Do some religious people view atheists as a threat?

Question

For example, what does this say to you: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmHIC.BnoGOtgsa7kN9MRZPd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071212172201AApHQIv

Is it because, really, they know there is no God, and the time is running out for the concept of theism?

Answer 1

Ok, pay close attention because I'm about to reveal a secret of the nature of mankind here.

Religion is just another way to compete with other people. We are very protective of the scales that we compete on. Think of how annoyed you get when people suggest that whatever you consider most valuable in humans is worthless. Intelligence is meaningless, good looks are detrimental to good character, sports encourage hate. All three of these things is degrading one of the standard scales on which we measure ourselves against others, and I can pretty well guarantee that one of them would annoy you if said in earnest.

Now take the case of religion. Highly religious people spend a lot of time working very hard at competing in the field of "more moral", "more devout", and "better spreader of THE WORD". This is how they give their lives value, this is how they feel that everyone should be competing. When you tell them that there is no God, this causes cognitive dissonance like nothing else. They blow a fuse, stone the heretic, excommunicate him/her, ostracize them from society, whatever necessary to put them as far away as possible so they don't have to face that piece of information again.

So, yes, they view them as a threat, not just to their way of life, but to everything they strive for. Especially since they have no solid evidence to dispute what the person says.

Answer 2

Friend,

The Book Writers ,Authors of Books I mean, need good critics to improve themselves.

The critics are more seriously involved in the writings of the authors they are reviewing , so they are not a threat but a GREAT HELP to the author.

Similarly for theists atheists are no threat at all.They are of very great help, as they make the one that believes in HIM to dwell deeper to counter the point .This way he knows more about HIM .In a way they atheists are really helping the theists.

I think that way we have to take.

I thank all the atheists really heart fully.

Their belief bless them.

Answer 3

It's purely practical. They never used to; they dismissed them as fools,plain and simple. That changed in the 70's and 80's with a rather broad range of Supreme Court decisions advancing secularism and which admittedly to some extent operated with prejudice against public displays of religious sentiment. That would scare anyone,including agnostics who believe in freedom of expression. Currently it is illegal to display a cross on public property,but chabad-lubavitcher is permitted to put up menorahs everywhere,even in the park across from the white house. So they do feel atheists are a threat and understandably so; it's a matter of practical concern,not philosophical doubt on their part. And as a civil libertarian even I'm appalled at the ban on religious displays. We have a right to freedom of expression,and there is nothing in the Bill of Rights that excludes religious self-expression. As I do agree with the ACLU that as long as public-spaces are off-limits to christians,they should be off limits to jews as well. No cross,no menorah. It's utterly inconsistent.

Answer 4

If people's faith is that fickle perhaps they would see them as a threat. Taking away God from schools, currency or anything else is no skin off my back. That doesn't take him out of my heart.
Strong minded and spiritual people will not be swayed by other's opinions.

Is it like when the government says that homosexuals destroy families. BOLOGNA! Nothing destroys but hate, not love.

Answer 5

Some atheists think that theists are hostile b/c they truly are scared there may not be a god, some theists believe atheists are hostile b/c they secretly believe there IS a god. Sorry, it doesn't work either way. Atheists don't secretly fear the existence of god and theists don't secretly fear the non existence of god. Both sides are simply voicing their opinions and don't understand why the other does not understand the "truth" of their belief system.

Answer 6

yes they do. i just answered that question as well. and the fact is.... today we have atheists....200 years ago...we didnt because you would have been killed for your thoughts.
religion is losing its foothold on humanity. its not a threat ... really... its just ...what has happened to everyother religion before it... it is put away. people start to educate themselves and find some ideals are simply ... lacking common sense
i believe the believeing world... is at about 85-90% now...so that is 10-15 % of non-believers...
what will the number be in 50 more years? i venture to guess... much higher

Answer 7

I think people like that just fear the changes they see in the world. Christians once had the ability to rule the country and once that was curtailed, they feel threatened. They need to realize that they can still believe whatever they want to but it is no longer OK to try to force everyone else to agree.

Any "threat" from Atheists is imaginary.

Answer 8

For my personal soul and a soul of a true Christian, there is no threat, but to someone unsure, or to those never saved by the grace of God would be the only threat of their worldly endocrine. I have no treat of an atheist, I feel bad for them.

Answer 9

Look at the hysteria surrounding "The Golden Compass". How many times are day are we seeing: "Spread the word!!! Do **NOT** let your kids see this movie!!! It will just lead them to wanting to read the books!!!" Obviously, there are plenty that view atheists as a threat.
(That question you posted also shows that that person clearly views atheists as a threat, too.)

Answer 10

In as much as some atheists are anti-theists, and want to try and blame all of the evils of the world on religion and Christianity -- and stamp religion out. Then yes, some of them could be considered a threat to society.

Look at what gunman Matthew Murray posted before he went on a shooting rampage …

" ….God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you ... as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world. …. "

See… http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071211/ap_on_re_us/church_shootings


What about WWII and Germany? It wasn't started by committed religious people over religion, it was started by Hitler and his socialist party, if not atheist were anti-God, anti-religion and anti-christian. Some quotes by Hitler himself about Christianity …

http://www.geocities.com/chiniquy/Hitler.html

" ….By exterminating this pest, we shall do humanity a service of which our soldiers can have no idea

Our epoch Uin the next 200 yearse will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity.. …."

Sound familiar? Some of these atheists/anti-theists rally cries against religion sound exactly like Hitler and his socialist movement. They are the types that started WWII in Europe. Needless to say, the destruction this socialist anti-God movement caused was enormous.

Also see … http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0110.htm

" … The Nazis stopped celebrating Christmas, and the Hitler Youth recited a prayer thanking the Fuhrer rather than God for their blessings. Clergy regarded as "troublemakers" were ordered not to preach, hundreds of them were imprisoned, and many were simply murdered. Churches were under constant Gestapo surveillance. The Nazis closed religious schools, forced Christian organizations to disband, dismissed civil servants who were practicing Christians, confiscated church property, and censored religious newspapers. … … … …

… … … If Nazism represented the culmination of anything, it was that of the nineteenth-century and early-twentieth century ideology of social Darwinism. ….

… …So in addition to the mountain of corpses that the God-hating regimes of Stalin, Mao, Pot Pot and others have produced, we must add the body count of the God-hating Nazi regime. The Nazis, like the Communists, deliberately targeted the churches and the believers because they wanted to create a new man and a new utopia freed from the shackles of traditional religion and traditional morality. In an earlier blog, I asked what is atheism's contribution to civilization? One answer to that question: Genocide. ……"