Why are people's buttons so easy to push if they are confident in what they believe?

Question

shouldn't they be more relaxed in their response?

Answer 1

I don't know about my buttons being pushed,,,but I do defend a flat out lie about my religion....righteous indignation, ...if you are going to play in my ball park,,you better know your bible...and to hear someone mocking God, as so many do on here,,,just seems extremely disrespectful to me,,,,I will call you on it, every time.

Answer 2

Certainly part of it is frustration of the same 'questions' being asked multiple times every day. I know this is not exactly what I had naively imagined I would fine when I first came here.

But I agree if I found myself getting angry or even a little upset at anything here I would probably move on. This is not real life. It's barely entertainment. Almost no one wants to have an intelligent conversation. I haven't met more than one or two people who want to do more than rant. And frankly Yahoo makes dialog impossible because of the format.

Lastly I would say people often get the animosity and confrontation they are looking for. Looking at the 'questions' it's plain that at least half are nothing more than unveiled insults and attacks. Askers often get the response they deserve.

For instance what did you expect with this question?

"Sometimes do you feel the atheists make it difficult to believe them when they STILL haven't?"

Answer 3

It really depends on the tone of the question.

You really CAN tell why a question is asked by the wording used.

For instance, one person asks for information and I give an answer in an informational tone, while another person asks a question that is just an attack, picking at straws, or tearing down straw men.

I answer these questions in the same vein as they are asked, and I call them on it, because they don't WANT an answer, they just want to mock.

Ultimately, they want people to pat them on the back and make them feel good about not believing in whatever they're attacking.

I never answer a question without thinking it through carefully. That's the great thing about this forum - I sometimes have trouble "thinking on my feet", so to speak, but when I can read the question and think about it, I can respond and answer carefully.

Answer 4

I don't think a person's confidence in their beliefs have anything to do with getting their "button's pushed". The thing is, whatever a person's beliefs are, it's a part of who they are--and when their belief system is attacked, it feels like a personal attack.
For example, if someone says people who believe in God are mindless, brainwashed & only believe because they haven't "really" studied the Bible--then that feels like a personal attack on my intelligence. But it doesn't lessen my confidence in my beliefs. I'd say it's the same way for atheists or any other belief system. It's fine to disagree with someone, but there is a respectful way to do it.
And on here, the intentional "button-pushers" are fairly obvious to everyone---they are also probably the ones who have very little confidence in themselves or anything else.

Answer 5

well if you're talking about religion, the answer is quite simple...we all believe in it confidently and we know its the truth and thats what we believe in...but if you push our buttons and make stupid comments like "oh how do you know that?" or "oh thats stupid its not even proven" well the reason we get pissed is because there is no actual proof for people like that...i find proof everywhere cuz i believe in it, but if you dont, then its hard to actually give you a piece of evidence thats gonna make you go..."ahhhhh i get it"...and why would you even push people's buttons when it comes to that? my question to you is: "why do you have such a hard time letting other people believe in their own things?" thats of course if you are one of those people to push those lil buttons of ours...its not polite in any way, shape, or form! God created us different to get to know each other and help each other, not to make each other look or feel stupid, thats what i believe in...so if you push my buttons and start saying "what if there is no God?" all i have to tell you is..."since there is no God for you, im certain you'll go to hell from my point of view" so there...

Answer 6

People are not getting frustrated because they aren't confident. They get upset because the intention of a lot of questions has been to hurt them or ridicule them because of their faith. Forgive those who seem a bit irritated in their answers. I myself do not mind answering questions asked by those who honestly seek knowledge. The truth is that many people disguise their opinions and make harsh statements hidden in question format. The religious section of yahoo answers has been bombarded by cyber bullies. The intention of questions should be to obtain knowledge not to challenge ones faith or belief structure. Those who ask these sort of questions have no intention of learning any thing and no answer will suffice. More often than not they simply discredit the answer and try to twist the belief system against the answerer. Many post answers that have the intention of under minding the faith and not assisting in the pursuit of knowledge. If you have an honest question I ask that you be patient and open to the possibility that someone may have simply misinterpreted your intentions.

Answer 7

Aperson who is self confident in what they believe took some effort to get there. A lot of the effort is "iffy" in anyones case on some subjects. It is often "trial and error" so a persons foundation is shook by diect questions. If they are truly sure they have already resolved any question in their own mind that anyone could ask. Or they are open enought to take in the information digest it and take it or leave it.

Answer 8

A few reasons are possible

1) They are actually NOT confident in what they believe and are trying to convince themselves as well as the button-pusher

2) They are worried that the button-pusher thinks that they are not smart/have stupid beliefs and get defensive about it

3) They are defensive because someone is trying to push their buttons (makes sense, aye?)

4) They want the button-pusher to see "the RIGHT way" and are using their wonderful argumentative skills to prove that their way is right.

Answer 9

RAWR! YOUR QUESTION MAKES ME SO ANGRY! HULK SMASH!


But seriously, I think there are two problems. For a lot of people, their buttons are easy to push. They take mere discussion of their beliefs to be an insult. They don't want to actually think about their beliefs. This is a bigger issue for theists than non-theists. Anyway, the second problem trumps this - it's what I like to call Internet Jerkwad Syndrome. Since people are anonymous, they act like jerks. That's why everyone overreacts.

Answer 10

I've found that when people get their buttons pushed it's due to arrogance and a holier than thou attitude (on both sides of the fence) than the actual belief or opinion.

You can tell me that I'm an evil witch from hell who is going to burn with all of the other monsters, and that's fine. Say it like a jerk who thinks you're better than me and I'll tell you where to stick it.