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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there are lots of atheists whose minds need "proof" of religious concepts, but they haven't found it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's just a different set of mental requirements.

Sure, a strict religious background will cause some people to rebel.

There are also plenty of atheists who share that basic human need for a tribal identity. I don't think that's necessarily bad either. Celebrate your own choices. It's only bad when you start bullying people of faith as a way of solidifying your own choices.

There is a subset of atheists who need to feel victimized and persecuted and seem to seek it out even where it may not exist (like the recent Christmas thread). In their case, the root of the problem probably lies elsewhere in their lives and and many could probably benefit from help.

Signed, a religious person[/quote]

:roll:   Oh my..  I am an atheist because I don't believe in God.  There is no proof.[/quote]

Interesting. Instead of saying you don't know of proof, you say you're certain there is no proof. Dawkins isn't certain and calls himself agnostic (at the extreme, because he says he's 99.9% atheist, but still there's that infinitesimally small room for doubt that he says he has to acknowledge if he's intellectually honest). But you are certain. Can you tell us why you're so sure?

Try to refrain from rolling your eyes. You only reinforce the idea that, actually, there is an "angry atheist" persona that some atheists conform to.[/quote]

So, what you are saying is I should believe in your God because their might be a God?  Or, how about I live a decent life, do no harm to others, treat my family well, etc. and then if there is a God, I think I'd do far better in the afterlife than someone who believes in God and did all kinds of horrible things while they were alive.

I don't need to provide proof God doesn't exist because there is no proof of existence.  Your logic makes no sense.  I'm not going to waste my life believing in something that may or may not exist. [/quote]

Pro-tip: if you want to live a decent life, stop being so condescending and obnoxious. [/quote]

not the PP to which you are responding, but "first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

In response to the interaction with the atheist you responded to - acting dismissive or condescending to someone because they respond angrily or shortly to being attacked is a common technique (there's a name for it, though I can't remember what it is.) I believe it is commonly implicated in the phenomena of the 'angry black woman'. To attack someone, and then dismiss them because they get angry at being attacked is shortsighted and doesn't lead anyone to mutual understanding.

On a separate note, any discussion of atheists and what they are like should acknowledge the immense cognitive bias we all likely confront in assessing an 'atheist' population. My guess is that most atheists are 'underground' about their believes, and so the majority of people they meet don't know they are one - this is certainly the case for me. Heck, even the people who do know I'm an atheist apparently think I'm not and I'm really agnostic (more than one person has responded thus to my statement of being an atheist).  Since I'm not an activist about it I don't feel the need to confront them about that. If they feel better denying my lack of faith it doesn't harm me, so why fight it. Thus by default the popular impression of atheists will be based on the loud / militant portion of the atheist population.

American culture is not welcoming to atheists. In my experience people of faith seem to be more uncomfortable with my lack of faith than with an individual whose faith simply differs from theirs.  Apparently the believe in *some* higher power is unifying when confronted with the absence of any type of belief. And this is codified in many places in the laws.  America provides for freedom *of* religion, but the discussion of whether this applies to freedom *from* religion is still underway.  As an example I give you section 4 of the TX Constitution - non Christians are welcome to serve the state, atheists are not.

---- From http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/docs/legref/TxConst.pdf
Sec. 4. RELIGIOUS TESTS. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.[/quote]

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