I would consider myself to be an atheist and have thought so for a very long time, although I do not sacrifice animals and attack children (contrary to popular belief of atheists). Recently I was having a chat with an elderly women, while waiting for a book in my local library, when the topic of religion came up. She had asked me my faith and I replied as being an atheist and had asked her what her faith was. She deemed me a satanic person and no longer wished to speak to me even though seconds ago we were having a polite discussion about literature. I did not insult her nor did I try to convert her to atheism, so why do people do the same to me. It is not okay for an atheist to convert someone, but a religious person converting someone to their faith is seen as "saving" them. Some atheists cannot openly discuss their preferences of the fear of being ridiculed or harassed but I do it either way. I am not bashing religion, if that is what you chose it is your right to believe in it, so should atheists have a right as well? So that brings me to the point, why is society like this? Also, I do not know why this posted on movies, I apologize and I must have pressed something incorrectly. 

I'm gonna be a little blunt, and I'm expecting some haters:

I am an atheist myself, and that's because I never believed in God or afterlife and this chain of fortunate events cause by God is just a bunch of coincidental or lucky happenings. But I'm not gonna ramble on about that. I guess you could call me a person you are describing here, and I don't know why this is true, but I guess I'm just that kind of person who things religion is just a set of lies agreed upon. I respect people who are pious, but honestly, I think that these are stories that we believe in our hearts. They never actually happened. And I think atheists are somewhat depressed (like I am a lot) because they hear religion brought up, and they are left out in any of this conversation, and they find it annoying/worthless/stupid, causing them to be somewhat depressed

Well, at least this is what I think is why.

In my opinion it is most likely because it is very hard to accept the fact that hundreds of years and many many generations have been following and dedicating entire lifes to a farce. Some people need the idea to function. To me the world is much more beautiful and wondrous accepting that it was all on accident and there is no other purpose beside what we make it to be. No worries though mate though mate in 100 years religion will be almost gone and man kind can move on.

They arent in europe. In some places they are even the majority.
In america though you have a region called the bible belt, that says it all.
Picking on minoritys is nothing new, and since most religions explicitly condemn other faiths (or those lacking any)many people think its alright to treat others like dirt.
Frankly that woman sounds like a clas a b***h. I dont think you lost much in the conversation ending. If she wants to be a spiteful old hag thats her choice. Unfortunately democracy alows people to have different views, theres plenty of country's she can move to if she doesent like that.

We live in a very religious world. The majority of people in the world are religious and religious people tend to be rather Xenophobic and they don't like anything that could damage or oppose their beliefs. So , and this is an example, Christians among many other would go a LONG way to get rid of what they feel would be a threat. They ostracize people such as yourself as a defense.                      That's my theory anyway.

Think of what religion brings us:  Wars, hate, persecution, violence, people attacking people.  It is not necessarily because you're Atheist, it may be because you're not what she was.  You could have said Muslim, Jewish, Satanist, Hindu, Buddhist, or anything else and she may have had the same reaction.  Many extremely religious people are taught to be close-minded and don't learn to accept others and simply enjoy life.

It's too bad too because most major players in religion, like Jesus, walked around and said how great it would be if people were nice to each other every now and then.  And he got nailed to a cross.

So.... atheists themselves?  For the most part you just tend to your knitting like *most* Christians.  There are a vocal few who are out to prove all religious people wrong.  There are some Atheists that say, "Hey, look at me use SCIENCE to prove your God doesn't even exist."  That can be offense to some people when you challenge their reality just to feel good about yourself.  Those few Atheists give most a bad name the same way a small percentage of aggressive and extremely vocal Christians (Westboro Baptist Church) give the majority a bad name.

It isn't the atheism.  It's the few who ruin it for everyone.  I'm friends with folks of all belief systems and no one cares because we don't bring it into conversation.  That woman was looking for someone to agree with her and when you didn't, she got huffy.  She's one person.  Most of us are nice.

You don't want to be lumped into ATHEISTS as a group who sacrifice animals and attack kids (I never knew you were supposed to do that.  It's a new one) and Christians don't want to be lumped into a single group with this lady.  it was one event, let it go.

Freedom of religion is not the same thing as freedom from religion. People can choose to have their beliefs, and there are those who try to force their beliefs onto others. Unfortunately for you, those people who try to force their beliefs on to others rose to power, and now society has had a trickle-down effect of beliefs. People still hold on to archaic beliefs that cause them to be xenophobic, spiteful, and outright mean to those who are not of their faith. No, it is not all people, but there is a large number of religious people who decide to openly condemn those are atheist. It is only because you have a different view from them, and their roots teach them that you are bad, even if you truly are not. It is a sad world, but atheists are making great strides. Go back a few hundred years, and you could be hanged simply for being an atheist. At least they do not do that anymore (in most civilized countries). 

Thank you all for replying and you have added some interesting reasoning to my perspective. Ha ha every time I mention atheism I am also like, "here it comes", but I am glad many people understand. I was expecting someone to say I should be a Christian and forget atheism. The world would be a lot better if religion was practiced in the privacy of people's own home and when needed. You should not try and push your own values onto others and let them find their own way of life. I do agree that some religious people ruin it and some atheist ruin it as well. 

This should probably be moved to the religion subforum of the debate forum.

I had things to say, but it looks like sop281 and warmaker beat me to it. d: The most vocal members of any sect tend to get the most press, and novelty and controversy likewise get more attention. This means that most every group ends up villainized, but it's especially tough for atheists because they are in the minority.

All that's left is for me is to advocate for people who counter this trend: we need more people on both sides of the equation who are promoting peace, love and tolerance. What's more, we need more people talking about these people. That and a strong effort toward mutual understanding. I look forward to the day where others are no longer villainized for their beliefs.

Um, I would hope for you to hear me out. I'm a Christian but, there are some paths I feel not to follow, in order not to hurt people. I don't like seeing people suffer. So I hope you believe every word I say here. I don't hate atheists at all. I really don't, even if they do hate Christians. whats the point on conflicting about it? Not all people will agree with what you like on. That is something I have learned to deal with. People have their own reasons as of what they believe in. Please take notice that not all Christians are bad by saying what they say. I would say something about what god has done for me. But not to say you should follow him even though that is what I was taught. If I would do that. Then that would pressure the person and for them not to like you more.

So people really need to consider other peoples feelings. I do what I do to inspire people. If they start to become Christians themselves that's good for them. But I believe people choose rightly on who they want to be in real life. And as they would see it. I understand I really do. You know what? I am friends with some atheist on this site. Because I don't go down their throats saying so many things about god. I love god but, I also treasure peoples feelings. Not a lot of people like Christianity talk so I won't talk of it. But, would do with my Christian friends. Please, please please think about what I said not all are bad. Its if you start something then people will misjudge you on how you are like Christian or atheist wise. Its not right to conflict on what people say because you think it is wrong.

Many just needs to be mature about it, and do it out of respect. Same goes for people who are gay. I can't stand for the fact that people do not sense this, thus fight. I do my best to end both parties to see what they say is out of misjudgement. I don't like to judge and assume. I would rather ask than to do that. What I may be doing might not be an approval to other Christian people....but, I believe for me this is the right path. And you will gain much more, like some unexpected friends. I believe on how I feel, and what my heart tells me to say. If I was to be that old lady I wouldn't had turn away in disgust. I would ask why and respect it. There are other ways of dealing problem such as this but, it is people who would need to see that. And not always to believe that conflict is the only way to settle the matter.


I have voiced out my reason. I hope that you believe me....

Aside from what warmaker said (which is most of what I had to say)...

A lot of the people I've talked to who don't accept atheism (I identify as atheist) say that they dislike atheists more than any other "religion" because "at least Muslims, and those of the Jewish faith believe in something." and have a misconception of what an atheist is.

No, we don't believe in your God, but we do believe, generally, in being good people with good morals. We practice a lot of the same morals as those who are religious. Or at least, the decent ones do. Outside of the small sect of atheists who go looking for a fight and color us in a worse light, most atheists are quieter about their beliefs (or non-beliefs as it were) until they are attacked. Once attacked, most defend, and because we defend, we get called out for pushing our thoughts down their throat.

I once wrote a paper in high school for a government topics class, about atheism in America. This was a good 4/5 years ago, so a lot of the data isn't necessarily true now, I remember being shocked when I picked a study (I wish I could find it to cite sources) that said that Americans were more likely to vote for a gay president than an atheist one. I don't think either homosexuality or atheism are wrong, but knowing America's long standing prejudice against homosexuality, it was a bit of a shock to see that they trust atheists even less. And mind, this was 4 or so years ago, social movements regarding homosexuality have made big ground since then, the scene isn't what it was.

I've been called many things by people of any different kinds of faith. Whether someone is Christian or Muslim, I have always been fair and equal with them on the topic of religion. Unfortunately, more often than not, they have mocked my lack of belief in a god. This happens more among Christians... however, it's worth noting that I know more Christians than any other group. I think honestly, when you delve into percentages, an equal amount of Christians are dicks to atheists as there are atheists who are dicks to Christians.

"I do not sacrifice animals and attack children (contrary to popular belief of atheists)."

Um, what? Where are you getting that from?

Well you see, Atheist are sometimes seen as evil people and in my life I have been told to stay away from children because I would try and attack them. I do not know where they got that information from but many people have told me that. Also, some people seem to confuse Atheism with being a Satanist and just assume that both groups of people sacrifice animals in some sort of ritual. Both of which I have never done personally but some people seem to have those ideas floating around. I get that mostly from people that stay in their enclosed circle of life and do not bother to venture out and find new ideas.

It's funny how most people want to be left alone to believe in any god they wish as soon as some one say they don't believe in any god watch out.

EideticMemory : Yeah, I am atheist too, but I do not do those things. I thought atheists were people who just did not have a religion. I also thought that atheists could be categorized into many different kinds of atheism( Don't know if I spelled that right), whether it is believing in Satan, or believing in nothing, or doing odd things in life.

As a atheist living in the " Bible belt " ( Texas to be specific ) This is a normal hot button topic for me and I experience this first hand a lot. Now a lot of the looking down upon or misconceptions come from the older generations around here but there are still a lot of the youth who have been brainwashed. My personal favorite is that I must worship the devil since I don't worship god. I believe the back lash against atheist is mainly stemmed from gross misunderstanding of what it means to be a atheist. Being atheist is not a label like being a christian it simply means that individual doesn't not believe in any god presented to them through any religion.

I have a religion. And I have no problem with atheists. Not one.I have atheist friends. But I don't know.


It sucks really because at a point of my life, i also considered myself atheist.

imamonster : Yea i do not really have a problem with religion, or religious people for that matter. Most of my friends are religious and have different forms of religion in their lives. If you are religious, just keep it to yourself. If another person wants to talk about religion then go ahead, but i hate it when all some people want to do is push their beliefs onto others but are not open to ideas themselves. Not every religious person does this, but the ones that do get under my skin.

Yeah, I never do that. I strongly dislike that. It's for you. Keep god to yourself.

I'm not against atheism because it is a choice. But what does this have to do with movies?