Atheists -- What irks you most about Christians? The reason I ask is that I don't think Christians really

Question

understand you very well. I used to be an atheist, so I think I understand that you are not some kind of monster or that you are not evil or something, the way many Christians might believe. Please take this chance to let Christians know what bothers you most about them.

I don't think it's fair to tell me that I never could have been an atheist. You don't know what I was like. I was a true blue atheist. I don't question those people who claimed they were Christian and now are atheists. Believe me. I had no belief in God, thought he was just like Santa, or Thor, or unicorns... a myth.

Thanks so much for all your answers, all of you. I think there were some terrific things shared and I hope all the Christians have a chance to read through these and take them to heart as true statements. We need to understand each other, not be mean to each other.

So many good answers, it's really hard to pick the best one. Please don't be offended if your answer was not picked. Many of them were terrific.

Answer 1

1) The lack of intelligent argument disguised as the power of faith. "It says so in the bible", "because I know Jesus lives", "because I have seen the light and you are in darkness", etc.
2) The belief/conviction that everyone who does not believe in Christ will perish in eternal hell (it seems every religion believes in exclusivity on salvation)
3) Judgemental fundamentalism - "homosexuals are evil", "teaching evolution is Satan's work"
4) Hypocrasy - Most Christians doen't seem to practice what they preach. I have a theory that the more "Christian you are", the more nasty, mean spirited and less positive you are. Witness major televangelists and famous born againers that seem to be very nasty indeed such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, George Bush, Jimmy Baker, Hillary Clinton, many of the past popes, etc. From my personal experience I have found the most religious people to be the most mean spirited. Thoses that profess no religion tend to be quite nice, pleasant, etc. I suppose this carries over to other religions; most terrorists are religious zealots.
5) Unwillingness to listen to arguments or discussion. For example, there are many obvious discrepencies in the bible. (e.g. What was the name of the person who slew Goliath?)You can't mention one to a fundamentalist without them dismissing it entirely. There are "proofs" for evolution, you know - it's not just Satan talking to which the Christian metaphorically closes their ears and yells "Lah, lah, lah" until the person shuts up.
6) Belief that anything"Christian" has got to be good. I hear this most often with wanting to say the Lord's Prayer in school. Now, I'm against that because I believe that church and state should be seperate, that in North America freedom of religion is important. Every forceful Christian beleives that this is the cause of all the crime in the world and that any public official against it is a force of Satan. C'mon, fair is fair - no religious teaching in school is fair for all parties.
7) In the US (of which I am not a resident) there is this expresion that Christianity or Judeo/Christianity is "our way" and these immigrants are forcing "their religion" on the US. Many believe that Christianity and "American ideals" are the same thing. C'mon - Feedom of religionis a founding principle of the US.
8) Finally, a semantic point, illustrated by your question. Christians seem to believe that the opposite of Christianity is atheism. It is, I suppose non-Christianity. Your question reinforces that notion that the only religion is Chrisitianity. I would peg myself a Unitarian but the Cjhristian world labels me an atheist. I suspect the argument is that the only tue God is theChristian God and therefore non belief in Christ makes one an atheist.

Thanks for the question, good opportunity to vent. I hope you appreciate that I am respectful to Christians and many, many of them are nice people; but then many,many atheists and unitarians are also.

Answer 2

There are plenty of people who generally live by the "right and wrong" moral code and do so without the conscious existence of a God. No two people can necessarily fully agree on defining what is right and what is wrong. If so, we would have what we call a "perfect world". These words were merely termed on the majority rules system in order for our society to prosper. For all I know, the term "God" and the bible could have been written and introduced for this very purpose. I am not saying I believe this, I am just giving you an insight to possibilities. I'm not an atheist per se (more leaning towards agnostic) and i could care less if christians, or anyone for that matter, adhere's to their personal morals. What pisses me off is when they go on their bible thumping rants and try to shove it down my throat. What does my personal beliefs matter to them and who are they to judge me? There isn't necessarily a reasoning, nor does there have to be, as to why I think it's wrong; it's just simply how I feel and that's it.

Answer 3

It depends on the Christian, really. Most don't annoy me at all.

I suppose what bothers me most is when some Christians actually denounce reason, knowledge, or education in favor of faith. It boggles my mind that some people actually believe that whatever higher power that might exist WANTS humans to be ignorant.

Of course, this is not a problem exclusive to Christians or even exclusive to religious people. I simply see it more often in Christians because they comprise an overwhelming majority of people in my area.

I hate to point fingers, but the link below illustrates what I'm talking about. Take a look at kristin747's answer. This is a prime example of what bothers me most.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuU3dv9DeaNeZ5hywNX4qVXsy6IX?qid=20070903055617AAAW5FB&show=7#profile-info-AA11343971

Thank you for this question.

Answer 4

Total blind belief, in a society that requires empirical evidence for anything and everything . How a scientist can truly believe befuddles me.

The lack of understanding that your beliefs (mostly) stem from what you grew up with and is rarely formed through your own opinion-making.

The contradiction in acceptance of other religions (by more liberal christians) and what God tells us.

The fact that everyone is inherently a bit selfish and a bit nasty and so some Christians hide behind religion to make this OK (paedophilic priests being a prime example)

These points can relate to all religions - some even to the 'religion' of atheism

Answer 5

Christians seem to emphasize the negative side of the "salvation" proposition. They stress that we are born into "original sin" but born again Christians believe their sins are covered by their conversion, as long as they repent and ask forgiveness.

Frankly, I don't get the distinction between being saved vs. being unsaved. Christians I know focus on the consequences of not accepting Christ (damnation) and avoid discussions of living in a Christ like way. They put faith over works, when I believe works are more important to the spread of Christianity.

I think you could be a devout Christian by not worrying about "original sin" and "salvation". If your example inspires others to become Christian, isn't that good in God's eyes?

The other thing that irks me is that fundamentalists take the Bible literally. They deny science and esp. evolution. Clearly it challenges their faith. I cannot understand why for many faith goes hand in hand with ignorance and fear of science.

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Answer 6

What bothers me most is that they believe being a Christian gives them moral superiority over everyone else. You can be moral because it's the right thing to do, not because you fear the pains of hell.

It also bothers me that Christians think that simply going to church makes them ready for heaven. Most Christians I know are hypocrites. They go to church on Sunday and then are lying about their neighbors during the week or fornicating or some other sin. Going to church does not negate all the sins during the week.

I could go on and on................they just don't use the brain that's been given them.

Answer 7

Christians can do as they please so long as they do nothing to interfere with my life in any way. Do not try to convert me. My rights to freedom of religion is a freedom from religion. To many Christians act like the the first amendment reads something like freedom of Christian religion. No law should be allowed that is based on Christian beliefs and morality. Why do so many laws exist today that restrict where I can shop and what I can purchase on Sunday?

Answer 8

For perfect examples of what bothers me about most Xians, read the responses of M@tt, CJ, cheir, shannon b, and Jeremiah, above. The self-righteous attitude, the willful ignorance (atheists don't believe in hell, for instance), the desire to force their Bronze Age beliefs unto the rest of us via legislation, and the hypocritical claim that theirs is a tolerant religion are the major turn-offs for me. Add to that the endless proselyting, the mindless goddidits, the end-times cop-outs, and the fabled Xian persecution complex - complete with endless whining - to complete the picture of complete detestation.

Answer 9

I'm not Athesit, but I'm Agnostic. What I don't like is how some Christians (not all, but SOME) try so hard to change your mind. One guy came up to me and said "It's alright. Jesus forgives you. God forgives you" after I said I'm Agnostic. The way he said it made me sound as if I had just commited a crime or something!! It was a little creepy actually. I don't know about that guy haha.

But see, me being Agnostic, I don't try at all to change people's minds about their religion. I just let them be who they are. I wish everyone else would do the same.

Answer 10

I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that 'used to be an atheist' bit. Why would a normally functioning person deliberately exchange sanity and reason for gullibility, irrationality, willful ignorance, self-delusion, intellectual dishonesty, drooling stupidity and hypocrisy? That does not compute.

Anyway... I tend to regard most christians as victims. Religious 'shepherds' KNOW that their 'flock' (sheeple) are scientifically ignorant and incapable of critical thinking. They KNOW that they find 'scientific' sources' to be intimidating and incomprehensible. These puppet-masters KNOW that their flock (victims) will seek their 'knowledge' from 'trusted' sources... the very-same puppet-masters. When the sheeple hear things like 'scientists claim that humans and apes shared a common ancestor, in the distant past', they experience 'cognitive dissonance'... this information is in conflict with the 'truth' that they have believed for their whole lives. So... where do they go to resolve this cognitive dissonance?... Scientists?... NO! They go to their 'trusted' sources... the sources who KNOW that they have been taught WHAT to think... they have not been taught HOW to think. Sources who KNOW that they can lie, obfuscate, misrepresent with impunity... with absolutely NO RISK that their minions will seek out independent, peer-reviewed corroborating information.

Where this nonsense comes from is an INDUSTRY (Christianity) whose BUSINESS it is to create whole generations of adults who are, at once, gullibile, irrational, willfully ignorant, self-deluded, intellectually dishonest, droolingly stupid and hypocritical... and willing to tithe 10% for having their cognitive dissonance held in check through regular doses of holy bullshit.

They do their jobs very well indeed.

Here's the key thing to understand... a 'truism'...

1) religious 'belief'... the internalized certainty that specified myths, superstitions and fairy-tales are congruent with 'reality' CANNOT WITHSTAND the glaring light of 'critical thinking'.

2) over 85% of adult Americans profess religious 'belief'

3) THEREFORE, at least 85% of adult Americans have not applied critical thinking to their religious 'beliefs'.

There are some obvious outliers, of course... scientists those work obviously requires critical thinking... yet they seem be able to check their brains at the church door. I cannot explain this, other than to say that it is a good example of 'compartmentalization'... and it plainly shows that even brilliant people are not immune to self-deception and self-delusion. Fortunately, such people are so few in number that they can be regarded as an anomoly, rather than a cause for grave concern.

Finally... the upshoot of this is very serious, when you think about it. Around 85% of adult Americans are delusional... MADE that way INTENTIONALLY. Something that account for 85% of ANYTHING can be said to define what is considered 'normal'. So, on that basis... in the USA... INSANITY is 'normal'... and thus, the inmates are running the asylum... and the inmates have control over the most sophisticated nuclear arsenal in the world. THIS is a cause for grave concern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKDKq_PPbk&mode=related&search=
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