Do you think atheism makes theists uncomfortable?

[cynatnite]

Maybe they have deeply buried doubts and our atheism reminds them of that. Could be that's why they feel so threatened by our existence to such strong degrees?

[laconicsax]

1. Only when it's someone else's.

Theists are perfectly comfortable with their own atheism, whether it's their non-belief (or even active disbelief) in the gods of other religions or their going through the vast majority of life as a de facto atheist.

I have yet to meet a theist who isn't perfectly content to be an atheist in both contexts.

[Kerrytravelers]

2. It makes them crazy that we don't talk to ourselves like they do.

It makes them absolutely nuts.

[Deep13]

3. Some of them...

Christians and Muslims believe different things, but they both believe there is an ultimate divine purpose behind everything. Atheists not only reject that but reject faith as a virtue and therefore reject the whole theistic world view.

[yellerpup]

4. I hope so.

I hope they are frightened enough to question their belief, re-examine their ethics, and vote Democratic.

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. Absolutely with out a doubt.

I was thinking about starting a thread in this forum about a conversation I just had in a bar, but this will suffice.

1st of all, I don't post in this forum very much at all, but I thought I would share this with you lot. I'm in Albuquerque, NM (As if there are too many other Albuquerque's) and was just in a hotel bar down the street that has a large, granite ten commandments ......ummm.....monument?......idol?......obscenity? out front. So, unfortunately, I let the shot of bourbon I had twenty minutes earlier get the best of me and got into it with the bartender that led into a conversation with the two guys at the bar.
Dip shit at the bar # 2's major point was the old nonsense default "Who created you?" crap.


The answer to your question is Yes....

They can not STAND the idea that there might be a differing opinion because thinking differently is troubling and requires actual critical thought.


Most people of the stripe of Mr. #2 just simply think you are dopey if you can't grasp the idea that God created everything. That YOU are wrong for not thinking that magic had something to do with it all. Reaching such people...those that are convinced that magic is irrational except when it comes to the god of Abraham is impossible.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. christians are weak...

and so is their god. If they don't constant re-enforcement that they are right they get nervous.

[lazarus]

7. for example

on the latest season of Survivor, castaways who are voted off go to a special camp called Redemption Island where they live alone, for the most part, and compete in duels with the next person voted off. Very lonely existence.

The person who has stayed there the entire season, winning all the duels, is a Jesus freak named Matt. He bonded with the latest victim, Krista, over prayer. She had a Bible. He interviewed that he was having a hard time being "without a faith community" out there, and how much having her there helped.

When he beat her, and she had to leave the game, they made a big production out of the fact that she left him her personal Bible. He went on and on about it. :eyes:

[Arugula Latte]

8. Unquestionably -- yes.

That is behind their extremism when faced with the prospect of a non-believer.

[Ninjaneer]

9. I think its that they can't imagine

anyone willingly shouldering the responsibility that comes with being an atheist. It does not even compute for them. You have to basically figure everything out for yourself: your moral code, the point of life, dealing with mortality (the real deal, not that "there's a heaven after!!!!!1eleven" garbage) etc. They can't imagine anyone not being spoon fed the answers to all the important questions. There has to be something wrong with people like that. After all, why would anyone cook their own meal when there's the fast food drive-thru window?

[provis99]

10. well, they hate atheists and want to convert or kill them.

Does that qualify as making them feel uncomfortable?

[Evoman]

11. No, Not at all. They usually approach us in a measured and reasonable way,

....

uh...yeah...sarcasm.