Question About The Sociology Of An Atheist / Agnostic.. .. . . . From A Christian's Perspective?

Question

I was thinking about you guys(God Bless You). . . the atheists and agnostics . I was trying to see the world from your eyes , but cannot without your help(God Bless You) .
And I'm wondering what it's like to know that roughly 90% of the world's population believes in 'God' , but you don't . Now this brings to mind many questions and some may appear to be smart-alecky , but they are not . They're real questions from a Christian's perspective .

Do you ever feel left-out of activities or discussions ?

Do you think you're part of an elite group of wise people and the other 90% of everyone else isn't ?
OR
The other side of that coin. . . Do you think we believers are inept , and you''re not ?

What Is It That Makes Over 90% Of The World Wrong . . . And You Right ?

You do have the 'God Given Right' (ok that was being smart-alecky) To Disagree With Us But Since You've 'Lived It' , I Wanna Know What You Think About It .

Oh , and God Bless You !!

Shoeless Joe - And Others - You lose credibility when you say 'force their religion down our throats' . A ridiculous claim about information .

Answer 1

Perhaps it is because we tend to come from the righthand tail of the IQ bell curve....

ADDENDUM

I see the lefthand tail cohort has learned how to vote for something other than W.

Answer 2

---Do you ever feel left-out of activities or discussions ?

Some activities, such as the Fellowship of Christian atheletes at my school. But that's not too much of a loss in my book. And there was this one time when my friends started talking about some Christian series and I phased out of their discussion a little, and frowned as someone said something negative about atheists.

---Do you think you're part of an elite group of wise people and the other 90% of everyone else isn't ?
OR
The other side of that coin. . . Do you think we believers are inept , and you''re not ?

I think that I believe in what I believe in, and nothing is going to change that. Same thing for Christians. No one is necessarily smarter than the others.

---What Is It That Makes Over 90% Of The World Wrong . . . And You Right ?

BLIND faith. In my opinion, I find it silly to believe in something so much without needing nor wanting proof. I will never believe in Christianity until I have a reason to.

Answer 3

Hello:

I am not an atheist, so I suppose I am not qualified to answer your question. Nevertheless, I would like to comment on it.

I am a 52 year old female. I took a Master's in religion at a Christian Seminary and took all the courses leading to a divinity degree, plus Christian theology and church history. I also studied Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism in depth.

I no longer subscribe to a religion, though I did when I was younger. The reason for this is twofold: a) I now find that most God-concepts are too limited. By this I mean that I have come to the conclusion that the human mind cannot fathom who or what God is. I no longer call God, God because that word has been so abused it no longer has an inequivocal meaning. I call God "BEING " and "IT" because gender is a function of bodies with hormones and sexual organs, which characteristics I do not ascribe to God. Furthermore, I am fully aware that I do not have any personal knowledge or experience of IT other than experiencing the world here and now. This last statement means that information about God is not knowing God. It's not the same thing for me to know information about, let's say, Condolezza Rice, than to know her in person as more than a mere acquaintance; b) Religions have been a major cause of wars and divisions and hatred among people; even among people who belong to the very same religion, differing only slightly in ideas or practice.

I know a few atheists and the reasons that they give for their position usually fall into 2 categories: a) they can't believe what they were told about God when they were younger so they gave up on God altogether, or b) they have undergone experiences that make it impossible for them to believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, all-good God.

I don't feel I am part of an elite. I just know that I don't know. I have no desire to "be right". I don't know who is right or wrong. I am unable to judge because I have no jurisdiction. I don't feel left out of discussions. I avoid them on purpose because I do not seek to have anyone believe as I do and it is impossible to convince anyone anyway because they are not seeking the truth. They have already made up their minds.

God bless you, too.

Answer 4

90% of people being believers is incorrect. Its infact 16% Athiest, 33% Christian, 21% Muslim and the others. There are 1.1 billion Atheists in the world. Although these statistics are a few years old now, so its likley to be more than 16% now.
Where I am (England) 44% of people are Atheist and only 33% believe religion is really important (and are usually older generations). At school Atheists outnumber religious people by far, so no I don't feel excluded from activities or discussions since they never involve religion with it.

Ask yourself the same question: What makes you think that you're right and everyone else is wrong? (including other religions different to yours). The only reason you think so is because you've been brought up in a Christian family and since you were born you've been taught about Christianity and no other religion or atheism.
Also, why do you still believe in an old book that scientists have proven wrong so many times and the arguments in favour for the Bible are so weak?

Look at the statistics to answer your other questions and to show you where I got those numbers.

Answer 5

It's a little weird sometimes...I used to be a believer, but now I'm a little flabbergasted at the fact that people actually believe in that stuff. I can't understand why.

What's difficult is that almost everyone just assumes that you're a believer. They tend to assume that everyone is a believer. When religious discussions come up, I don't tend to jump in and tell people that I'm atheist, because the response you get can literally be exhausting. If people find out and get confrontational, I won't back down for anything, and I've yet to lose a debate on the issue. And I'm not saying that to boast, because I hate getting into debates with people on the issue at social gatherings, and will try to avoid it at all cost. No matter how kindly you speak, no matter how much respect you show for the other person and their beliefs, I have found that they never, ever look at you the same way again. They treat you like you're a freak. And all simply because you don't believe in the supernatural.

Answer 6

Sleepng naked still bugs me at times - I can't get warm in the winter that way! Or the summer either - spouse loves air conditioning. T shirt and undies as I have since I was little. Nighties wrap around your legs and are uncomfortable. Only time I wear otherwise is off at historic events in the early spring or late fall - then I wear sweats to bed. Gotta be warm when you get up and it's 25 degrees in your tent. 8 Track - I didn't know you and the wife had bunk beds!

Answer 7

It is how it is. 90% or some such figure believes in God? Well, 90+% of the world's people are not that bright. (The old "greater numbers must = truth" fallacy doesn't pan out.)

Think about the number of people who comprehend cutting edge physics or mathematics. How many truly gifted artists in a population are there at any given time? How many extraordinary atheletes?

The rule always is and always shall be that the best will always be fewer and rarer. Most people don't take the time to think over things very much. They accept what they're told, and then get on with the business of their life activities.

For me, agnosticism is the only honest answer to the religion question that I have been able to come to. I just don't think human beings can ever truly know whether or not there is a God or something else based on our limited abilities and knowledge. (At the same time, I'm pretty sure most organized religions don't know what they're talking about.) That understanding has come after many years of study and consideration (i.e. hard work).

"Do you ever feel left out of activities and discussions?" Sure, but they're discussions and activities that have no meaning (or at least they're meaningless from my perspective). I'm not really one to become part of the corporate mass anyway, so not being absorbed in some church or other group where everyone submits and obeys the leader (under the guise of obeying a God) is just fine by me.

Answer 8

Firstly, where do you get yours statistics? 90% of the world believes in God. And which God is that? Jehovah? Jesus? Shiva? Allah? Gaia? How about Milok Taus, the peacock angel a particular middle eastern religion worships? I don't think 90% of the world is wrong and I am right. I really don't care what the rest of the world worships. Everyone is on their one spiritual, or if they choose, non-spritual journey.
But to answer your question, No, I never feel left out of anything. For I think I'm part of an elite group or vice versa, no, see above. 90% of the world wrong and we are right? Again, where do you get your statistic? I don't think any two people think exactly identically alike. You can't speak for other people, just yourself. We are not sheep, we don't have to believe in any thing just because someone else says to believe in it. Everyone should come to their beliefs, or lack of beliefs, on their own.

Answer 9

Do I ever feel left out? No, but I feel everyone else who believes in some god is left out.

An elite group? Actually, in some ways, yes.
I think that believers are naive, deceived, or so deep in these beliefs they have been taught that they cannot see anything beyond them. To me, it is often wishful thinking. Letting go of belief = freedom to me.

90% of the world just wants an answer. Since we don't have that answer, they fill the gap with god(s).

I think it is wrong to lump all gods together, though. 90% of the world might believe in some god, but each group thinks all the others have it all wrong. What makes the 30% Christian group right, and the other 70% of the global population wrong? It's misleading to present it the way you have.

Answer 10

Speaking as a pagan Taoist atheist:

Left out? Nope. My pagan holidays mesh with Christian celebrations nicely.

Not sure what you mean exactly about right and wrong... most people are good people regardless of spiritual beliefs. We all must make our way in the world as best we know, to the best of our understandings.

I have a unique understanding and perspective in the world, but it doesn't make me 'right' or anyone else 'wrong'. It means I have a personal philosophy to try out and test with experience and perception.

But that's not really any different than anyone else, atheist or Christian. We all have our own personal understanding of how things work, and as we go through life it tends to change and adjust. Some of these personal perceptions are alike enough to group together, but really when you get down to it, every person has a slightly different take on something - or, as you may like to put it, their own relationship with the Almighty.

This, again, does not make any one person more right or wrong than anyone else. Everyone sees things differently. I just see things a tad more differently than the masses.

What makes me 'Right' in relative terms is that this is my life, my thoughts, my perspective, my philosophy... it's my responsibility to live according to it. Why in the world should I live according to someone else's thoughts? That's their job. Mine is to live by mine.

Answer 11

I don't know if 90% of the world is right and I am wrong. From a strictly empirical point of view, neither do you.

I tried and tried to believe in God. It just didn't work for me. When I finally admitted that I no longer believed, I felt like I was telling myself the truth for the first time in a long time. I was happier because I was finally honest with myself. I stepped out of the debate.

I have no axe to grind with those who believe (or don't believe), and I don't try to convince them to change their minds. I hope you are all happy.