Can someone please explain how someone saying they don't have belief in God is mocking God?

Question

I am often accused here on R&S of mocking God simply for saying I don't have belief in God, how does that work?

Answer 1

To a religious person, your very existence is an insult to god. Trust me, they tell me this every day.

(And the reason why they hate us so much, is they know what a threat we are. They can debate theology with other religions all day long and go around in circles. But when confronted by a non-believer, they know they will lose)

Answer 2

2 Peter 3:3 - " Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers [mockers], walking after their own lusts,


2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.


2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:


2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:


2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.


Notice that 2 Peter 3:5 states that these scoffers will be "willingly ignorant" of the Creation and God's existence. Yes, those who deny God's existence are mocking Him out of deep-seated feelings against Him, not out of any lack of physical evidence. Children are born with a natural tendency to believe in God. It is how the child is raised and it's lack of nurture that would feed the beast that grows into atheism.

Answer 3

It's your personal choice whether to believe in God or not. That is not mocking God. When a person makes fun of God or foolishly throws around demeaning jokes about God....that is mocking. I wish christian/religious people would know how to properly respond to non believers in a way that is not bashing or attacking. That is not what we are all about. I am sorry that someone accused you of that just because you don't believe. Mocking God is a big hairy deal - not something a person would want to willingly do. I am sure that you wouldn't do that.

Answer 4

I don't think that those folks would be correct. Faith cannot be coerced but accepted freely, or it is not really a virtue. Compulsion in religion simply robs faith of its dignity and transformative power. It is within the realm of possibility that one might consider evidence for God's existence to be inadequate, as most of the evidence is based upon inference, revelation, and arguments from authority or personal experience. Further, if God exists, he has no need of our faith, our believing adds nothing to his nature, and our dis-belief does not harm him in any way.

However, if you are going to be an atheist, be an intellectually rigorous atheist, and make sure that you have not only learned to understand and appreciate your own reasons for disbelief, but the reasons believers have for their particular convictions. The terrible mockery of both religious conviction and of atheists on the Yahoo! Answers Religion and Spirituality Board robs both of their human dignity and shows an inherent lack of appreciation for some of the deepest and most mysterious questions of human existence.

Answer 5

Well, you say a little more then simply you don't believe in God, usually. But, why do you think we care what you believe? If you are an atheist, why do you think you must disprove God, when you claim he isn't there to begin with?

Most "non-believers" on here are afraid of God, if they weren't they wouldn't bother talking about him all the time.
That seems to fit you.

Answer 6

Websters Dictionary

Main Entry: 1mock
Pronunciation: 'mäk, 'mok
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from moker
transitive verb
1 : to treat with contempt or ridicule : DERIDE
2 : to disappoint the hopes of
3 : DEFY, CHALLENGE
4 a : to imitate (as a mannerism) closely : MIMIC b : to mimic in sport or derision
intransitive verb : JEER, SCOFF
synonym see RIDICULE, COPY
- mock·er noun
- mock·ing·ly /'mä-ki[ng]-lE, 'mo-/ adverb

Does this sound like you?

Answer 7

I am a christian and I would say that is not mocking God... you are given free will to not choose religion and I to choose religion, it is only the nut jobs that will tell you how to live your life... telling you about their beliefs is awesome and wonderful... Pushing their beliefs on you is something completely different... In any religion or not that you choose respect should be number one...

Answer 8

It's a logical fallacy known as begging the question. They assume God must be real, so to deny his existence is just like mocking him. Logical fallacies are ever present in christian arguments.

Answer 9

I think it would depend on how you say it. If you just state.."I don't believe in God" then you are not mocking him. But if you say silly offensive things...calling God names and trying to upset believers then you are mocking God.

Answer 10

because some think there are no atheists, only people who hate/reject god. It's nonsense of course. No worries though. Their opinions are outweighed by the more rational believers who do not make such baseless and uninformed accusations. :)