So I had a friend looking at my homepage and he noticed my contacts. . .and the one named "Confirmed Atheist" popped out to him. He literally said, "Why is he one of your contacts". And, I said, "Because he is a real cool guy with interesting thoughts". My friend replied, "But, he is an Atheist". . .like I had Satan himself as a contact, lol. My reply was, "Yeah, and that simply means he is a human who does not believe in God. . .and is a really cool guy with interesting thoughts".
Why do you think the term "Atheist" scares some people?
2007-09-20 01:51:51 · 37 answers · asked by sparkles9 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I appreciate the answers. I think the ones who have mentioned that people assume Atheist are against God. . .they don't even get the fact that they simply don't believe in God. . .I think that has a lot to do w/ fear. . .we should all be able to look outside of our own boxes, imo.
2007-09-20 02:06:04 · update #1
Down through all the pages of human history, belief systems built around the existence of a mysterious invisible superbeing have kept control over the minds of people through the twin strategies of Fear and Threat.... Fear of a being so powerful and dominant, that the slightest infraction of its "rules" can result in the most devastating punishment. And, of course, the Threat of eternal damnation for disobedience, or even daring to disbelieve.
By the time most fundamental Believers reach adulthood they are so indoctrinated into these concepts, and the threat and the fear so ingrained, it is almost as if they feel a need to "chant the doctrine" every time they run into an a-theist out of fear that somehow that person's confident disbelief might radiate out of his body and into the body of the "faithful believer", to take control of it, and force it down the Primrose Way to the Everlasting Bonfire.
Passionate "Believers" do fear the a-theist as they fear Satan himself. They believe that when you reject "God" you automatically embrace the Devil, totally unable to "get it" that a-theists neither reject, nor do they embrace that which they do not believe exists.
So they chant their mantra of belief, and loudly denounce the "unbeliever" that their God might hear it and know that they are not in any way associated with that "godless person". The threat and the fear is that they might be in danger of being pronounced "guilty by association" with the person who lives with no fear at all of that same powerful, omnipotent and punitive being that controls every aspect of THEIR lives.
2007-09-20 02:48:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
We don't have anything against your 'god'.
We don't even hate or despise your 'god'.
We don’t recognise Satan either contrary to popular fundie LIARS.
The only thing an atheist has to do with god is nothing - starting from the fact we don't believe a creature like the Xian god, or the Greek gods, or the Roman gods, or the Muslim god or any one of thousands of other gods that have blessed us with their 'presence'.
I'll guarantee that a fundie will use the word 'hate' much more loosely than any atheist.
I'll guarantee a fundie will resent sharing their planet within atheist much more than vice versa.
I'll guarantee a fundie will call down god's wrath on an atheist with threats of hell, etc long before an atheist could pick her/himself up off the floor from laughing.
I'll guarantee an atheist has a better handle on reality than a fundie.
I'll guarantee an atheist will laugh at a wider range of jokes that a fundie.
I'll guarantee a fundie will be more likely to suffer paranoia than an atheist cos fundies 'believe' there's an invisible man watching everything they think, say and do, 24/7 and 'know' that if they don't love and suck up to their 'god' he'll send them to hell for all eternity.
There is no way I could bow before a monster that used the threat of hell over me to 'make' me love him.
It'd be like having someone with a loaded gun against your head saying: tell me you love me or I'll pull the trigger.
2007-09-20 02:40:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Good question. I think there is something profoundly shocking to some in the word atheist : No belief at all in a deity. This is something so alien to them that they can't relate, can't understand, and they react with fear and rejection. A reaction well know alas, and which triggered horrible things in the past.
They can dislike other religions, but at least the people in those religions believe in something, share the same background, the same basic world view of a deity somewhere looking over humanity. They can kill over their God, but at least there is a God to kill for. The lack of that belief in an atheist just plain scares them as they can't see how to fit their own life in such an empty space.
2007-09-20 01:56:51 · answer #3 · answered by didi 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Honestly, I was just thinking about this just moments ago and I came to the conclusion that I really don't know. But as always, I have lots of opinions. They're "un-American" in a nation that many think was founded as a Christian nation. They might even be Commies like those godless Chinese! They're "fools" according to the Bible. They're "arrogant intellectuals" who trust in themselves and whose religion is science. They're "immoral" because they don't believe in an absolute universal truth or moral code. So many negative images of atheism have been created in our minds that the mere sound of the word instills terror in some. Repeat a lie long enough and people will believe it. If you'd like to see what might be the World Champion of atheist haters, check out the website that I listed below. The dickwad who runs this site is downright scary and astonishingly stupid!!
2007-09-20 02:17:30 · answer #4 · answered by Boris Bumpley 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i believe the term "atheist" scares some people...because they cannot fathom why a certain person...would not believe in GOD...given all the evidences of His existence.
in my opinion, i do not equate an atheist with satan...because satan is not an atheist...satan knows and believes that there is God who is most powerful, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.
this would not answer your question, but let me just have the opportunity to share this story...once there was a priest and
an atheist before an assembly. the atheist challenged the priest..."if God exists, let him kill me within an hour...if i am still alive after an hour, that means GOD does not exist," the atheist said. After an hour, the atheist is still alive. He declared, see? GOD does not exist. The priest handed the atheist a gun and begged the atheist to kill him. There was silence...the atheist dropped the gun...he could not kill the priest. The priest then declared to the assembly...ladies and gentlemen...this atheist does not exist.
hope this helped answer your question...
GOD bless you!
2007-09-20 02:04:41 · answer #5 · answered by cheen 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many people take the idea of the existance of a real god so fundamentallly (they don't even question it, it's like the sky or the air we breathe to them, they just take it for granted) that when they come across someone who doesn't believe in a real god they are so stunned that this person seems like someone who is defective or purposely trying to go against the natural order of things. They just can't imagine the idea that god is simply a concept and is not a real physical entity. This idea scares them because it shakes the foundation of their entire world view.
2007-09-20 01:58:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Humans greatest fear is of what they do not understand. If one wishes to remain ignorant and not have a wide circle of friends that cease to realise that humanity is the same everywhere, irrelevant or race, religion, country of birth, sexual preference etc. So if your friend had a wider social circle they woud not say things that are narrow minded and ignorant. It could only happen in the US. In most other developed countries saying one is religious often scares people, if people do in Australia, most look at the person as though they must be a pyramid seller, to be mentioning it.
2007-09-20 02:10:40 · answer #7 · answered by nicelyevolve 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because, though we may all like to think that we are non-judgemental, we will always have fears and prejudices against that which we do not understand or that which is unlike us. That, i guess, is why there is so much hate going around on this forum. We just don't understand, or take the time to understand each other.
But open-minded people like you are the ones we need on this forum, the ones who will truly take time to understand other people's points of view, and accept their views no matter how different they may seem to you.
edit: i agree with what Toogethr said.
2007-09-20 01:58:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have no idea. My own father told me a few months ago that he would never vote for an atheist. I think they have been demonized by people who equate religious belief with ethics. Atheists, you guys really need to do some PR work. I would love to see the atheists establish high-visibility charities and such like Christian Children fund and stuff.
2007-09-20 02:04:45 · answer #9 · answered by ZombieTrix 2012 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Sin" refers to what they interpret as being what the deity dislikes. And there are scriptures like the following. "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14) It's a quick and despicable way of demonizing people based on what is actually an irrelevant attribute(belief in the Yahweh character) to their interaction. It's one of the most disturbing and divisive aspects of Abrahamic faiths. The need for a distinct in-group, to keep the culture homogenous, and to propagate. When your propositions are based on dogmatism, an open forum and an ability for self-correction is counter to the need to propagate. Usually when a Christian says "you'll burn in hell", it's a form of socially accepted bigotry that is the result of that homogenous religious culture. Where if their feelings get hurt(like someone not holding their deity as sacred), they react by fulfilling their desire for what is really unjust revenge fulfillment(punishment for eternity in Hell). Through the co-opting of the authority of their religion/Yahweh. They think that because their religion says it, it can't be wrong for them so say it. Which comes to another problem with Abrahamic faiths. Appealing to contrived authority to justify such primitive actions and reasoning. Rejecting much needed inquiry into those actions and their actual merits. Leading them to make something really nasty of themselves.
2016-05-19 01:32:39 · answer #10 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋