Why do atheists insult Christians who ask harmless questions?

Question

If someone insults you then insult them back but sometimes a Christian will ask a harmless question and you'll hear atheists flaming that person just for being Christian. It's so blatantly obvious that bigotry is coming from BOTH sides.

Answer 1

Guess they have no compelling reason to be nice? (Some of them are though once they know you and know you are not going to try to convert them or tell them they are going to hell...I cannot blame them for not wanting to hear that all the time anymore than I want to be insulted and put down all the time.)

Answer 2

I agree with you 100%. Both parties (Christian and Atheists) are usually too aggressive on YA. Partially because the comments are being typed and it's easier to be rude. The other reason is because regardless one's beliefs, most people are scared of what they don't understand and what is different from them. Wouldn't it be nice if our peers could be talk less and listen more? I suspect you'll even get some insulting answers for this question.

Part of it is how the question is phrased. Your question is harmless, but it's asking something about Atheists picking on Christians. Most Atheists will take this as an insult to them and feel like they have to defend their beliefs. The same would happen if the words were switched and Christians were insulting the Atheists' harmless questions.

Too many angry people in the world.

Answer 3

I think respect needs to come from both sides. Although I believe that the topic of religion and the existence of God is a great topic to discuss and debate, I still believe each side should be respectful of the other. Atheists are atheists for a reason, they have lost faith in God or they have found a better answer through science and evolution. Christians are Christians because they have faith in a higher power, maybe they just need someone/thing to put their thoughts in, or maybe they believe because they need some sort of easy to understand answer about why and how we are here. Despite the differences, I think religion is a very touchy subject. However, it should not be off limits to debate and discussion. Frankly, atheists just believe that Christians are out of their minds, same goes the other way. It is very unlikely that by debating the topic someone will change their mind. If you believe in something, you absolutely need to know the arguments of the other side, and you should also be able to counteract those arguments with a fact/belief from your side. If this isn't the case, you should truly consider re-thinking what you believe, or maybe just look into it more.

Answer 4

Some atheists are only atheists because they want to get away from the normal beliefs of most other people, but they are blatent about it because they are uninformed about what the other religions are. I myself am an athiest. I don't beleive in anything other than what is here on this earth, but I don't condemn other religions. I don't know enough about the other religions to do so... Sometimes an athiest may get offensive when being questioned about why they believe what they do.. or don't believe in this case, and they're only defense in to strike back with an insult, and what better insult is there to hit the heart of things.. like religion. It's unfortunate that these people who retaliate this way give a bad rap for the rest of us who are satisfied with living in the "here in now". On the other side of the coin... there are some Christians, or people of other religions who will insult the fact that someone doesn't have faith. Some people do this. not all.

Answer 5

It depends on what you mean by "insult."
I answered a question the other day, stating the *fact* that religious belief was not based on reason nor was it reasonable -- and was accused by a christian of "attacking" his religion and all christians. I didn't say anything about a particular person, I didn't call anyone stupid, I just said it was not based on reason. Martin Luther himself said, "Anyone who wants to be a christian should tear out the eyes of his reason." The apostle Paul said faith is the essence of things hoped for, but not seen -- the entire religion is based on having faith NOT backed by reason, it's the foundation of the religion. Yet this person took that as an attack...?

Yes, of course some people make rude personal comments. That happens from all people, atheists and christians and muslims and wiccans and everybody else. But often "insult" is taken when someone simply points out a fact...way too oversensitive. For example, pointing out the fact that the earth is 4.5 billion years old, and saying it's not reasonable to believe otherwise, isn't an insult. But those who hold the unreasonable belief that the earth is 6000 years old take it as an insult, because it challenges their unreasonable belief. Go figure :)

Answer 6

Why do atheists insult Christians?
Why do Christians insult atheists?

Probably because they had a bad experience with someone/some people from that group in the past. In their subconscious, they're still defending their beliefs to someone else entirely; it usually has nothing to do with the specific topic at hand or the person asking it.

Answer 7

Not all atheists are insulting,but unfortunately whatever someones belief a lack of respect is quite often evident along with a complete ignorance as to the reasons for that belief.I am an atheist ,but i will always respect the views of Christians,Muslims,Jews,Hindus etc as long as they all respect my right to have my beliefs.I totally agree that bigotry can come from all sides and i wish we could all just get along together!

Answer 8

Think about it from an Atheists perspective... You grow up having religion forced down your throat from EVERY aspect (this country completely ignoring that we were founded on SEPARATION of church and state... something that GWB is apparently unaware of). Then you have religious people claiming that their beliefs are being persecuted and they're unable to worship freely without fearing retribution from atheists, blah blah blah. Give me a break. Such a small percentage of this world is smart enough to be freethinkers, it just so happens that those that are are intelligent enough to formulate cogent opinions. What do you consider a harmless question anyway?

Answer 9

I don't think it is the atheists who are insulting, it is the childish atheists. You'll find that almost any responce on this venue which could be labeled insulting comes from immature, uneducated people who , in order to gain some type of attention, insult or berate people. This is classic child like behavior. A small child learns quickly that negative attention is the easiest attention to acquire.

Answer 10

I think it's the same reason that a lot of Christians feel the need to poke fun at atheists in their own way with things like "You're going to Hell" and the ever patronising "I'll pray for you".

It works two ways, one side suffers from members with an eliteist outlook while the other side has members who believe their absolute opinion is gospel.

Answer 11

i'm an athiest and i don't ream idiotic christians. And trust me, where I live there are MANY. They are entitled to their opinions and beliefs as well as I am. If I'm asked questions and they don't like them and want to debate and try to convert me.. Then thats when things typically get heated. They usually believe they are doing the right thing by preaching to me or athiests, but all it really does is add another grain of sand to the desert of idiocy that they've already shown me.
I hate christian beliefs honestly, but i respect them as well. Some people need a crutch to help them through their life.
My mom was really bad off until she "found god" and stuff. Now she's happier than I'd ever seen.
I think weak religions with so many flaws and holes are for weak people.

But hey, that's me.