Are there hypocritical atheists??

Question

Some atheists are always complaining that Christians are so hypocritical; therefore, I was just wondering if there are hypocritical atheists. You know those who may say there is no God, but pray or call on His name when trouble comes, etc. Are there any hypocritical atheists messing up the reputation of the true ones? Are all who proclaim to be an atheist atheist? If an atheist converts to Christianity, where they really an atheist to begin with?

Answer 1

Everyone's hypocritical about something. We have conflicting values that we hold so when we act according to one value we believe we are often acting against another that we also believe. For instance, we usually believe in self reliance and hard work to acheive goals yet we also believe in charity to help out those in need. So when we give charity to someone we might be hypocrites because we are not requiring them to earn rewards on their own but if we don't help them we are hypocrites because we aren't being charitable.

That being said, atheists are usually hypocritical about things other than atheism. Why? because atheism is the lack of belief in any gods. The vast majority of those who say they are atheists really are and don't believe in gods. So they don't do anything hypocritical. It isn't hypocritical to participate in a holiday for social/familial/cultural reasons. Giving gifts at christmas or even singing carols because you like them isn't hypocritical. It only would be if you were doing so to show some sort of faith in God. Saying "Jesus Christ" when you miss your train isn't hypocritical- it's just a common figure of speech, not an actual prayer.
Since atheism is the lack of one particular belief, there's little an atheist can do to be hypocritical about atheism. Certainly, despite what one answerer would say, debating the subject of religion is in no way contradictory to being an atheist.
Christianity, though, is rife with contradiction. Christianity includes whole sets of dogma that are espoused and thus should be followed. Not following the rules or living by the precepts would be hypocritical. Atheism has no such set of dogma or beliefs. It's just the lack of one belief. So it's difficult to be hypocritical about atheism.
If you say you are an atheist but pray when you have to take a test then you may not be an atheist at all. If you say you are an atheist because you are mad at God then you may not be an atheist. In cases like that, the person claims to be an atheist but actually shows a belief in a god or gods. That's not a hypocritical atheist- that's a theist.
As for converting- it's possible to truly be and atheist but then change your mind. Often, though, those christians who claim they once were atheists turn out, on questioning, never to have really thought there was no god.

Answer 2

I would say there are some hypocrites.

The main one would be atheists who celebrate holidays. This is a sticking point among some people. Some claim that since holidays are so secularized, atheists are just going with the social holiday. It's a point I can see, though I don't necessarily agree with it.

An atheist may engage in the gift-buying portion of Christmas and not consider himself a hypocrite. Others may disagree.

Atheists who pray to a god when he's in trouble is not really an atheist. An atheist doesn't believe that a magical being will answer him. If he prays out to a god, then he actually believes, much like how someone climbing down a ladder actually believes there is a rung under him.

Now, was an atheist-turned-Christian actually an atheist to begin with? I say yes. People are born atheists. Until they learn the concept of gods, they don't acknowledge a higher being. As toddlers, they accept their parents as gods; after all, if someone takes care of you and provides your needs, how much more godly can you be? As they get older, they are exposed to various mythologies: Santa Claus, Jesus, leprechauns, etc. At this point, they either continue to be atheists and not accept these as truths, or they cling to one or more beliefs and cease being an atheist.

Such people can revert back to being an atheist when they come to the conclusion that the belief was not so valid after all. This may last until they cling onto another belief (or even the same one if they revisit it).

Edit: I forgot to include another type of hypocrite, the closet atheist. On the exterior, he attends church and seems religious in order to placate his family/friends/co-workers. Deep down, they don't believe the religion they practice, but they do not feel comfortable being "out" with it. While this is hypocritical behavior, it is a survival instinct that we do not want to be excluded from the herd. It is done out of perceived necessity.

Answer 3

Certainly an atheist can convert to Christianity, or some other religion. It has happened many times, and vice versa.

Certainly an atheist who was reared as a religious person could, in a moment of crisis, pray to a deity for help. This happens less frequently than one might assume, though. There are indeed atheists in foxholes.

Certainly an atheist can be a hypocrite. They're human, and humans have human frailties.

Answer 4

Sure there are hypocritical atheists. There are hypocrites in just about every worldview you can think of.

And I think there are some who really do call themselves atheists because they want to do things religions call 'sin' but still think they *should* believe in God . . . this would be hypocritical. Anyone who converts to Christianity or whatever from atheism and says that that was the reason behind their atheism--it only shows that they were only a hypocritical atheist before.

Answer 5

If a Christian converts to Judaism, were they really a Christian to begin with?

Error in your logic, obviously. You seem to think people can NEVER change their minds.

Additionally, there are slang phrases that people say that they don't really mean. For example:

"I am gonna kill you!" - This means you ticked me off and I want revenge, not that I literally am gonna kill you.

"Oh My God!" - That's shocking! Not that someone has a God.

"It's all good!" - Don't sweat it. Not that all of it truly was good, but it means I'm not gonna penalize you or think ill of you for it.

So as for your calling on God, it's a slang thing. Atheists don't pray because they don't believe in a deity or deities.

But I know a TON of hypocritical "believers" who have pre-marital sex, swear, use birth control, drink alcohol, eat pork, etc, etc, etc.

Answer 6

No. there isn't any historic documentation of Jesus. The Bible is all Christians would desire to even make a declare that he existed, much less had magic powers. If his believers carry the Bible up as being the definitive artwork approximately him and the Bible does not point out a magic shroud, then why the fvck could absolutely everyone have self assurance a magic shroud belonged to Jesus? there isn't any info that that fabric ever belonged to Jesus. what's asserted with out info could be disregarded an identical way, however, Bible or no Bible. this is hype baby. that's a fashion for monks to make money off of unwell human beings and suckers. they have been doing it through fact the darkish an prolonged time and their faith did no longer invent that trick. Holy relics have been used to shake down rubes ever because faith got here on the scene.

Answer 7

There are hypocrites on both sides (and this is coming from a Christian).

Author and Oxford theologian C.S. Lewis was an atheist prior to his conversion to Christianity. He became an atheist due to his experiences in WWI, I think. But his friend (and sci-fi author) J.R.R. Tolkien brought him to the Christian faith (ironically, Lewis was a Protestant and Tolkien was a Catholic).

Answer 8

I'm sure there are hypocritical Atheists just as there are hypocritical Christians.

Answer 9

If you call out to a deity, you are not an atheist. The hypocrisy attributed to Christians does not necessarily involve them renouncing their religion; it simply involves them doing the very things they condemn. An atheist who prays ceases to be an atheist and perhaps never was one.

Answer 10

I wouldn't say they are hypocritical they are just confused. They are not sure if their is a God, so just in case they call out to God when in need, in hopes to get some help.