To really hate it when atheists take the piss out of those who believe in God?

[sharkirasharkira]

I have several FB friends who are obvious atheists, and often share things about science and/or about the concept of God being stupid -basically saying that anyone who believes in God is an idiot, a child (with an 'imaginary friend') or someone who has no idea about science and the universe.

I get that not everyone has faith in a higher being/religion etc but why the childish name calling and the necessity to take the piss out of those who do? It just really irritates me! Belief in God and an appriciation of science are not mutually exclusive. I find it quite offensive that people who don't know my personal beliefs are essentially saying that if I believe in God I must be an idiot or a child who believes in magical sky fairies, because theres no possible way I can believe in evolution (for example) and be an agnostic.

Aibu to think that people should just let others believe what they want to believe without mocking them for it, even if they don't agree with it?

Fwiw, I'm not a Christian, I am an agnostic. I don't necessarily believe that any one religion has the 'correct' God, rather that they are all variations of the same theme, one which we do not necessarily understand the complexity of and therefore have not necessarily grasped in its entirety.

I don't believe in absolutes, in either science or religion/belief. I don't presume to know all the mysteries of the universe, and I don't believe it is possible or necessary to absolutely prove or disprove the existence of a deity in order to have faith. Sometimes you just do. It's an intensely personal thing. So is the absence of belief! We can all live and let live without forcing anyone else to believe what we believe. That is the beauty of all being different as people.

Some really great responses on here, thank you all for responding! There are too many to reply to individually

I have known many people who have not prayed in extremis, just to balance out your observation.

Atheists can be right cunts abiut their believes sometimes

Fact

I have a colleague like this . He know that one of my dead parents was very religious and yet he continues m
Wanker

Sometimes you just do have faith sums it up for me. I was brought up in a (bad) catholic family (lovely family, bad catholics). I have an extensive Science education. I have doubted and questioned. For some irrational reason I still believe. The subsequent psychology study reassured me that everyone has irrational biases, so I accept it as one of mine I suppose. I never use "because my religion says so" in a debate. I am not a lazy thinker. I am a very bad, currently "resting" but may start practising again, Catholic.

Atheists love to harp on about how apparently there's no factual proof of God or even a spiritual dimension to life, yet seem oblivious to the fact that there's no factual proof of atheism either.

Well, first things first, I thought we weren’t in favour of lumping all of a group together and tarring them with the brush of the most annoying, but fill your boots.

Second, I think you have a bit of a misunderstanding about atheism, and the nature of proof. Atheists don’t require proof not to believe in any gods. As others have explained, the burden of proof lies with the person making the claim. Different religions have over many years persuaded many people with their (often competing) claims. Despite being raised in the Christian faith, I was ultimately unpersuaded by those claims as an adult, after a significant amount of questioning and research.

Atheism is not a belief system. Without a social system that prioritises religion so much, my lack of belief in any deities it would be about as interesting and relevant as my lack of belief in dragons. And requiring of as much ‘proof’. I don’t need to prove that dragons don’t exist; I am content that there is no persuasive evidence for their existence and plenty of persuasive evidence for why people may have believed in them once. Similarly, I am content that there is a more logical and persuasive explanation, grounded in evidence, for the existence of all world religions than that one or more deities exist. I have seen no persuasive evidence for the existence of deities. Therefore I do not believe in any gods. That may change, if the evidence were to change.

a) You have the ability to delete/block posts on Facebook, therefore you are choosing to read the posts.
b) After centuries of religious persecution I think it is reasonable for non-theists to 'let off a little steam'.
c) In the UK the minority of christians dont understand the privilege they hold. Until atheists are treated equally then its reasonable for them to be very pissed off and express it.
d) If a christian actually believes in a supernatural deity then why would they be annoyed at someone who hasn't seen the light. Why wouldn't you laugh at their ignorance?
e) You are an adult and can respond in kind, no one is literally throwing stones at you.
f) Atheists dont have a different belief from you, you have a belief, they dont. By not understanding the difference you are already insulting atheists, so hypocritical to complain about them not understanding you.

Yet somehow the insanity perpetuates itself and certain people are utterly disrespectful about it.

And as a side note, there is a saying about pots and kettles that seems appropriate in response to this particular sentence.

YANBU. I have hidden all posts from people on FB who post this stuff and have considered de-friending.

YANBU. My BIL even went as far as mocking all Muslims on his FB account, posting something incredibly offensive like jump off and die. It doesn't cost anything to be respectful of people's belief. In general I find atheists much more offensive than religious people that I know.

Julie8008 After centuries of religious persecution I think it is reasonable for non-theists to 'let off a little steam'.

You are kidding right? You honestly think atheists these days mock religious people because they felt persecuted? No, it's because they want a reaction, that's why. Most of the ones I know don't even read history!

You are kidding right? You honestly think atheists these days mock religious people because they felt persecuted? No, it's because they want a reaction, that's why. Most of the ones I know don't even read history!

It must be such a gift to have such an insight into other people's thoughts and motivations. Have you thought about using for a positive purpose?

You honestly think atheists these days mock religious people because they felt persecuted?
You dont have to articulate it to feel it. You want to send your child to local state school but you cant because its religious. Like it or not the cultural sub-conscious bias against non-christians does have to be vented somewhere. And FB or MN is a pretty safe place to do it.

Look, it's perfectly obvious to anyone rational that the whole point of religions is social control - make up some bullshit or other to justify giving one group of people an unearned advantage over others, then don't just sell it hard but make anyone who refuses to buy it suffer.
Poor? It's Great Booboo's plan for you, you must know your place.
Female? You are an incubator, and conception and birth are under the control of men, not women, because men have the Magic Seed (it's unsurprising that the 'birth myths' in most religions always centre on a man doing a magic thing). Most powerful people who claim to be religious know it's all shit, but it's an excellent way of keeping the plebs in line.

Atheists love to harp on about how apparently there's no factual proof of God or even a spiritual dimension to life, yet seem oblivious to the fact that there's no factual proof of atheism either.

Don't be ridiculous. The onus is on proving something exists, not proving it doesn't! Nobody has ever seen a unicorn. Therefore we assume they don't exist unless someone can produce evidence that they do. Non-belief in unicorns isn't a faith or a belief. It's a refusal to believe in an invented thing for which there is not a single piece of evidence. Ditto atheism.

I think it's daft to take sides as if ALL atheists and ALL theists have the exact same outlook and opinions.

I used to be very disbelieving - never shoved it in anyone's face though. Things happened in my life, as they do, and I became agnostic. For a time that moved towards theism. But I've found things that simply got me through the day from different religions, not just Christianity. Sometimes I'll pick up the New Testament and read a few pages and feel a little less abysmal. Sometimes, I don't even touch it for 12 months. Sometimes I read the news and don't believe in anything at all. Depends what day you catch me on but I could easily fall into atheism/theism/agnosticism on any given day and I'm not the only one.

So the whole ''atheists/theists feel superior'' opinion has never really resonated with me. PEOPLE feel superior - some of them just happen to be atheists and some just happen to be theists.

I dont discuss my atheism with anyone unless asked directly.

I dont post om social media about it. I dont bring it up in conversation.

I am sick and I am tired of those who are religious shoving down everyone's throats.

Asking for prayers on facebook as they having a bad day. Thanking god for everything in their lives when all of it was caused by human action. Asking God to stop the next storm ot natural disaster. If god had the ability to stop them then why did he let them start in the first place.

I'll stop ridiculing religious people if they stop posting shit like the attached meme.

Niki, I can cope with them asking for prayers for themselves.

What really irritates me is when someone who knows I do not follow their god tells me they are praying for me. So arrogant. Pray for me if you want to, but don't expect brownie points from me for telling me about it.

And yes, memes like the one you attached are reasonably offensive.

RemainOptimistic

As a side note I have noticed that in a foxhole, everybody prays

F##k off to the other side of f##k.

How many 'foxholes' (or shellscrapes as the British Army calls them, but you knew that right? 🤔) have you actually been in?

I'm willing to bet not many (if any).

I have noticed that the only people who push that old bullshit out have usually been so far in the rear that they had to send their laundry forwards. It's a pleasant fiction for the religious though, that all atheists are actually just being awkward and when it really counts, they all crumble and 'accept God'.

For what it's worth, it was being in situations like that that convinced me even more what a load of old codswallop the whole bloody thing is.

Humans need beliefs, they allow us to function as a society

Money
Politics
Human Rights
Religion (in the view of some/many)

Do not objectively exist. These constructs allow us to work together because we all believe in one thing, historically that may have been a religion, now it may be capitalism, communism, or any other world view.

If you live in the western world then much of our law, music, art and literature comes from a Judaea Christian tradition. Whether you believe or not is up to you but to dismiss religion as the stuff of sky fairies would be a very foolish thing for anyone even remotely educated or interested in the world around them to do.

There could well be a being or beings that started the Big Bang or brought the first bacteria to Earth. Personally, I am able to comprehend there are things we do not know yet or may never know. However this does not mean that I believe it to be possible that the God detailed in the Bible is going to be proven to exist. Assuming all atheists reject any notion of things that cannot be seen or heard is incredibly reductive.

I have no problem with atheists like you OP. I do have a problem in people thinking they are more intelligent because they don't believe in a god. No one has a fucking clue about whether there is life on other planets, more intelligent forms of life or something completely different which is right out of the scope of our imagination. If there is something higher than us, it would likely be completely out of the scope of our imagination. Just like insects don't recognise humans as a threat even if they are walking along our finger. We are just so much bigger and more intelligent that they can't even seem to see us as a threat. The really dumb thing to me is thinking we are the bee all and end all of the universe. Which is completely against all the evidence from physics, biology, history to astronomy. In my experience the staunch atheists use it as a shield to no longer question the big things, just as much as religious people use their religions. It's a shame because the meaning of life is a pretty interesting and important question!!

Whether you believe or not is up to you but to dismiss religion as the stuff of sky fairies would be a very foolish thing for anyone even remotely educated or interested in the world around them to do

I'm very educated and very interested in the world around me.

I'm also not foolish for dismissing religion as the stuff of "sky fairies".

@JassyRadlett

I agree. The religious memes are pretty offensive.

Also praying requires zero effort and religious people think it absolves them of any responsibility to do anything else.

You're sick....Ill pray for you. How about you help me with xyz, come visit me instead, where's that Christian spirit?

War / Natural disaster....Lets pray for them. How about you donate money, clothes, blankets to help. Charity is part of being a Christian.

I could go on and on.

They just seem to think a prayer solves it all.

But what you are describing is Agnosticism HandKrabby and in general that is a much more open and accepting position than atheism.

Valerrie, I think you are missing my point somewhat