Atheists intolerant?

I am intolerant towards religion, not people who follow religion. I really REALLY dislike religion, but have many friends who are religious. The only time it becomes an issue is when they make their religion an issue. I will argue long and hard (and I have done, many times) against religion, pointing out the many flaws and inconsistencies as well as how we would all be better off without it, but I wouldn't let it come between myself and one of my friends. It really is not important enough in my opinion to ruin a friendship.

As for self-importance and thinking myself more intelligent, from a lot of the "Christians" and other religious people I have had to put up with on this site and IRL I would say that statistically speaking Atheists are more intelligent (they have to be, they don't have a big book of "answers" that they can quote from), I believe there was even research done in America that showed that those of no faith had higher IQs.

 

I am an atheist, and I find many of the world beliefs utterly ridiculous, but I don't think I am intolerant. I have many friends who are religious and they are some of the nicest people I have met. As an atheist, my philosophy is that there is probably no God but I should strive to be a good person regardless. As for the self-importance/intelligence thing, everyone will have a bit of a self-important streak no matter what religion or how nice they are, and while I like to think I am above average being an atheist does not make me a genius, not by a long way.

And while there are many bigoted, annoying, preaching, ignorant and intolerant and nasty atheists out there, there are probably many more bigoted, annoying, preaching ignorant and intolerant theists. You can't just attack one group about it, you have to attack all bigoted, annoying, preaching, ignorant and intolerant people in general.

 

I have to say one of the most amusing things i've read about these posts is people usually say in some form or another: 'I'm not intolerant, I have loads of friends who have a relegion, and we get along fine'

Also, i'm not asking anyone to prove or disprove the facts and fictions of reality that both science and relegion put forward, we'd never get anywhere. All I ask is how tolerant you are toward the relegious values of people, not to disprove their views.
I could be considered an atheist, I don't believe their is a creator to existence but then again I believe I am a relegious person. I've never really cared for a god of any sort, my relegion does specify that there are gods, but I don't think like that at all, I value the lessons put forward by relegious people then their idols.

It is not relegions that cause hatred, people do that plenty enough.

 

But that -is- tolerant. We do not have to accept and respect a religious point of view. I'm sorry, tolerance doesn't work that way. We accept the -person-, which is more than can be said of quite a few theists. We accept that people believe in religions even if we do not.

The point is that no one has to be 'tolerant' of anyone's religious point of view. To endure today, we need to be tolerant of 'people' and stop placing so much importance on religion.

If you are religious, you are not Atheist. Atheists can be spiritual and philosophical most definitely, but we're not religious, much to the dismay of some religious people that insist on labeling us the anti-religion religion. Science isn't a religion either. Tasting, touching, hearing, feeling, seeing, smelling, experiencing, observing and learning about life.. these are not religion. It's -living-.

I can value the lives of some religious people throughout history, sure. Some of those people were great, benevolent people who were very strong in their ways and contributed to humanity. However, I don't have to value -their religion- to have respect for the people themselves. This is the point I am getting at. Tell me how that is not tolerance?

 

I just found it amusing. It's like the common scenario of people accused of being racist and they come out with: 'I'm not racist, I have loads of black friends, and we get along fine.' It was just something I compared it with and found it funny.

But religion can be a great part of someones life or personality, it's not as simple as leaving at the door, to be tolerated people need to know that they and their beliefs are both accepted, if only one is tolerated discomfort and even hostility can still be felt between the people.

I am not sure what I am exactly, my views change constantly that it is hard to find what people could classify me as.
And true science is not a relegion, they do share many aspects of relegious structure, except instead of one man deciding on the creation of the world, it is experiments. Though foolish as it may seem, I don't beleive science will ever be able to answer or explain everything that goes on in our existence. Science is restricted to our awareness and our thought patterns, our capacity to learn and understand what our sense give to us, being a human restricts the very ability of life to learn and progress. Science can only account for our reality and not the other possible existence and realities that may have different laws and rules.
At least, that is my belief, though proven, it can not be done.

Relegions have the abilty to teach us great lessons of life. Tolerance and understanding is needed for development in not only spiritual aspects of life, but intellectual ones as well. I don't beleive that a purely logic being can fully omprehend the capabilities in life.

 

No, it's the way the human mind works. It has nothing to do with religion. Although religion makes it occur more so and sometimes even obligates it, it's not the origin of it.

 

Atheists may not believe in religion or God, but it does not make them any more or less intolerant than the religious people. I am an atheist, but I'm no more intolerant and/or rude about my parents' beliefs as I am to the rest of the religions.

From most of the atheists I've known, they all respect the religions that are out there, as they've nothing personal against them. Refusing to believe and abide by something that is handed to them by the church, mosque or temple does not make atheists intolerant. They are simply following what they believe in just as the religious people. These people have just as much right to believe in what they want as others. It’s on their own free will. The idea of religion is ancient, but it is still something grand that the majority of the population believe in. However, the idea of it is also outdated, and many of the outdated concepts, such as shunning other religions, creating ranks amongst themselves, or going on holy wars in the name of God no longer appeals to the vast majority, neither does any of it make any sense to them. Atheists do not think of religion as stupid or nonsense, but something that is outdated and something that should no longer apply to the people of our age. If atheists refuse to go by those concepts and dare to live in the present, it does not make them intolerant of religious beliefs.

If atheists are "intolerant" of religions, then so are religions people. What are the religions doing when they claim that their God is true and that all others are Pagan and should immediately be converted to their religion? It creates unnecessary conflicts amongst neighbors. There are also pointless wars to prove that their God is true and in order to prove this it’s even come to the point of terrorism. Every religion teaches their followers to respect others and their beliefs, but instead the sects are rather forming armies and bombing the hell out of each other just to prove that they are better. If different religions cannot seem to stand the presence of another, then it’s pretty much baseless to accuse atheists of being intolerant. Meaningless acts such as that are the reason why atheists may say a few crude words about religions, but one must also see the things the different religions are doing to prove something that cannot really be proven. When do atheists speak out against religions? They speak out when the people around them try to press their beliefs unto them, and they only point out the reasons why they refuse abide by the beliefs--automatically making atheists intolerant and rude.

No, that again is a baseless accusation.

What there is to consider are those who claim to be atheists because it’s suddenly become a FAD. These are people who only go by the idea because it’s the next rad thing on their agenda and the misconception that atheists are intolerant is perhaps the reason why they seen to act that way, to simply “fit in. But then that’s a whole different subject.

I personally have nothing against religion. I respect all religion and their beliefs since it's something others have chosen to believe in. Like everyone else, who are religious have a choice of believing what they feel is right. The concept of religion is nothing small to consider, but neither does it have any interest in me for me to strike at it. I believed what I was told when I was young and learned my rights and wrongs, and to choose between the good and bad. However, one does not need to believe in and/or fear God to still have those beliefs. I’m perfectly fine with those who are believers, just as much as nonbelievers. It doesn’t matter to me if whether or not someone has a spiritual side. In the end, we are still the same.

 

I think you'll find atheists of all kinds. I'm an atheist and am open to the fact that a lot of people believe in religon, I wouldn't like them less or more based on that. I think I've placed such a low amount of concern onto religon that it just never bothers me. Only cases like the inquisition bug me when it comes to religon.

 

I meant in the sense that modern day relgions are usually used for explaining the mysteries of the universe that scince has yet to prove with solid facts, I don't think people can be blamed for trying to find answers when no noe gives any other explanation.

True you can't disprove or prove him under your bed, but unfortunately like children stories relgion has had trouble with filtration of knowldege over time. THe Boogieman's origins are all linked in different cultures to a basis of predator animals that attacked human settlements as they slept, usually the weakest of the group AKA children where the first to be attacked, leading to parents using the story as to keep their child in line. This turned into the boogieman because of lies and miscommunication between people.

Relegion is the scholars way to explain the origins and workings of all that exists, and all that doesn't, how to treat your fellow man and be a wiser perosn. Unfortunately not many people who follow relegions now a days are following the original word of the likes of Buddha, Jesus, etc, they follow parts of it but thanks to human intervention over time it has been twisted into different shapes and forms. THis is why some people fiand relegion intolearable.

Gravity has a bit more 'reality' for people, than them to believe a cataclysmic event of unimaginable magnitude that created the very first signs of life in existence since if it did occur it wasn't for many billions of years ago. Many epople even say that the Big Bang and the Christian Creationist theory are one in the same, where first God seperated darkness and light. Each theory has similar credibility as the other because of the lack of evidence either one produces.

 

That's the point of researching and exploring and not just accepting what someone tells you without proof. Religion -tells you- everything. Science is exploring and discovering. Philosophy is researching and thinking. Religion is telling you what to do and that is the way it is. It even lays out for you the purpose and meaning of everything including your own future if you don't do this or that. Point is, we may never have all the answers and so what? Some of us in life are content with saying 'I do not know' and we can leave a question open for debate. Others have to have their answers and if they don't have any, they slide something else in, whether it's a spaghetti monster, some deity, a a pink unicorn, etc. This is the difference between those who are religious and those who are not.

The point is religion is written by mankind so that even if there were ever deities or spirits of nature, fae, youkai etc... humans always get it -wrong-. This is why there are tons of interpretations on the monotheistic deity especially. Some people sit there and say 'what does God care about whether someone is gay or straight?'. 'why is God such an angry God and jealous of other gods if none are supposed to exist?' etc. People are naturally going to question things and that is not 'religious' to do so. It is spiritual, philosophical and cognitive. Interpretations changed because times changed and also there are glaring errors in the books that children can point out. I know because I was one of those children.

Religion for some cultures was used to explain things and give stories etc. The monotheistic religion was designed to hold a society together and give it constraints and rules. Buddhism was made not for a society but for the person to seek a path of enlightenment and really, the purpose of it was not religious, but philosophical. Basic Buddhism is not a religion and has even been incorporated into quite a few other religions because of its lack of a deity in base form. There's a difference there. Jesus is questionable because his history mirrors Horus and a few other former deities at the same time as trying to suffocate those deities from existence. Even Jesus's birth resembled Horus's. This is what is deplorable is that some religions raped from other religions and get away with it because it becomes mainstream. The control over people in a society by religion is also deplorable. People -can- have morals and ethics without religion. They can also lack morals and ethics with religion. In the end, just because someone is religious does not mean he/she will be inherently a decent person. There are many reasons to find problems with the main organized religions of today, not just for crimes of yesterday, but for those that go on today with activist religious groups such as Evangelical Protestants. If you don't see these things, how can you tell us what we find to be so horribly wrong? It just is amusing to me that most Atheists have studied religion more so than those who claim to be religious and yet we are always told we don't know what we are talking about. Maybe it's because we study -multiple- religions.

The Creationist Theory is not a theory. It is a story, perhaps a philosophy at best that was carved in stone for the Monotheistic religion. The Big Bang Theory is a Theory because there is some evidence to support it as a possibility. There is nothing but pieces of paper to say that Creationism is at all even a hypothesis. In science, there has to be some kind of validation or proof and writing a book is not that. Also, there were creation ideals from deities long before Judaism so why aren't those theories too? Why? Because the Monotheistic followers have declared that it isn't true. This is the same reason why in High School, people fight constantly to make sure a world religious class is never allowed so that the major religions can be explored by students and they could pick and choose or decide to not follow any. This is also why the Monotheistic extremists out there try to get Creationism taught in science class instead. Science is -not out to disprove religion-. However, religion does not deserve to be taught in science. Do you even see the hypocrisy here? People are denied the right to even research what they want to because of the push of a dominant religion to kill science and also other religions. If you want to say anyone is intolerant, go after those people who refuse to let people have the choices in front of them clear as day instead of spending time saying Atheists are so intolerant. We're sick of hypocrisy and that really is all there is left to say on it. It's a ridiculous double-standard that some of us simply don't care to follow.

You also said that it is amusing that Atheists would say they 'have friends who are religious' comparing it to racists who say 'I have blacks as friends' etc. The point is, we do. Those friends however, and the Atheist respect one another for the -people- we are because we are decent people and not pushing our inner core belief of religion or lack of it on one another. We also all tend to see the mistakes out there. The religious friends I have do not mind, even if they don't get it, why I have no belief in what they do. I don't mind or get it why they believe in what they do. However, we all can see some of the great wrongs out there done and we respect one another's rights to believe in what we want to. We also see the good in us as in we disdain racism acts, we abhor rape, we don't care for murdering either, we're not biased against gays, we don't bully other people, we attempt to not lie or steal etc, we tell dirty jokes to one another, we help each other when one of us is down. Whatever the reason as to why we all found out to be semi-decent people, we did, and -that- is what matters. Friends and even family do not always see eye to eye on every issue we feel or believe in. That's reality.

 

I personally find it rather foolish to believe in a "god" or "supreme being" or thing of that nature, simply because I feel that all the evidence is against it.

However, that is simply my opinion. If someone truly believes that there is a god watching out for them, then I know there is no way to counter that belief. That doesn't stop me from arguing my side, of course, but I don't way things like "well, your belief is stupid because there is no god." I might point out the evidence for things like evolution, the big bang, the lack of miracles in the world, etc., but I do refrain from actively persecuting people. And they are quite free to argue their side, also. If someone were to bring me hard proof of a god's existence, it would help their case tremendously.

Now, there are, I admit, quite a few intolerant Atheists. But how is that different from any world religion? I am willing to bet that most world religions have caused more suffering in this world than Atheism (sorry if this offends anyone...). Atheists have never declared a holy war, for instance. But I'm starting to ramble, so I'll wrap this up now...

 

One word: Extremists. Extremists who misinterpret religious messages and use them to justify inhuman acts. They exist in both atheism and religion, and they give everyone a bad name. If not for extremists and intolerant people, there'd be much more respect for both sides.

 

I see "Athiests intolerant" from the main forum page and I just have to post.

The way I like to view it, the group of people from Atheism are very alike to the group of people who are Christian in this sense. While they individually are very diverse and differ from people to people, there are still certain stereotypes about them and there are certain people from each group that actually reinforce these stereotypes. I'm not going to name any names here but I have seen Christians who use circular logic in debates and stick to faith as evidence, a main perspective of a lot of Atheists on Christians. Conversely, however, I have also seen some egotistical Atheists who preach that Atheism is the greater fact, claim to have all logic on their side constantly and spread ideas about Christians that aren't necessarily fair. So really, it's a double edged sword any way you think about it.

 

^ He carries a good point.
Most are like that.

 

Intolerance from a theist comes from their dogma and the fact that they are told what to belief. Intolerance from an atheist would be because that particular person is stubborn and/or intolerant, not because they are atheist.

 

Intolerance towards a group of people is what I thought we were talking about here. If we were talking about intolerance towards a person based on a set of qualities from them then there wouldn't be that much of a problem, right?

 

I don't really believe in God and that stuff, i'm more scientific. Since I'm a Atheist, i can look at everyone's religion and say "Okay. You believe in God. I'm cool with that." Its just sometimes when people FORCE religion on you is when I turn around and snap at them, saying that God is a load of bullshit.
God to me, really is a myth. One man couldn't of created the ENTIRE galaxy. Its just impossible. Not gonna happen.
But if people do believe in that then okay, its good to have believes and things to be inspired by.

 

God's not a man, though. God is...well, God.
I'm not going to force anything on you, but God isn't man. And it's not like he just said "kay so her gos. bam. ohsi--i made a the earth? woah!"
It was more like 6 ages. and then for the seventh age, he rested. Not seven literal days.

 

I think I understand this post and agree with it. I don't see this as intolerant because you are not being intolerant to a person's beliefs just because of what they are. Their actions dictate how much intolerance you have towards them instead, am I correct?

Oh yeah, and I would also like to point out what I said in my first post about it being a "double edged sword". Your post reinforces this if anything, because what you are saying is that theists are intolerant to Atheists because the Atheists don't conform to their beliefs, And Atheists are intolerant to theists because the theists don't conform to their beliefs.