Why does atheism seem to always include arrogance?

Question

atheists always have to claim they are of superior intelligence to anyone that doesn't agree with them 100% of the time. I can't tell you how many times an atheist has called me an "idiot" simply because I believe in creationism. Why haven't atheists evolved better debating tactics than that? The bizarre part is that these "intellectuals" are actually 20 year old punks getting an AA degree in english lit from a local community college. It isn't the people that have PhDs from yale or harvard. It's the people that are very insecure with their own intellect, so they become pretensious and band together under some false sense of elitism. I have a friend that was dating a girl(an idiotic bimbo, according to him). Yet, when he saw a copy of "Origin of Species" in her apt she became a genius in his eyes. Nevermind that she later gave him VD. Can a person that believes in creationism and God ever be considered smart by atheists? Is there any way atheists can respect views other than their own?

Answer 1

I wouldn’t go as far as generalizing all Atheists. I know many who are really cool people. What you encounter daily here on the boards are called Anti-theists. Think of a racist and then instead of skin color you make it a religion.

They are just religion Nazis.

Most real Atheists I know do respect the beliefs of others. Simply because they are not ignorant, they understand the need of some people to have something more in life than themselves.

However when you give up God you have nothing to rely on but yourself, and when you rely on yourself for so long you replace God with your own id.

So arrogance is natural.

However on the flip side there are Fundamental Christians, fanatical Islamic, and many other religions who are just as Arrogant, cruel and prejudice.

Not all are thank goodness..

You can still be highly educated and still be an ignorant creedist.

I hope that helps a bit.

Answer 2

Why does theism always include arrogance? Theists always have to claim they are of superior intelligence to anyone that doesn't agree with them 100% of the time. I can't tell you how many times a theist has called me an "idiot" simply because I believe in evolution. Why haven't theists evolved better debating tactics than that? The bizarre part is that these "intellectuals" are actually 20 year old punks getting an AA degree in english lit from a local community college. It isn't the people that have PhDs from yale or harvard. It's the people that are very insecure with their own intellect, so they become pretensious and band together under some false sense of elitism. I have a friend that was dating a girl(an idiotic bimbo, according to him). Yet, when he saw a copy of "The Bible"in her apt she became a genius in his eyes. Nevermind that she later gave him VD. Can a person that believes in evolution and no God ever be considered smart by theists? Is there any way theists can respect views other than their own?

Answer 3

An atheist is a person who doesnt believe in God. Right.? What Athiests do is they hide behind a facade of ideals that dont hold any value or any good and objective argument. If you dont believe in God how can you? Behind that facade if they are challenged in any way on creationism then their own human reaction is one of arrogance and emotion? Why, because there is nothing they can bring to the table to prove the opposite. Most of them are challenged by the Bibles version of creation which is the word of God. If we use this model our existance becomes more apparent as we read the OT. You ask well why are they challenged by the Bible? You then will have to wonder about their assumptions that we as creationists dont have an open mind.

What is interesting is that most athiest people walk among the most beautiful designs and elements within our world that could never have just happened.

If we ask ouselves the question how was your car made? How did you come to view a TV? Who made Playstations? Who designed bridges? How did we design a rocket? The answer is always the same. It was Humans that invented it right?

The same goes in asking who created the human brain? Who gave us a sun so we can see, and for the most delicate of earth species can survive? If the earth was 2 degrees away from the sun we would freeze. If it was the opposite we would fry. Do you think that happened by chance. ? Only an arrogant mind and a person unwilling to face these issues would say no to a creator. Without the hope and knowledge of God who is the supreme creator these people will have to be lost within their own world of no hope and no salvation.

Remember this scripture in Psalm 41: 2. "A fool in his heart Says there is no God"

Answer 4

Why does being a creationist always include the inability to appreciate there are colors and shades between black and white, between mud and man? Why do you cling to Jesus' notion "you're either with us or against us", wherein everything is "100%" your literalistic interpretation of scripture, or 100% of the devil ? He didn't make it to his 34th birthday with that attitude. You thus set yourself up for conflict that can only be resolved with the victory of one side or the other, and not the reasoned exchange of evidence and mutual respect.

As an atheist I don't claim anything about my intelligence. My IQ score when I was a Biblical literalist didn't go up or down when I became an atheist. I simply stopped walling of my religious beliefs from critical examination, something you still do, and which I did only when it came to my religion. I had been culturally conditioned to do so, as have you, setting the proof meter at "zero" because you have been impressed that unmerited belief, i.e. "faith", is virtuous and blessed. I certainly don't think you are an "idiot" simply because you believe in creationism. I think you're a fool, as I once was.

One comment on this piece of polemic screed:

"The bizarre part is that these "intellectuals" are actually 20 year old punks getting an AA degree in English lit from a local community college."

That is the sort of insult the uneducated typically throw around out of insecurity about their lack of intellectual attainment and may be part of why people assume you are an idiot, in addition to, and not because of your creationist beliefs.

But to directly and finally answer your question, the issue isn't your IQ, or whether you have mastered a certain type of knowledge. The issue is whether you have learned to think critically and examine the world objectively. You haven't. I would suggest a better use of whatever smarts you have, would better be applied to a class in the hard sciences than to the defense of Paleolithic understandings of existence and bemoaning that your clinging to mistaken pre-scientific fables of ancient goatherds prompts people to belittle your intelligence. What else would you expect? It's like still believing babies come from Mr. Stork. Don't wait till you are an old man to put away such childish things.

Answer 5

The circular logic often employed by evolution's proponents: No "real" scientist supports creation... because the minute a scientist expresses any doubt in evolution, he or she is no longer classified as a "real" scientist.

As T. Wallace has said, "A major reason why evolutionist arguments can sound so persuasive is because they often combine assertive dogma with intimidating, dismissive ridicule towards anyone who dares to disagree with them. Evolutionists wrongly believe that their views are validated by persuasive presentations invoking scientific terminology and allusions to a presumed monopoly of scientific knowledge and understanding on their part. But they haven’t come close to demonstrating evolutionism to be more than an ever-changing theory with a highly questionable and unscientific basis. (The situation isn’t helped by poor science education generally. Even advanced college biology students often understand little more than the dogma of evolutionary theory, and few have the time [or the guts] to question its scientific validity.)

Answer 6

I think you have answered your own question.You say it's the people who have become very insecure.Anyone who has diffulculty with "Faith" is going to be insecure.The other thing which is obvious to me, young people of today are learning about God and religions,far more quickly,and at a far younger age than my generation.Indeed my family weren't at all religious.I went to Sunday School to "Pull" Birds. Now in my seventies, I don't call myself a Christian, but I think of myself as a Christian free thinker. So I think you have to be careful with the term Atheist. Because true Atheists do have a faith.Not beleiving in Creation is because any religion is based on myth and fairystories.It is something you cannot see or touch.but the understanding of it; comes more in actions,rather than words .Practical people are usually sceptical people. They don't beleive in a Hereafter, only oblivion.But in reality, there had to be a Creator.God is an inventor,carrying all aspects of human emotion, and if caring at all about his creation,leaves us to sort it out. In truth the arrogance of non-believers is born out of the terrible realisation that God really did create all.

Answer 7

Anybody who goes out of their way to offend, most certainly cannot promote the atheist cause. We do not try to offend. We just criticize the logic of believing in God or and supernatural beings. We cannot help if that is offensive. And no, we do not respect religion. I recall Richard Dawkins comment in his new book, "The God Delusion" when he says that religion almost always given "undeserved respect". We do not respect a belief in the supernatural. We may respect you as a person but not your beliefs. Nobody should just be calling believers idiots - that is an attempt to offend. However, when we refer to believers as irrational, that is not intended to be an insult. We are simply making a statement that those who believe in God cannot provide logical reasoning as to why they believe. Therefore, they are not following a rational process. They only say that they have faith but can never provide a good reason for having faith. Children are raised to believe.

Answer 8

I'm not even going to get into the "Religious people are arrogant, too" argument. I'm just going to point out that anyone who argues for believing in that which, by definition, cannot be proven should not be considered as being on the intelligent side of the argument.

BTW, I have a JD degree. Slightly above community college.

Answer 9

There is an incredible amount of arrogance in so-called Christians as well!

People read a book, and they imagine that they know everything. They become "instant experts" and dispense so-called advice that they have neither maturity, experience, or the knowledge to attempt to do.

The Atheist has not the first clue about what is contained in the Bible, but operates on here-say alone.
The Church-goer has little more than a first clue about what is contained in the Bible, and operates on here-say alone.

They listen to what some friend has said, and believe it.
They listen to what some pastor has said, and believe it.

NEITHER bothers to investigate the Word of God, to see if what they hard, is correct. To do so, would interfere with their apathetic, lazy lifestyle.

"Well, we do that in my church, so it must be right!"

"There is no secret "rapture" in the Bible? Well, I was taught the Rapture, so that's what I believe!"

Atheist and Religious makes little difference - BOTH are equally determined that they will NOT be told how to live.

Applying oneself to the study of actual biblical doctrine - that is, doctrine found IN the Bible (as opposed to teaching found in Scofield or LaHaye; or popular religious personalities) ... living according to HOLY standards ...

both are of extreme disinterest to religionist and atheist alike.

Why the arrogance? The answer is simple -
"But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us."

Regards,
Philip Livingstone
www.theforgottenbible.org

Answer 10

I guess I could consider a spiritual person who believed in "something" in an abstract sort of way as intelligent but if someone believes in some old guy with a beard who lives in the sky and gives a damn about what I do or don't do then yes, I'd have to say I would consider that person not up to my standards of intelligence.

Just as I would judge someone's intelligence based on their understanding of things such as mathematics, logic, and history I would judge them on their knowledge of science. Evolution is science. Creationism is fictitious. If you had some numbering system that you had faith in that nearly always produced incorrect answers to problems of mathematics I'd say you are not very smart. Ditto creationism.

That's not arrogance. It's simply setting a standard and applying it.