Why is it, that if there was one thing that can unite religions, its to fight against Atheist.?

Question

When they are a minority on the planet earth.
Is it because atheist will encourage asking questions and seeking proof no matter where they go?

Richard dawkins vs the religous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgNIZl8ncmU

I think they are scared. Not that the world will go evil, but that they will lose authority.

not just authority, but their influence also

Its funny that the people in the video call themselves 'moderates' but they are clearly fundamentals.

Clearly 'moderates' do not exist

I agree Godless

Answer 1

Yes, atheists are a minority, but not as small a minority as you might think, and fortunately very bright on the average. I like Dawkins, he's quite brilliant and I admire his ability to retain his composure in the face of obvious ignorance. It will be many years before I am patient enough to put up with what he puts up with.

I don't even have the patience to watch the whole discussion. The video lost me when the Canadian embarrassed this fellow Canuck by saying that Hitler was an "avowed atheist".

Answer 2

All religious believers, no matter how vehemently opposed they are to each other in normal circumstances, can and will unite under a common banner when it comes to defeating a common enemy, and this enemy has, since the age of enlightenment, been an open, well articulated, and cogently expressed atheism. Why such a vociferous attack on all sides against atheism? Why does an atheist, like Dawkins, have such a galvanizing effect on people of varying religious traditions, no matter how, when left to their own devices, they are normally at each other’s throats?

The answer is quite simple. Atheists, of the rational variety of Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris, put forth the most feared weapon, and that weapon is reason. Watch a child’s reaction when it is proved to him that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. His reaction, if he wholeheartedly subscribed to this myth, will be quite volatile. Religious belief, similarly adhered to on flimsy premises as equally spurious as the belief in Santa Claus, elicits this sort of response from the believer when the chisel of reason skillfully dismantles it. When the bedrock of your entire worldview, and your rationale for living, is undermined, it is natural to make alliances with people you normally wouldn’t.

Just an aside, this is a great link from YouTube, where the eloquent Sam Harris, author of "The End of Faith" and "A Letter to A Christian Nation" shows the pitfalls of religious moderation, and how the original religious texts truly promote religious extremism, and not moderation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7pOd7P4Zb0&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNug_nLUaqo&mode=related&search=

Answer 3

"Why is it, that if there was one thing that can unite religions, its to fight against Atheist.?"

I have good news for you. This isn't happening.

Religions are not uniting to fight against atheists.

Some of us have no interest whatsoever in fighting atheists. Most Pagans, Hindus, and Buddhists are in that category.

You see, we don't need everyone to agree with us. Our religions don't teach that ours is the only way, and they don't teach that people who disbelieve are "less than". Our religions don't tell us not to work with people of different beliefs (or lack thereof).

We don't consider atheists our enemies. We don't think that science is a threat. (Some of us see the *application* of some sciences as a bad thing - industrial pollution, and so on, but that's not a reason to oppose science, only to oppose irresponsible use of it)

And, honestly, so long as the followers of monotheistic religions are so bent upon converting us all to their ways, and demonizing everyone but themselves, there can be no unification on any meaningful level.

Answer 4

We're a much bigger challenge to their faith than are fellow believers, even if those fellows believe something entirely different. Here's the reason:

To someone who doesn't believe, Christianity sounds ridiculous (like the Greek myths do to most of us today), so easy enough to dismiss them as silly, enjoying the warm glow of group conformity in the process.

Besides, people who are willing to believe in one delusion could easily be converted to another one.

BUT atheists are a different story. Their arguments make empircal sense and are much more threatening as a result.

Answer 5

the atheists are a threat no two weeks ago atheists where not a threat whats changed is the world waking up to the fact that the bible is a fairy tale and the christians do not like it but in the usa atheists are small but not in the rest of the world and no the christians are scared thay are loosing power

Answer 6

One small thing Dawkins said about atheists, its true its like herding cats because almost by definition we're free and independent thinkers - however, numerically we are strong, its time to start punching our weight.