8 Things People Need to Stop Saying To Atheists

[Overthrow]

This is a list from my personal experience talking to Christians. I'm from the United States, so Christians are who I typically talk to. They make up anywhere from 75% of the population all the way to 95% depending on which country you're in. I have spoken to those of other faiths, but they haven't given me any reason to talk about religion outside of learning about theirs.

So, without further ado:

Atheists are Satan worshipers.

Atheism is a lack of belief in gods or gods. That means that we don't believe anything supernatural about any religion. That includes Satan, and any other mythical bad(?) guy from any other religion. We can't worship something we don't believe in.

Atheist hate God!

Need I say more?

Atheists have no morals.

No, we actually just try to be as good as we can be all by ourselves. We simply don't need the threat of being tortured for all of eternity in order to help old ladies across the street, give to charity, or help our siblings with their homework... It's really that simple. We grow up and learn to treat others the way we would like to be treated. No gods required.

Atheists can't prove god doesn't exist.

I'll just leave that there. Insert anything you want in there. Unicorns, Centaurs, Flying Spaghetti Monster, all the other religions of the world that you don't believe in... yeah, works for all of em.

What if you're wrong...

What if you're wrong? There's roughly 4,200 religions right now that we know of. Adherents of other religions believe in their gods just as sincerely and fervently as you believe in yours and most of them have mythology to back their god. How do you know you haven't been praying to the wrong god this whole time and you aren't just pissing off the real one?

Atheists never believed in god to begin with.

Yes, there are some atheists that never had a religious upbringing and never believed in any gods ever. But most atheists were raised in and believed in one religion or another. Most atheists in America were baptized, accepted Jesus, believed in the resurrection, and genuinely believed in the doctrines of Christianity.

The problem comes when you study the scripture so much that you begin to see the contradictions in it. You begin to pick out parts where the scripture claims the earth is flat, stars don't move, the moon is just a light. Just red flag after red flag that this religion is nothing more than ancient myths made to govern an ancient culture and explain things about the world that they had no way of explaining at the time.

Atheists haven't read the bible.

Yes, we have. It's ridiculous, and immoral, and unbelievable, and has no basis in the real world whatsoever. Reading your creation myths, and the stories of a frankly evil god that helped one ancient tribe survive, and the story of Jesus and the resurrection and all the filler in between isn't convincing. And before you tell me cool Jesus ain't about that life, I suggest you read, Matthew 5:18-19, Luke 16:17, Matthew 5:17, John7:19, and honestly if you've read through the whole thing yourself, you would know that Jesus not only approves of the atrocities described in the Old Testament, but says all it's laws are still in effect.

Here's a question for you. Have you read the texts of other religions? You deem it fit to dismiss them and then tell me I only dismiss your religion because you think I haven't read the bible. Go ahead. Pick em up. And while you're at it, read up on some books by atheist authors.

Atheism is a religion.

Atheist have no uniform beliefs other than a complete lack of belief in any gods. Outside of our disbelief in gods, we differ on most everything. Atheism has no scripture. Atheism has no (serious) church. Atheism has no rituals. And most importantly atheism has absolutely zero belief in any superhuman controlling entity that created the universe and everything in it, that cares about the every day goings-on of humans, that answers prayers. Atheism is a religion just like off is TV station, abstinence is a sex position, not collecting stamps is a hobby, and bald is a hair color. By definition, it is not a religion.

Theism - ˈTHēˌizəm/noun: belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in one god as creator of the universe, intervening in it and sustaining a personal relation to his creatures.

Atheism - ˈāTHēˌizəm/noun: disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.

Thank you for reading! Hopefully I cleared up some misconceptions you may have had.

[RedThread]

As an atheist I've heard most of these things from people. Many times it's random and I don't even have to start the conversation. It's interesting because people usually think of atheists or nonbelievers as total assholes or angry or unaccepting, but I can think of no religious disagreements I've had offline that weren't first brought up by someone else. There have been polls in the US surrounding groups we distrust the most and atheists are on par with rapists. Being thought of as morally equivalent to a rapist is incredibly disconcerting considering atheists are one of the least represented groups in US prison populations. It's either atheists are the shit at concealing our rape, murder, and virgin sacrifice to Satan or we just aren't doing those things all that much lol

It's just tiring having to defend your character to people who don't know much about you except for the fact that you're an atheist. You're always on defense.

That's pretty much the thing that bothers me the most. People treat you like a poor lost soul or a danger to society specifically for being an atheist. It's something I feel like I have to hide especially in certain circles. You kind of have to pretend to do the religious ceremonies of those around you to avoid conflict and condemnation. It's also socially acceptable for old family members to try to convert you at every turn, but if I was to actually try to have a civil discussion with them about philosophy or reasons I don't believe in their particular belief system, I'd be regulated to asshole atheist status. Hell, half of them who have tried to convert me probably don't even know much about philosophy or religions outside of their own.

[Overthrow]

"It's either atheists are the shit at concealing our rape, murder, and virgin sacrifice to Satan or we just aren't doing those things all that much lol"

You forgot eating babies... Some people think we eat babies. When we actually just sit around and talk about space n shit

[RedThread]

Hey eating babies is the biggest perk

[ginny_weasley]

I totally agree. Just yesterday, a Christian tried explaining morals to me and how society doesn't follow them, but they should because the bible says so. I ended up telling him I am an atheist not a murderous vampire and that was the end of the conversation. I actually was a Christian at one time, but I converted and this is true for many other atheists.

[Overthrow]

*De-converted. :-)

[ginny_weasley]

I guess you can say de-converted. 😀 I must say it's been liberating as I became more open-minded and started doing things that the Christian faith didn't approve of, I was constantly wondering, "is it okay to do this? Is it okay to do that?" To say it's been liberating is an understatement.

[Overthrow]

I remember wondering if I was going to go to hell if I cursed. Indoctrination is a vicious thing and yes, it is so SO liberating to let go and learn about the world and the universe and life completely untethered from any doctrines that require you to believe things one way and one way only.

[Love_Is_Eternal]

Yes, liberated to sin and live a selfish life.

[ginny_weasley]

@Love_Is_Eternal no liberated because I could love my gay friends and support their right for marriage, eat shellfish, believe in science etc. if that's sinning then so be it.

[Love_Is_Eternal]

You could still love your gay friends as a Christian. Hate the sin but not the sinner. Once you reject God as the authority and His commandments then you are left to your own morality, and that's why the world is full of hate, suffering, misery etc because the majority of people in the world refuse to keep God's commandments. I find that atheists support immorality.

[Love_Is_Eternal]

Atheists also indoctrinate others.

[ginny_weasley]

@Love_Is_Eternal I don't need god. Many Christians love their gay friends but they don't support their lifestyle. Which is redundant, if you don't support someone's lifestyle yet you say you love them, you're lying to yourself.

[Love_Is_Eternal]

Not at all. If you had a child and your child lived a sexually immoral lifestyle, you would still love them even if you disagreed with their lifestyle. I have no problem with people being atheists. But what I don't like is when atheists misrepresent our beliefs and tell lies.

[ginny_weasley]

@Love_Is_Eternal I don't want kids. Maybe I just know bad Christians.

[Love_Is_Eternal]

I never said you did want kids, I said IF.

[goaded]

@Love_Is_Eternal "Atheists also indoctrinate others."

When was the last time one of them knocked on your door?

[Love_Is_Eternal]

@goaded They don't have to

[btbc92]

While I understand many of your points, but you also seem to have a misunderstanding with Christians in general. Your making it out like its every Christian or a person who believes in God is like this.

1. Atheist Worships Satan: Not exactly. Doing sin in general worships Satan because it is not of God. By humans being underneath the subjection of sin, we fall short of God's glory everyday. This also applies to Christians as well as ALL human beings. There are those who do sin deliberately knowing that it is, and those who don't know.

2. Atheist Hate God!: There are people who I met who are atheist or claimed to be so that did hate God. Some didn't know why, but they do. And then there is those who did know God, had a relationship with him. And just like a dating relationship broke up with God and abandoned him to living a sinful life. If you don't hate God because you don't believe in him, it doesn't account for ALL Atheist either. If seen plenty of other Atheist who hate on each other just like other Christians who do the same. Especially carnal ones.

3. Atheists have no morals: There is Godliness and ungodliness in all people. It doesn't mean all Atheist lack morals. I know and have friends who are non believers who have great morals because of how they were raised and taught. Its not that people need God for that. But God is already working through people.

4. Atheists can't prove god doesn't exist: The fact is this debate has been going for so many generations its not even funny. God is not concerned about people who wants to disprove his existence. He is concerned about people who wants to get to know him. He already knows what kind of person who believes this are. So if you have to drive yourself crazy to convince a group of people he doesn't exist, your wasting your time. I'm not going to care what science has to say about this topic, I just laugh at those who is trying to prove that he doesn't exist.

5. What if you're wrong...: Religion is about confusion. In fact, God has never said to create a religion. He makes it clear that there is many gods, many Jesus', and of course antichrists. If your heart is not in the right place, of course you can be praying to something else. But its not about making God angry. Prayer is powerful, even science have proven that. But you also need discernment. Which a lot of people, Christians and all don't have.

6. Atheists never believed in god to begin with: This is far from the truth is right. However.

[btbc92]

God's word and commandments does not have contradictions. What the problem is that the original texts was in Aramaic [which is considered a dead language as old latin], Latin and Ancient Greek. Every time the bible gets retranslated, they add in words, omit things, and make it very confusing that people don't even know what their reading. It was done intentionally by the ones who mass produced and translated the scriptures. Some Christians knows this, but many do not. Some don't even bother to care to look it up. Others are just simply carnal minded.

7. Atheists haven't read the bible: That I know to be very ignorant. Because there is many scholars who are Atheist and knows the Bible better than I do. But again this is your belief. Can't tell you what to believe or don't believe.

8. Atheism is a religion: This is basically true in many ways. Anything that is against his design for humanity and a belief system overall is a religion. Money, Idols [Actors, Musicians, Artist, etc]

[Overthrow]

This is a long post and I'll reply in full later. Let me make a quick points for the time being. I didn't mean for anything to come across as a generalisation. People are people and we're all flawed no matter what side of any argument we fall on. I know that some of these points do apply to some atheists. But, they are a minority in the atheist community. Just as the christians I am speaking of don't speak for all christians. If you want you can follow me and I'll follow back and we can message about this stuff at times when it's more convenient or just reply when there's time okay? :-)

[btbc92]

@Overthrow Not a problem. When I will get the chance I will. I'm very busy and worn out, I have been overworking myself for months since losing two love ones in less than a year. And yes I understand what your saying, that is why I pointed it out.

[Overthrow]

First and foremost, I'm sorry for your losses.

If I misunderstand you, please tell me.

"Atheist Worships Satan: Not exactly. Doing sin in general worships Satan because it is not of God. By humans being underneath the subjection of sin, we fall short of God's glory everyday. This also applies to Christians as well as ALL human beings. There are those who do sin deliberately knowing that it is, and those who don't know. "

This is only true according to christian doctrine. I do not believe in any gods. That means that I don't believe in any other figure from the mythology of any religion. Therefore the so called "sins" are subject to criticism. Especially when working on Sunday is a sin and if you rape someone you simply owe 50 shekels to the father. Or when worshiping false idols is a commandment yet if your child disobeys you it's okay to take him to the town center and all the men can stone the child to death. I find christian morals to be quite questionable.

[Overthrow]

"Atheist Hate God!: There are people who I met who are atheist or claimed to be so that did hate God. Some didn't know why, but they do. And then there is those who did know God, had a relationship with him. And just like a dating relationship broke up with God and abandoned him to living a sinful life. If you don't hate God because you don't believe in him, it doesn't account for ALL Atheist either. If seen plenty of other Atheist who hate on each other just like other Christians who do the same. Especially carnal ones."

We already covered that I didn't mean to generalize and that we both understand that there's good and bad on both sides. I believe both sides work hard on getting eachother to be able to discuss things politely and intelligently. I'm confused a little here because your other point is that atheists hate on eachother. Can you explain what atheists hating eachother has to do with Atheists hating or not hating god?

[Overthrow]

"Atheists have no morals: There is Godliness and ungodliness in all people. It doesn't mean all Atheist lack morals. I know and have friends who are non believers who have great morals because of how they were raised and taught. Its not that people need God for that. But God is already working through people."

I agree with you mostly on this. I don't agree that god is working through people. I don't agree that any gods exist.

[Overthrow]

"Atheists can't prove god doesn't exist: The fact is this debate has been going for so many generations its not even funny. God is not concerned about people who wants to disprove his existence. He is concerned about people who wants to get to know him. He already knows what kind of person who believes this are. So if you have to drive yourself crazy to convince a group of people he doesn't exist, your wasting your time. I'm not going to care what science has to say about this topic, I just laugh at those who is trying to prove that he doesn't exist."

The adherents of any religion are the ones making the claim that a god exists. Atheists don't have to prove anything. I and other atheists simply ask to be shown empirical verifiable evidence of any god or god. The moment that is done, we will believe in said god.

Science and most atheists aren't out trying to disprove any god. As time goes on new discoveries are made leaving less room for primitive gods.

[Overthrow]

"What if you're wrong...: Religion is about confusion. In fact, God has never said to create a religion. He makes it clear that there is many gods, many Jesus', and of course antichrists. If your heart is not in the right place, of course you can be praying to something else. But its not about making God angry. Prayer is powerful, even science have proven that. But you also need discernment. Which a lot of people, Christians and all don't have."

It doesn't matter what god said. It doesn't matter how many gods are claimed to exist. There is no empirical evidence for any god or gods.

Science has actually proven through double blind testing that prayer is actually no more effective than a placebo.
Templeton Foundation Prayer Study
mobile.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html
So, I can't agree with you on that either.

[Overthrow]

Atheists never believed in god to begin with: This is far from the truth is right. However God's word and commandments does not have contradictions. What the problem is that the original texts was in Aramaic [which is considered a dead language as old latin], Latin and Ancient Greek. Every time the bible gets retranslated, they add in words, omit things, and make it very confusing that people don't even know what their reading. It was done intentionally by the ones who mass produced and translated the scriptures. Some Christians knows this, but many do not. Some don't even bother to care to look it up. Others are just simply carnal minded."

I don't agree with you that the scripture does not contrdict itself. I think you should re-examine (no offense) but it's littered with contradictions. Also even if we read the very first bible, all the events that happened (?) were recorded 30-90 years after the fact from stories told by word of mouth. The scripture is unbelievable and unreliable.

[Overthrow]

"Atheists haven't read the bible: That I know to be very ignorant. Because there is many scholars who are Atheist and knows the Bible better than I do. But again this is your belief. Can't tell you what to believe or don't believe."

I agree with all but the last 2 sentences. I don't disagree either, I'm just confused. I don't believe that atheists haven't read the bible. That's just the section heading.

[Overthrow]

"Atheism is a religion: This is basically true in many ways. Anything that is against his design for humanity and a belief system overall is a religion. Money, Idols [Actors, Musicians, Artist, etc]"

This is not true in any way. That is your definition of a belief. Atheism is not a belief system. It is by definition, a lack of belief in god or gods. There is no system of belief in atheism.

[G-Daz]

Some of these are just too overly sensationalist but you kinda take a very hypocritical approach... Claiming that people shouldn't make these claims about atheists and then misrepresent opposing beliefs

1"Atheists have no morals."
"Good" is a subjective concept. Atheists are generally raised within Christian cultured societies (although the majority of the worlds atheists are in China where that morality is highly questionable) so their concepts of "good" and "bad" are generally speaking non foundational. Inconsistent with the worldview of naturalism. In your attempt at mockery, you presented a highly misconstrude concept of Christian morality... as the common atheistic dismisall presumption goes "you get your morality from a book". Nope... and neither do Christians claim that. They believe in an objective moral law, that every human being (yes EVERY) is made in God's image with an innate moral compass which the atheist equally posses. But atheistic concepts of morality have yet to have a self reflective rational

The rest of the statements really didn't provide much substance for discussion

[rjroy3]

In China, for the most part. There is no good or bad. Only fruitful or unfruitful.

[G-Daz]

@rjroy3 yes, but interestingly China is changing. They have a hugely declining atheist population

[rjroy3]

Curious

[G-Daz]

www.girlsaskguys.com/.../a31455-4-things-atheists-need-to-stop-saying-to-christians

[rjroy3]

@G-Daz

Not even gonna bother reading. I'm not one to play the victim.

[G-Daz]

@rjroy3 ? what are you talking about

[rjroy3]

Agree with all except for the atheism is a religion part. It kind of is for a lot of atheists. It is a variant of the definition, but:

Religion - " an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group "; "
a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance "; " a particular system of faith and worship "

Worship - " adoration or devotion comparable to religious homage, shown toward a person or principle"

The belief is that there is no god, along with the system "Big Bang Theory". Which requires faith because you don't know for sure and it cannot be tested without time travel. And the scientific ideas of evolution are what you worship. The principles of evolution so to speak. There might be variants on what many atheists believe, but that's how it is for different sects of any other religion.

As shitty as it sounds, the only way to not have an atheistic religion is..
1. Don't believe there is a god.
2. Don't give a damn about where it all began and how. Aka, don't perscribe to the Big Bang and evolution as your belief system.
3. Live your life day by day not giving reverence to anything in life to guarantee the lack of worship.

Because humans worship. It's ingrained in us. You're going to worship something. You can choose to worship something or you'll happen upon it naturally. Just because you don't sing and dance to something doesn't mean you don't worship. Hell, even going to a concert and rocking out is a form of worship.

[Phoenix98]

Atheism is a religion.
Ok then you might want to look up Atheist megachurches then and Atheist bible camps then lol because there are quite a few of them around lol.

Atheists can't prove god doesn't exist.
True because they can't prove he doesn't.

Atheist hate God!
Some actually do, not all but some, I've come across them before and others just hate religions and those that practice them so much that they view them as a plague almost there's one atheist who at that point that he's outright threatened to murder all of us if given the chance. Your not all like that of course but some are.

What if you're wrong...
It's a valid question though in our minds it's not a matter of if same in your minds as well.

The rest of your points are valid though to a degree.

Also as for the Unicorn thing there is actual fossil evidence to prove that the Unicorn actually did exist, and it's not a magical creature with powers it's just a flesh and blood animal, in fact there are quite a few scientifically proven to exist animals that it could have been, and it most likely was a horned horse or bull of some kind, there is also a ancient species of rhino that had fur and were horned that could be a candidate.

We're all perfectly able to and is our right to believe in whatever we'd like to believe. But it isn't your right or place to say that what we practice isn't real or right, just like it isn't our place as Christians to say that to you or what you practice, believe or don't believe in is right or wrong.

I personal think it's best for Atheists and Christians to just not mix to easy to blow up into a argument or worse, people get hurt, etc. Just to volatile of a topic to mess with.

[Wolfstarking]

"Atheist mega churches" Lol what a dumbass. Atheism is a religion as much as abstinence is a sex position.

[Phoenix98]

@Wolfstarking I don't have an opinion on them, I'm just saying if it's not a religion like they say it is why are there atheist churches and bible camps.

It's a simple and legitimate question, don't get so triggered by it.

[Elarra]

Your arguments are pretty flimsy and don't really have a lot evidence to support what you're saying. For instance, if you willing commit sins that are laid out in the Bible, have no desire to change your ways, and continue to do them with no remorse, then you are worshiping Satan. That's literally what it means to worship the devil. Also, you called God evil, but before that state He isn't real. But according to your logic, something that isn't real can't be evil, right? Also, loving how you post a picture that insults someone's belief system with the unicorn and fat scripture but pout when someone dares think of Atheism the wrong. Hypocritical. And, to top it off, you ask how do we know if we aren't praying to the wrong God. If you actually (bother) to do any type of research before writing this, you'd know that several religions share the same God as Christianity does, such as Jews and Muslims. They all worship the God of Abraham. And you don't know that you not praying to any god, whether Christian or otherwise, is right or wrong, so your response to that situation is simplistic and therefore cannot be taken seriously.

Also, you left out a definition of a god, which is a person or thing that is worshiped, admired, adored, or overly influential. A god could be a President, CEO, or even a friend or a dog. So, to say Atheists don't believe in the existence of gods is technically wrong. You don't believe in the existence of a supernatural being. So... maybe at least know what Atheism is before schooling other people, will you?

[goaded]

He knows about the God of Abraham (read the bible, remember?)

Where did you get that ridiculous definition of god? Are you saying Trump is equal to the God of Abraham?

This one comes from wiktionary:
God ‎(plural Gods)

An impersonal and universal spiritual presence or force.
creator of the universe (as in deism).
The (personification of the) laws of nature.

[Elarra]

@goaded Merriam Webster: a person or thing of supreme value

Merriam Webster: a powerful ruler

Dictionary. com: (lowercase) an image of a deity; an idol.

Dictionary. com: (lowercase) any deified person or object.

Oxforddictionaries. com: A greatly admired or influential person.

Oxforddictionaries. com: An image, animal, or other object worshipped as divine or symbolizing a god.

Anymore questions?

Also, you didn't read my answer. I never said he didn't know about the God of Abraham. What I said was is that several religions worship the same God so to ask how do I know if mine is right when other religions worship so many different gods is a bit incorrect.

[Overthrow]

"Your arguments are pretty flimsy and don't really have a lot evidence to support what you're saying. For instance, if you willing commit sins that are laid out in the Bible, have no desire to change your ways, and continue to do them with no remorse, then you are worshiping Satan."

I don't need evidence. I'm not the one making the claim. Adherents of the three great monotheistic religions claim that a god exists that created the universe. They claim this deity is an all powerful, all knowing, all benevolent god, that cares about the affairs of mankind. To this I respond, show me verifiable empirical evidence of this god. They can't, because no one can.

That is your definition of a satan worshiper. Satan worship is the worship of satan as a deity. You would be steeped in confirmation bias before you found the definition you're giving.

What you're defining is simply anyone who doesn't adhere to the scripture of the bible.

[Overthrow]

"Also, you called God evil, but before that state He isn't real. But according to your logic, something that isn't real can't be evil, right?"

Something that isn't real can be considered evil, yes. Just like Voldemort in Harry Potter is an evil character, so is the god of the bible. As Richard Dawkins says, "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."

[Overthrow]

"Also, loving how you post a picture that insults someone's belief system with the unicorn and fat scripture but pout when someone dares think of Atheism the wrong."

The picture isn't insulting. There's unicorns in the bible. And giants, and a talking snake, and lots of other unbelievable things. If you think the unicorn is insulting, maybe you need to take a closer look at your bible and think about what you believe.

[Overthrow]

"And, to top it off, you ask how do we know if we aren't praying to the wrong God. If you actually (bother) to do any type of research before writing this, you'd know that several religions share the same God as Christianity does, such as Jews and Muslims. They all worship the God of Abraham. And you don't know that you not praying to any god, whether Christian or otherwise, is right or wrong, so your response to that situation is simplistic and therefore cannot be taken seriously."

If you bothered to do any research you would know that there are thousands of religions in existence with adherents that believe every bit as sincerely in their god as you do in yours.

You're right, I don't know whether any of those thousands of gods are the right ones, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's no way to prove whether any gods are real. Since adherents of the abrahamic religions have failed to produce verifiable empirical evidence of any kind, I reject them.

[Overthrow]

"Also, you left out a definition of a god, which is a person or thing that is worshiped, admired, adored, or overly influential. A god could be a President, CEO, or even a friend or a dog. So, to say Atheists don't believe in the existence of gods is technically wrong. You don't believe in the existence of a supernatural being. So... maybe at least know what Atheism is before schooling other people, will you?"

So you skipped over the first two definitions of god, and then used it to define what atheists don't believe in.

Let me define something for you.

Cherry-pick
verb
gerund or present participle: cherry-picking
1.
selectively choose (the most beneficial items) from what is available.

You don't get to pick and choose the definitions that work best for you.

[somebodysaycheese]

@goaded" God " was never named God. It was the Romans who invaded the religion whom decided to call the god "God" since they beleived in god and godesses. Realize their is a huge 2,000 yr European influence on both abrahamic religions.,. When mosis talked to the burning brush he asked who will i tell them sent me and he said " I am" not God.

[goaded]

@somebodysaycheese So, Moses, having a conversation with a burning bush, never got the name of the entity he was talking to? Who did he say he was sent by?

[Elarra]

@goaded He knew it was God. What she's saying is that God's name was too pure and holy to use thus why many religions today address Him simply as God. God is not a name, but a title. The reason God is capitalized is because it's because He is God and above other gods, idols, and symbols, that's all. Moses knew who he was talking to, he just wasn't going to call him by his true name.

[goaded]

Exactly! We all know what we're talking about when we're talking about disbelief in gods: Jahweh, Apollo, Zeus, Thor, Wodan, Satan and the rest of the gods that are worshipped. The sooner people could stop pretending that we that we must also not believe in nature or Usain Bolt, the better.

[Elarra]

@goaded Well, no, not exactly. Those are supernatural gods but, like I've said, not every god is a supernatural one and those are not the gods of Abraham. Some religions think cats and cows are gods. So people who say you must not believe in nature or the Greek gods aren't wrong because those gods are associated with nature and that is the proof in their minds of their existence.

[somebodysaycheese]

@goaded i just said that. Read what i wrote

[goaded]

I believe in cats, I do not believe they are gods (although cats might).

@somebodysaycheese
I do not believe in gods, that makes me an atheist.
I do not believe Nature or Usain Bolt (or cats, or cows) are gods, so I can still be an atheist while still accepting the existence of nature, Usain Bolt, cats, and cows.

[iOoko]

oh come on! the god decribed by the bible is clearly evil, luckily he doesn't believe in his existence. and a muslim could say that YOU worship the devil by not following islamic rules

[Elarra]

@iOoko You're right, a Muslim can. I never said they couldn't. What I said was is that several religions actually believe in the same being.

Provide an example of how God is evil in the Bible.

[Overthrow]

Killing 42 children for calling a prophet bald. All the genocide. Sodom and Gamorah. Striking Mirium with leprosy because Aaron rebelled against moses. Turning a woman into a pilar of salt for looking at Sodom and Gamorah as they were being destroyed. Killing all Jobs family because he made a bet with the devil. God kills all Egyptian firstborn after purposely hardening Pharoahs heart so he could show off through Moses his strength through plagues that caused further suffering. I mean the bible is chock full of examples of god being downright EVIL. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

[iOoko]

that's what HE said and honestly i do agree ( he killed many people (according to the bible. i don't believe the Deluge and the seven plages of Egypt actually happened)). but my point (and his) was that believing that god as described by the bible is evil and not believing he exists in reality aren't contradictory. for example you probably believe mister hide is evil in the book but don't believe he ever existed in reality. do you understand now? as simple as that. sorry i replied late anyway

[Elarra]

I'll start with the 42 children as you must not know the entire story behind that. First, they told the prophet, who I'm assuming is Elisha because that's the only one I can think of, to go up, or to go heaven, in other words, die, showing malicious intent, or, in other words, mob mentality that is interpreted as intent to cause harm to someone. Also, they weren't children, they were young men. Only the English translations refer to them as children, giving you the picture of 10 and 11 year olds when they were actually adults. Also, they were killed not for calling someone literally bald, but for attacking a prophet a God. Biblically speaking, mocking, insulting, and attacking a prophet of God is the same as attacking the Lord Himself. When attacked or surrounded by a threatening mob, instinct is to go on the defense. And God technically didn't kill those youths, the two bears did.

I can explain all the others if you like, but I ran out space on this comment.

[Overthrow]

And that's not evil to you?

[Elarra]

What, protecting His prophet like He promised? No, it's not lol.

[Overthrow]

God is all powerful, he can do anything. Yet instead of, I don't know moving the children somewhere else, moving the prophet, he instead mauls them all with bears. That's evil.

[Elarra]

It's not evil because it was part of His law. It wasn't a secret. You make it sound like these young men, not children for the last time, had no clue that God was all powerful and wouldn't hesitate to cast judgement, which is the big hole in the story you're leaving out. Those men didn't have to do what they did, but they did it anyway. That's their fault.

[Overthrow]

Doesn't matter. God is can do literally anything. He easily didn't have to kill them.

[Elarra]

The fact that you think law doesn't matter just proves you don't want to learn anything and want to be stuck in your own ways. Follow rules, won't get killed. Don't understand why you can't get that lol.

[Wolfstarking]

I don't believe in sins I believe in abuse and abuse of personal freedom that infringes on somebody else's. Morality is an illusion.

[JenSCDC]

Everyone in this thread seems to be making the same assumption, namely that we can rely on the Bible to tell us the true nature of God.

[Elelei]

Religious people are notoriously uneducated. It's astonishing the basic facts and history and even geography these poor people simply do not know. They are taught to be suspicious of science and knowledge. I think it is a modern form of abuse and hate that should be punished. Certainly children indoctrinated into a religion are suffering child abuse and it should be punished and the children should be removed from that environment. Whether it's the USA or Iran, Pakistan or France, religion is the same, it's a celebration of ignorance and abuse of women and children and positions of power.

[Overthrow]

I agree 100%!

[somebodysaycheese]

uneducated. Did you go to some kind of special school? Otherwise you got the same education that everyone did. lol People who beleive in religion did what you failed to do which is question what you where taught. lol Your intellectually lazy

[Love_Is_Eternal]

Oh the irony

[bbch25]

@somebodysaycheese how did you question... You blindly follow a book with no factual basis other than being old that sky fairies MUST exist... But the people who actually questioned it, are the ones who apparently don't question things and are stupid?

Man you're stupid, and all your other comments.

[somebodysaycheese]

@bbch25 blindly follow? isn't that what your doing. what did you question in school? Or do you beleive everything they told you is factual?
Sky fairies? The ignorant make that statement. this isn't a pegan religion noone ther than the Europeans thought god was in the sky thr jews never did.
I dony blindly follow. You amd i both got first world education difference between us is i question you follow.

[Borginborg]

All hail the flying spaghetti monster! Damb where is my cauldron. Lol
Good myTake. Everyone is allowed their own beliefs and atheists should not be stereotyped by religious individuals that just need to fling mud at others with different views.
That being said my personal choice is to play he safe bet and believe in God, i would rather be safe than sorry. I will also never say someone's religious views or lack of are wrong. Unless you are fanatical christian then I will debate my own beliefs with you any day! I like knocking the wind out of people's sails

[Overthrow]

If you don't mind me asking, do you believe in any specific god? There's been many many religions, so I understand where you're coming from if you're a deist, but not so much if you believe one specific god.

[Borginborg]

I believe in God as in not a diety but as in an omnipresent energy that exists in and around all.

[PrincessofNohr]

Thank you for putting this out there. I've heard these many times as an atheist, and it drives me up a wall. Just because one doesn't believe in a religion doesn't make them an amoral asshole.

Perhaps the one that gets me most is the morals argument. To say one ancient book is the source of all good, especially when said book contains copious violence, rape, and mass genocide, is blind. Sure, that may have been okay 2000 years ago, but much of what it trumpets as right would now be considered egregious. Christians like to get around this by ignoring th Old Testament, but sorry, you can't selectively ignore half of your sacred text out of convenience.

[Overthrow]

Especially when Jesus approves of it all in their own holy text.

[Overthrow]

The only reason christians ignore the old testament is because science dragged them kicking and screaming out of the dark ages. Wasn't too long ago christians were burning "witches" at the steak and slaughtering infidels and heathens.

[Fathoms77]

I'd just like to share a quick piece of wisdom:

The majority of those under a certain age (usually 25 or so) are atheists in modern society. That has been pretty standard for the last quarter-century or so in the U. S. But numbers often show a complete reversal as time goes on; i. e., when these same individuals are polled several decades later, the majority are now believers in some religion or another.

Of course, people can argue that they're just getting closer to death, so people start to believe out of fear. But it's also interesting to note that if you polled young atheists right now, every single one - 100% - would say they will be atheists forever, and the statistics prove precisely the opposite. Just something to chew on. ;)

[nog6422]

No, atheists are not the majority in any age group:
www.pewforum.org/.../

Atheism is rising, especially with young people. Just because you see percentages go down does not mean that group is losing people.

[Fathoms77]

@nog642 That's a tiny sample, so it really doesn't prove much of anything. And I will guarantee that the majority of every college campus (outside of the religious schools, of course) consists of atheists, and of course atheism is rising. It will continue to rise.

[nog6422]

A college campus does not have the same demographics as the entire country.

[Fathoms77]

@nog642 We're rapidly reaching the point where yeah, college campuses are absolutely indicative of the country's population. Only in the deep south will you find young believers outnumbering young atheists. Wander through Times Square and take a poll, if you want.

[nog6422]

College campuses are filled with people that got accepted into college and are therefore probably more educated, and therefore have a higher chance of being atheist.

[Fathoms77]

@nog642 Considering that a ridiculously high percentage of high school graduates attend some form of college, that encompasses a gigantic number of people.

[nog6422]

It's around 66%. That leaves out 34% which is a significant number and could definitely tip a majority.

[somebodysaycheese]

Lol. Um you just proved all your points to show atheist kniw nothing. Hebrew and aramaic are two of the 5 oldest languages.
Lol and Isaiah 34:7 reads
" And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls;and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness ".
The fact that atheist try to insult christianity but dont even get the scriptures right when trying to insult is laughable. Your arguments loose all of its momentum.

[goaded]

Learn what an ellipsis (...) is for.

[somebodysaycheese]

@goaded lol. And who are you to tell me what to do? Noone. bye

[ChickenJo]

Dumbass they were proving you wrong. An ellipsis allows you to shorten a quote. Which means they were correct in there statement.

[somebodysaycheese]

@ChickenJo lol. No dumb ass 99.9 percent of people dont know anything abou thr bible therefore your feeding them version of the scritpure you feel fit. Run along now

[Overthrow]

I know the scripture you tool. There are UNICORNS in your holy book.

[somebodysaycheese]

Well u tool. they aren't talking about unicorns lol. you need a certain level of comprehension to read it. Lol
Like Shakespeare.

[Overthrow]

No, what you need is a gullible mind. Please. Try explain away the talking snake. Or the dragons. Or the giants, or the angels, or the burning bush, or the satyrs, or the nephilim, or the behemoth, or cockatrice, or the leviathan. You going to tell me they didn't really mean any of those either? The bible even without all these creatures is completely unbelievable.

[somebodysaycheese]

Gullible? No. You need a mind that thinks for themsleves
Lol. i can't realize we a had the same first world education. What i did was question what you did was shake your head and follow the conditioning. Your intellectually lazy

[Overthrow]

I don't think for myself because I allow facts to change my beliefs, and you think for yourself because you believe the narrative of holy scripture regardless of the facts. Yup. Okay. I'm done with you.

[somebodysaycheese]

Lol. Again you have zero comprehension. I can't.. lol

[goaded]

"Lol. Again you have zero comprehension. I can't.. lol"

It's called sarcasm, and please stop typing lol.

[somebodysaycheese]

@goaded Noone was talking to u.

[iOoko]

there's no point discussing with her. just give up. you're not going to make her any smarter. i know it's annoying, but you must get over it. we all must

[Overthrow]

@iOoko I know. Can't argue with stupid people. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

[iOoko]

you'll never reach their nevel cuz you're always gonna make some sense at least, but that sentence is wonderful. congrats, really. i think i will steal it ;)

[somebodysaycheese]

@iOoko lol. Stop being passive aggressive you got something to say then say it to me. Stupid people. Lol okay.
I can't be too stupid i took all honors classes and havr a masters.
I guess thinking for yourself to you means being stupid then whatever. Im not a sheep

[goaded]

@somebodysaycheese I was rude, I apologise. Sorry.

[Redstang88]

Or my personal favourite- "You can be saved"
Saved from what exactly?
66.media.tumblr.com/.../...t0kyN31sq0bewo1_250.gif

[Unit1]

i0.kym-cdn.com/.../dce.jpg

[true_love_lover18]

Dude, thank you. I agree. This is why I'm afraid of telling my family (all Christians) that I have considered myself a non believer for several years now.

[Overthrow]

Been there. Still there. My Wife (also atheist) knows I'm atheist and that's it. I have my safe space with her.

[true_love_lover18]

Well it's good that you guys have an understanding. I would like to find a girl that is non religious like myself, but with that being a pretty slim possibility, I'd be happy to just find someone who can accept me as I am.

[SunsetLover]

Best part : "religion is nothing more than ancient myths made to govern an ancient culture and explain things about the world that they had no way of explaining at the time." Thank you.

[coolchick4]

Whatever y'all say

[sdistotallyme]

You are putting up a post about grievances that atheists go through and yet you have all these snarky insulting memes comparing God to unicorns and werewolves?

I don't care if you believe in God or not. In the western world you have freedom of religion. However in the past few years I've notice an increasingly aggressive ANTItheistic movement that is constantly insulting faith based organizations (especially Christians). It's not enough nowadays to simply not believe. You people have to take things a step further and constantly sneer and insult religion.

[rjroy3]

They're the angry vegan equivalent in diet culture, but for belief systems.

[sdistotallyme]

@rjroy3 Well their too stupid to realize that you don't change somebody's opinion by insulting them.

[CrazyCatPerson]

Perfect. I am an atheist (was born Hindu) but here in India there are majority Hindus who are so full of it when they realise I am one. These are few of the ridiculous things I have heard.
1. You are an immoral b*tch. Read the Gita, Ramayana or Mahabharata.(Coming from the same people who haven't read any religious books while I have studied them and understood the sexism and caste discrimination)
2. So you want to be a Christian now? I guess the Britishers were successful at turning people like you.(😑seriously?)
3. Indian culture is great. Don't live in India if you dont wanna believe in it.
And then my personal favourite 4. Hinduism is the most moral religion that ever existed so you better believe in it or you are going to hell (humans are supposed to reincarnate)

[ChickenJo]

But atheists can't be moral without a strict set of guidelines from 3000 years ago that you can choose which ones you want to follow. Checkmate atheists

But in all seriousness I love that someone finally said this. I hate being told these things. This post has been kinda random so I'll end in prayer

I most humbly thank Thee, oh Noodly Appendaged One, for Touching me with the mental capacity to adapt the mythologies of This Universe to aid and comfort me here, until that day I am able to join together with my Pastafarian Brothers and Sisters at the foot of the Beer Volcano, and enumerate my specifications at the Stripper Factory, so that happiness and contentedness and good cheer be present for all, forever and forever,
RAmen.

[Overthrow]

Ramen.

[LunaLawliet]

Lol Very recently, I was accused by my dad of worshipping Satan just because I am not religious (unlike him obviously). So frustrating.

[Elarra]

Whoever said that is a moron... that's not Satan worshiping at all, you can't control the actions of another lol

[AlwaysBelieving]

That must be an interesting household.

[bloodmountain1990]

Great take. Luckily as an agnostic/atheist I don't get this talk from family members and friends who are religious. They respect my beliefs just like I respect theirs as long as they don't shove it down my throat.

[Overthrow]

Lucky you! Where I'm from, any answer other than "Lets go wurship jeesus!" is met with disdain.

[jakebrake7]

Being an atheist is illogical in my opinion. Atheist say that they don't believe in God because according to them there is no evidence of God. Okay, but If someone asks them to provide evidence for lack of God or non existence of God than they have no evidence. So even if you are unsure of the existence of God, it would be more logical to be agnostic than being an atheist. The great Greek philosopher Socrates used to say that "I know only one thing for sure which is that I know nothing". Many called him the wisest just because of this.

[rjroy3]

Agreed

[YourFutureEx]

Why do you worship satan and hate god so much? Don't you have morals? You literally can't prove that god doesn't exist. Yeah, you can try but what if you're wrong? Unfortunately, you never believed in god, try reading Bible, dude and ditch that silly religion of atheism :)

[YourFutureEx]

Seriously tho, you can still be religious being an atheist.