Why is it that people think badly about atheists?

Question

I'm in grade 10 and so far, I don't believe in God...well I have in the past, but not for the last 2 years. I am an atheist because I strongly believe in individual thinking. People of other religions like to follow what's written in some sort of scripture, but I belive in making my own rules. I don't want to continuously pray and ask for things, which is what many ppl do and it's one of the reasons I don't believe. That's me for you...you may not like it, but why do some people not like those who don't believe in god and judge them as freaks?

Let me rephrase myself, by individualism I mean not following what is written in some holy book. And my making my own rules, I mean living on my terms and again...not what has been set in stone because I read it in a scripture. Thanks for you advice in advance....although many ppl seem to fire back Q's at me, instead of helping:(

Answer 1

Congrats to you.

Some people hate atheists because they have been taught to from their individual religion and they find alternate philosophical belief systems to be threatening. Especially those which question religion to the core, and atheism is at the opposite end of their extreme.

If enough people question a religious belief, then it may eventually cease to exist. That's a scary thought to the believers. It might also require rethinking some of religion's influence on society.

I think that's why some people lodge threats of hellfire from their pulpits, to scare us into supporting their religious paradigm. Fortunately, it gets tougher in modern society, because most of us respect freedom of belief and non-belief.

Answer 2

Yes, sort of. How old were you when Santa died.
Do you tell the little kids that Santa is dead, or do you wrap presents and sign them "From Santa."

Yeah I follow my own rules too. At 25 you might get a gift from Santa but if You don't recognize the handwriting I will be shocked.

Edit: Some like me are so old and crusty that we can not even remember ever being young. Forgive us!

Living free carries a tremendous load of responsibility. there is nobody to blame but you.
(yes blind dumb luck, good or bad does happen, but you need to bet the odds not the long shots)
Grade ten is 16(?) and I am 50. OK, I am not smarter than you, but I have seen and been battered up and served to the world more times.
Atheist, yup. How do I move through the world? With a smile, a nod, and a wave. In Y!A I play. No offense. I play. There are atheists who curse me as an arrogant fundie. Fundies hate me as a militant atheist. What does that do to the price of potatoes?

Answer 3

Well I don't hate you altough I am religious (not a thumper and don't regularly go to church). The Bible teaches us to love one another. Here's my take on atheism without the emotional baggage most people would have or try to rub in your face.

If you think about it from a logical approach (these are similar to the Frenchman Pascal's thoughts, not originally mine) the following are the only possibilities:

1 - if you believe in God and there is one, as long as you don't mess up too badly and do good things you will not be punished in the afterlife
2 - if you belive in God and God doesn't exist and you do good it hasn't hurt anyone
3 - if you do not believe in God and there is not God, no damage done either
4 - if you don't believe in God and there is one, you are in trouble in the afterlife.

The previous logic decision tree is also a paraphrase of a quote in the movie "Liilies of the Field" with Sidney Poitier where he becomes a handyman for a Catholic convent.

Therefore according to Pascal the only course is to believe in God because to not do so runs the risk of eternal damnation. So like Clint Eastwood said in the Dirty Harry movies :"Are ya feelin' lucky?"

This of course is not the reason I believe. I was touched by the Holy Spirit many years after leaving a home parented by an atheist and a non-Christian with absolutely no friends around to "brainwash" me because I never made friends with anyone who even went to church - in fact, right about your age (forgive me!) was about as anti-church as a person could be. That's why the Bible speaks of miracles because in my life I have seen many.

But this is about you. The last time I looked it was a free country. IMO God gives everyone a free will to choose to believe or not. Your choice is to be an atheist. Just think that if there is a God how hurt He/she/It must feel. So atheists would say "IF there was a god He would have presented himself loud and clear without doubt". NO - the point is that you have to believe regardless of direct physical evidence because that is the deal (IMO). I see God all around me, which is why the Bible constantly talks about people having eyes but seeing not. Hope this was a good dialogue for you without any bitterness or agenda.

Answer 4

Yeah, I'm an Atheist, and people think that I'm some kind of evil rebel or something. I don't believe in trusting a book that was written by humans claiming to have 'seen' god. I could claim to have seen the easter bunny, but that doesn't mean that I actually did.

I remember during thanksgiving, my aunt asked me to lead the family in a prayer. I politely told her that I'd rather not, considering I'm an Atheist. And do you know what she did? She gasped and stared at me.

Most Atheists that I know tend to be very intelligent thinkers. I know twelve-year-old Atheists who question god and the universe in ways that a wise old man might. I also heard that Benjamin Franklin was an Atheist, although I may be wrong.

Answer 5

Kind of ironic how many of the answers here from atheists are so 'badly thinking' about religious people -judging them as freaks -blanket categorization. So much for individual thinking! Isn't it true that the things we hate most in others are the very things we are most guilty of? Just read the Answers to this question and see how many atheist have said very insulting things about religious people. Then read again and see how many Answers from religious people call atheists names. So really, who is calling who the freaks? Go ahead and tally them up.

I was raised an atheist, and a great deal of pressure was put on me to stay one. I did not. But I appreciate any truly individualistic, wild duck atheist.

Answer 6

It has been more than 25 years since I was in 10th grade, but I do remember how hard it was to figure out what was true in this world. There is a lot of judgement from both sides I am afraid. It is important not to let yourself stoop down to a lower level. It is also important that you keep studying and keep an open mind.

I do not dislike atheists. I appreciate anyone who has an opinion and can defend it. I myself am a very thoughtful and well-read Christian. I am a very individual thinker with many years of study under my belt. I was also an atheist for many years.

As an atheist I one day found myself in a place of sadness and despair with no hope. God intruded into my life when I was not seeking Him. God made it clear to me that He was WHO He said He was. I was honestly quite unhappy about this turn of events. But I realized after several days that my despair was suddenly gone. I felt free. I never looked back.

I do not dislike atheists, because I understand them.

Answer 7

Well, I am a Christian, and I don't think badly about atheists or anyone for that matter, until they give me cause to. In other words, I try to think the best of all people until they show me by their actions or attitude that they are lacking in character or decency. While I would sure be delighted if everyone believed the way I believe, I know that we all have the freedom to make our own choices and live by our own standards. It's not up to me to decide for someone how they should live and then to judge them for their decision. I try not to judge anyway, but if a person is a decent human being, then I don't care if they are an atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Agnostic or otherwise. It's character and behavior that counts in my book - not how they believe.

Answer 8

I do not think badly of atheists. I feel sorrow for them because they are mistaken but many are so closed to reasoning that they cannot accept facts when presented with them. I also know what is in store for those who continue to reject God. If you can find the story about the woman who was responsible for having prayer removed from public schools and read about how she died. The public school system nationwide teach so much falsehood when it comes to religion that it's no wonder people denounce it.

I admit, though, that from time to time I get frustrated by the lies and misconceptions told about us believers. For example, an atheist might say that they are "free-thinkers" as if believing in God must close a person's mind and make them preconditioned robots. In actuality, it's BECAUSE I am a free-thinking individual that I have taken the time to learn the truth about various faiths. I have taken the time to study from all angles and get the facts and come to a conclusion based on those facts.

Do you know why people pray? Yes, you are partly right, we do ask for things but it is much deeper than that. For any relationship to work two individuals must spend time together, interacting and fellowshipping with one another. It is a human need as important as eating and breathing. A relationship with God works the same way but our communication with Him is through prayer.

One other question, if I may. How do you make your own rules? How do you decide what is right and what is wrong? Many people have told me that a person can have morality without faith in a higher being, but you cannot. Something must be the foundation on which you make decisions. An example of this is human value. Without belief of a Creator, human value is worth very little. If we humans developed from monkeys than why were the Nazi's wrong in their treatment of Jews and Christians? Why is it important to preserve human life if we are no different than baboons?

Maybe, though, I can help better in 1-on-1 communications.

Answer 9

it is theoretically possible that they are just worried about your soul. But probably they're just jerks. They also judge people who believe in different Gods as freaks. It comes from ignorance and unhappiness, the same reasons anyone criticizes anything legit (which individual belief is). There are also more open-minded churches like Unitarian Universalism that are more your style if you still care to go.

Answer 10

LOOK GOD ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION!


There are many reasons. Us atheists are such minorities (here in the USA at least) that we are commonly stereotyped when most people don't know anyone or just a few people who are atheist (and the fact that a lot of people hide their atheism, myself included).

On top of that some religions teach that people need a God to be moral, and to be moral you must follow this God (hmmm, wonder what religion that could be....)

Also many important people such as politicians think little of us (look up George W. Bush's view on atheists).

This is what you will have to stand up to. Good for you to think for yourself, you shouldn't have to be someone else's parrot.

Answer 11

Hey, that's great. I think religious people like to give us a hard time, mostly because they fear for us. They think we're going to end up somewhere bad, or they think we have no soul or morals, and they really want us to start believing so we can be better people and live happier. We can guarantee that atheism makes us happy, but they can't take our word for that.

The main problem is that we're being classified, because we don't believe in something. It's like having a bunch of pasta shapes and an orange, with the orange labeled "NOT PASTA!! EWWWW".