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Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

92tide

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

DzynKingRTR said:
The biggest difference would be agnostics are not jerks about it. As a matter of fact you would never know if they are agnostic. Atheists and the overtly religious tend to tell complete and total strangers what they are within 5 minutes. Case in point I have worked at my job for almost 4 years now and nobody in this office knew I am a bit of an agnostic. They assumed one thing (Baptist) and found out nope. We are doing a church and that is how they found out.
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interestingly enough, none of the many atheists i know ever say anything about it.
 
Jon

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

92tide said:
interestingly enough, none of the many atheists i know ever say anything about it.
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I very rarely discuss it with people outside my circle of very good friends. No one I work with for example knows. I do discuss it online as it is a somewhat anonymous outlet
 
Bamabuzzard

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

The definition of "faith" isn't exclusive to meaning a religious belief and I think that's what CA is trying to say. Every person every day exercises some form of faith (small "f" LOL!) many times a day in many areas. Anybody on medication? Have you re-performed the tests run by the FDA or the manufacturers of the medicine to prove their claims about the medicine and that it is safe to digest? My guess is no. You have faith in their claims and their studies without making any effort to prove them. You just pop it in your mouth and take a swig of water to wash it down. That is an element of faith (again, small "f").

When the latest medical article comes out that says "studies show that (insert claim or finding)", how many of us do our own study to see if what they are claiming is even remotely true? My guess is no one. The moment the article is strolled out that gluten is the anti-christ for digestive systems and stomach wall inflammation and "may cause" blah, blah, blah. The majority of people either do two things. They don't believe it (even though they haven't done any research on their own to prove otherwise) and keep rolling, or they believe the article and become a contributor to a billion dollar business of anti-gluten foods. In all of this are exercises of "faith" (non-religious).

I think where both atheists and people of Faith (<---capital "F") misstep is bringing science into the discussion to begin with. The purpose of science isn't to disprove or prove the existence of God. It isn't to prove or disprove literature advocating a higher power or the disbelief of a higher power. Yet, whether it be on message boards or my FB account. I see time and time again both atheists and Christians bringing science into the discussion. Neither furthers their claims, beliefs or non-beliefs. Its about as useful as me using a spatula as a screwdriver. It simply wasn't made for that.

Correct me if I'm wrong CA, but I think this is what you were getting at. If not, I apologize and I'll go back to the kids table and eat my cheeto puffs and juice.
 
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cbi1972

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

DzynKingRTR said:
The biggest difference would be agnostics are not jerks about it. As a matter of fact you would never know if they are agnostic. Atheists and the overtly religious tend to tell complete and total strangers what they are within 5 minutes. Case in point I have worked at my job for almost 4 years now and nobody in this office knew I am a bit of an agnostic. They assumed one thing (Baptist) and found out nope. We are doing a church and that is how they found out.
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This is selection bias.
 
Go Bama

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

CharminTide said:
You're not getting it. The absence of belief is not itself a belief. Many religious folks I encounter seem to think that a belief system which attempts to explain the origin of life is necessary for existence. It is not.
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I’m not getting it either.

Science is a method for deciding whether or not what we choose to believe has a basis in natural law. Clearly religion does not. How can an absence of belief exist once an assertion is made? You either believe it or you don’t.
 
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cbi1972

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

Go Bama said:
I’m not getting it either.

Science is a method for deciding whether or not what we choose to believe has a basis in natural law. Clearly religion does not. How can an absence of belief exist once you an assertion is made? You either believe it or you don’t.
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My belief isn't binary like this, rather it is probabilistic.

My beliefs vary in strength with the quality and quantity of the evidence, and of my understanding of the probabilities involved.

I believe the sun will rise tomorrow based on the fact that it has done so every day that I have personally witnessed, plus the proposition is backed by the heliocentric model of the solar system that most of us have come to accept. This belief is nearly as strong as it gets, though there are certain cosmic phenomena that could in theory, falsify that belief, with low probability.

Stronger belief would entail a proposition that is literally impossible given our understanding of things. I believe that I will not wake up tomorrow morning simultaneously in Cameroon and on the International Space Station.

I believe it will rain tomorrow, because a source I vaguely trust has predicted rain. Of course, they have been wrong in the past, and will be wrong again in the future, and may be wrong with this specific prediction. This is a much weaker belief than the others, but I'm going to close my windows.

I may even believe something with low empirical probability, such that the belief could be called "faith" or "hope" and maybe one day such belief will actually pan out. Georgia fans still think they're going to win a national championship, after all.
 
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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

92tide said:
interestingly enough, none of the many atheists i know ever say anything about it.
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I rarely discuss it mostly because I'm always nervous people will go one of 2 ways when they hear it.
1. I feel bad for you let me save you etc. or
2. They look at you funny and you can see their annoyance.

Obviously some people are fine with it but in my experience those 2 reaction are most common.

As for the other stuff, personally I don't feel the need to get caught up in if you call my atheism a belief or not. From my perspective its like arguing if its a belief or not that I don't think Santa exists. Its mostly just a matter of semantics. I do understand others contentions though and I don't view it as a belief myself.
 
Go Bama

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

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cbi1972 said:
My belief isn't binary like this, rather it is probabilistic.

My beliefs vary in strength with the quality and quantity of the evidence, and of my understanding of the probabilities involved.

I believe the sun will rise tomorrow based on the fact that it has done so every day that I have personally witnessed, plus the proposition is backed by the heliocentric model of the solar system that most of us have come to accept. This belief is nearly as strong as it gets, though there are certain cosmic phenomena that could in theory, falsify that belief, with low probability.

Stronger belief would entail a proposition that is literally impossible given our understanding of things. I believe that I will not wake up tomorrow morning simultaneously in Cameroon and on the International Space Station.

I believe it will rain tomorrow, because a source I vaguely trust has predicted rain. Of course, they have been wrong in the past, and will be wrong again in the future, and may be wrong with this specific prediction. This is a much weaker belief than the others, but I'm going to close my windows.

I may even believe something with low empirical probability, such that the belief could be called "faith" or "hope" and maybe one day such belief will actually pan out. Georgia fans still think they're going to win a national championship, after all.
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I concede that “maybe” is a third possibility, but that is the answer for the agnostic, not the atheist.
 
cbi1972

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

Go Bama said:
[MAP][/MAP][URLT][/URLT]
I concede that “maybe” is a third possibility, but that is the answer for the agnostic, not the atheist.
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"Maybe" encompasses almost everything we think we know.

99.99% certainty something is true still allows for the possibility that it is false.

99.99% certainty something is false still allows for the possibility that it is true.

There is still a huge difference between something that is almost certainly true than something that is almost certainly false. That's why I value probability. To assert 100% certainty is usually overstating things.
 
81usaf92

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

92tide said:
interestingly enough, none of the many atheists i know ever say anything about it.
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Atheists are like Christians. 90% of them are good people that will either keep to their business or have civil discussions if they choose to discuss their beliefs. The other 10% are just jackasses that want to tell you why you are wrong and stupid for not believing what they believe. Jimo.


ETA: I don’t believe anyone on this board is a part of that 10% that identifies as an atheist. Just pointing out my own life experiences.
 
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alabama mike1

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

Jon said:
ever heard of an Agnostic? Their existence invalidates your premise as they say "we can't know" to the questions of is there a higher power or isn't there. They hold no belief either way and believe it unknowable.

For myself I don't claim it to be unknowable I claim I have yet to see any evidence in support of the claim. If evidence is ever provided I will reevaluate the claim. As for now, it isn't a binary choice at all. It's no A) Christian God, B) no god there are an infinite number of potential answers
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I disagree with you but I respect your opinion. We can disagree with each other without being disagreeable.
 
DzynKingRTR

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

My problem has always been with organized religion and not religion itself. Why do I have to pick one?
 
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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

DzynKingRTR said:
My problem has always been with organized religion and not religion itself. Why do I have to pick one?
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If they weren't organized, then they would never be able to get all those charitable giving receipts out and people would get mad and stop giving. See, even your problem with religion can be traced back to it being the fault of the government.
 
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BamaInCummingGA#1

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

I'm a Christian. I don't apologize for it but I'm not going to try to beat you over the head with it, either.
For the original poster, I respect your opinion and your courage to put this out there. And as a Christian it's not my job to judge you or condemn you (or anyone else who doesn't believe in GOD and JESUS). I have friends who are atheists, friends who are of other religions, etc. If one wants to discuss religion and what I believe I will certainly do so with the caveat that I'm not trying to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong.
I don't have a problem with those who don't believe as I do.
Like a lot of others ( at least I suspect) on this board I've had bad experiences with those who call themselves Christians and act holier than thou and if you don't interpret the Bible like I do then you ain't right. I stayed out of church on a regular basis for over 15 years because of stuff like that. When I had my child I decided I needed to go back to church and found a church with a different approach to things so I kept going. When I moved to Ga I found a church much like the one I had started attending in Missouri. At the church I attend, we don't wear our "Sunday Best". We don't hunt you down or stop by your house uninvited. We don't beat you over the head or try to lock you in. I'm very appreciative of this.
I have a neighbor whom I invited to church and he declined. I then went a grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge a shared a cold one with him ( I never have found a passage in the Bible that says do not drink alcohol).
I'll say this, I can't blame those who have had bad experiences with Christians ( or those of other religions) and I must confess that I'm not perfect.
It's the reason I identify as a Christ follower and not Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc.
 
selmaborntidefan

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

Just change the thread:
a) Why I (as a Christian) can be turned off by another faith AND
b) Tua is a Muslim



......and all of a sudden this whole thread would turn into how Islamophobic Christians are.

Funny how that works.
 
selmaborntidefan

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

DzynKingRTR said:
My problem has always been with organized religion and not religion itself. Why do I have to pick one?
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When Christians get organized they often become quite un-Christian.

I don't know who said it
 
BamaFlum

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Re: Why I (as an atheist) can be "turned off" or offended by people of Faith

Christ said the greatest commandments were to love God and love others. If Christians were just to follow that then the world would be a better place.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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