Why do athiests bother to constantly pound christians about their religion?

[harchickgirl1]

Examples?

From my point of view, it's Christians who try to convert other people.

I've never had an atheist knock on my door wanting to talk about their (non) beliefs.

I've never had an atheist hand me anti-religious literature on the street corner or put it in my mailbox or stuff it in my door.

I've never had atheist friends try to take my children to atheist classes or atheist youth groups.

I've never spent a dollar that says "In No One We Trust."

I've never driven past atheist gathering places and seen signs telling me to repent or I'll go to an unpleasant place.

When I was still a Christian, I never had atheists pressure me to leave the church. But I had plenty of Christians pressure me to leave my own brand of Christianity and join theirs.

I've never had atheist friends place anti-religious tokens on my Jewish grandfather's online memorial. But six times Christians have put crosses or pictures of Jesus. To try to convert a dead man. Whose memorial clearly explains that his father was a Rabbi.

Only Christians do those things.

Please give me three examples of where atheists publically try to sway people away from their religion?

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[charbroiled04]

First off, you assume that just because we don't think your God exists that we "have no reason to try to make other people believe..."

Which is just false. There are certainly reasons why, and it can vary from person to person.

For me, here's a few simple reasons:
1) Some people who believe in religion try to enforce their beliefs on others (e.g. prop 8 and the Mormon Church). They use the acceptance of people who believe as they do to enforce those beliefs on people who do not.

2) I think people who think there is a God (among other things) simply have it wrong. And I feel compelled to correct them. The same way I feel compelled to help people who don't know how to do certain things in Math correctly, or who don't know other academic-type things. I enjoy teaching, and I feel I have an obligation to.

3) Obviously I think religions are all incorrect, but more dangerously, they often lead to horrible horrible things such as wars, poverty, hampering of medical or social progress, etc etc. How many fewer STDs would be passed if the pope didn't tell people in Africa NOT to use Condoms? How many people have died because, rather than get proper medical treatment, they left it up to prayer or faith? How many people have died or suffered due to illness or disability which COULD have been treated by Medicine sooner, if religion wasn't hampering it in some regards (e.g. stem cell research)?

4) If there is no Heaven, no afterlife, etc... then you're wasting the one life you DO have on sheer stupidity. How can I NOT try to prevent that, the same way you feel like you have to prevent me from going to Hell?

 

[girl_on_the_couch_inak]

i don.t feel the need to pound them about their religion......im glad that they found something like that to enrich their life..........as long as they don.t try to pound their religion into me......my friend, yes friend, is a hardcore christian.......when she was trying to convert her, i told her it would do no good....eventually she stopped.......even tho she still makes comments which are based on her faith, i let her, because thats her thing......i kno i can NEVER change her and thats okey w/me....

 

[scottm]

Here's a "real answer".

Christians typically start these little conflicts. You can see a few examples here on this page: Idiots who think they know what is going on in our heads. It often starts with slander and libel, like comparing atheists to communists or nazis. Accusing us of "secretly knowing the truth but living in denial / in love with sin / afraid of judgment."

Not that we're alone in this kind of demonization: Christianity has been demonizing rival faiths ever since it was founded. But I digress,

The temperature goes up another notch when you go around trying to get everyone to give up their superstitions in favor of yours. It takes a special kind of arrogance to go up to someone in their home or on the street and tell them that everything that they have believed (or not believed) their entire lives is somehow wrong, but that they are being "given the chance" to reject everything they've know their entire lives just to follow your beliefs. Things go up yet another notch when such efforts are rejected: Accusations of satanism, immorality, threats of hell, condescending pity...not to mention repeated attempts parroting the exact same nonsense over and over as though we haven;t heard it the first dozen times.

Subject yourself to that for a few days and see how you like it.

Things really start coming to a head when the religious try to pass laws based on their dogma that everyone else must follow. Would you like it if the Mormons somehow passed a law demanding that everyone wear their brand of underwear at any religious service? If Muslims passed a law outlawing bacon or ham? How about the alcohol laws in Utah? Wouldn't they be fun if made national?

It tops out when believers throw their efforts into trying to destroy science because science in specific fields provide answers that fly in the face of their pet dogma. They throw the mother of all fits and start to say things that convince me that believers are insane.

So yeah. We sometimes fight back. Only recently have we been able to do so openly without (as much) fear of vandalism, assault, and accusations of communism/fascism/satanism. We fight back because unlike believers we actually give a damn about truth. Believers only care about propagating their religion into others, regardless of how accurate or inaccurate it might be.

 

[XiaoGui]

Personally, I'm reacting to Christian prodding. If Christians would leave me alone, I'd be contented to leave them alone as well. But they don't; they try and get their version of "morality" written into law, they try and pass laws that restrict what I can and cannot do, they come up to me and try and convert me, etc, etc. How do you expect me to react; to sit there and take it while Christians try and force their dogma down my throat? Or to fight fire with fire?

I also know many ex-Christians who were traumatized by abusive parents, ridden with guilt, and had their education stunted because of the shackles of Christianity. Wouldn't you be outraged?

Simply put, no, it doesn't make a difference after we die, but it DOES make a difference IN THIS LIFE to how people live their lives.

 

[Nate]

I only discuss it back when someone discusses theirs with me, such as trying to convert me. I essentially take it as an invitation for an open conversation on the subject when an attempt at conversion is directed at me.

 

[stepelreeltje]

Because atheists are afraid in the dark, they always keep the light on, and want others to keep the light on.

 

[newhere]

Just admit you're wrong. Please.

 

[theothecodBTFH]

Yeah those atheists who knock on your door and cold call you are a real pain. The ones handing out leaflets and singing hymns through powerful amplifiers in the high street on Saturdays are bad too. But the worst atheists of the lot are their missionaries in Africa who are bribing and corrupting politicians to implement abstinence campaigns. [sarcasm]. Get your own house in order first before you criticise people, otherwise you may be open to getting yourself called a hypocrite.

 

[pampurredpuss]

Wasn't aware Atheism was a religion.

I have no problem with people believing in what they want to. If some people need to believe in something I just think they feel they are incomplete in same way. Why do you need to have a religion? Why do you need to believe there is something?

Believe in yourself, that's the most important religion there is.

 

[Shiroyasha]

When religion gets out of politics, I'll be happy to oblige.

 

[seebob]

Religion is dangerous.
Religious leaders attempt to influence lawmakers and politicians to accommodate their wishes and create laws that disadvantage or infringe upon the rights of non-believers.
It is vital to good government that there is separation of state and church.
Religious minded people also discriminate against those who do not follow their dogma, amongst others, homosexuals and women who wish to have control over their own reproductive functions.
Further, wars, inquisitions, witch-hunts etc, have been waged in the name of god, causing countless millions of deaths, fruitlessly lost in the pursuit of pleasing some fictitious character.

 

[GentlemanJack]

Christianity is stupid.

Looks like a real answer to me.

And mostly we care because 1) we do believe in things, even if you're too much of a f***wit to pull your head out of your @$$. 2) evangelists are annoying, so we fight back. 3) god is a fairytale. 4) you keep trying to legislate said fairytale's dogmas onto us 5) because i feel like it. 6) you suck