Atheists, why do you want to convert theists?

Question

I was an atheist for the first half my life, and never felt the need to convince religious believers that there is no such thing as God. I'm interested in why you personally want to change the minds of theists.

There are so many interesting answers here. I want to take the time to carefully consider each. You-all have already enlightened part of my curiosity.

The first half of my life, I was not living with the extremes of proselytization and religious politics that might have made me feel the necessity to protect my right to my way of thinking. The feeling that personal freedom is threatened is a powerful motivator. In my college days atheism and religion were more cloistered in scholastic circles or families.

ironn:
Chill out, and listen to a Stabbing Westward CD.

gdb2001: Your answer is the concise representative of the most frequent answer, though I have the impression it is observation on your part, not personal. I GET your I.D. picture....hilarious! "...with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Note the simile.

Alas, the individual's amount of hard drive between the ears is the greater dictate to extrapolation or interpolation ability than whether it is God or man as one's choice of assumed creator.

DuckPhup Re: "... a statistically significant NEGATIVE CORRELATION between intelligence and religiosity. In plainer language, that means that they found that the more intelligent a person is, the LESS likely that person is to be religious."

The era of this study and the I.Q. distribution amongst human beings are likely major contributing factors. Many of the paradigmatic free thinkers and artists in history were believers in God:Michelangelo, Newton, even Da Vinci (may his name be restored). One important fact - there is a statistical population curve on the amount of hard drive anyone has between the ears. Barring inate talent or capacity, it is love that works for optimizing function. Retarded best develop deductive capability when they are given unconditional love. Too bad Lewis, Tolkien, and their Inkling mates are not here to debate you. Intelligence logically chooses self-reliance. I see the application of your answer to my question. What cerebral heights your genes determined!

If you are going to use an example of a historically influencial theist to make your point against religion, in today's U.S. climate, Martin Luther is not a good example. A majority of Christians probably agree with your assessment. Catholics disdain him for obvious reasons. Other denominations and non-denominational believers reject his influence, because he is variously considered to have been a bigot or self-aggrandizing. Lutherans are not influencial in todays evangelical spheres.

DuckPhup, I wonder if my having misspelled and overused "influential" proves something to you, but to continue, if your were an atheist proselytizer, I would say your answer incorporates all of the reason and reasons that others have presented: retaliation, intellectual freedom, disdain for the irrational, the belief that "free thinking" precludes belief in God, separation of church and state, equating religious belief with brainwashing, and more. Since, however, you personally profess no seeking to change minds of believers in God, the sharp work you have executed here might not qualify as an answer my question. I have heard atheists who actively seek to convince believers God does not exist. I've wondered about the individual, personal motives. Thank you for your genuine contribution to thought-provoking dialogue.

Your answers generally reveal that atheists contend with the same enemy as free theists. Many of us whose greatest truth is faith in God ironically know religious zealotry as the enemy also. As Brennan Manning states in the preface to Ruthless Trust, "Alert to the manipulations and machinations of pharisaical self-righteousness, [believers] refuse to surrender control of their lives to rules and regulations. They see that the stale religiousity of legalists, trapped in the fatal narcissism of spiritual perfectionism, obscures the face of the God of Jesus. They will not barter their souls for the false security of fear-filled pieties that cripple the human spirit." p.xiv

Also see Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

Your answers validate my concerns on both sides of the coin. You all have contributed to the knowledge and understanding I was seeking, though my original intent to find a representative answer has been upstaged by my heart.

Answer 1

good question!! not everyone, right?

but everyone can be pushy even you are Atheists if you hv the feeling that you are the best ,you are so right.

but there are a line between really don't understand so they say that and wanting to convert theists , right ? this is very sensitive

Answer 2

Atheist to theist: Prove to atheists that God exists as defined. Don't quote a e-book, do not quote any individual. Provide transparent proof that can't be defined in another fasion. Theist to atheist: Make them learn books as opposed to the Bible and feature them revel in the arena. Take away the worry of dying and the unknown that's on the root of all theistic perception strategies. Good success with that final one...

Answer 3

Christians vote and pass laws by their convictions, they want everyone else to accept the same fantasies they believe in, they teach their children that evolution is wrong and creationism is right and that science cannot be trusted, they want the Ten Commandments--which even THEY never obey--posted everywhere, and many of them are willing to harass, hate, and kill anyone who disagrees with them. All this, and you ask why I try so hard to get them to think about what they believe, to put some thought into testing their faith to find out if it has any basis in reality? I want all of humanity to abandon the stupidity, intolerance, and narrow-mindedness of religion, whether it's Christianity or otherwise. Religion never made anyone sane.

Answer 4

I'm an agnostic, but I can answer this. It's because many, many religious people feel the need to convert EVERYONE. So the more of them that realize their belief is tragically flawed, the fewer proselytizing everyone else has to put up with.

If they were content to keep themselves and their faith in churches where it belongs, then there would be no real problem. Well, much less of a problem.

Answer 5

I need to say that atheism is one of those things that can only be defined by the existence of its opposite. Thus, if there weren't believers in God the concept of atheism would lose all meaning and usefulness. It's like the concept of "skeptic"....without people who easily believe far fetched stuff without proof, the skeptic would have no task or business being. Therefore, a magazine like "Skeptical Inquirer" would have to be given away and cease publication. Ultimately, both atheism and skepticism (in the way I use it here) are about certain people wishing to avoid existential anxiety by finding strength in numbers of fellow believers in their negative cause. That's why they try to recruit others of similar mindedness.

Answer 6

There was a time when I did not realize how many other people out there were just like me. You can say this is my way of helping the potential Atheist gain the courage to investigate their beliefs. Many younger Christians don't really know what an Atheist is, (I'm sure there are many exceptions), and I'm just trying show them that we are ordinary people just like them.

Answer 7

I'm a Deist kinda person, not an atheist, but my guess is that atheists generally are critical thinkers who like to analyze illogical ideas and the people who embrace such ideas. They're usually caring people too, the ones I know, anyway -- and they like to encourage people to think rather than accept things blindly.

Answer 8

Religion holds back progress. The less religion, the more we can better our *real* lives. The only way to have less religion, is to have less religious people. I do it for the betterment of my life and the lives of all mankind. I also have a great respect for seeking the truth, and so religion's pseudo-wisdom and arrogance bothers me on a personal level.

Answer 9

For the same reason theists try to convert atheists. Love.

We are concerned for your well-being and the world will be a better place and you will be a happier person once you stop relying on a being that doesn't exist.

Answer 10

I love the discussion. I realize I can't change any ones mind. But to really believe in something is to know as much about the opposing view as you can, otherwise you are just doing what you think you are supposed to do.
Actually my discussions with Theists usually end up helping them embrace their views stronger. As they do for me. As long as it's a win-win I'll play.