Young Writers Society

Bjorn wrote:It's strange that Christians should 'hate' atheists, because that would go against their teachings... Are not Christians told to "love thy neighbour"? Someone saying "your gonna go to hell because you don't believe in god" isn't a valid reason to convert-that's called pressure. Your not giving them a choice, your forcing them. Quite a perfect religion...

^This hypocrisy (prejudice vs. 'love thy neighbor'), my friend, is exactly the problem I have with one of my closest friends, who happens to also be the worst sort of crusading, conversion-obsessed Christian. It's also one of the things that put me off organized religion entirely.

And on that note: I've noticed that some uber-religious people seem to see a distrust of religion and a lack of belief in any greater entity as the exact same thing. I'm very spiritual, and believe in the divine (whatever name you want to give Him/Her/It/Them), but because I don't accept all Christian ideals wholesale, I've been termed an 'atheist' by many people. Maybe one of you can clear this up for me: does atheism refer to a lack of faith, or a lack of religion?

And yes, there is a difference.

Atheism refers to the lack of a belief in any God/god. An athiest, by word definition, believes there is no God. Word: a - theism.

A theist is not necassarily Christian, but believes in a God, creator; though usually less personal or involved than the Christian idea.

Guys, please watch it. I don't want this turning into a flame war. If you disagree with a point, do it tastefully. Calling people idiots and retards counts as flaming, and could be seen as offensive to members of this forum.

That being said... I don't think atheists should be distrusted. There are a lot of religious people who do horrible things, and there are a lot of nonreligious people who do great things. To me, what someone believes has nothing to do with how good of a person they are. Yes, I'm a Christian, and I therefore believe that only true Christians are saved. But I know a lot of Christians who have done a lot of bad things. My pastor used to do drugs and steal and such.

And I agree... no one should try to force someone to convert. There has to be a certain tolerance for different religions. But I've also been plagued with the whole "He/She isn't a Christian, and he/she is one of my best friends... I don't want him/her to go to hell..." So if I try to convert anyone it's only out of love for them.

It all really depends on whether or not you believe in Hell, too. If they think it's real, then your act might be an act of love.

But if they don't believe in Hell, then you're saving them from nothing, which may be construed as annoying.

It's all a very confusing argument, and eventually it just comes down to making what you think is the right decision.

Bjorn wrote:It's strange that Christians should 'hate' atheists, because that would go against their teachings... Are not Christians told to "love thy neighbour"? Someone saying "your gonna go to hell because you don't believe in god" isn't a valid reason to convert-that's called pressure. Your not giving them a choice, your forcing them. Quite a perfect religion...

Not all Christians are like that. I am a Christian but that stereotype doesn't fit me. I don't try to convert people who already have their own beliefs, and I don't have anything against atheists. One of my best friends is a self-proclaimed atheist, yet I get along with him fine. People who believe that they are superior for any reason (religion, wealth, etc) need to get a life.

Yanno, there's a solution for that-
If you feel like you aren't trusted because people think you're an atheist. Don't tell them your an atheist.

While I don't wholey agree with the study, I'm not about to say its absolutely wrong.
For instance, and I've used thist statistic before, 67 % of evangelicals feel like they are being descriminated upon by the US government. But they have their reasons. Even though there's an evangellical president, and a republican senate.

I'm not going to agree that atheists are the most distrusted- partially because to many, Buddhism is an atheist religion, and there are many many non buddhists attending mediation services every day. I also doubt that a person is going to trust a convict (convicts being a minority) more than an atheist.

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Organized religion once was organized. It still may be. The trouble arises when you have so many different, varied organizations. Nothing agrees.

I have...many, many things to say on the subject at hand, but I think I should leave just that...

I don't know that you've said anything yet.
Which religion are you talking about? How is it 'unorganized?" How is it different now than it used to be? How do you know that thats how it is?

Catholicism is extremely organized, so is Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, etc. etc. etc. Just because a new sect or religion springs up, doesn't demean the organization of another. It just shows that not everyone agrees on some of the fundamentals.

To me, what someone believes has nothing to do with how good of a person they are.

I completely agree with this. I have strong Christian beliefs, but I am yet to find an organized religion that I wholly agree with. I do not believe that only Christians will be saved. In fact, I believe that all legitimate religions, Christian or non-Christian, are true, because their members believe them to be so. You cannot deny anyone's beliefs; you don't have to participate in them yourself, but you do have to respect them.

I don't think that there is any problem with athiests. I'm not going to push them into my religion.

Ooh, looky this:

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/State ... utions.htm

And, if you can find an atricle in the last 15 years that shows any of those statues being upheld, I'll shut up. But none of them are. They were all made decades ago, when atheism wasn't even a spec on the religious map.

Not only that, but if they are, it wouldn't be hard to take that to the suprime court, and get them removed.

There's a statute in the Alabama constitution that prohibits blacks from voting. Just because it hasn't been removed doesn't mean its enforced.

Okey dokey .

This study makes me want to vomit. I am somewhat an Atheist, although I may convert to a new religion that was created by my friend. My conversion, however, was by choice. And because of this choice, I am going to hell. The new religion has one of our best friends as our god, and, obviously, she is not 'the God', and as one of the commandments says, 'You may not have any other gods than me', I am going to hell.

^That is sarcasm by the way, I believe in no hell, I believe in afterlife.


One reason that alot of Americans are discriminating Atheism is that this government is based on Catholicism. 'Gays can't get married because God says that a marriage is between a man and a woman...' Uh, what if the men/women who want to marry their partners of the same gender aren't Christians? Then what 'God' is saying that it is wrong for them to marry? Although this topic isn't about Gay Marriage, I'm just saying why some Americans are discriminatory...

Okay, now that I read that it sounds like I blabbered a bit... Anywho...

There was this girl, who knew I was devoutly Atheist at the time, in Junior High, who insisted on telling me how I'd be saved if I converted to Catholicism... I told her I'd be perfectly fine and that I don't even know what I'd be saved from, and she said 'God's Wrath', which made me snort up my milk... Which then I had to explain that her religion isn't just the best... I had to tell alot of people that...