And I'm not saying only atheist are but could it be that they are seeking guidace but just in looking the in all the wrong places? ie looking oustide themselves instead of inside where the true confrontation is.
2007-09-01 02:04:45 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Sadly, you're only experiances must have been with "internet atheists" which by and large are mostly young pricks.
Once Athiests age a bit and grow up a little, they generally realize they have their beliefs and others have seperate beliefs and as long as nobody infringes on their beliefs they won't be pricks
2007-09-01 02:17:56 · answer #1 · answered by Jon 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I don't think atheists are any more confrontational than theists- their recent renewal may make the ones that are more noticable, not to mention the somewhat controvertial nature of their views also puts them in the limelight.
To judge their conflict to be internal and not external is equally applicable to any confrontationalistic person- you really have to judge each occurance on it's own merit. To make an analogy, it'd be unfair to say all confrontational husbands are guilty- some may be, others may simply have a valid complaint to voice.
Many an atheist would percieve in your question the implication that atheists are confrontational because of an internal conflict due to denying spirituality, and take offence to it. Voicing this offence would, ironically, seem to prove the point, however I'm sure theists would equally be as confrontational if they felt their faith was being insulted.
As the many answers and ratings show, this is quite a polarised issue and I imagine people will tend to 'chose sides'. Confrontation is much easier when there are clearly defined groups to be in conflict with each other, thus by categorising atheists and theists, christians and non-christians etc. conflict becomes far more likely.
2007-09-01 02:23:00 · answer #2 · answered by Dan 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't give a warthog's butt what any other person chooses to think and believe in the religion department. For all I care, you can worship an Old English Upright Rosewood Piano (with, or without brass candleholders). Wouldn't bother me one bit because it's your business. If, however, I am in a situation where I am asked outright what I myself happen to believe, in the interests of honesty I am perfectly happy to oblige that person by telling him that, no, I do not believe in the existence of any mysterious invisible superbeing, nor any of the long and complex mythology surrounding that entity.
It is always THAT person who gets "confrontational" by wanting to argue the issue with me. There IS no argument to be had because the issue is not up for debate as far as I am concerned. Having said all that, I have myself run into a few rather militant a-theists who do seem to get some sort of a charge out of bating religionists. I don't like it any more when I see an a-theist behaving like that, than I do when I am confronted by some "holy joe" wanting to "bring me to jesus". It is a totally unwarranted intrusion into the personal rights of the other person to believe anything he wants to believe, any way he wants to believe it..
P.S. Nooo, I am not "seeking guidance". I have a very good working brain in my head. I do all my own thinking and figuring.
2007-09-01 02:26:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi, there. I've been a born-again Christian for almost 25 years. During that time, I have to admit that I've seen more confrontationalism from evangelical Christians than I have from Atheists. Christians tend to consider people who don't believe in Jesus as "targets" to be won. They then get another notch on their Bible and move on, never having gotten to know the person or shown any love toward them.
This is NOT how Jesus walked, and the Christian community suffers for it greatly. If Christians would approach people of other belief systems with the goal of getting to know them--and learning about their belief systems--they would soon establish a true friendship with the person and they could then love them with the love of Christ. There are very few Christians who truly walk as Jesus walked and who simply meet people where they are and love them. They try to do the work themselves and they take the reigns away from God.
If anyone is going to change his/her beliefs, we can't make that happen. Only God can. I am embarrassed by the ways many Christians try to proseletize and "witness" to others. Their hard-core, turn or burn, approach makes a mockery of who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are.
That's just my opinion, of course, but I've seen God change hearts in amazing ways (of both Christians and non-Christians) when I treat a person as a person and a good friend and give my time, attention, and compassion to them in unlimited quantities.
I'm sure I've offended many Christians. I apologize for that, but know from experience that what I say is true.
2007-09-01 02:30:30 · answer #4 · answered by goodworkswellnessresearch 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not an atheist, but see it like this:
If you see someone ranting and raving about how great a certain restaurant is, and you personally have only had rancid, infested food there, wouldn't YOU speak up and counter this person with info of your own experiences?
When they hear people preaching about their God, they feel compelled to bring the negative points of religion into the conversation. They don't agree, and feel confronted too, and feel the need to be confrontational right back.
I can't say that atheists are any more confrontational than the jehovah's witnesses that show up at our door every weekend.
I have never had an atheist knock on my door on Saturday morning wanting to confront me about choosing "nothing".
2007-09-01 02:16:09 · answer #5 · answered by gg 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
I think that both atheists and religious people can be confrontational, it just depends on their individual personalities. The same people are probably confrontational about other things in their lives also.
2007-09-01 02:29:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't feel confrontational, Just amused by the beliefs of Monotheists and Pagans
2007-09-01 02:13:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Just ignore the obvious over zealous Fundamental Atheists. It's obvious that type is here to only taunt, and not offer good discussion.
2007-09-01 02:15:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 3⤋
Rational humans can't possibly know the answer to this question (amongst others).
However, the evidence is against it being true.
2007-09-01 02:14:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
No. We are confrontational because many believers say mean things to us. They say we are immoral and we are satanists, which is just ain't true. So, we get angry - we are human too.
2007-09-01 02:12:18 · answer #10 · answered by Hardrock 6 · 8⤊ 1⤋