Atheist? probably not. , page 1

Originally posted by Arizonee
Me: "do you believe in God?"
Him: "no'
Me: "do you believe in Mickey Mouse? Do you think he's real?"
Him: "no"
Me: "do you get offended when people talk about Mickey Mouse?"
Him: "no"
Me: "then why do you get offended at people for talking about God? if you were a true atheist than God would be no more real to you than Mickey Mouse."
Him: "that's different"
Me: "how?"
Him: "i don't know"
Me: "do you believe in Superman and Wolverine?"
Him: "no"
Me: "but you like talking about comics..."
Him: "whatever dude"

I can't understand why somebody would be offended in something that didn't exist, yet this seems to be my experience with the so-called atheists I have run into. They vehemently deny the possibility of God and their feathers are ruffled at the mere mention of the 'g-word'. If anything I would think they would have pity on those who practice religion. How silly and delusional we must be to them! The only thing I can think of is that yes, they acknowledge God, but for whatever personal reason they choose to shun rather than embrace. But that's just my guess. Any thoughts on this?

I like your straw man. He's cute.

God doesn't offend atheists, for just the reason you suspect it shouldn't. Why be offended by what isn't there?

However when Wolverine is slobbering himself at the thought of getting himself some preteen tail, one can certainly be offended at the writers. Or at the people who think that's awesome.

We do pity the religious. Her we have a bunch of people who have deluded themselves into believing that if they do not devote their entire life and everything they accomplish to a magical but silent and invisible being, then not only will they turn into werewolves (so to speak, the whole "you need religion to be moral" argument) but then their loving god will turn on them, kill them, and throw them into eternal torture.

Or for another religion, we have people who believe that who's crotch you fall out of determines whether you get to be the abuser or the abusee in society, because the gods ordained your caste. Or perhaps the spirits of your tribe require chastity... meaning you're going to have your clitoris sliced out and your labia stitched shut, how fun.

We're also irritated by the constant need of the religious to swing their faith around like a dead cat. Do Christians and Muslims really need to be surrounded by religious iconography and reminders of their faith? What, are they afraid that they might slip up and forget about their magical invisible silent imaginary man in the sky?

Even that's not so bad compared to the way the religious keep shoving their faces into social and religious policies around the world. Here in the United States, Christians are barking mad that the Jesus-Horse Hypothesis isn't treated with the same dignitas as authentic scientific theories - and their pressure has gotten a few schools to cave, anyway. The world over, there are nations where homosexuality is illegal, sometimes even punishable by death, because religion says so. In India, you can't give your girlfriend a kiss in public, because that violates the chastity laws with origins in two religions. Ireland has made it so that you can't "blaspheme" with the definition of Blasphemy no doubt judged on an individual rather than standardized basis - and it seems like atheism = blasphemy there.

if the religious could just mind their own business, I certainly wouldn't mind if they talked to invisible people, magic statues, friendly sticks, sandals and gourds, or whatever.