re why do people become atheists in article may athos rutgers edu mayne nu cs fsu edu writes in article may athos rutgers edu fil sapienza med umich edu fil sapienza writes why are atheists atheists believes it could be the result of brokenness this is condescending at best and a slightly disquised ad hominem attack this attitude on the part of many theists especially the vocal ones is one reason for the hostility you sense how do you like it when atheists say that people turn to religion out of immature emotionalism i agree if you are going to find out anything from people who don t share your beliefs do not attack them or condescend to them and hope to get a neutral picture of them come to them with an open mind i don t believe that atheists are generally any more broken than anybody else any cause and effect is likely to be the other way there is an emotional price to pay for being different hearing one s beliefs or lack thereof condemned and one s motives and character attacked well you do believe in something as i see it even if it is a sort of anti belief no negative connotation meant i mean simply that you believe that god does not exist christians can also feel that sense of difference however when they are associated with those weird televangelists who always talk about satan if you ll excuse the cliched sound of this everyone has to deal with his her differences from other people i can understand how being an atheist could be hard for you being a christian is sometimes hard for me i became an atheist when i got old enough to reason because there was just no good reason to believe the religion i had been taught this was very painful because of the pressure i was placed under by my family and friends i wanted to fit in believe and be accepted i tried but finally the cognitive dissonance was just too great you should not have to repress how you feel you should be able to discuss it without fear i think there are admirable things to learn from any belief which can enrich your own by asking myself the questions that atheists may ask me i can learn the answers and become stronger in my faith if my faith can t support knowing the answers to those questions it is weak and untrue i have sympathy for gays growing up in repressive environments and having to hide and sometimes at first try to deny a part of themselves because i ve been there only in my case it was my rationality instead of sexuality which i was forced to try to repress in some way the pressures were different of course because you chose your beliefs or are you saying that they were not your choice but born of necessity please no flames about whether or not gay people choose their lifestyle that s elsewhere in this newsgroup i must say that i wasn t hurt by my experiences in church any more than some of my friends who didn t become atheists i was just hurt differently i m not sure i understand this sentence could you explain moderator points out that many most atheists aren t hostile they just cease believiing in xiantiy religion true consider also that people like pat robertson and many of the christian extremists in soc religion christianity naturally evoke hostility by their attacks on anyone who disagrees and their attempts to force their views on others you are known by the company you keep christians trying to preach in alt atheism should not be surprised by hostility ouch yes part of being a christian is accepting everyone with an open heart including people of our own camp with whom we completely disagree by the same token i believe that accusation and suspicion are not the best way to reach out to those not of our faith nor is it effective to try to browbeat people into accepting our religion i have a different idea of mission be what i am a christian who is happy in her faith and if others see that and want to know about either the happiness or the religion i ll share what i know without pressure and let them make their own decisions at some point you just have to agree to disagree acceptance of diversity not uniformity is the way to sow peace bill mayne vera noyes i am your clock i bind unto myself today vera noyes i am your religion the strong name of the noye midway uchicago edu i own you trinity no disclaimer what lard st patrick s breastplate is there to disclaim
