Why do atheists debate with theists?

Question

If atheism is just disbelief in gods, then there is no reason for atheists to be critical of theism and religion. If atheists are critical, it means they are really anti-theists and anti-religious, right?

Please answer the question and be honest.

Jedi Master, it's you again. I already told you I am not a Fundamentalist. In fact, I don't like Fundamentalists because they always insist that they know more about my religion than I do.

To those who say many wars have been fought for religious reasons: Were they really fought for religious reasons? If you watched the CNN special with Ammanpour on holy warriors it seems that those wars were instigated by politicians and not the other way around.

Answer 1

Apparently they either have nothing better to do with their time, or they see something they wish they could have.

Blaming religion for the evils of humanity is like blaming cars for accidents caused by drunk drivers, or like blaming guns for killing people. Religion is an attempt to control man's insane killing penchant.

Answer 2

Atheists debate with theists not over gods really, but more over religion itself. Religion is too easily a thing for bad people to take charge of and run with it. Have your belief in a god, that doesn't hurt anyone. Following a religion, which is a system of beliefs, practices, traditions, ect., is dangerous as times change but religious views are stationary throughout time. Religion is very dangerous and ultimately hinders societies more than they progress societies. That is why atheists debate theists.

So, yes, atheists are anti-religious and sometimes anti-theist.

Everyone seeks answers and talking to others who hold different perspectives is always interesting. There's nothing wrong with debating an issue..arguing, however, is another matter.

Answer 3

For the record, I am an agnostic. I don't believe it's possible to know whether or not there is a god. If you think that's antitheist, I guess I cannot convince you that I'm not.

However, I am against organized religion because it seems it has done far more harm than good. A cursory look at history in the last millennium will give you a pretty good indication of why I distrust religious people in large groups.

Answer 4

Because when religion purports to offer a complete answer to problems of purpose, morality, origins or science, it often discourages exploration of those areas by suppressing curiosity, denies its followers a broader perspective, and can prevent social, moral and scientific progress.

Because of the phenomenon of religious war as one of the more destructive consequences of religious belief. Some argue that these are mostly caused by misinterpretations of the relevant religions' ethical rules and a combination of non-religious factors. These conflicts are among the most difficult to resolve, particularly where both sides believe that God is on their side and has endorsed the moral righteousness of their claims.

Because many people believe they have a religious duty to take "control of a sinful secular society", either by putting fundamentalists in office, or by forcing "holy" law into the secular sphere.

Answer 5

What a load of steaming dung. i presumed that the area became going to be an psychological attitude on atheism. i think of it would not evaluate the variety and complexity of the atheist community. It regarded like the equivalent of a area asserting that each and every physique theist are one way and diverse from atheist. My factor is people variety from guy or woman to guy or woman, and the area made atheism look like the purpose acceptance that people come to and then exchange into atheist. I even have had my moments the place the potential for a god regarded questionable, I even understand why people exchange into atheist, yet I nonetheless chosen to have self assurance in a reliable skill than myself, inspite of what ever good judgment became provided to me. the area mentions misconceptions people ave approximately atheism on a similar time as stating false impression approximately theism. faith is seen as a punishment/advantages gadget on condition which you prefer to determine it that way. in spite of the indisputable fact that it is truthfully a consequence of decision.

Answer 6

"If atheists are critical, it means they are really anti-theists and anti-religious, right?"

Wrong. Disagreeing with a point of view is not the same thing as being critical. If you tell me that you believe in God and I respond that I don and give you reasons, I'm merely expressing my point of view.

Answer 7

There are many reasons.

I personally don't care what anyone believes. I am not anti god or anti religious. There is no god to be "against". What I am against is people of any religion who attempt to write their religious beliefs into the laws that I must live by. That is forcing people to live by your religion and it is horribly wrong and unAmerican.

Answer 8

Actually, there are honest atheists interested in honest debate over the nature (or non-nature) of God. There are far more dishonest theists who would lie to support the existence of God, than atheists who would lie to refute it. On Y!A majority of theists are the dishonest type.

Answer 9

Well, yes -- I am anti-theist and fairly anti-religion.

But the reason I debate it is to cause both parties to examine their beliefs a bit more critically. The unexamined life is not worth living, yes?

.

Answer 10

I am not an atheist.

I am only anti-theist or anti-religion when I see people trying to force idiotic dogma on me through our laws.

I also do not stand by quietly when bigotry is spouted in the name of a god as murderous as the biblical monster.

Answer 11

NO MORE *DRINK*, NOW YOU GET THE TOP TEN LIST...

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."


3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.


***HONEST***