Atheists/agnostics, do you feel that you are attacked by other religions because you are right?

Answer 1

Absolutely.

Answer 2

No, attackers actually believe they're right, that's why they attack.

Hell, each group attacks the other constantly around here.

I wouldn't confront someone unless I believed I had the truth.
Of course I would also have to have real proof too, but the absence of that doesn't stop some people.

Those are the sad ones

Answer 3

1. atheism/agnosticism is not "another" religion

2. I think the attacks are from fear, the way a frightened animal will bite. I think religionists haven't used their power of thought in so long that they are afraid of it. It must be a terrible thing to have your entire (fictional) world view challenged, and when they realize they can't win an argument for god's existence base on evidence, or logic, the impulse is to attack.

Answer 4

I do not think the followers of the religion are necessarily attacking me, they are only defending their beliefs. I do feel that I am right. If I am right though, they are wrong and they can not have that.

Answer 5

I cant say that any of us are rght or wrong. I usually get attacked because part of my philosophy is this; The greatest trick that your satan has played on the world is to take religion and divide it into 30,000 different cults.

Answer 6

I do NOT believe we are attacked "because we are right."

The attacks, and our correctness (or incorrectness), have nothing to do with each other.

Many religious people strongly disagree with our position, and they voice it, end of story. Does it need any other explanation?

Answer 7

I wish that you'd left the word 'other' out of the phrase "... other religions"... atheism and agnosticism are no more 'religion' than not collecting stamps is a 'hobby'. Besides that, though, there are some subtleties at work, which seem to escape the notice of most people. Those subtleties have to do with the nature of 'belief'.

A rational person might say "I believe in the Big Bang." A religious person might say "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis." But these statements are not even remotely similar, with respect to what is meant by the word 'believe'.

For the rational person, the statement of 'belief' in the Big Bang means that they understand that the concept provides a scientifically and mathematically consistent explanation, congruent with the evidence, which accounts for the evolution of the universe from a fraction of a second after the initiating event, up until the present. When the 'inflationary model' came to the fore, rational people said "Well, good... that clears up a few questions and makes things even more coherent." NOBODY threw up their arms and wailed "Oh, no... oh, no... ain't so... ain't so... the Big Bang is the inerrant truth... not this ridiculous, atheistic 'inflationary' model."

See... when we say "I believe in the Big Bang", we don't really mean the same thing as the religious person means when he says "I believe in creation, as described in Genesis," or "I believe in God." Our 'belief' in the Big Bang (or anything else) isn't really a 'belief'... it is more properly a 'paradigm'... a useful way of looking at something, or thinking about something. If additional information is uncovered that adds to the conceptual model, that is a good thing... not a disaster. If part of the conceptual model is discovered to be incorrect, and must be tossed in the trash and replaced with something completely different... that is also a good thing... not the end of the world as we know it. And often, no matter how highly confident we may be of the accuracy or completeness of a particular paradigm, we may have reason to apply a DIFFERENT paradigm to the same thing, in an effort to tease out new insights; for example, we might want to contemplate the potential implications of a change to a theory from the perspective of the Tao Te Ching, the Gaia hypothesis, or ecological homeostasis. We KNOW that all theories are approximations... and that is OK. We KNOW that we don't have all the answers... and that is OK, too. There is nothing wrong with saying "We don't know... yet; but we're working on it."

But these modes of thinking, perceiving, contemplating and understanding are utterly alien to the 'religious' mind. For the religious mind, a 'belief' is not a paradigm... not a useful way of thinking about something... it is an internalized conviction that one knows the absolute 'truth' pertaining to some aspect of existence and/or fundamental reality. 'Beliefs' are one of the key interpretive component filters of the religious person's 'self-description'... a part of what DEFINES them as a person... the very thing that creates their world-view... an underpinning of their 'subjective reality'. Any challenge to one of these internalized 'beliefs' is perceived and interpreted as a vital threat... an attack upon the 'self-description'... and an assault upon their subjective reality.

And here is the key difference: When there is a change in one of the paradigms dealing with a scientific concept, or a new insight into the workings of the universe, to the 'rational' person it merely constitutes an interesting new piece of knowledge and understanding... a new insight, to be appropriately incorporated into one's world-view However, if that same new insight, or piece of information (a feature of the universe, for example) seems to threaten a tenet of Christianity, everybody goes to battle stations, goes into 'damage control' mode, for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down... and ultimately, it will.

So, when a fundie disparages evolution, for example, it really has nothing to do with a genuine, intellectual dispute regarding scientific details... they are generally scientifically illiterate, anyway. Any 'scientific' arguments that they present are inevitably not even understood... they are just lifted from the pre-packaged lies, misrepresentations and pseudo-science that are found on dozens of 'Liars for Jesus' (LFJ) web sites, and parroted. They are in a battle. They are trying to sink science before science sinks them. They are desperate... and science is (mostly, and unfortunately) oblivious to the fact that they are even in a fight, and that somebody is trying to sink them. They just keep blithely bopping along, doing what science does... trying to figure out how nature works.

No... none of this has anything to do with a mere disagreement pertaining to evidence and understanding. It has to do with minds that deal with fundamental issues in an entirely different way. It has to do with a flexible, open-minded (willing to honestly consider alternative possibilities), intellectually honest (willing to question and doubt one's own presumptions) curiosity about the universe, contending with a rigid, unyielding world-view that depends from a conviction that certain delusional faith-based (willful ignorance and magical, wishful thinking) 'beliefs' represent the absolute 'truth' of reality.

We might as well be talking to an alien species, from a distant planet.

When the religious enter a venue like this one, they are (generally) NOT seeking answers, or new information... these might cause them to QUESTION their beliefs, or might put their beliefs at risk. No... they are closed-minded, seeking only VALIDATION of their beliefs... and hence, of their self-description.

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"When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." ~ Robert M. Pirsig

Answer 8

I think the very point of agnosticism is that you don't KNOW you are right. And I don't think anyone can absolutely say that they are right--very few of us have been on the other side and come back to tell the tale. All we have to go on is faith, or a lack thereof.

Answer 9

My aim is not to be right.. it's merely to me with all my own views included. If it makes someone feel 'bigger' to attack me for them well then they are the ones with the problems not me.

Answer 10

I'm not important enough to be attacked, apparently. So no.

Oh wait, I did get a nasty email once....aw, I feel special!