Are most atheists arrogant people?

Question

I've read Richard Dawkins and heard Christopher Hitchens speak and both of these individuals seem intolerably arrogant. Is their arrogance incidental to or an inherent element of their atheism? But I am not saying that arrogance is limited to atheists. They just seem to have a corner on the market here lately.

Please do not confuse self esteem and arrogance.

Alister McGrath is a Christian who has written books on atheism and shown the utmost respect to the opposing position. The same cannot be said for Sir Dawkins.

Guru

Don't forget about the fantasy of materialism which is a metaphysical assumption that cannot be demonstrated to be true by its own criterion.

Answer 1

I've never studied an atheist but this video game I play has a character that is an atheist and she is a *****. All of the people in the game that talk to you tell you that she has a chip on her shoulder.

Answer 2

I've known quite a few atheists personally, and they were all very tolerant and intelligent people actually, not the least bit arrogant. I'm not sure what it is about the atheist belief, that could possibly make most of the group have the same personality trait. That's like saying most Christians are optimists or most Buddhists are shy. You could say on the other hand, that the teachings in many organized religions try and promote a particular behavior (but atheism isn't exactly an organized religion). For example, I believe Christians are taught things like "thou shall not kill" so I'm sure that most Christians do not kill...but that doesn't mean they are all calm, or all level headed. I really think if anything, some atheists might tend to take a defensive stance in a conversation about beliefs because many people don't agree with them, and because many religions perceive them as being somehow "wrong" for their beliefs. It might just be difficult being put in the position of a minority.

Answer 3

I must start the following statement as such: I am an atheist. Now that we have that out of the way, yes some, especially the ones that choose to bring their views to the public can be arrogant. The reason is simple: most atheists (that is the intellectuals) see religion as a great leap of faith with little or no basis for belief and consider even so much as persuasion to the contrary as a waste of their lives.

It is the exasperation that Christians feel when they encounter the apathetic follower: those that believe but could care less of eternal damntion. They think them arrogant, ignorant and foolhardy and of course, above all, stupid.

So yes I do agree that many who choose to express atheism are arrogant; to me it seems almost to be a testimony to the atheism, as if to be rude emphasizes the fact that they are not afraid of an almighty deity that does not exist.

But in all atheists are not arrogant for, of course, there are many more common folk atheisits then there are intellectuals and as long as they are allowed to believe (or disbelive) what they want they could care less.

Answer 4

I will answer your question with these two points:

1.) Arrogance is a personal quality, not a trait that spans entire cross sections of civilization. This is like claiming that all Christians are self righteous.

2.) I personally think it's quite common for atheists not to be so arrogant. We're more inclined to analyze the world around us without resorting to the lens of faith; we are true agnostics, in the sense that we admit that we do not, at this point, know how the universe was created. Many theists (I realize not all), on the other hand, claim that they do. Some atheists (myself included) revere the universe itself as holy in nature... simply for existing.

So I hope that makes sense... but my argument mainly matches that of some of those above: arrogance can be found among any group of humans. To say that the majority of atheists are arrogant is to make a large generalization.

Answer 5

I believe that anyone who thinks he knows the truth even though we all know that there are no possible means for somebody to know the truth as it is, in an absolute way, is an arrogant person. There are many religious and non-religious people who do that. How many times have we seen someone asking the question "Do you believe in God?" and then many answerers replying, "There is no God" or "God does not exist/is not real/ is a human invention" in an arrogant, kind of feeling superior way... (There are examples that show religious people being arrogant as well, but that was the first one that came to my mind...) We don't know whether God exists or not so each person must speak for himself and not as if what he says is the universal and generally accepted truth. From my experience of life I've noticed that arrogance often serves as a nice costume for ignorance. Those two seem to go side by side...

Answer 6

Mmmm. I agree with you, many atheists are acting arrogant that is because it is a natural instinct for people to patronize their philosophy and try to make other people as themselves which is wrong if you introduce yourself as an unknown quantity. Religion should not come in between people. If these atheists have their own belief, it is wrong for them to arrogantly insult our God and Jesus just because they don't believe in them and it is wrong for us believers to disrespect their belief. Those are highly respected figures. I personally don't like atheists but what I do is avoid religious, political and racial discussions in a community where atheists and believers like me can see side by side cause I know that would then spark a long endless debate. Live in peace bro...

Answer 7

Life is not only precious, it is also
sacred because it's such a mystery.
An old adage states, "familiarity breeds
contempt," which probably explains
why God keeps His distance.

Space travel is right around the corner.
Such travel will require quantum mechanics
to over come the time and distance problems.
This new technology will close many a
church door. But it will also turn the page on
atheism and close the book on standard
evolution.

Answer 8

EHH... i think everyone has been a little too harsh on atheitists. I'm sure there are plenty of arrogant atheists, but there are also arrogant christians, cathlotics, muslims, buddhist, etc. really. arrogance is in the personality, not whether or not a person believes in something or not. And possibly, some people just notice small insignificant things like their religions or nonreligions and blaming it on that instead of the actual person.

Answer 9

I haven't met all atheists, so I wouldn't hazard a guess.

I consider the theist's belief in gods to be similar to any other delusion that the mental health system would treat. I have no legal or moral obligation to treat the the fantasies of a mental health patient as real. You may choose others.

Answer 10

Anyone who is sure that there is no possibility that they are wrong about something comes off seeming very arrogant.

It is funny to watch because you know what is going to happen to them in the end when they find out that they are not as smart as they thought they were.

Most atheists are simply basing their atheist stance on the nonsense of their religious upbringing. They assume that just because they discovered that someone told them a lie about God , that God can't possibly exist.

If you told a little kid that dental fillings were put in by the tooth fairy, it would not mean the dentists weren't real.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 11

It is the arrogant of ALL faiths who tend to make the most noise. The main reason anyone thinks of atheists, Christians, republicans, environmentalists, or just about any group of people as arrogant as a whole is because one arrogant individual arrogantly presumed to speak for the rest of them.