To wonder why some atheists are so obsessed with being atheist?

[Fanfeckintastic]

I say this as an atheist myself, so many people seem obsessed with "not believing"! I don't mean just being vocal in their disgust at the Catholic church etc (completely understandable) I mean Ricky Gervais for example, somehow I have "liked" him on Facebook and he never stops posting skeptic stuff.

Why do non believers put so much effort and thought into "not believing"

On a side note, I'm in Ireland and sometimes get very pissed off with how much control the church still has, it sickens me actually. But I'm talking about just atheists almost making a hobby of being atheists?

AIBU in my observation?

"And yes, I would love to see you all go to a devot muslim or sikh, and be an assh**e enough to tell them their beliefs are rubbish. Or would you think it is racist?"

If Islam or Sikhism held a position of privilege in this society, and directly impacted on my life then yes, I would be that "areshole"

I expect that as Christianity (and Islam, and Sikhism etc) became more established and more mainstream there were pantheists or believers in the old ways or mithraists who said exactly the same thing about them. Atheism (and I get that some people who don't believe in a god don't like this label because it defines them by what they are not, rather than by what they are. I don't think sceptic is much better, but rational thinker is rude so...atheist it is. Sorry) is becoming mainstream (it's already there in this country) and people have to adjust to that but it's probably not that easy for some. I know some high profile people who are atheists but you'd never know it from their public persona (which is, IMO, the best way to be - they are high profile because of something wholly unconnected to their personal views, they feel nobody is interested in their views and nobody wants them shoved in their face and I think that's right. They might mention the issue if it's relevant to a discussion but that's it). I know some high profile people (for some value of high profile) who never ever stop banging on about it. Horses for courses. It's down to the individual not the views. I don't judge every person who doesn't have the same beliefs as me by the fact that a few people have nothing to tweet other than rude comments about religion. And I don't judge every Christian by the people who knock on your door and won't go away, or every Muslim by excitable media obsessed imams. And so on.

And this oft pedalled out business of "you have to respect other people's beliefs"

No I don't!

OfaFrenchMind - good post. I do get the impression that some atheists think they're a little bit... edgy and that the rest of the population is cowed, eager to suck up the opiate of the masses.

I am a bit concerned by incorrectly being labelled an Atheist when the reality is I am (and have always been) without religion.

What OxfordBags and shockinglybadteacher said pretty much covers it.

My problem with Aggressive Atheists is that so much of our culture is tied up in religion, and to dump it all is a bit of an assault on that.

Who said anything about dumping it? You probably count Professor Dawkins as an aggressive atheist, but he is NOT trying to stamp out churches, hymn or nativity plays. He recently refereed to himself as a cultural Christian

Neither am I. I love many of the hymns and singing in groups is always kinda fun. I've never suggested making religion illegal and I'm pro learning about religion in school. I did say "about".

In fact the only time these days I hear of people wanting a religion to be illegal is when they are the other religion.

no you don't - but it doesn't give you the right to belittle or degrade them or their beliefs either

I personally respect peoples right to have any belief they want as long as it harms no one - I don't think my beliefs (humanist) are superior to anyone elses

Ricky Gervais posts around one or two things a week relating to atheism/secularism/scepticism. He posts approximately 97 billion things a day relating to animal rights/animal rescue/endangered species/cute pictures of dogs. If you're picking up signs of obsession there I'm interested to know why you've plumped for "atheism" as the obsessed-about thing.

Also, he spends a lot of time in the US - a country where nearly half of the population would disapprove if their child wanted to marry an atheist. I can understand getting a bit snippy.

I don't think I've ever heard of an atheist knocking on someone's front door trying to convert them? I am so far removed from religion that I find it impossible to comprehend someone being so convinced of something that has zero evidence of existence. I've never been arsed enough to say this to anyone though. It is just what I think.

I would definitely openly refute the beliefs of a muslim or a sikh actually, just as I would a christian. It's just different flavours of bollocks isn't it?

there are people of all religions, world views and lifestyles who seem intent on telling everybody about it. not just limited to atheists.

Exactly gordys

It's just different flavours of bollocks isn't it? LOVE IT.

I like the term cultural Christian.

I also heard the term "hopeful agnostic" - in other words, hedging your bets! It would be a supreme egg on face moment to say the least if you find yourself standing at the pearly gates and having to explain to St Peter why you should be let in. I can only hope that my general decency will trump my lack of belief...

I hate the atheist twats who keep referring to people's religious beliefs as superstitions. It is exceptionally rude and intolerant.

"I personally respect peoples right to have any belief they want as long as it harms no one "
So do I. But sadly, in this country, Christianity directly impacts on my life, so I have to speak out.

I have several Christians and one recent Muslim convert on my Facebook feed who are constantly posting religious stuff, as in multiple posts a day in one case (I've had to hide her feed).

I'm an atheist and rarely post anything on FB to do with religion/lack of it, except when there is something I am particularly annoyed about, e.g. some of the church arguments against same-sex marriage last year, or the hidden hard-core evangelism behind Operation Christmas Child.

People talk about issues that preoccupy them, and at a time when politicians are spouting off about Britain being a Christian country (really? have they looked at the census/opinion polls/church attendance figures?) it's not hard to see why some people feel the need to push back a bit with a different point of view.

I think, if a religious person is inviting debate by stating their views, then fair enough to counter with yours if you're an atheist. And vice versa, of course :)

But forcing a debate, browbeating with continued referencing and point-scoring, refusing to let the other person state their position - that's where the aggressive bit comes in. On both sides. My experience is that atheists are more likely to do this, but that is only my own experience.
I think that's what the Op means.

It's unfortunate that being an atheist means you have no religious beliefs to promote as the right ones: it does limit the arguments to disproving someone else's beliefs.

OK then, starter for 10. Fundamentalists of the big 3 faiths reckon abortion should be not only illegal but punished by law (for the woman, at any rate). They actively campaign for this. Just another harmless belief like anything else?

Another one! The same fundamentalists are strongly opposed to homosexuality. Homosexuals have no place in the general population and fundamentalist views range from wishing to be exempt from dealing with homosexuals to suggesting homosexuals face the death penalty (and no, that's not only Islam). Just a normal thing like hating it when someone steals your parking space!

Finally, the Christian dominion movement in the US will not put up with women working and "usurping the responsibility of a man". Fair enough! Women should respect that and not challenge anyone with different beliefs!

After a while militant atheists, even if they annoy you online, kinda seem far preferable.

I think you might win every argument about Britain not being a Christian country by reference to the appalling way we treat the poor, the sick, the elderly, the needy, without having to refer to opinion polls to be honest. Britain is clearly not a Christian country.

I don't feel the need to go round trying to disprove anyone else's beliefs (and the whole point of 'faith' is that it doesn't need proof/evidence anyway) - what I do argue against is the privileged position of religion in society and the apparent assumption by some religious people that they are morally superior and their beliefs should be allowed to control other people's lives (e.g. equal marriage, abortion etc).

Herc...

Can you think of any "Christian countries" that do well in that area?

I can think of a lot of secular countries who are doing a lot better pointing to our Nordic neighbours.

I think that a religious belief requires and deserves exactly the same amount of respect and consideration as a political belief - so it shouldn't be handled with kid gloves because it's religious and that makes it different and special but equally there's no need to go out of your way to be rude or combative.

There are non religious people who oppose abortion. Many people of religion do not oppose abortion. That one is a bit of a red herring, to be honest.

Same for equal marriage (perhaps more so).

I agree with you about the moral and intellectual superiority thing - it's ridiculous, hubristic and frankly embarrassing. But atheists do that too - I've first hand experience of atheists demanding to know who in the room is a Christian and then delighting in telling them 'well, you're an idiot then'. But as I said above - I think the two people I know who do this (and make a bit of a habit of it) are just not very nice. They wouldn't be very nice if they were Hindus or Methodists or Zoroastrians, either. It's got nothing to do with them being atheists and everything to do with them being shitheads.

People who fight against the status quo are often called angry or aggressive.

Militant feminazis
"Angry black woman"
Aggressive atheists

It's a way of silencing us, claiming we are 'too emotional' and dismissing our concerns as lacking objectivity.

An aside: Unfortunately many of the 'stars' of the secular and skeptical community are privileged white men who can be patronising and dismissive if not outright sexist - Dawkins, Gervais, Penn, O'Briain - and I find a lot of their attitudes smug