Why do atheists care about the beliefs of others?

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religious people ARE annoyed when being confronted with atheism, and then they usually act intolerant by preaching nonsense and trying to convince and to convert… and that's exactly why atheists react in the first place.

i don't suffer from seeing a building… i merely show you that religion is omnipresent in the atheists life, wether (s)he suffers from it or not.

show me the equivalent atheistic presence that would warrant intolerance from religious people...

show me the signs, the buildings, the clothes, the sounds, the books, the laws, the whatever you can find that points out atheists. you probably can't.

so how can anybody religious be confronted by atheism and get annoyed?? … only by annoying the atheists themselves by forcing it in their face 24/7.

That almost never happens in my experience. Aside from the very occasional times I get Jehovah's Witnesses coming to my door, I've literally never, in my own life, seen a religious person start preaching, start trying to convert, etc, on being told that someone's an atheist. On the other hand, I've seen atheists try to convert religious people numerous times. I've twice seen a friend of mine actually get angry about the religious, creationist beliefs of an associate. Just my own experience there.


One reason why you don't have that "atheistic presence" is because atheism isn't a belief system; it's just a lack of belief in deities. What would an "atheist building" even be? What would be interesting would be to see churches and signs and gospel songs and such promoting "secular humanism" or "rational skepticism" or whatever you want to call it. I know that Dan Dennett has suggested developing such things. I wouldn't bother taking part, as I don't really consider myself part of that movement either, but it'd be interesting to see what impact they have.

I don't think people should keep their beliefs to themselves. What a very boring world that would be.

I'll translate your post into a similar post, but through my perspective. See if this helps cross a bridge to understanding one another's world view.

Why even bother educating people about reality? Sometimes I wonder if it really matters or not, or if I should just let people carry around misunderstandings, lies, and false information their whole lives. I know why the religious zealots try to infect other people with their delusions, because their delusional understanding of reality demands it of them. If they think there is a monster under everyone's bed, they rightly are going to try to convince people this to be true, else the monsters are going to get everyone. But why would I, who am free of this compulsory need to convert, even bother trying to free others from the grip of insanity? Well, I suppose since beliefs do matter, and have very real consequences in the world, because the beliefs people hold informs their decisions. And since I have a modicum of education about how religions in power enact "judgment" on the unbeliever... I might just want to do something positive for the sake of all mankind and speak up every now and then. I mean, just because I've been fired before for being an atheist, or that I've had people dismiss me as a scoundrel, worse than a pathetic mongrel on the street... simply for not having any religious preference... why on earth would that make me think it'd be really awesome if there weren't more non-believers? Enough so, that maybe it would be socially acceptable to have no faith, and that religious persecution for being non-religious was a non issue? Would be weird if I thought that, I guess. It'd be even weirder to genuinely care that other people are basing their actions on reality too. That since I believed people only get one fairly short shot at life, of existence of any kind, that it would be such a shame to not try to help people experience life for what it REALLY is, and not some delusional fairly tale crap that was spoon fed to them to ensure they didn't have to face any of the harder truths in the world we REALLY live in. And it'd be REALLY insane of me to just get frustrated by the fact that the MAJORITY of the members of my species are bat-shit insane... are completely disconnected with reality, and a good portion of THEM are obsessed with the freaking apocalypse. Because we all know, fanatical religious zealots never do anything psychotic to force crazy religious prophecies to actually happen for real...

So, yeah, can't think of anything off the top of my head.

One person's "reality" is another person's hidebound adherence to only what is already proven fact, never bothering to look beyond their own nose. It would be a sad world if no one had ever questioned what they already knew of reality and bothered to explore, experiment, see if there was more to it.

That said, that exploration and questioning is not what organized religion does either. Being spiritually minded isn't a problem. Being cemented to a particular belief system and building a fortress of dogma around that is just as problematic as only believing what is proven.

To me, dogmatic or fundamentalist religion and proof-dependent atheism are two sides of the same coin. A refusal to consider other possibilities and the unknown.

I agree with Blue Abyss and a few others on this post. It brings light to a very real subject.
Nobody, (Including myself) likes to be told their wrong, "Going to burn in Hell" or Delusional and Ignorant.

I find it sometimes humorous to think that some Atheist preach upon seeing "All sides of the issue" and shocked to find that other "sides" of the issue exist, or could possibly exist. I am also equally humored when I hear fellow "Christians" make that claim as well and resort to that.

The point I am making is; No matter your religious or "Non-religious" affiliation, we sometimes equally mis-communicate our original thought.
What "We" as a group should try to do is to reach some common ground. "We" are too busy fighting each other over our views that both parties, both Religious and Non-religious look like a**-holes in the end! We both look equally Ignorant!

Best Regards,

Jake

You haven't seen many religious people then. If a person doesn't see their chosen path as the path to salvation, however they seem the term, why would they continue to pursue it? The difference here is between believing there's no desired outcome outside their church of choice and wishing exquisite eternal torture to others. The latter is indeed a sad sight to experience, but if somebody tries to convert you that's a good sign they rather wish to prevent it. I do appreciate it and never brush such people off - though I do have some books on my shelves as a result, ones I might never get around to reading, I fear.

You should get out more. The Fundies loves to go about trying to convert people to their beliefs... The most energetic conversion movement in the Western world is being carried out by the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS (Mormons).

In the wide world, Muslims are the most energetic and the more radical Muslims do not fool around. convert or die is their rule of operation.

ruveyn

I have lost more than one friend when they found out that I'm a skeptic, before I ever got to the idea of being a pantheist/atheist. I have also been proselytized at by more than one Christian.

Atheist bilboards are vandalized whenever they are put up (and billboard companies often refuse to put them up); religious billboards almost never are (and are much more frequent).


I agree - but I also think that people should bang their ideas about religion, and about other things, together and see which ideas are stronger. That's part of why I hang out here on PPR.

Why should they pursue a path they don't see as the one and only path? Because it suits them as an individual. There's no better reason in the Universe.

There may indeed be one true path for each person, and that means there could be over 7 billion true paths, all of them fascinating to those who follow them.

What I've learned, walking a personal path, is that the most interesting paths aren't straight lines. It's okay to change course, to realize something I believed in the past wasn't right and to turn, to walk a path that winds and traverses a changing landscape. That's what makes life interesting.

Last edited by BlueAbyss on 30 Dec 2012, 5:21 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Such nice, considerate people for giving us a choice. Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

The Jews have a good idea of what religion is.

Take care of your family.

Do activities that are community involved AND fun.

Prat of no more torture of your own people as well as others religions.


I know the Jews are responsible for Jesus' crucifix action, but to them...he wasn't the son of god.


To answer the OPs question: I only know of one Athiest, and he's a nice guy...I don't see religion as a side to choose and stick with...I see them all as the same story told differently in accordance to the race in that specific region. Asians see gods as harmonious, peaceful guys...Europeans see god as a robed old aged man with a long beard, Afrikaans see god in many different ways. I think religion is a story told in different ways and ideals.

It was the Romans. And besides 90 percent of the Jews at that time did not live in Philistea. Most dwelt further east in what is now Syria, Iraq and Iran and they did not even know what Jesus was doing in the Galil.

ruveyn

Oxymoron.

I was working today and I had thought come to mind.

If the definition of a religion is something you practice and adhere to,
then, someone who practices Atheism would therefore make them a religious Atheist.

If someone who practices Atheism religiously, found others who shared the same views and values, they could make a group.
If the group of people who practice Atheism religiously, found others who shared the same values and expanded their group, they could make a following.
If the group expanded more and more, it would be eventually become a religion, based upon the number of followers.

If the definition of religion is adhering to a set of dogmatic values, then would not Atheism be under that list? I understand the values may be subjective, but they are there and to some Atheist, unquestionable. The values may not be instilled by a "Creator" but they are subjectively adhered to.

So, if the definition of a religion is something you practice that has a set of dogmatic values, then Atheism is a religion.

Best Regards,

Jake

I do think atheism can be (and often is) religious, such as some of the Eastern spiritual systems where god is absent and replaced by another concept. So not exactly in the way you outline.

What does it mean to adhere to a non-belief? Atheism has no customs. No celebrations. No rituals. No meetings. No gatherings. Atheists do not impose their beliefs on others nor do they proselytize. A person is an atheist relative to god X if he does not believe god X exists for want of evidence that god X exists.

Atheism is the antithesis of religion.

ruveyn