to fellow atheists...?

Question

have any religious people ever said to you: "are you so arrogant to believe that you are the highest power in the universe?" or words to that effect? what was your retort?

no religious answers saying that you will pray for me or that i am the spawn of the devil or any crap like that.

Answer 1

I'm an atheist. And I say, yes, I am EXACTLY that arrogant because if I didn't have my arrogance, all I would have would be specious answers, lazy thinking, a bleak and meaningless future, contradictions up the wahzoo, an absolute INABILITY to count higher than two, a mental block that only allows me to think of god as the so-called CHRISTIAN god and a history of knowing the wrong people growing up.

Answer 2

I usually follow up with. Can you be so naive and closed minded to actually think that a higher power that can neither be proved or disproved is responsible for this. Whereas the scientific explinations have much more proof then ANY religious belief. It makes you all warm and fuzzy to think that in life there is "gods plan" and you actually don't have to take any of the heat cause if it gets really really bad you can blame some deity or another that once again can not be proved or disproved. Then my horns pop out and I say I AM THE SPAWN OF THE DEVIL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! and spit a little fire for effect. Religion spoils everything

Answer 3

I do not recall anyone saying that to me.

My retort would be that I am not.


Humanity is dominating the Earth for the moment, but that does not make us the highest power in the universe, and I am just 1in 7,000,000,000 or so.

I would claim that the Christians are the ones claiming to be the second highest power in the universe. God being their #1. That is conceited.


If I had to pick the highest power in the universe I guess it would be entropy. That seems to be unavoidable as far as we can tell.


I will not pray for you, because prayer has been shown to be a non-existent power in the universe. Neither will I comment about your parents. (LOL)

Answer 4

I say, "Clearly you are the highest power of the universe if you think you have the right to force your beliefs on other. But obviously you assume that we are the highest power below god, then you are wrong. We would not be here if it weren't for the plants that provide us oxygen, the sun that provides us light and nurishment, and the bodies of water that provide us with hydration. How can i consider myself more important than those things if I would not be alive without them. So maybe you are the one that is arrogant."

Answer 5

Recognizing that we are a tiny part of the universe is humble, not arrogant.

The universe is billions of light years across, and I have but a tiny piece of knowledge about a tiny piece of that universe. I recognize that the natural world is bigger and more powerful than any person could be. I am in awe of it.

That is humility. To think that that immensely vast universe will be changed somehow because of an offered prayer, that is arrogance.

Answer 6

As an atheist, you are in effect claiming that you know for a fact that there is no God.

Is it not arrogant to think you can know anything as a certainty? We are just scratching the surface of the universe and what we knew as a fact 50 years ago we now know was wrong.

I am open to ALL possibilities where atheists are not by the very definition of the word. That is arrogance.

BTW: I will not pray for you or call you names as I am not religious.

Answer 7

What I said at the time was "Huh?"

The answer I came up with 2 hours later when I was at home on my own and wished I had been smart enough to think of it when it was still relevent, was "Are you so arrogant to believe that when I am talking about life on earth I am talking only about human life"

Answer 8

I am happy to say I can have conversations with my family, who are pretty seperated in their religious beliefs or lack thereof. When talking to my mother I have gotten the " If you only knew" or " You just need to find him, cause he waiting for you". I respect that God has given her so much love in her life, but it's still difficult for me to understand. I just say "I'm happy for you" and not really go beyond that. If presented with that same situation in a more hostile environment I would simply walk away. People are strong in their beliefs, and anyone (atheist or religious) can be offended.

Answer 9

I will pray for you, devil spawn, as you bake in God's rotisserie!
I think it is arrogant to think that I am arrogant enough to think i am the highest form of life in the universe.
It is just as arrogant to think that you and your species is perfect as is and has never experienced any physical growth ie evolution. (Not you, x_ktb_x, but the religious type)

Answer 10

I have actually been confronted on this issue in a group forum setting, and I responded with some extent on the following:

"You conclude I must be arrogant in order to declare your evidence flawed and fallible, when you yourself have no more evidence then a book written by the hand of man? We ALL know how flawed people are; every historic writer bends the truth a little, especially when pertaining to their own wishes.

And to say there is no God is not to say that I am the highest power in the universe; we (humans as a species) are not even the highest power in our solar system, for if our sun were to super-nova this instant, I do not see the hand of any human halting our destruction.

I simply say that I see a greater likely-hood in non-existance as opposed to existance. You act as if I must arrogant for telling you that God isn't there listening to you, but how are you any less arrogant in telling you you KNOW he does? Knowledge is a combination of justification and truth.

A well-educated child could easily make the case for Santa Claus the same way you make your own case:
-Parents say he exists.
-Teachers say he exists.
-Most other adults concur.
-Presents say "From Santa" on them.
-Food and drink left out for Santa is gone.
-Letters addressed to Santa Claus, at the North Pole, mind you, are not returned by the post office.
-News bulletins every Christmas Eve that track the movement of Santa's Sled.

In order for a person who has grown up with nothing but this information to conclude there is no Santa, they would have to reject the testimony of seemingly competent witnesses, ignore seemingly infallible evidence, and submit themselves to the level of a conspiracy nut, going on the assumption that, world-wide, ALL ADULTS have nothing better to do than partake in an unecessary and time-consuming scheme to fool children who would probably respect their families more for putting in the effort to get them the gifts in the first place.

Of course, all that would seem highly improbable, and therefore probably be concluded as a conspiracy theory to be thrown to the side. With just that evidence available, belief in Santa would appear to be quite reasonable, wouldn't it?

Justification: Check!

But I am relatively sure we all agree Santa does not exist, and therefore, a child's faith in the existance of Santa Claus can never be technically termed knowledge."

I am pretty sure some of them were angry at this point...

*Le Sigh* As you see, I read, and think, alot.

~Poe.