The arrogance of the atheists

I have been watching and participating in several threads on ATS lately about atheism vs religion. While I don't really agree with "religion" per se, I am always horrified by the callous disregard that the atheists have for anyone's belief in anything other than what is tangible and scientifically proven. There seems to be no room in the atheists soul for mystery, romance or mysticism. I think that is a tragedy of epic proportions.

While I don't believe that man-made religion has any of the answers, and I can certainly see where the tripe that is available in the "religious" world would certainly turn quite a few people off of the deeper things of God, I cannot understand this need that atheists seem to have to quash others need for deeper meaning. Why do you care what others believe about their own soul?

I found this article today that I think goes a long way toward explaining the feeling I get from our resident atheists here on ATS:
LINK

The tone of the discussions here on ATS lately are eerily the same as described in this article. Why is that? Does this article really describe the atheists feelings about the mysteries of the soul and spirit? It certainly has echoes of the discussions being held on here.

Tell me and make me understand why it is that you feel the need to belittle and demean others and their search for some soul truth.

What I find amusing about atheists is that they seem obsessed with religion.
For people that don't believe they seem to spend a lot of time discussing it.

BTW I'm agnostic as in no one can prove god exist's so I tend not to worry about it.

reply to post by jennybee35


Science is based on facts, and constantly progresses our understanding of the world around us. Religion is based on superstition and telling us what we can and can't do.

In the field of science, we constantly look for ways to disprove our theories, and if such a way occurs then we change to fit this new understanding. A good example of this could be the earth being the centre of the universe. For centuries, people believed this was true; this was until Galileo discovered in fact that the earth was not the centre of the universe and that the earth revolved around the sun. Scientists will admit when they are wrong, but only if enough evidence is presented to disprove the current understanding.

The school of thought that revolves around science and logic is mainly the argument point that Atheists use to deny the existence of God. But they don't respond too well when the same school of thought against them to show that their argument is flawed.

Atheism is just the "belief" that God doesn't exist. It doesn't require knowledge that God exists, and that is impossible.

I agree, Atheists can get as zealous as Theists.

Originally posted by Roguesheep
What I find amusing about atheists is that they seem obsessed with religion.
For people that don't believe they seem to spend a lot of time discussing it.

BTW I'm agnostic as in no one can prove god exists so I tend not to worry about it.

Haha this is so true...it's like if people were arguing about a pink flying unicorn around Saturn...no one would care to debate that and people who believed in it would just be ignored...such is not the case with atheists...they must prove that pink flying unicorn don't exist.

The problem with a great many Atheists is that if you don't believe as they do you become lower than them in their eyes, a situation which they often try to rectify with arguments, shouting, and general rancor that smacks of the very groups that they profess to dislike so much. It generally brings a smile to my face to see such people emulating those whom they claim to be working against so hard, perhaps if they quit taking themselves so seriously they would see the folly of their ways.

There is plenty of room for mystery in the world of Atheism, in fact I would state the exact opposite in that instead of accepting that some things are not understood properly at this exact moment some religious people just want to put a giant "God did it" sticker over all of the gaps in our knowledge and then forget about them instead of investigating the mystery and trying to make the gap a little bit smaller.

As for atheists being obsessed with religion, I would ask you to go and count the number of threads started by Christians vs atheists in this forum and come to a more informed conclusion as to who is obsessed.

Edit to add.
I feel no need whatsoever to prove that god doesn't exist as I'm sure that you must know that it is impossible to do so.

Originally posted by Griffo
reply to post by jennybee35

 

Science is based on facts, and constantly progresses our understanding of the world around us. Religion is based on superstition and telling us what we can and can't do.

Well it is a fact that Jesus existed. It's a fact that there are hundreds of recorded instances of a solar eclipse at the time of His crucifixion. It's a fact that He changed the world. It's a fact that people twist the gospel to fit their own desires. It's a fact that God desperately wants you to know Him...but you keep rejecting Him.

reply to post by davespanners


I was thinking more of famous atheists like Dawkins, Hitchens and Condell they have made a career out of discussing religion.

reply to post by freedish


Well it is a fact that Jesus existed.

It's a fact that God desperately wants you to know Him...





Actually, it's spam such as this that brings out the worst in people...stop making claims in regards to your personal fallacy as there is no proof to back that up; do that, and I'm pretty sure the big bad mean atheists will leave you and yours alone.


Fair enough, huh..?

What I find entertaining, is that whether you believe in God or not, those whom wish to discuss the belief, religion, and the history, only argue with what they were taught by mommy and daddy. Those whom wish to debate don't take the time to research, and eventually find out that the first religion, in that sense, was originated by the Egyptians.

The story of a birth by a virgin, a great teacher, performed miracles, death by crucifixion, 3 days resurrected, etc, was established by the Egyptians in relation to their " sun" god. There have been many " Gods " all whom had the very same attributes. Many of whom who all had the names, king of kings, prince of peace, etc, etc.

The point is, religion has been the biggest money making scheme, extorting money under the premise that you will be " saved ".

Those much like the atheists, wish to argue the non-existence, never fully understanding the documented history of the establishment of religion to begin with.

Atheists, wish to argue about Jesus Christ, but never fully understanding that " Christ " isn't actually name per say, but its meaning is actually " anointed one ". But Christ seemed to roll of the tongue a little sweeter in those times.

Point is, religion is a sham, placed upon the people to extort, and then persecute you if you don't bow down...just a shame.

reply to post by Roguesheep


Oh those guys.

I don't have much time for Dawkins especially, i find that he shows very little respect to the people that he talks to and a lot of the time is just confrontational for no apparent reason .

He doesn't speak for me thats for sure

Edit to add
Aggghhh I just realised that I have got sucked in to another religion / atheism thread when I promised myself I wasn't going to do it ever again
I am ashamed of myself

Originally posted by freedish

Originally posted by Griffo
reply to post by jennybee35

 

Science is based on facts, and constantly progresses our understanding of the world around us. Religion is based on superstition and telling us what we can and can't do.

Well it is a fact that Jesus existed. It's a fact that there are hundreds of recorded instances of a solar eclipse at the time of His crucifixion. It's a fact that He changed the world. It's a fact that people twist the gospel to fit their own desires. It's a fact that God desperately wants you to know Him...but you keep rejecting Him.

I'd love to see some proof, I know everyone else would too.

It certainly varies with the person, of course, and I know atheists (both here and elsewhere) who are respectful, humble and tolerant. It's a good article, though, and my personal experience is that far too many would readily agree with this (from the article, though it's a quote from another article)

Indeed, it is a settled assumption of this kind of atheism that there are no intelligent religious believers.

A number of times I've had people express incredulity when they find out that I'm a devout Christian, because they seem to assume that someone of reasonable intellect could not be. That bothers me, not simply because it's counter to my journey to God, which came through study and contemplation, as much as anything else, but because it represents a blockade for them -- if you assume that anyone who has faith is dumb, how are you going to ever be open to the promise of faith?

reply to post by jennybee35


Atheists are one of those really vocal and annoying minorities that are screaming about how everyone else is wrong and only they are right, trying to bend this world to fit their beliefs. Well they are just as annoying to me as those fundamentalist Christians or the Al-Qaeda type of Islam.

They need to get over themselves already. They make up only ~2% of the world yet think everyone else are ignorant idiots because they don't agree with them. So yes they are arrogant for that reason and the reason that they do not leave the door open to other possibilities that have not been either proven or disproven by science and 'reason'.

NOTE: This is not aimed at those Atheists who just think 'live and let live'.

For me the subject never really comes up with people I know in real life, maybe it's a British thing that we tend to keep those types of beliefs very private. Theres no such thing as a Jesus bumper sticker in the UK

Two of my best friends are theology teachers but I don't actually even know what they believe in personally. I guess I may have had a few drunken arguments about it with people in bars at one time or another when I was younger but I would much rather discus Music or just about anything else rather then if God exists or not, the same thing applies to politics.

If I do get into a discussion about it then I will definitely argue my case, but I would rather not if it was all the same

I've noticed the atheist agenda across many websites and they all seem to follow atheism like a religion. Overly aggressive of other beliefs that differ from their own and attempt to make others believe as they do very aggressively. Most use foul language when debate fails. Most of the atheists I know turned to atheism because of some tragic event they blame god for. What most people don't realize is that people cause the problems we have today..not god. We have free will and some choose to use that to deny there is a creator, murder, lie, cheat, steal etc. God makes us do none of these things, we have only ourselves to blame. My question to atheists. If god didn't start the big bang what did? Science says you cannot destroy matter only transform it. Where did this matter originate that started our universe? It didn't appear out of thin air, energy cannot be created or destroyed. Science will never find the answers with laws that conflict with the universes laws. We can call an apple an orange all we want, maybe if we say it enough people will believe it is an orange..doesn't change the fact that it is an apple.

Originally posted by jennybee35
While I don't really agree with "religion" per se, I am always horrified by the callous disregard that the atheists have for anyone's belief in anything other than what is tangible and scientifically proven.

...not all atheists are callous, anti-religion or base their opinions totally on science - just like not all god believers are anti-atheist bigoted jerks...

Originally posted by jennybee35
There seems to be no room in the atheists soul for mystery, romance or mysticism. I think that is a tragedy of epic proportions.

...the tragedy is that you're seeing only what you want to see...

Originally posted by jennybee35
I cannot understand this need that atheists seem to have to quash others need for deeper meaning.

...not all atheists do that - and - you most certainly do understand (on some level) why some people quash other people's need for deeper meaning because you're doing it yourself...

Originally posted by jennybee35
Why do you care what others believe about their own soul?

...believe whatever you want, including that you're different from those you're criticzing for doing exactly what you're doing...

Originally posted by jennybee35
Does this article really describe the atheists feelings about the mysteries of the soul and spirit?

...the article is representative of the thoughts of those who were interviewed...

...do other atheists think the same way?... do all god believers think the same way?... no, of course not... so, why would you think that all atheists think the same way on non-atheist issues?...

..."mysteries of the soul and spirit" = non-atheist issues... atheism is simply a disbelief in deities...

Originally posted by jennybee35
It certainly has echoes of the discussions being held on here.

...the same can be said of your op and some fundamentalist god believers who enjoy attacking atheism while whining that they're always being attacked or insulted by atheists...

Originally posted by jennybee35
Tell me and make me understand why it is that you feel the need to belittle and demean others and their search for some soul truth.

...analyze why you felt the need to belittle and demean ALL atheists because a few ruffled your feathers and you'll have the answer...

reply to post by freedish


If god actually existed, and 'it' actually had infinite power and wisdom do you really think that it would be so arrogant that it would have people burning for all eternity if they did not believe in it?

reply to post by Whereweheaded
Organized religion is flawed I have no argument with that. The dead sea scrolls prove religious texts we know today were tampered with. These events do not prove that god doesn't exist, it only proves the laws he left for us were changed by people. I do not agree with organized religion, however it hasn't turned me away from the creator. If you were the adversary of god what would be the best way to attack him? Take over his churches and twist the truth to make the people turn away from god. Commit acts of intolerance and violence to further distance those who believe. I believe this has happened to organized religion. The vatican sits on billions, while people starve, they cloth themselves in material fit for a king while many in the world have little or nothing. What ever happened to being humble before god, yet we are told to dress in our sundays best. Just a few examples of why I believe organized religion has been hijacked. But like I said, it's not a good enough reason to make me believe there is not a creator. No matter how much atheists try to make religious and spiritual people convert to atheism, it only strengthens our resolve. If I die and nothing happens so be it, nothing gained or lost, but if I die and there really is a god and I spent my days trying to turn people away from him I would be very worried. The only real proof atheists will ever get is when they finally die and are confronted by the truth. Try denying god when you are standing before him.