Being an atheist is okay (LOL)

[Playinghardball]

[Logical]

1. Is laughing at people who think the earth is 3000 old ok? N-t

[hughee99]

10. Do all religions believe that? n/t

[Hydra]

11. No, just the stupid ones

[hughee99]

36. Would an atheist consider any religion that believes in a higher power

to be a "smart one", or are some just worse than others?

[Hydra]

38. You'd have to ask an atheist

I'm a former Christian agnostic, so I don't disbelieve in higher powers. I do, however have a problem with them arguing with science when their dogma doesn't agree with the evidence. Being gay isn't a choice, for instance, for the same reason that the world isn't flat or less than 10,000 years old.

[demosincebirth]

57. Name 'em, that believe that.

[onehandle]

2. Given the chance, I would do that to to Rudolph again.

That nose was just weird.

[Scuba]

3. K&R

[scheming daemons]

4. sorry, religion IS silly... and I'm not going to stop calling it that

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Same here.

[RebelOne]

49. Ditto. n/t

[MattBaggins]

62. Mega-ditto

[Arugula Latte]

12. Right. We all have the freedom to say what beliefs we think are ridiculous.

Just because something is labeled "faith" does not make it off limits.

Same goes for religious people saying that they think atheists are wrong/ stupid/going to burn on a lake of fire for all eternity. Have at it, sez I.

[Warpy]

33. Nothing looks sillier tha somebody else's religion

It's wiser to pick your fights carefully for time and place. Pissing off good people because of something that makes them feel safe during a long and lonely night is not a good policy. You can let your hair down with fellow atheists, but it's wiser not to go out of your way to alienate the majority.

[Arugula Latte]

47. So how do you feel about people who are evangelists, religious people who go door-to-door,

missionaries, Church signs that condemn non-believers to Hell, public prayers at large events, and the like? Is that all fine and dandy because it's under the protective umbrella of "faith"?

[Warpy]

52. I was a night nurse. I chased the door knockers off over a decade

ago. Signs sending me to hell don't bother me because I've never seen any real indication there is one to send me to. Most people make their heaven or hell right here on earth and the churches seem to be full of the ones who want their hell.

Of course if anybody tells me to my face I'm going to hell, I tell them "I knew god was dead, but I hadn't realized you'd gotten his job! Congratulations!" While they're rebooting, I make a clean getaway. No one has ever tried it twice.

[Arugula Latte]

56. I guess I'm wondering why it's always okay for religious people to express their beliefs

but atheists are routinely told to keep it under wraps (even here on DU) because it's unseemly and offensive to people even to hear the mere mention of a different way of looking at things. Even an atheist ad in a bus is too much for people because it's "militant."

[Warpy]

59. I'm "out" on DU and ready to correct their misconceptions

I don't want to deconvert any of them. It just not my job.

[SammyWinstonJack]

53. ...

[NightWatcher]

6. Because the nasty atheists are just as bad as the nasty Christians?

I'm so sick of the race to find equivalence where there is none.

[trotsky]

7. Yeah, you know, they're just two sides of the same coin.

The nasty Christians pass laws that restrict everyone's rights, promote hatred and bigotry, and murder abortion doctors.

The nasty atheists, uhh, well they write books and give speeches and sometimes they'll post "Religion is silly!" on the Internet.

Totally the same!

[Whisp]

8. +++

[Arugula Latte]

13. And the billboards! Don't forget the billboards! And bus ads!

That is rubbing it in people's noses! And it's MILITANT!

[HarveyDarkey]

37. + 1,000

[Throd]

50. Atheist governments have done some horrific shit.

The 20th century contained a few communist regimes that had no problem murdering or imprisoning several million people who ascribed to a religious faith.

Even today, in North Korea, being caught with religious items will get you sent to a prison camp where you will starve to death.

I'm an atheist, but let's not re-write history so that only the god-believers are the bad guys.

[hrmjustin]

55. Yes some people forget that.

[trotsky]

60. You do realize those were Communist governments run by dictators, right?

Who killed and imprisoned not because people weren't atheists (in reality, they killed and imprisoned atheists too), but because of the threat to their power?

If they killed in the name of atheism, or because they were atheists, I'd like to know why they also killed atheists.

No one is rewriting history here except those who want to equate extremist religious fundamentalists with "rude" atheists who call religion "silly."

[SammyWinstonJack]

54. heh. bazinga!

[hrmjustin]

9. I think respect is important.

But we should always challenge our beliefs.

[cordelia]

14. You won't get it here. Check out the responses thus far. n/t

And, yes, we should always challenge our beliefs. I always have, and will continue to.

[Arugula Latte]

15. "Have respect!" often translates to: "Shut the f@#$ up!"

Many people were recently accused of bigotry, for example, for pointing out that the Catholic Church is a homophobic and misogynistic institution, which it of course is.

I like a healthy debate, myself.

[hrmjustin]

16. Well when I said respect it did not mean shut up.

[kentauros]

21. My interpretation of your post

is that we should respect the person and their emotions (that includes their emotional attachment to their beliefs), whether we respect their beliefs or not.

I know those that love to mock and belittle don't seem to care about emotional harm. That just fuels their lust for mocking all the more. It's quite sad, really.

[hrmjustin]

23. Yes! I always try to show respect but I sometimes fall short.

I wish people would realize here that not all Christians are bigots.

[hrmjustin]

19. What bothers me is when people think all Christians are bigoted.

[cordelia]

26. You find a LOT of that here.

It's insufferable and accomplishes absolutely nothing. Unless one considers rancor an accomplish.

I like to hear ideas from many sources, but a lot of what we see here is amounts to - you are a stupid fucking moron for believing as you do.

Doesn't really promote healthy discourse.

Of course it is just as bad when so-called Christians announce that those who don't believe as they do will burn in a Lake of Fire for all eternity. Ridiculous.

That would (and does) piss me off as much.

[hrmjustin]

30. I really don't believe in hell.

But yes it is just as annoying when people say you are going to burn in hell, yet I don't see that happening on DU much. I have been ridiculed for believing here.

[immoderate]

34. A Christian who believes he gets preferential treatment from a supreme being...

Is bigoted, wouldn't you say?

--imm

[hrmjustin]

35. If you mean that if a Christian believes that God only loves Christians I would say yes.

But not all Christians believe that.

[immoderate]

39. According to doctrine, god can love you -- and send you to hell.

Rules is rules.

Liberal Christians make up their own rules, and it's different.

--imm

[hrmjustin]

40. Christians whether liberal or conservative have been interpeting Christianity there own way for

2000 years.

[immoderate]

41. Well it's all make believe, but we pretend it's real.

That leads to problems, right?

--imm

[hrmjustin]

42. You can believe it is all make believe all you want. I do not.

My being a Christian has never bothered anyone else nor should it.

[immoderate]

43. But you can't say that about Christians in general.

They want to make sure we are all creationists. Or they want to give cover to those who do.

--imm

[hrmjustin]

45. Maybe the Christians you know but not the ones I know.

[Hydra]

44. As long as you're not bothering someone by being "Christian," there shouldn't be an issue

The problem comes when people do bother/harrass/kill other people out of religious beliefs. At that point, yes, you are fair game. If you are going it as a group, like the Mormons and Prop 8, you are also fair game.

[hrmjustin]

46. Sure I am gay and I always challenge people who think it is a sin.

[snooper2]

17. Trying to educate people via science is okay

When did Voyager pass by heaven again?

Is Jesus made up of matter?

[hrmjustin]

18. Jesus was matter like you and I.

[snooper2]

22. well, if he really lived, when he died he want back into the earth

just like all things that die do..

So some of the atoms that were in jesus are in some trees, dirt, and a currently a crow who ate part of a dead cat who had eaten a mouse that fed off some bread that was grown in the dirt where he was buried

[hrmjustin]

24. That is one thought. I elieve he rose again and he rose to heaven. I don't know what happened to

his atoms.

[snooper2]

25. where is heaven?

you know how stars work?

You do realize you are literally made up of star dust that is billions of years old brought together by solar winds after the explosion of a supernova.



Isn't that incredible enough instead of believing in mythical gods that you can't see/hear/smell/see/touch (with all of our modern technology)

[hrmjustin]

27. I prefer to believe in God. Where heaven is I do not know, but I don't think it is in this universe.

[snooper2]

28. I'm sorry

Check out "Through the Wormhole" with Morgan Freeman...good stuff!

[hrmjustin]

31. I have it is a great show!

[Marr]

20. Mocking people who deny evolution is not even remotely like being a homophobe.

We don't have to respect ridiculous beliefs just because some people hold them dear. The real world is not built upon belief and opinion.

[Zoeisright]

29. Wrong.

Religion needs to be shamed, because it is the cause of most of the anguish and suffering on this earth. Religion gets a pass for some stupid reason.

[hrmjustin]

32. Religion does not get a pass here. I get ridiculed at times for believing.

Yes I agree religion needs to be challenged, but not all believers are bigots or are they causing anguish or suffering.

[Nye Bevan]

48. Certain religions certainly do cause anguish and suffering.

Like on April 15 in Boston.

[Just Saying]

51. I agree that bullying and shaming based on beliefs is wrong.

My problem is with those who choose to legislate their beliefs thereby forcing them on us. I have my personal beliefs but I believe in science and freedom when it comes to government.

[Egalitarian Thug]

58. The 'h' is always lower case.

[YeahSureRight]

61. I do not care for religion at all but others do

that is ok as long as YOUR religion stays in your home, place of religion and PRIVATE Property, when a religious person tries to use their religion as part of Public Law or put it in the public schools or on public property then I will attack you like a rabid pit bull.

Bottom line keep your religion to YOURSELF and OUT of the secular world.

The religious need to stop getting in peoples face with their nonsense, yes it is nonsense to me, not everyone gives a crap about being saved. Besides it is not very bright getting in peoples faces with your religion unless of course your goal is a potential express ride to your afterlife.

Bottom line shut your mouth about religion in public and if YOU do that We* atheists will leave you alone and not even give a shit about you.

* Not the royal We I was only speaking for myself but I know others who feel the same way but do not post here.

[99Forever]

63. Piffle.

You drag your silly belief in magic into the public square, you get what you deserve.

No free passes for the gullible.

[backscatter712]

64. Accusing atheists of be in league with Demons of Evil and formenting hate is not okay.

It's one thing to criticize. As others have pointed out, as an atheist, I believe that nothing, including religion should be immune to criticism.

But as an atheist, the worst part is those people who seem to think that you're all of the sudden the spawn of Satan, that you're EEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL for not believing, and thus attack and ostracise atheists.

You wonder about all those "angry atheists"? Well, when shit like that happens, they're right to be angry.

[Iggo]

65. But it is silly.

And they should be shamed for their homophobia (among other things).

It is okay to do that. And I'll keep doing that.

It's a two-way street now, boys. Better toughen up.