Atheists, do you seriously think that people with religious faith are ignorant, foolish...or (gulp) despicable

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am3AeySPo4SSs8iyVnjf.Ynd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071102134425AAw7NLy

Yes, I know...for the believer, faith is believing something without hard evidence to back it up...as in the Christian's belief in God.
The answers I saw to this question frightened me.
Since when is it a bad thing to have faith in God?
So, people of faith, to you, are just stupid?
And...despicable?? What's with that??

Answer 1

Personally, I don't think so, but there are some people who do. I imagine most of those are within 4 years of 17 in either direction and have issues with their parents.

Answer 2

Crimson , You almost had a valid question there until you started insulting ( Not debating ) homosexuals and people who choose to work in abortion clinics . That just showed your need to repulse those that believe differently than you do . This shows fear , such as homophobia ,on your part . I am much more against Islam than I am Christianity . Why ? Because The vast majority of Christians no longer wish to behead homosexuals , blow up office buildings , or make women second class citizens . ( Yes , there is the occasional nut job out there like McVie ! and oppressive sects like snake handlers and Quakers .) The majority of Christians have become reformed Christians . While they may hate homosexuals (or the act of homosexuality) and others, few are ready to actually kill them . And when they do the governments of places like the USA , England , etc. do their best to bring the murderers to justice . Whereas in Islamic States the murder of homosexuals ( such as the mass stoning to death of 14 in "moderate" Turkey last August ) is considered sort of an entertainment . But you should read more and understand that it is the REFORM Muslims , not the moderate Muslims that want true peace . Moderate Muslims may not be ready to strap bombs to their retarded daughter's body and send her into a pet shop to explode amongst other children , yet they do support the Qu'ran in the concept that everyone in the world must be made subject to Allah . As far as I know , most Jews would simply rather be left alone in peace . If the Muslims would just allow them their original Israel borders with a clear and real truce , I don't think there would be any violence there . I think what you are seeing here on R&S isn't so much that Christianity is a thorn in our side , but rather that YOU are . Because you also seem to have that NEED to include a degrading or insulting remark in your questons and answers . Why do you need to do that ? Edit for Hona ... What a bunch of crap !

Answer 3

If anything, I wish people were smart enough to see though the centuries of deceit that went into creating modern, organized religion. I will admit that I am a skeptical person in all regards, but that still cannot diminish my complete distaste for organized religion. I was a history major in college and I know how Christianity came into being. It was originally a fringe religion that grew popular amongst the masses, so the Roman emperor Constantine allowed it to be accepted in the empire. As future emperors/kings wanted to control the religion, they began changing around the dates and events, adding aspects of pagan religions and removing original gnostic aspects that encourage free thought and self determination. And since then, many other aspects have been added and subtracted as deemed politically correct. If you are truly Christian, how can you believe what you are being told if you are aware of the major discrepencies that are blaringly obvious to anyone who bothers to do the research? Very few Christians know of the origins or the early history of the religion that they so vehemently follow. The major Christian holidays (Christmas and Easter) have been moved to coincide with Roman pagan rituals (Saturnalia and Lupercalia), the virgin birth of Jesus is taken directly from the Cult of Mythras, and these examples go on and on. It is not that I think Christians are stupid, I think they are highly misguided through social and cultural pressures. If you were born in another part of the world such as Southern India, these pressures would have made you Hindu instead.

The main argument I have is that every religion cannot be correct, and how can any person claim to have a monopoly on the knowledge of what happens after death? I truly hope there is something beyond this life, but from here I cannot know that, so why pretend to know or look for false comfort through ancient mythology.

And it is not a bad thing to have faith in God, but why not have faith in yourself? If something good happens to you, why does it have to be accredited to a mythical figure? I feel that religious faith detracts from self-empowerment and the advancement of the human condition.

Another problem created by religion is the In-Group/Out-Group mentality, which is the idea: if they are not like me, I will not trust them. This is such an immature attitude to take and religion most certainly encourages such immaturity. This is what has held back humanity for centuries. If a scientist like Galileo learns that the Earth orbits the sun, and this is not what the Church believes regardless of if they are correct or not, then such important scientific discoveries are held back for centuries until science finally gained acceptance in a more secularized society. Christians perceive science as something to distrust because it is in opposition to superstitions about the origin of man (Adam and Eve) or the description of the universe, so they hold back human advancement further, even in the modern world. In my years of studying religion, I have been unable to find one positive element or one way in which religion handles an issue in a more effective way than secular, scientific-based society ever has.

So to answer your question, I just feel that religious people are misguided and seemingly happy to be misguided, not foolish or despicable. For me personally, I have an inquisitive mind that is not satisfied by supernatural stories or myths, so I guess I just don't understand how a person can blindly accept religion without any type of doubt or skeptisicm. I do, however, feel that anyone acting as an extremist, regardless of which faith/motivation they are acting under, is foolish and despicable

Answer 4

I don't think you are ignorant, foolish or despicable.

I think that you are ill, your brains have been affected by a virulent mind virus passed down culturally through the generations. There are many strains of the virus and one of the features that makes it so successful is its ability to block any rational questioning of that particular belief.

When you hear the stories of other religions eg Mormonism its easy for you to see that its simply a made up story, similarly with Islam, Santa Claus etc.

Unfortunately when it comes to your religion the same standards of judgment are not applied. That's what makes the belief virus so successful. You will reject or rationalize any evidence that doesn't fit your view of your god. Some of these rationalizations are all encompassing, eg "Its Gods plan", or "God works in mysterious ways". Using these mechanisms you can paper over any contradictory evidence you are presented with.

At present there is no known cure. Children are particularly vulnerable to the infection as their minds are set up to believe what adults tell them and are easily indoctrinated.

Some people do spontaneously cure themselves and in the longer term science is working on explaining the remaining mysteries of the universe. This will gradually leave the religious virus with fewer and fewer hiding places and may eventually lead to a permanent cure.

I hope that one day you will recover.

Answer 5

I feel bad after reading those answers myself...I'm NOT an Atheist, but I also don't share Christian beliefs. I admit I have been known to crack some jokes at the expence of CHristians here, but it's not serious. I'm just lashing out from being told I'm wrong for my beliefs. We that don't follow CHrist because we have have applied rational though to the Bible, and we wern't satisfied with the results, are often told we're wrong because we're not believing out of blind fiath. I agree that any belief system requires some kind of faith, be it Christian, Atheist, or other...but there is a limit. THe system must at least make sence to us before we're willing to make the little leaps of faith that cover our system's problems. I'm sorry if anyone thinks I view them as stupid or despicable because of a belief system...the only porblem I have, as I've said before, is when I belief system sees others as "worng" because they don't believe what the system says...faith or no...

Answer 6

"... people with religious faith are ignorant, foolish...or (gulp) despicable"
Ignorant and foolish? Yes.

Despicable?
No and of course I wondered about the context and found it to be ...

"Making a virtue of believing something utterly absurd BECAUSE there is no evidence. Possibly the most despicable 'virtue' imaginable."

which is a completely different picture than the one you attempted to paint.

Now, THAT is despicable ... just as SuperAtheist said it was.

Answer 7

I find it whimsical that so many people are self-righteous enough to think that anything that cannot be proven it a flighty endeavor. That since Christians have faith in something they can't see or prove, they are dellusional.
Can you see love? Nope. It is something that cannot be validated, quantified or even easily referenced. Yet still people believe in this. Why? They do so for one simple reason...hope. Whether they are in love or long to be in love, they all cling to an IDEA that cannot in any way, shape or form, be substantied. This is faith. If you cannot understand it, then it becomes an intellectual diffiency on your part, not the one clinging to hope.

Answer 8

Blind faith in anything is wrong when you force yourself into believeing what others tell you to believ then force those beliefs on others then yes you are despicable but if you come too your faith from understanding yourself & the world around you then you have no need for faith because you know & you teach others from your example all you reelly need is faith in your self the rest will follow

Answer 9

I hate to be labeled as someone who feels this way about another person with a different belief than me. Everyone has the choice of believing what they wish. I do not think anyone is stupid because of their religious beliefs!!!! However, I do not walk around and try to get people to believe what I believe, nor do i tell them what they believe is wrong. Everyone should mind their own business when it comes to religion and belief. If we all believed the same thing, the world would be boring.

Answer 10

I don't mind if someone else has faith in the Jewish, Muslim, Christian or any other God just don't try to convert me. If faith helps you make it through the day great so it can be a good thing it's just not for me.
I've found many self proclaimed religious people to be very hypocritical and judgmental, they preach the good book but don't live by it.