Why the hate?

[Steelplate]

One thing I don't understand about the atheists on the board... Why the hate towards people of faith?

To the Christians, I ask this... why the hate towards people who aren't Christian?

We all have to find our path through this life. Those of us with faith believe there is something after our worldly life ends. Those without do not.

It's really very simple. Live and let live... that goes for all of us. If we would all abandon the "black and white/wrong and right" attitudes, our world would be a much better place.

Just the need to judge one another shows our immaturity.

I'm starting to research Gnostic Christianity. I don't think it'll change my beliefs, but so far, it seems as though Christianity before Rome took the religion over was quite different than it is now. Of course Gnostics were considered Heretics by the Orthodox Christians of Rome and were persecuted and many were killed off.

 

[Iridescence]

I do not hate much of anything and I certainly do not hate people.

However, there are movements I do not like and could possibly come to hate if I do not already. I do not hate any one religion in and of it's own, but rather there is the potential that I hate some men's application of certain religions.

Gnostism is a very ineresting sight. I hope you enjoy that.

 

[Steelplate]

What movements are you talking about? Man's application of their religion is always an issue.

As far as Gnostic Christianity, I'm very early in the process. I got on their website just yesterday for the first time. I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so it may be a little while before I even have an opinion on it. But at first glance, it seems that the religion is more of a spiritual journey kind of thing... it preaches non-judgmentalism, understanding and love, which I really like. But, I like to take a critical look at these things, rather than just jump into stuff.

 

[Photonic]

If there is an atheist here that hates religion, there is almost a 100% chance they are absolutely justified.

Trust me, whatever hate you experience from an atheist here, they get it a thousand fold in real life.

 

[HUGGY]

One thing I don't understand about the atheists on the board... Why the hate towards people of faith?
To the Christians, I ask this... why the hate towards people who aren't Christian?

We all have to find our path through this life. Those of us with faith believe there is something after our worldly life ends. Those without do not.

It's really very simple. Live and let live... that goes for all of us. If we would all abandon the "black and white/wrong and right" attitudes, our world would be a much better place.

Just the need to judge one another shows our immaturity.

I'm starting to research Gnostic Christianity. I don't think it'll change my beliefs, but so far, it seems as though Christianity before Rome took the religion over was quite different than it is now. Of course Gnostics were considered Heretics by the Orthodox Christians of Rome and were persecuted and many were killed off.

I hate religion simply because it is bullshit. One does not have to be "nice" in the name of anything. One can be good as a personal choice. What many religious people do not understand is that to a rational person lying or perpetuating a lie is offensive.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI1keSSwdcI]Indigo Girls - Galileo - YouTube[/ame]

 

[deserter]

I believe when some people ignore religion they ignore part of their lives. for I also believe that live has both material and spiritual aspect.

 

[Steelplate]

If there is an atheist here that hates religion, there is almost a 100% chance they are absolutely justified.

Trust me, whatever hate you experience from an atheist here, they get it a thousand fold in real life.

Oh, believe me... I understand fully. Look at it from a psychological perspective then.... what good does hate do? It gives those you hate power over you.... it festers in you.

Anger is one thing... hate is another. Anger is an emotion we all have. Hate is something different than anger. Hate is more systematic than anger and is an immature display.

It would be like someone saying... a black person mugged me once, therefore I hate black people. or... a christian told me once that I am going to hell... so I hate all Christians.

Lastly, to the poster who hates religion because they think it's a lie.... So what? What is it hurting you? Do you not live the life you choose, even though those people believe what you consider to be a lie?

Once again... I know that there are a lot of Christians and folk from other religions that want to cram it down your throat and try to make you conform....I am not denying that. What I am saying is that we all need to take a step back and stop judging others for their beliefs or lack thereof.

That's what the goal of a free society should be. I have the right to believe, you have the right not to.

 

[Granny]

Good thread. Putting it simply, I think some Christians truly believe they need to try to save the lives of others through Christ. Quick fix: don't open your door in the first place.

I think Atheists have the reverse situation - they want to completely destroy any mention or symbolism of faith for everybody.

There is nothing wrong with having faith in something or someone. I don't believe in predestination because it seems like a complete slam against everything religion teaches us. We have free will to make choices in our life and those choices make our destiny. I think Atheism is built pretty much on the "if it feels good, do it" theory. Christianity puts "taboos" on certain behaviors, etc. and Atheist don't want to feel "guilty" of bad conduct. Then, on the other hand, there are those who profess to be Christians but are not.

The two should be able to co-exist. I was raised in Christianity, but I never go to church. I do, however, believe in the existence of God. My next door neighbor is a preacher and he has yet to try to force his religion down my throat. He's just as nice as he can be, but he's never said a word to me about the Buddhas on my deck. Do I worship Buddha? No. I just happen to like Oriental stuff. For me, the tenets of Judaism have been in the back of my head ... it makes sense to me.

It sort of amazes me that all this rhetoric about equality, peace, sharing the wealth and other ideals demands the total exclusion of and destruction of any kind of religious thoughts or icons or symbolism.

 

[Cammmpbell]

One thing I don't understand about the atheists on the board... Why the hate towards people of faith?

To the Christians, I ask this... why the hate towards people who aren't Christian?

We all have to find our path through this life. Those of us with faith believe there is something after our worldly life ends. Those without do not.

It's really very simple. Live and let live... that goes for all of us. If we would all abandon the "black and white/wrong and right" attitudes, our world would be a much better place.

Just the need to judge one another shows our immaturity.

I'm starting to research Gnostic Christianity. I don't think it'll change my beliefs, but so far, it seems as though Christianity before Rome took the religion over was quite different than it is now. Of course Gnostics were considered Heretics by the Orthodox Christians of Rome and were persecuted and many were killed off.

Research This:

1) The church required infant baptism for a thousand years. After people began to doubt that a loving god would burn an infant in eternal hell and protested...the church stopped requiring it. The scripture is still there

2) The church hunted down, tortured and killed young women who had been accused of witchcraft for thousands of years. When ordinary people reali ed that there is no such thing as witchcraft the church stopped mentioning it. The scripture is still there.

3) The church tolerated and often accomodated slavery for thousands of years but when the "Free Man" concept began they shut up. The scripture is still there.

4) The church required the submission of women and kept them pregnant and at home for thousands of years but after the various women's movements demanded equality the church stopped mentioning it. The scripture is still there.

5) After preaching hundreds of billions of hell fire and damnation sermons across thousands of years when the public began to reject the eternal flames concept guess what....the church began to say it was all a misunderstanding and translation problem so we now have a flame free hell. The scripture is still there.

6) The church has condemned homosexuality and been responsible for the torture and killing of enormous numbers of human's who were born a certain way and had to either hide their lifestyle or falsely reject it. This has continued since the gospel was first preached but now modern lifestyles have even accomodated membership for many homosexuals. The scripture is still there.

Religion is a man's game written by their own interests and and anyone who fails to see the truth in the conceived image of primitive mankind and the similarities to their conceived god which reflects their own weakness has either been brainwashed.....is very ill informed or naive.

All religions are loaded with major bullschit but none so pregnant with it as the prophesied concept of Jesus and the eighteen months or two years of his ministry.

 

[nitroz]

I hate all people the same.

It's their decisions and motives that I hate even more.

 

[Sallow]

Religion seems to be the cause of some very major culling of humanity during history. Not that humans ever needed a reason to kill each other. But most religious types don't seem contrite in the least about it. In fact they are quite the opposite.

 

[Cammmpbell]

Religion seems to be the cause of some very major culling of humanity during history. Not that humans ever needed a reason to kill each other. But most religious types don't seem contrite in the least about it. In fact they are quite the opposite.

They simply got it wrong. They chose "An Eye For An Eye And A Tooth For A Tooth" over:

Turn the other cheek'
Walk the extra mile
Love thy neighbor
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Take no thought for tomorrow(401K anyone)
Love Thine Enemies
Pray for those who curse and despise you
If sued in court for your coat voluntairly give cloak
Sell what you have and give it to the poor
Be ye there fore perfect even as the father in heaven is perfect

 

[Skull Pilot]

I believe when some people ignore religion they ignore part of their lives. for I also believe that live has both material and spiritual aspect.

One can be spiritual without being religious.

 

[Iridescence]

Perhaps instead of ignorantly slamming religion, which is merely the practice of one's beliefs, we should be more specific about what it is we hate.

When I say that I could potentially hate certain movements, it is because of what I see being provoked from those movements. An example: High School Picture Book disputes over things being too revealing. Why would I possibly hate something that claims to be about freedom? Because of what it made out to be and likely will become. I do not, in any way, want my children graduating high school having already been exposed and desensitized to public indecency. Those things come soon enough through the television and through the years following high school. There should be higher standards for those years to preserve our children's presentation to the world. IT isn't more about religion and the practice of anyone's beliefs more than it is about what is BEing done with those things.

 

[AVG-JOE]

It ain't hate, it's fear. Atheists fear organized religions.

There is one common trait among all of the religions that drives this historically justifiable fear: All religions want the exact same thing - World Domination by their faith.

Someone asked why we can't just "live and let live". Good idea.

 

[Skull Pilot]

It ain't hate, it's fear. Atheists fear organized religions.

There is one common trait among all of the religions that drives this historically justifiable fear: All religions want the exact same thing - World Domination by their faith.

Someone asked why we can't just "live and let live". Good idea.

It's not fear.

I stopped believing in God a long time ago.

Not out of fear but out of reason. I found no evidence of a magic man in the sky and certainly none that he is this all loving compassionate being.

Organized religion is just another opiate of the masses and I don't do drugs.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Perhaps instead of ignorantly slamming religion, which is merely the practice of one's beliefs, we should be more specific about what it is we hate.

When I say that I could potentially hate certain movements, it is because of what I see being provoked from those movements. An example: High School Picture Book disputes over things being too revealing. Why would I possibly hate something that claims to be about freedom? Because of what it made out to be and likely will become. I do not, in any way, want my children graduating high school having already been exposed and desensitized to public indecency. Those things come soon enough through the television and through the years following high school. There should be higher standards for those years to preserve our children's presentation to the world. IT isn't more about religion and the practice of anyone's beliefs more than it is about what is BEing done with those things.

This is the point driving the discourse.

The faithful seem to be willing to let atheists believe differently only as long as there are laws on the books forcing us to behave like we fear their god.

The best modern example is Muslim fundamentalism and Sharia Law, but the Christians certainly have a well documented history, including a modern history, of forcing behavior adjustments when conversion to their beliefs is spurned.

 

[Iridescence]

What most people seem to be completely oblivious of is the fact that every single thing we expose ourselves to as humans adjusts our minds, accordingly. WHY refuse the better things that religion has to offer and then complain about censorship on our correspondence? It seems the majority of the world should NOT have a say about what is being fed to them. WHY? Because they seem to honestly have no clue about what spiritual nourishment they require. We (however collectively) are being transformed. It does not seem to matter how much we (however collectively) rebel or or obey.

 

[AVG-JOE]

It ain't hate, it's fear. Atheists fear organized religions.

There is one common trait among all of the religions that drives this historically justifiable fear: All religions want the exact same thing - World Domination by their faith.

Someone asked why we can't just "live and let live". Good idea.

It's not fear.

I stopped believing in God a long time ago.

Not out of fear but out of reason. I found no evidence of a magic man in the sky and certainly none that he is this all loving compassionate being.

Organized religion is just another opiate of the masses and I don't do drugs.

I didn't mean fear of their god... that's like fearing Spiderman. He's NOT real.

Christian politics in America on the other hand are very real and affect ALL of our lives daily, as do fundamentalist politics of the dominant beliefs in other regions of the world. We continue watching American kids die overseas all because people are willing to kill to 'prove' that THEIRS is THE god to fear.

 

[dblack]

I've been an atheist since I was a teenager and I don't really hate religion at all. As Joe said, it's a little scary sometimes, and it does occasionally feel like I'm living in a world of slightly crazy people - but I can say that about a lot of things besides religion.

A few years back, I shared an apartment with a co-worker who had just become an atheist after a 30 years of being a born-again Christian. When he found out that I didn't believe, he would come home and go on and on railing about all the evils of religion and I remember that it made me very uncomfortable. He was really filled with a bitter resentment toward religion that I just didn't share.

But in a way, it made sense. I remember him saying how he felt like he'd been lied too all his life by the people he trusted, and that his whole life had been based on a delusion. It always sort of made me sad to listen to him rant - though I think that for him it was a cathartic expression of freedom and independence.