What motivation would an Atheist have to be passionate about convincing people that their isn't a God?

Question

I can understand why a person who has a religion or a spirtitual relationship with a higher power would be passionate about wanting other's to believe in a God, but what motivation does an Atheist have to try to convince people that there isn't a God?

Answer 1

The sooner people stop believing in silly superstitions, the sooner humanity can advance. Religions are the root of most wars and persecution. Religion has held mankind back for far too long.

Answer 2

Attempting to prove a negative is as futile as trying to prove an idea with absolute no substantial evidence; only a fool takes up a fool's argument.

While it is impossible to determine the thoughts and motivations of everyone in a "collective of individuals" - that is to say, atheists are often *only* connected in the disbelief of a higher power - I think you'll find that many atheists' true passion stems from shock, outrage or frustration with the fact that others *do* believe so fervently in something that appears very transparent to the objective onlooker.

Couple this with the notion that faith has a nasty habit of spilling out of the church and into the law books, and it's easy to see why someone might become passionate about demanding a more solid premise for the dictation of how one lives.

While many Judeo-Christian precepts that have become part of American legal foundation are quite useful for civilized life; "don't kill people", "don't take things that don't belong to you," etc, consider that there are many, such as "don't purchase alcohol on Sunday" that exist only to satisfy the religous, and end up infringing on the rights of others to live as they please.

No doubt many atheists want to "prove" that there is no higher power governing the universe, but their stance can be taken no more seriously than one who claims to "know" or, better yet, offer "evidence" that such a thing exists.

The underlying issue is often related to matters of church-state seperation, and attempting to prove that there is no God is a misguided attempt at "curing the problem" (belief) where no "cure" is necessary, rather than "treating the symptoms" (infringement on personal rights), which is a tangible and worthwhile cause.

Answer 3

Atheists and Agnostics don't usually have this motivation. What they do often have is a drive to protect themselves against the dogmatism of the many already falsified belief systems that tend to influence government and social institutions. For instance, I live in the USA. There are still blue laws ( like no alcohol sales on sunday) in many areas. There are still 7 states that require theistic belief as a prerequisite to hold public office. Federal and State funds are given to religious institutions for "social work", or to organizations that will not allow atheists to join (like the Boy Scouts). George H.W. Bush (in Chicago, 1897, while campaining) even went as far as saying he did not believe atheists should be considered citizens or patriots. The tendency to (Christian) theocracy is growing by the day under the current joke of an administration. In 1999, George W. supported those who were trying to have the military not recognize Wicca, while simultneously supporting the 10 Commandments being put in public buildings. The federally recognized seperation of church and state (Everson v. Board of Education, 1947, Justice Hugo Black's Opinion) is being eroded. That is what makes religion important to Atheists and Agnostics.

Answer 4

An atheist may have a real concern for other people. She or he may think that their beliefs prevent them from fulling dealing with their problems or living a realistic life. By demonstrating that there are no reasonable arguments for the existence of higher powers the Atheist may figure they are doing the world a favor.
Many religions promote recruitment of non-believers in hopes of making theirs the biggest and most powerful religion. Atheists may figure they are working toward a day when the whole world will be a logical and rational as they are.
(P.S., I'm a theist)

Answer 5

For me making people see there is no God would be like if you can across a large group of people walking to the edge of ravine. You ask them why they are walking towards the edge of a ravine and they tell you that there is bridge that connects this side of the ravine with the other side. You look for a bridge but there is no bridge or any reason at all to think that there is a bridge. When you tell the group about this, all they can say is that you need faith to see the bridge. As they push on towards their doom they rant and rave about how horrible you are for not believing in the bridge.
If you were in a situation like that wouldn't you get passionate in your effort to save them?
P.S. The bridge represents God and the ravine represent reality just in case you didn't pick that up.

Answer 6

When you really believe something and know in your heart it's true , it isn't important if everyone agrees with you or if no one agrees with you. You're sure that it's true and that's all that matters. But if there is some doctrine or religion that says there's only one way to God and you're not willing to take that path then you had better be right. You can't afford to be wrong. In lieuw of those conditions I could see where a person might want to convince everyone that he is right and that the religion is wrong especially if he wasn't totally convinced in his heart that the religion was wrong but still didn't want to go that direction because it interfered with the way he wanted to live. In trying to convince others he is, in essence, convincing himself.

Answer 7

i suppose the reason would be similar at the root. like the religious person seeking to proselytize others, the preaching atheist is looking out for his/her fellow humans' wellbeing. if an atheist sincerely believes religion is a false and harmful institution (many religions certainly limit personal freedom), they have very good reason to try and convince others to believe likewise. put another way, the religious person is concerned with the interests of other people's souls in the future; the atheist is concerned with other people's freedom in the present.

Answer 8

There are a few more obvious motivations and some of them are:

Irritation --> irritation at hearing the words "God" and "Goddess" spoken all the time, irritation at preachy individuals, etc.

Anger --> anger at the atrocities committed in the name of [organized] religion, anger at the unnecessary violence

Arrogance --> arrogance may inspire someone to share what they believe is true simply so that as soon as it is a mainstream belief, they could say "I told you so"

Spite --> spite may inspire someone to tell others that deities do not exist to (ostensibly maliciously) crush what they believe is delusional or to cause psychological pain to others

Sincerity --> sincere belief that there isn't a God or Goddess or combination thereof and a desire to share what he or she believes is "the truth"

Passion --> someone may be devoted to their atheism as passionately as another may be devoted to their theism and have a desire to share that passion with others

Answer 9

Atheists do not have the passion to spread "the word" because there is no need to try to propogate something that doesn't exist. Religious zealots are always trying to convert people to what they believe, since Atheists have no belief, so therefore, there is no reason to preach.

I often feel, as so many people preach to me, not knowing what my beliefs are, they are trying to convince themselves of their own beliefs by trying to convince me of it.

Answer 10

Religions want their beliefs made into law.

Religions want to dictate morals for everyone.

Religions (Christianity in particular) want everyone to believe as they do or you will BURN IN HELL……….and they go out of their way to tell you this.

Religions want to recruit our children in the schools we pay for with taxes.

Religions interfere with scientific advancement with their myths.

Religions are used to start wars in our name.

Religions breed intolerance.

NOTE: I know not all religions do these things but most do and these are the reasons WHY non-believers are so passionate about religions. YOU have made your beliefs OUR business.