Atheists and the Easter Bunny...?

Question

If atheists are indeed correct in their belief that no God exists, then why do they overreact when non-atheists inform them that their lack of belief will lead them to hell? Said differently, if you willingly reject God, why do atheists get all snarky when told that their place in the afterlife will be somewhere without him (i.e., nothingess if you are right, something not Heaven if you are wrong). It seems you are eternally getting exactly what you wanted.

It seems that on some level atheists feel that their position isn't right, or why would they react so strongly? Said differently, if someone told me that the Easter Bunny wrote a book that said people with my Yahoo name were going to hell, I would find that amusing, but wouldn't waste a second berating the people who believed it (might read the book to see how they reached that conclusion and evaluate their position).

Curious, then, why the overreaction to something atheists 'know' is not true?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Why do christians overreact when atheists inform them that there is no god?

It seams that on some level the christians know their position isn't right, or why would they react so strongly or even worry why atheists react so badly.

I find it amusing, don't you?

Answer 2

it extremely works in some respects. Assuming eggs lower than the tree ability an Easter Bunny, and assuming an Earth ability a author God, fall into the very similar logical mistakes... brushing off that there is yet another rationalization. And having absolute faith in both renders argument from data not a chance/beside the point. that's antagonistic to human beings conserving this kind of perspective that the "bunny" reaction is often directed. that's not some thing like the manager reason behind me being an atheist, yet at the same time as human beings cite "faith" as their reason behind conception, then is there any reason such faith might want to not connect to the Easter Bunny, invisible pink unicorns... ? %. the article of your selection. faith may be directed *everywhere*! (that's why there are straightforward believers of each faith, from the mainstream to the strange.)

Answer 3

First, not all atheists get upset when they are told they are going to hell. I find it quite amusing when other people feel the need to project what they believe on others. Heaven and Hell are concepts that have yet to be proven exist...no one knows for sure where we will end up after we die. NO ONE. I would never berate anyone for the what they believe in, but if I believed in reincarnation, I certainly would not tell someone that they are going to come back in the next life as a maggot. Faith is personal.

Answer 4

I don't know what "overreacting" means.
However, the situation would be exactly the same if your belief in the easter bunny were also extended to every aspect of my life, just as your belief in god is.
In other words, if you were attempting to amend the US constitution because you believed the easter bunny wants you to, then I would be concerned about that.
But, back to the main question, again, I don't know what you mean by "overreacting"? When people answer and tell you that they don't believe in that stuff, is that "overreacting"?
What exactly did you have in mind?
Or, was that just a silly stretch of the truth that you used to make some point?

Answer 5

You would find it amusing because you would assume that anyone who said the easter bunny was sending you to Hell was either insane or joking with you.

If Christians said, "You need to be careful, there's this place called hell and I really think you're in danger of going there..." and actually meant it graciously, they wouldn't catch nearly the flack.

However, when a Christian says, "You're going to hell!," usually they're not saying God's going to send us there, they are judging them from their own heart, which first off, is not their place, and secondly, is a sin in their own religion -- one of the more critical ones, as I recall.

Further, logic rules. If you're going to make the leap of faith that YHVH is the one true God, you might want to check out your OT prophecies of HaMosiach again and see if the NT really jives with them (Hint: No, they don't... Jesus failed miserably). In fact, Judiasm has no concept of hell at all. Why is this? Because an eternal hell is completely and utterly incompatible with an All-Loving, All-Merciful, and All-Just deity.

I am a mortal being, and therefore, my actions can have no infinite effects -- I am finite and my actions are finite and their effects are finite. The most fundamental rule of justice is simple -- equal exchange, the punishment fits the crime, eye-for-an-eye. Yet an eternal hell would be infinite punishment for finite error. This is not loving, merciful, OR just. So Hell is completely incompatible with YHVH, unless you want to admit that YHVH was an early semitic war god from a pantheon of gods and that you're simply one more decendant of a pagan religion.

So... the ball's in your court. I couldn't care less that you tell me I'm going to hell. It's not hell that pisses me off. It's your utter stupidity in believing in such a place to begin with and then worshipping the guy you believe made it, because then you're worse than Hitler, Manson, McVey, Mao Se Tung (however that's spelled), Stalin, etc. You literally worship an all-hateful, all-cruel, and all-sadistic god, if Hell as you warn me of truly exists.

You want me to not be offended? Try learning to THINK.

Answer 6

I don't claim to know anything. And I don't mind when you tell me that I am going to hell or that I shall "be without him". I don't deny the possibility that God exists, it just seems very unlikely that the god that man has written about exists. And for wasting my time, you're right, we could all (including yourself) be doing something better.

Answer 7

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They typically don't.

Normally, the next response to the non-atheist is that its is pretty pathetic to be a slave to religion simply because of fear of "hell".

Answer 8

It's a combination of the aggravating stupidity and hypocrisy of being told by "all-forgiving" and "love thy neighbor" Christians that because we don't share their superstitious belief in an absurd deity, that we will suffer another superstitious condemnation afflicted upon us by the absurd entity we don't accept in the first place.

Since we don't share your superstition regarding the entity, it follows that we don't share your superstition regarding the afterlife. I think people react strongly to people who stubbornly continue to attempt to foist their beliefs on others. I don't try to "convert" Christians to atheism; I know it won't happend. Same goes for me and most other atheists. We have our beliefs (NOT a religion, atheism is a belief system based on scientific facts) and you have yours so just live and let live.

I

Answer 9

I don;t waste any time worrying about books that say I'm going anywhere. But the major reaction is to the people that seem to think that I should be concerned and that are unwilling to just let me be as I am.

Answer 10

True atheists wouldn't bother. Most of the yahoo group have some kind of other belief system they are foisting off on people.