Why do Atheists who do not believe in God, bother to post on Religious topics?

Question

Other than to be adversiral, I am curious what leads you to these topics if you truly believe in Atheisiam. There is so much intolerance in the world today, why post just to condemn something you have no use for anyway. I personally do not go bashing anyones beliefs or lack of them.

First off thank you Chelle for pointing out my spelling error. bloody_gothbob I do not feel you are stealing from me and welcome your input as expression of ideas. I just hate it when I'm told I'm an idiot for not sharing a point of view...I respect your opinions, do me the same favor.

What wonderful and thoughtful answers..some are very thought provoking. My question was not intended to be adversarial, and I can see that most of you agree with this abusive bashing being non productive. I agree to become better informed, we need open debates and forums such as this, we can agree to disagree about an issue and still be able to discuss it. What led me to this question in the first place was seeing how some, who were calling themselves Atheists, were resorting to abusive name calling and ridiculing ones beliefs. I must say many of you have opened my eyes by providing a thoughtful explanation as to what draws you here..thank you.

Answer 1

Copied from my blog for this very popular question. I tell you, I am shooting up to level 6 just cuz of this question! :-D Yeaaa!

Oh, ummm, it's Atheism for the philosophy and atheist for one who practices atheism. :-)

I, as only one spiritual atheist, am here to learn about the various religions, philosophies and spiritualities of the world. I always held fascination with religions in general (not just christianity---ALL religions, old and new). I do not seek a "god" belief, but here to seek how people attain inner-peace, self-knowledge, inner-wisdom and how they attain peace in their lives in general---and that I might learn a thing or two. :-) I seek to find and improve on my own atheistic spirituality, to improve upon myself. Isn't that what spirituality is basically about? I believe so!

I also hang out here NOT to "defeat religion" but mainly to give the "other side" of the equation, to give information, and to let others know that there are more than one valid way to see, learn and experience the world. R/S section is not "just reserved for the theists". It is reserved for all.

Answer 2

Well for many reasons.
Here are a few and I'm not even an atheist.
1. Some people just like to poke and computers makes it hidden enough to feel safe.
2. Some people feel they are right and want to convince others why they are incorrect. Sometimes with good intentions and some times with bad intentions.
3. Some people are just trying to understand why someone can believe in God when they feel the evidence is against existence.

But either way, it's kind of like playing the radio. If you don't like their questions close it and go to some thing else to read. Or keep an open mind and join the debate...

Answer 3

In your additional details you said you respected the opinions of others and asked that they extend to you the same courtesy. Cool. You just answered your own question. A person, an atheist for example, needn't be religious or spiritual to have OPINIONS about those things. And I suppose that's one reason an atheist would post in this section. And of course there's freedom of speech on top of freedom of thought. This is an open forum. Anyone who wants to can post concerning the topic at hand. I know there's a lot of bashing, I don't care for that either. But hey, that sort of thing gives the rest of us an opportunity to practice patience and tolerance. How else would we know that we HAD patience or were tolerant??? ;-) BTW, I'm not an atheist. But I am ... Live and Let Live. ~ Peace & Blessings ~

Answer 4

- Atheists don't believe in god or gods, that doesn't mean they aren't religious.

- This is both the religion AND spirituality category. Some people come here to learn about spirituality, but, end up answering questions about religion also.

- Everyone, no matter what their beliefs (or lack of beliefs) are, want their view to be heard.

- Many atheists think religion is dangerous so they are going to let people know that.

- Many atheists think religion is doing the world a big disfavor and they are going to do what they can to change that.

There are many reasons why atheists, agnostics, and other non-believers ask and answer questions in this category. What about believers in god though, why are they here? If they really believed in god, then why wouldn't they ask it directly? It seems to me that they don't actually believe in god, or, they're severely disrespecting it.

Answer 5

Religious conversations are not solely for believers. It can be a free expression of ideals, whether you are for it, or against it. We could discuss the "possiblity" of a creator, or we could simply discuss spirituality. Either way, there are pros and cons to every subject. Us secularists may fit into the religious fray, just as peoples of faith.

Also, I am an atheist, or as I prefer, secularist. I saw a random question that you posted, when I was searching all categories, and answered. Why? Because the question is poised towards atheists. So in point, some religious people may have questions for atheists, and some atheists may have questions for religious people.

Your question, being posted in the religious section, answers itself.

Answer 6

I can understand what you are trying to say and i can respond to this my a simple analogy. The atheists bother to post for something they do not believe in exactly for the same reason as theists posts even after believing something so ardently! For a person who is at peace with his religion there is no reason to answer people about religion because he knows it and why should he be bothered to spread what he knows.

Every person who believes that he can help someone else tries to do so and its very human and natural ( and i have not picked these lines from bible or Koran). The theists believe that they can prevent atheists from burning in the fire of hell by lighting the lamp of religion in them and the atheists see that futility of religious beliefs and they want to help theists to discover a whole new meaning to life free of religious gibberish. So its Human instinct at work and perfectly normal.

As far as hostility is concerned i think its totally uncalled for , the one who are hostile probably do not know the real meaning of either religion or atheism.

Answer 7

If a question is raised then be happy for the opinions that are offered from different view points, people can only make their faith stronger and knowledge greater by being able to think of all possibility's and still coming to the answer that makes most sense to them. Offering an alternate view is not intolerance of or bashing of any ones view.
But some of the more personally attacking/ insulting comments should be reported as abuse.

Answer 8

Like your provocative question; I don't appreciate generalizations as they are stereotypes. If it slams atheism, asks why someone doesn't believe in God or you are "this" for not doing so, then someone is obviously soliciting an opinion. If it says something like, please give me a good prayer to help me get through a tough time, you won't see me on there as I don't have anything productive to offer. But if you ask a controversial question, you must be looking for a controversial response.

P.S.-The first part of your question is redundant, as we already know the definition of atheism. Try picking up a grammar book and a dictionary once in a while, you may become more well-rounded.

Answer 9

Why shouldn't they be able to. They may have another point of view you hadn't considered before. There are those who post just to provoke an argument or be abusive, but most just want to voice an opinion. You may not have intended for your question to be typecast, but that is the way it comes off. You spoke of intolerance, but you seem to have little when it comes to Atheists. I commend you for not publicly bashing ones beliefs, but this question seems a bit adversarial, I'm not sure if its what you intended, considering your remarks also, but many peoples postings could be misconstrued or taken out of the context of what was meant. But for what it is worth, your statement about condemning something just to abusive...there is no purpose in it whatsoever, and those people should be reported.

Answer 10

Just because someone is an Atheist doesn't mean that they don't have an opinion and the freedom to express their feelings and beliefs, just like everyone else. The fact that they do not believe the same as the majority, is quite fascinating in my opinion. I love to hear controversial opinions, no matter what the topic.

Answer 11

I would say Athiests post on Religious topics for the same reason Religious people post religious rantings on topics that have nothing to do with religion.

Plain and simple.

Bashing and name-calling is silly but you cannot be on a site like this without people like that.

We all have our own opinions... This was mine...