The Atheist/Agnostic/Freethought/Humanist/Skeptic/Nonbeliever Thread

Scorpius said:
Greek isn't so bad. At least people still communicate in a modern form of it (unlike poor ol' Latin).
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People still speak a modern form of Latin. It's called Spanish. :)

But really though, ancient Greek is about as related to modern Greek as Latin is to the modern romance languages.

But their alphabet is neat-o!
 
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Amy SF said:
I have no problem identifying myself as an atheist. Just a plain 'ol atheist. I just don't believe. And I don't spend any time analyzing it, either.

And here's the actual reason why I'm bumping this thread: http://www.alternet.org/belief/9-questions-atheists-might-find-insulting-and-answers?paging=off
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That is a great article. Thanks for posting it. I've seen people on this very forum asking some of those questions. It will be handy to have this to refer them to next time.
 
I was surprised at most of those questions. Very informative. :)
 
I don't see why the majority of those questions are insulting. A couple of them I would agree are insulting such as "why don't you just kill yourself?" and "why are you atheists so angry?" but other than that I don't really get it. I think atheists and theists (and people in general) should ask each other questions more often. Better to ask a stupid question and learn something than hold on to a stupid thought and learn nothing. Not that one should pester people who don't want to be bothered, but in the right time and place, why not?
 
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The only one of those questions that annoys me is "Doesn't it take just as much/even more faith to be an atheist as it does to be a believer?" and that's only really because I hear it a lot, and usually it's framed more as an insult than a question. Even then, if it was asked genuinely, I wouldn't be insulted.

I think the idea that you "shouldn't ask" these questions is just plain silly, comparing it to asking people "are you in this country legally" is even sillier. Asking me questions about my personal beliefs is not the same as racial stereotyping (and then being rude enough to ask blatant questions based on that).

I guess if you come from a country where there is more resistance to atheism I can see why you might find them more insulting though.
 
SummerRain said:
The only one of those questions that annoys me is "Doesn't it take just as much/even more faith to be an atheist as it does to be a believer?" and that's only really because I hear it a lot, and usually it's framed more as an insult than a question. Even then, if it was asked genuinely, I wouldn't be insulted.

I think the idea that you "shouldn't ask" these questions is just plain silly, comparing it to asking people "are you in this country legally" is even sillier. Asking me questions about my personal beliefs is not the same as racial stereotyping (and then being rude enough to ask blatant questions based on that).

I guess if you come from a country where there is more resistance to atheism I can see why you might find them more insulting though.
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Yes. These are questions that atheists here in the US hear quite often from a lot of people. Americans are simply more religious. And atheism has very little respect here. A lot of believers cannot comprehend of a world without God, a world without Jesus, a world without belief in something.
 
It depends where in the US you live. I don't think I've ever once gotten a hard time about being non-religious. But I know that in many areas it's difficult.
 
I've been told that it's surprising that I don't believe in God because I seem like such a good girl. Which is insulting on several levels, but par for the course for the guy who said it. Some people are just like grown up children and you can't be to offended. :shrug:
 
FortyTwo said:
They usually go, "you don't believe in God!?" like I've announced my belief in Xenu or something. That's usually the end of it.
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They'd probably feel much better if you did believe in Xenu, or Zardoz, or Baal, even if you were into sacrificing children to Baal. At least you'd believe in some vast and all-powerful authority figure.

It's a lot like asexuality. People can understand necrophilia and bestiality better than they can understand asexuality it seems. :rolleyes:
 
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It's generally well known that the older one gets, the more religious one becomes. It's usually because as one gets older one becomes more aware of their mortality and the wishful thinking that death is just another step in the soul's journey and they'll have an afterlife, etc. Well, some years ago at a family gathering, some people who didn't know my parents, who were in their late 70's-early 80's at the time, were really surprised to learn that my parents were not only atheists, but were more confirmed atheists then than they had been when they were younger. This kind of goes against the general thinking. I have no idea how much of an atheist I'll be in 30 years, but as I expect to be something of a curmudgeon, I may be even more of an atheist, like my parents. :p
 
kazyeeqen said:
I've been told that it's surprising that I don't believe in God because I seem like such a good girl. Which is insulting on several levels, but par for the course for the guy who said it. Some people are just like grown up children and you can't be to offended. :shrug:
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I have been told that a number of times in my lifetime, lol.

Pickle Juice said:
It's a lot like asexuality. People can understand necrophilia and bestiality better than they can understand asexuality it seems. :rolleyes:
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Agreed.
 
Pickle Juice said:
It's a lot like asexuality. People can understand necrophilia and bestiality better than they can understand asexuality it seems. :rolleyes:
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Amen to that! It's difficult for me to tell people I'm asexual because they're all, "wasn't there that one time you liked that one girl?" And then it turns into a whole different issue altogether because I don't even like girls anymore.
 
Freesia said:
Im kind of a mix of wicca, paganism and buddhism but I also like to cherry pick wisdom from various religions. I enjoy reading about religious mysticism and I love visiting churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other holy or spiritual places but I like to like aspects of them all rather than choose one. I have called myself a polytheist before but others said that my idea of being a polytheist was silly.
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Why did they say it was silly?
 
beancounter said:
I think it's useless to argue or debate with a theist. Their hard coded world view includes a creator, and an Atheists worldview doesn't. Changing these views takes an "earth shattering event", so any discussion will lead nowhere.
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Just re-reading this thread.

That's a pretty insulting thing to say actually. How on earth can you say that all theists are like that? Trust me, there is a least one theist who's world view doesn't include a creator. Actually, I know plenty but I'm not going to speak for them.
 
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