Athiests, what's in it for you?

Question

What is it you get (or benefit from) if you convert a few Christians to your philosophy? From your perspective, in a few years none of this will matter because you will cease to exist. So my question is why are you so zeleaous in your missionary work to convert the Christians?

Answer 1

Here are my thoughts on why...
There are many philosophical justifications for atheism. To find out why a particular person chooses to be an atheist, it's best to ask.

It is an unfortunate human tendency to label everyone as either "for" or "against," "friend" or "enemy." The truth is not so clear-cut.

This categorization of atheists as hostile towards religion is quite unfair. Atheist attitudes towards theists in fact cover a broad spectrum.

What's in it for us.....?
Most atheists take a "live and let live" attitude. Unless questioned, they will not usually mention their atheism, except perhaps to close friends. Of course, this may be in part because atheism is not "socially acceptable" in many countries.

Perhaps an atheist would try to argue that religion represents a huge financial and work burden on mankind. It's not just a matter of religious believers wasting their money on church buildings; think of all the time and effort spent building churches, praying, and so on. Imagine how that effort could be better spent. It is arguable that the Catholic Church's opposition to birth control -- and condoms in particular -- is increasing the problem of overpopulation in many third-world countries and contributing to the spread of AIDS world-wide.

Religious believers have been known to murder their children rather than allow their children to become atheists or marry someone of a different religion. Religious leaders have been known to justify murder on the grounds of blasphemy.

There have been many religious wars. Even if we accept the argument that religion was not the true cause of those wars, it was still used as an effective justification for them.

Answer 2

I dont think it's about converting since the people u are talking about arent an organization. Athesits sure dont get any the tax benefits christian churches get. They cant charge christians with hate crimes if a christian offends them because they are not a group. So my point is that they are not trying to convert anyone

By the way it's nice that many christians just thought of this after reading your answers, because u christians dont think in the first place.

Answer 3

Of course, everybody (particularly the mean old atheists) is picking on you and your beliefs, right? And Christians never proselytise, do they? No no, there has never been a single christian missionary...

While I certainly don't try to "convert" anybody to my beliefs (or lackthereof) I will talk about and defend my atheism should the subject come up. That's not "missionary work" as you coined it.

Honestly, I think religion is brainwashing at its finest, and it hurts me that anybody could be so misled, so ignorant. Of course, just because I feel that way, that doesn'tmean I'm standing on street corners with pamphlets or anything. You'll also accuse me I'm sure of bashing your beliefs which should be "respected" (she says with some sacrasm), but hey, you brought it up.

Answer 4

I'm not atheist but I'm agnostic. The only reason I would hope to convert a Christian to not being so Christian would be so that they wouldn't judge other people so much, and to get them to think for themselves. When you believe everything a religious authority tells you to without question, you can end up doing really messed up stuff. If being christian works for someone, yet they are not judgmental and actually have some critical thinking skills, then good for them. Do whatever makes you happy. Just don't judge me because I'm not exactly like you.

Answer 5

Well, I'm not atheist, but I doubt they really give a crap at all.

The same question could be asked of some Christians who are on the rampage to convert everyone....not just atheists....but everyone who doesn't believe as they believe.

I'd rather be pestered by an atheist.
At least they have a sense of humor about it.

Do you really think anyone's gonna convert to anything based on chickenscratching in Yahoo!

Us agnostics have to hear it from both sides and it's annoyingly funny.

Answer 6

I cannot claim to speak for all atheists or even a small group. I can only speak for myself when I say that I have never attempted to "convert" anyone to atheism. It doesn't bother me that people adhere to religion at all. Many atheists have family, friends and spouses who are religious and have never tried to "convert" them.

However, I cannot say that there aren't some who have tried this. I have encountered some zealous atheists - but you will find such people in any social group. Those individuals are not representative of the the whole of the group.

The only common thread binding atheists together is that we don't harbor a belief in god(s). That's it.

Answer 7

You're a fool. Atheists don't have missionaries, only Christians do. Atheists gain nothing from their beliefs except a knowledge of any science they study or life they observe and experience. Same as Christians. Christians are the only ones who believe they have something to prove and something to gain, yet can't prove it. So instead of looking for ways to prove it, they ask lame questions like this.

Answer 8

i don't try, nor do i want to convert anybody to athiesm... in fact if i could have fooled my parents into believing i was religious till i died i would have but that cat got out of the bag....

athiests that try to convert, just like religious folk that try to convert are insecure or arrogant or ignorant. some are just doing it to get a reaction, some are just bored, some see religion as a perpetuation of some contemporary problems in the world (war, stem cell, abortion), and some are jealous of what we would call "religious naivety" because the cold hard life that athiesm promises is not as pleasant as a hope for heaven, but still you can't convert a true athiest.

not everyone will have the same answers, or have the same questions... so whatever makes your life better, answers your questions, gives you guidance that is great for you...

that said, respect my right to my beliefs, and you wanna talk politics, leave religion out of it, for it has no place governing non-believers... and please stop trying to convert me, it can't happen...

Answer 9

I'm an agnostic, but I can answer this. The sooner humanity wakes up from the fairy tale of religion, the better it will be for everyone.

We don't need it any more, if we ever did in the first place. We know what is right and wrong. All religion does is try to hold us back. There is an undeniable history of religions attempting to keep down the natural curiosity of man, our need to discover how things actually work.

Answer 10

I disagree that most atheists seek to convert religious people. And I don't believe that the majority do it "just to irritate believers." That's as silly as saying Christians believe Jesus rose from the dead just to piss off the Jews. Most American atheists just want the religious majority to stop claiming that their views are "America's views" (which they are not), and insisting that laws and policies conform to archaic religious tenets not shared by all Americans. They'd be delighted if Christians would stop claiming that America was founded as a "Christian nation" (which it was not) and respect the founders' fervent desire that people of all faiths and philosophies be free to practice their beliefs, with neither the blessing or interference of government given to any one faith or denomination.