. They are victims of psychological programming, mostly. That's not their fault.

I find indoctrination repulsive and I try to encourage theists not to do it with their own children, and to instead allow them to decide what to believe for themselves. It does seem that people are tending towards a more liberal approach in this regard.

[Autolite]

Religious people are deluded, yes. But it's a set of very organized delusions that have been nurtured for a very long time. The power of indoctrination is astonishing, and it takes a strong mind to break out of it. Most people won't even see that there's anything to break out of. Their brain has been altered.

So they do indeed sound like crazy people. But they're not, on the whole, crazy. They are victims of psychological programming, mostly. That's not their fault.

I find indoctrination repulsive and I try to encourage theists not to do it with their own children, and to instead allow them to decide what to believe for themselves. It does seem that people are tending towards a more liberal approach in this regard.

As a very young kid, I began to suspect that there was something quite phoney about religion.  I'd say that it was a Sunday school lesson about 'Noah's Ark' that planted the Atheism seed.  

I do not consider myself to be exceptionally brilliant, but even as a little kid I knew that there was something bogus about religion.  Now if a kid can figure this out,  how can it be that so many grown adults, with presumably fully developed minds, can't???

[Asmodee]

I just do me.  If other people want to believe in fairy tales, it's not my concern.  Whatever makes them happy.  My wife and kids all share my lack of belief, and that's really all that matters to me.  And if they try to throw it in my face, I am intelligent enough to politely tell them that I don't agree and shoot down their every stupid argument.  Of course my facts and figures are no match for their immense ignorance, but in the end they're the ones pissed off and giving up, not me.  I know that my beliefs are based in reality and their are not and, on a subconscious level at least, so do they.  So when they start to get pissed off at me, I know that's the point where I said something they know to be true, but really don't want to think about.  A little "twist of the blade" and they're stomping off in a huff, I'm smiling like a goon.

Of course I'm usually not that much of a dick about it.  Only when they're really pushy.

[Autolite]

Of course my facts and figures are no match for their immense ignorance, but in the end they're the ones pissed off and giving up, not me.  I know that my beliefs are based in reality and their are not.

I say that arguing with Theists is futile and generally pointless unless you're just venting or do it for self entertainment.  It's like trying to win at a game of chess when your opponent is playing 'Dungeons & Dragons'.  It's not so much an uneven playing field as much as it's two entirely different playing fields.

The Theists' argument is based on the supernatural whereas the Atheists' argument is hampered or restricted by reality.  You can't use rationality or logic in an argument against someone who as a Theist, by definition, has rejected rationality and logic...

[Asmodee]

Of course my facts and figures are no match for their immense ignorance, but in the end they're the ones pissed off and giving up, not me.  I know that my beliefs are based in reality and their are not.

I say that arguing with Theists is futile and generally pointless unless you're just venting or do it for self entertainment.  It's like trying to win at a game of chess when your opponent is playing 'Dungeons & Dragons'.  It's not so much an uneven playing field as much as it's two entirely different playing fields.

The Theists' argument is based on the supernatural whereas the Atheists' argument is hampered or restricted by reality.  You can't use rationality or logic in an argument against someone who as a Theist, by definition, has rejected rationality and logic...

I actually talked to an intelligent, non-argumentative theist the other day.  First time.  We actually agreed on everything we talked about.  I got to talking to him because he wrote an essay I read part of for a philosophy class tearing down the all arguments that homosexuality is immoral.  It was well written and he went through point by point obliterating every single argument made that it was immoral.  So I told him I wouldn't mind chatting with him some time.  He stopped by the first time last Thursday Friday, I think.  Hell, I actually enjoyed talking to him more than most atheists I know, not that I know many.  That's when I learned that he considered himself to be Christian, but just couldn't buy the argument that homosexuality is inherently immoral for the simple reason that all the arguments are seriously flawed.  I don't know how the hell he's a theist, but an intelligent theist, I'll take it!