The atheists I've met have all had way too much anger and pent up rage. They are typically scientist types or other highly schooled (PhDs) people who think that because they've spent many late nights studying their textbooks in school, somehow they also know about God and other unrelated things. That's particularly rich, since the PhDs I know have spent their lives totally consumed by their studies which makes them pretty ignorant about the rest of the world.
You're trying too hard, but I'll clarify anyway. Pushy and Condescending: People who spout their unsolicited views at others they disagree with, while ridiculing the opposing viewpoint, in an attempt to make those people feel inferior, or to bolster their own sense of self.
In nearly all of these atheist v. religion threads, the irony is that both sides end up sounding exactly the same in their dogmatic rigid intolerance of each other.
Just throwing this out there...How many people on this forum actually used these threads to either search for an existence of a God or disprove of one...my guess is zero. Secondly, speaking from a Christian point of view, Christianity as seen by most Americans today isn't what is practiced by millions around the world...you know the ones that go door to door, and condemn mankind at every opportunity they get... These often are the most despised and hated; they have become the reference point for Christian bashing.
This is kind of old, but maybe a decent reminder: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422 This was 2006, right on the cusp of the end of post-9/11 anti-Muslim trauma, and the only group significantly more distrusted than Musilms by Americans is Athiests. In light of this, I think a little public outreach work is a damn good idea for the atheists. [rquoter] Who's Counting: Distrusting Atheists Given the increasing religiosity of American culture, it's perhaps not too surprising that a new study out this month finds that Americans are not fond of atheists and trust them less than they do other groups. The depth of this distrust is a bit astonishing nonetheless. More than 2,000 randomly selected people were interviewed by researchers from the University of Minnesota. Asked whether they would disapprove of a child's wish to marry an atheist, 47.6 percent of those interviewed said yes. Asked the same question about Muslims and African-Americans, the yes responses fell to 33.5 percent and 27.2 percent, respectively. The yes responses for Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and conservative Christians were 18.5 percent, 18.5 percent, 11.8 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. When asked which groups did not share their vision of American society, 39.5 percent of those interviewed mentioned atheists. Asked the same question about Muslims and homosexuals, the figures dropped to a slightly less depressing 26.3 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively. For Hispanics, Jews, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, they fell further to 7.6 percent, 7.4 percent, 7.0 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The study contains other results, but these are sufficient to underline its gist: Atheists are seen by many Americans (especially conservative Christians) as alien and are, in the words of sociologist Penny Edgell, the study's lead researcher, "a glaring exception to the rule of increasing tolerance over the last 30 years." Edgell also maintains that atheists seem to be outside the limits of American morality, which has largely been defined by religion. Many of those interviewed saw atheists as cultural elitists, amoral materialists, or given to criminal behavior or drugs. She states, "Our findings seem to rest on a view of atheists as self-interested individuals who are not concerned with the common good." Of course, it should go without saying, but won't, that belief in God isn't at all necessary to have a keen ethical concern for others. The study will appear in the April issue of the American Sociological Review and is co-written by assistant professor Joseph Gerteis and associate professor Doug Hartmann. [I cut the article off here, because it goes in a different direction. If you really want to read the rest, it is at the link] [/rquoter]
"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. "
Come to my atheist booth and talk about pizza, movies, girls or anything really. Just don't talk about Gods because we are atheists and we don't go for that sort of thing.
I think America's religiosity is declining imo. Agnosticism is the new normal in my social circle. If you take the poll again, the number should be noticeably lower. 8 years ago, during the Bush administration, the mood in the air was a mix of Main Street Americana and southern, evangelical Christianity. Now, it's very different. The people who matter in the long-term, the under-35 crowd, are increasingly opposed to organized religion yet still spiritual.
But just imagine if it was a Muslim booth. Something both atheists and Christians could stand together and not enjoy seeing during memorial day....
Interesting. Most of the ones I have met are burnouts who deem themselves atheists to seem smarter due to their lack of a real education. They may watch richard dawkins videos on youtube, but don't know much. I guess it takes Alkynes to make a world.
Neither would have a problem. Considering both support capitalism and trying to turn a profit. In the case of it being a Muslim booth, well atheists don't believe in religion, and well Christians are the "real" religion. You see, we can all unite towards a common goal. Just have to find a common enemy.
