People Of Faith Does Atheism Bother You?

Question

I just read a little bit of what Phillip Pullmans book The "Golden Compass" is about hearinga lot about the movie. And I gotta say, for a guy who claim religion and religious people put out a lot of hate and EVIL. He's sure doing a pretty good job himself! Bill Maher has a documentary coming out next year thats suppose to bashing faith and God as well. Not to mention the endless book and what not.

If you're someone who believes in God whether of an organized faith or not. If you're a spiriutal person. Does this stuff offend you? Does it bother you? Or is this just apart of the consumer culture we live in?

EXCUSE ANY SPELLING MISTAKES!

Answer 1

Atheism in America has really changed over the last few years. It used to be that Atheists were these hyper-educated skeptical types who didn't particularly have a problem with religion, but were merely unimpressed. That's how it was when I was a kid. Many of them were friendly towards religion in general.

Now days well, look around you see it all over the internet. Rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth Atheists who got their education from Death Metal and their parenting from the Daycare. Even people who are educated enough to know better supress the historical facts in favor of a twisted nightmare world in which Christianity is responsible for all the ills ever perpetrated by Humanity.

Here are the facts.

1. Christianity is the foundation of Western Civilization. Take it away, and everything crumbles. Look at Europe. In a hundred years it will be a Muslim Continent.

2. Christians are more charitable per capita, now and historically than any other religious group. Christians have given more in both absolute and relative terms than any religious (or non-religious) group in history.

3. Christianity is more culturally diverse than any other religion in History. It is a major presence on ever continent, including Africa where in the space of sixty years it became the dominant religion during the Twentieth Century.

4. Every President elected in the United States was a Christian (which maybe isn't such a good endorsement in all cases) Nevertheless, Christianity was the dominant religion among the founding fathers of the United States.

5. Atheism is an entirely Negative Religion. It does not have anything positive to say, but merely opposes the religion of others. Atheism asserts the imbecility of 99.9 percent of all humanity, including most of its greatest thinkers, among these Plato of Athens, Aristotle, Socrates, Augustine of Hippo, Emmanuel Kant and Martin Buber.

6. The majority of great Scientists in Western Culture did and do believe in God. Among these:
Isaac Newton
Johannes Kepler
Blaise Paschal
Galileo Galilei
Albert Einstein
Stephen Hawking

The Atheists I see on this site assert that no one can believe in God and be rational. A pathetic, ridiculous claim.

The Atheists I see here claim Christianity promotes immorality and corruption in American Society. A worthless lie, entirely without foundation. Aside from the American Revolution itself being framed by Christians, the Abolition of Slavery, Civil Rights, and the Rights of the Unborn have are all ethical movements founded by Christians.

Atheists claim that Christianity produces leaders who promote violence and bloodshed. Leaving aside whether a leader who claims Christianity but violates its teachings can really be called a Christian or not, the three greatest Mass Murderers of Modern History, Mao Tse-Dong, Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler were all Atheists.

Of course it goes without saying that to hate some one else's religion is Religious Bigotry. I would love to be able to have a polite discussion about the relative merits of Christianity and Atheism. I would love to be able to talk about the Atheists I admire, such as James Burke and Carl Sagan, to name a couple. But I find myself having to defend my Faith to people who seem to have taken the lyrics of thrash singers for historical fact.

Answer 2

A Christian POV. Christians use the term differently. 1) Faith is trust. People have faith whenever they sit in a chair that it will hold them up. If you see someone 'fix' the chair you won't have faith to sit in it. If someone else comes along they will have blind faith that the chair will hold them up. This faith walks had in hand with doubt and scepticism. 2) Faith is a mysterious gift from a mysterious god. This faith is the type you've got it or you've not got it.. This is the same faith as the 'believing in something that isn't true' faith. Logically if god does not exist then the gift does not exist. I think the word that needs to be in an answer is premise. All beliefs, religious or otherwise, are built on premises. People have faith or trust that their premises are true. Some Atheists get bent out of shape because in this specific arena based on premises there is a level playing field and that puts them out of their comfort zone. The source of the problem is that Christians use the term to mean different things. Some Atheists have blindly picked up the disease. LOL *puts on pastafarian pirate hat* May the Sauce be with you.

Answer 3

Atheism bothers me because all people have faith in something. If you are trusting in your self for what you need you are your own god. They are hypocrites, they tell Christians and others that they are close minded when doesn't it take more of an open mind to believe that someone can raise from the dead. They tell them they are weak for using God and religion as a crutch, but doesn't it take a stronger person to believe that God will supply thier needs?

Answer 4

Atheism doesn't offend me, everyone has a right to their own beliefs or lack of them. Obviously, bashers offend me, but that's their intent, isn't it? I find most of the bashers are just looking for attention. And yes, it's ironic some of the hatemongering they do, at the same time they're blaming religion for all the world's ills.

I admit there are those christians that try to cram religion down throats, which would tick me off, but most of us understand that you can't force God on anyone, its free will. Our job was to spread the word, it's done. If they don't believe, that's their choice.

Answer 5

Yes, it does bother me. It really bothers me because the Atheist is so sure that they are right. When they face the Lord they will be so pitiful to look at. There may be a look of shock on their face, a knowing feeling of guilt evident, the assuredness that they are never going to be able to do anything about their situation. They will be grief stricken beyond anything that has before been seen.

As far as the movie goes, I am sure to see it. I want to see what all this outcry is about. I am not afraid of a movie, and the ideas of the world are well known to me, which is: vain attempts to make reality they can approve of, and a God who can be overcome.

Answer 6

You know, I try to put this stuff off, because I don't like the way it makes me feel. I don't want any of my power and energy going that direction, so I try very hard just to avoid anything that might suck me into that negativity. I know that much of it is put out there purely to antagonize, and it succeeds admirably to inflame some folks. It would offend me if I let it, so I don't let it - like my mom used to say - you can drive them crazy faster with love than with hate.

Answer 7

I am not offended- I am saddened that someone has so much bitterness, anger and obviously fear in their hearts that they feel they have to "kill God in the minds of children"

I wont expose myself or my children to this movie or book and I certainly won't encourage it, but why should I get bent out of shape? Since the begining of time there has been a very reall enemy exalting himslef above God and encouraging men to do so also- there is going to continually be forces out there attacking God and godliness, attacking those of faith and seeking to steal , kill and destroy our children.
I am not going to be ignorant about what is out there but I am not going to get bent out of shape continually focussing on that either. Perfect love casts out all fear and His light will cast out all darkness. If Christians spent more time focusing on God and letting His light and His word flow through them through obedience to His commands and prayer and less time getting offended and fearful (offense = fear = offense) over thngs like this- the true power of God might be more manifest in our lives

Answer 8

Excluding slang and some spacing the only thing I see is "spiriutal" and it was more of a typo I'm sure.

Answer 9

I have no problem with other people having differing beliefs, or lack thereof, as long as they respect mine.

I guess you could say that I am comfortable enough with my own beliefs that I am able to explore other people's points-of-view without feeling that mine are threatened.

So no, as long as others are respectful and doing no harm, it does not offend me.

Answer 10

What others believe has no effect on my beliefs. None whats so ever. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don't worry about things I have no control over.