Why should I have any respect for someone who professes to "believe" in God?

Question

In my experience many (if not most) religeous people have little or no respect for Atheists (and Anti-theists) such as myself. I have been treated with everything from pity to damnnation (i was once told i would rot for eternity for wearing o badge featuring Jim Morrison!!!) for my lack of "Belief" or "Faith".

Surley the burden of proof does not rely on me!

Also as most troubles in the world tend to manifest themselves as religeous, obscuring real economic or social problems, is it not entirley reasonable of me to drop any facade of respect for these self deluding people who cannot face up to the realities of life?

Most answers here seem rather biased towards Christianity, one even (as always!) tries to shift the burden of proof of their christian god onto me (no mention of Vishnu et al! should i have to disprove them before i disprove Jahova? or is it El? or is it just plain old God nowadays?)

My point is if i went around saying "You are a fool for believing in God! Christians are Morons! Hindus are retards! Jews are thick! Zoroastrians are poorly educated (they can't even spell)!" i would be considered disrespectful. Yet surely if these were my beliefs i should be entitled to them.

I come from the west of Scotland an area rife with sectarianism. My life has been affected in innumerable ways by other peoples religeous beliefs, unfortunately the negatives outway the positives. Why should i continue to let other peoples unproven hypothesis affect me adversly?

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH "God bless you" "Higher power".... this is the sort of rot that realy gets up my nose!!!

OK the facts are:

1 Life is meaningless
2 Life is short
3 Life is all there is
4 You are born for biological reasons
5 When you die you are dead

dont you think if everybody accepted these facts (AND THEY ARE FACTS!!!!) and made the best of their short time here we would all be better off? These are the realities of life which people are deluding themselves.

Answer 1

Have you ever tried prozac?

Answer 2

You hit the nail on the head, it's about proof.

I can't prove beyond a doubt that I even exist, I might just be a bundle of senses floating about.

You obviously have your own form of faith but I would ask you what you base that on. How have you proved any of this to yourself? If you are honest with yourself you will find that you have made a choice.

Personally, as I can't prove anything I have to say that I am perpetually undecided, agnostic.

I'd like to say that god doesn't exist because that is where my education left me but I can't. It is just (remotely) possible that the universe was created by the flying spagetti monster.

Back in the real world, I see no reason to make up your mind about anyone before you have let them say their piece.

I have met many religious people who I could happily have a conversation with I have also met a lot who have an incompatible view of the world. If you make it an issue then it will always be an issue.

God, in a very real sense, exists as a concept. If we are all programed with the same idea like "what would jesus do?" and we have a good view of Jesus then we would do something subjectively good. In a sense god has acted through us. You know the difference between right and wrong, if you change the labels to Holy and Un-Holy you really don't change the idea.

Now you are saying, what about those Televangelists etc. The BHuddists have a great expression "the stench of holiness". The meaning being that the pompous and self absorbed use their devout behaviour as an excuse to behave badly.

It's irrelvent what you believe in my opinion, I am quite possibly wrong about everything. What is relivent is how you treat people. Having or not having faith does not excuse any bad behaviour towards others.

If someone acts badly towards you don't get wrapped up in their excuses for doing it, recognise that they are not worth dealing with and don't fall into the trap of beliving that your faith is more valid. Live and let Live.

Religion (as opposed to faith) has another function, to provide a structure for your life. Those with the "stench of Holiness" may take advantage of that, there's not much we can do about that I am afraid.

Answer 3

How can you have "faith" in a God that you can't possibly conceptualize or anthropomorphize in any way? That whole old mythology about God as the eternal father looking over us, isn't restricted to Judaism, it's in Every religion -- why? Because people need someTHING to direct their belief at, and yet if you end up reading any damn scripture it will tell you-- well "God" really is inconceivable, don't worship the icon etc.

When you die, no thought, no body, no mind no Being as Such may exist. The very obvious possibility that Being will be Impossible is not something to hide from yourselves-- thinking life will just continue like it is now. It makes no sense. There will be no heaven where you meet your family, drink beer, watch the game, fuk your spouse. That whole stupid picture is propaganda, and you all must know it.

An afterlife cannot be the conjunction of all our personal fantasies, they are not compatible. So it would have to be imposed. No sex, no drinking, no game-watching. Whatever God, the dictator, prefers. Hmm, that doesn't seem like anything I've seen on this earth?

But! God is powerful and mysterious so who knows? That's the whole argument to blind faith. And that's why you're all deluded. Because you can't believe in something you don't have a clue about. What you CAN come to know are the plights of people here.. and if you stop and look around you will SEE that religion does far more harm than any other institution. It is the justification for war, for repression, for punishment, for the fantasy of free-will, for the caste system, for the demonization of our bodies and society, constraining social action, keeping us enslaved, because we wait for a Messiah to save us from ourselves-- without First looking to our own.

Get busy living, people.
You are not walking contradictions.
There is no karma, no sin.
There are just people struggling to get by.

Answer 4

From an atheist's perspective your defensiveness seems to show some fear of what you may secretly believe. Or not. The Morrison thing is stupid, and you should laugh it off. If you're smarter than everyone else then you won't be intimidated by their persecution. You'll laugh at the lack of logic, because things that are illogical tend to be humorous.

Being atheist is different from spiting religion. I know what you mean though. If you're not going to respect them for other good qualities they may possess, then don't respect anyone and just love your own ego. Does that sound like a good answer? Selflessness is love. That is all.

Answer 5

I am catholic.

Some of my friends are catholic some of my friends are atheists, my husband is a card carrying atheist.

I would never shove my beliefs down anyone elses throat and firmly BELIEVE above all else that EVERYONE is entitled to their OWN beliefs and opinions.

Please do not lump all believers in one category - personally I think you are doing well to have stood up for yourself against the others (and Jim Morrison was cool). But I would agree with you in regards to alot of wars being fought due to religous differences and in the name of God - which is completely wrong but at the end of the day the people that start the wars are intolerant idiots and would find something else to argue about if it wasn't religion.

Answer 6

You're just not associating with the right people. Believe it or not there are still some very spiritual and religious people in the world that respect your right to NOT believe. I'm one of those. Freedom of choice and all that. I've got a few atheist (and anti-theist) friends and all things considered they're some of the most intelligent, friendly, and fun loving people I know and I love to be around them.

Some religions promote intolerance, and it sounds like you've been involved in way too many of those intolerant religions (or at least around, if not involved).

My advice is to just avoid religious people, or start hanging out with Taoists. :)

Answer 7

I look at it this way; if you want to believe in God, fine. If you don't, that's okay too; I respect you for your beliefs. I am not on this earth to brow beat you into believing something or not. I am on this earth simply to tell you what I believe and what I know to be the truth. That's it. If you choose not do anything about it or to sit on the fence, that's your choice (according to God). I personally do not believe that there is a true Atheist because when push comes to shove, when their life is truly in peril, they are just like everyone else and cry out to God for help. I have seen it happen over and over again. If you want to sit there and tell me that you are not one of those people, fine. I accept that and will not argue with you. I don't believe arguing gets you anywhere and just makes the person you are trying to convince more resistant to your ideas. Personally, I like Jim Morrison music, it has a spirituality to it that transends all other music. I also do not have respect for those religious people who fight wars and kill people and create chaos in the name of God. I think God feels the same way I do; that's why He's letting them hang themselves.

Answer 8

You just expressed quite well what your personal belief and feelings are . That is as much a part of you as your physical body. You don't need to prove to anyone why your belief is YOURS. I will not dis-respect you for that, however in your closing argument you called people that don't have your belief system , self deluding , having no concept of reality. Many may look at that as a dis-respectful slap in the face.

Answer 9

You seem to have more of a religious world view than religious people do. In other words, you're quicker to look for a connection between bad things and religion than religious people are to find a connection between good things and religion.

Do atheists like you realize how religious-minded they are? Also, why does the positive stuff associated with religion escape your notice? Does shutting your eyes to the good stuff help justify your belief that there is no true God?

Answer 10

Poor question! Why indeed would you have respect for someone who simply professed to believe in God? I don't think God would be impressed either. It's not what you profess that counts but what you do. I believe in God and I would imagine that God will be looking at the things we did to help others, not primarily whether we believe or not, or are of a particular faith (though get ready for the arguments).
I don't give a jot whether you believe in God or whether you think you are God. I would respect you or otherwise for the way you treated others and what you did with your life. I wasn't impressed with your "Facts" that life is meaningless, when your dead your dead etc. I would certainly defend your right to uphold your views, but alas, that's all they are not facts.
Have a good life. lol

Answer 11

I guess you're just unlucky to have only met religious zealots and the misguided. Most people I know who believe in God are not like that.
Your last paragraph is an interesting comment. Leaving aside the accuracy of your statement that most troubles masquerade as religious matters, I think that most people who condemn religion for this reason are themselves avoiding the realities.