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Goodbye Jesus

I Don't Believe In Atheists.


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I ran into someone recently who is a nominal christian - attends a liberal church occassionally; not a bible-thumper by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Somehow in conversation, the topic of religion came up and I said that I am an atheist. He responded with, "I don't believe in atheists." and walked away.

 

What the fuck?! For once in my life I was speechless.

 

Should this ever happen again, I would like to have a ready response. Any ideas?

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Hey LoF, I think that was a rather curious response to your claim. I don't see that there was much that you could do, seeing that this person merely stated their beliefs and walked away. If you had been given the opportunity perhaps you could have asked what they meant by the statement, "I don't believe in atheists."

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"Im sorry, Im not as delusional as you. I see things that are in front of me."

 

That was an odd response to any question or statement.

 

For such an odd statement/response you could always just say: "oooooooooooooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

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He probably arrogantly assumes that atheists really believe in god but deny him, which is ridiculous of course

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He probably arrogantly assumes that atheists really believe in god but deny him, which is ridiculous of course

 

That's my guess. By walking away he proved that he doesn't believe in atheists. If he believed in the existence of atheists he might have stayed to talk further. By walking away he acted as though you don't exist, right? And that is basically what he was saying. He probably thinks that is how atheists treat God so he wanted to drive home what it feels like to be treated like a non-entity. I dunno. All just guesses on my part. Wishful thinking never has and never will change the world, though he might wish not to think about that.

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What he did was rude. I would have said: "Obviously, you don't believe in manners either!"

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What he did was rude. I would have said: "Obviously, you don't believe in manners either!"

 

Bravo :thanks:

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I think Christians are arrogant no matter how liberal or conservative. I've heard this comment before. The pastors teach it in church. My minister used to say, "There is no such thing as an athiest...only a lost soul that needs to find the way."

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All that each of you has said is true, of course. He was obviously attempting to make a point by ending the conversation. I might have expected such a childish response from a fundy or someone not that well educated but this man is an attorney (defence trial law). He is someone who I respect. He has always impressed me as one who uses critical thinking and is able to argue a point effectively.

 

I guess it just goes to show that matters of faith really have no standing in a thinking world. Had it been any other topic on which he disagreed I imagine he would have discussed the matter in a mature and convincing manner, offering proof examples.

 

Now that I think about it, perhaps HE was the one who was speechless... not me. :)

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"... And yet you're walking in the opposite direction, as though you do think I exist."

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I guess it just goes to show that matters of faith really have no standing in a thinking world. Had it been any other topic on which he disagreed I imagine he would have discussed the matter in a mature and convincing manner, offering proof examples.

 

Nope. If they did, Chrisitanity and all religions would have gone by the wayside as curious anomolies of ancient human culture.

 

I tend to agree he must have been the one who was speechless. What a stupid thing to say. :lmao:

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Just tell him that your lack of belief in God is like his lack of belief in Zeus or the invisible flying spaghetti monster.

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I ran into someone recently who is a nominal christian - attends a liberal church occassionally; not a bible-thumper by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Somehow in conversation, the topic of religion came up and I said that I am an atheist. He responded with, "I don't believe in atheists." and walked away.

 

What the fuck?! For once in my life I was speechless.

 

Should this ever happen again, I would like to have a ready response. Any ideas?

 

 

 

 

you could ask them why they say that. as others have said, a lot of christians just can't fathom the idea of someone not believing in their god, much less, not believing in any. but what i really think they focus on is the idea of people not believe in THEIR god. if this is the case, bring to their attention the fact that millions of people around the world live as if christianity is false. whether it's atheists, muslims, hindues, or whatever; they all live as if christianity is false.

 

now, let's say that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the world believes in their god. that would mean millions of people are denying the christian god, KNOWING they will burn in hell eternally. so, you would think, people that ignore such a major concequence as eternal damnation would ignore smaller things, like paying bills. and yet, most people pay their bills. this seems a bit inconsistant; someone who denies major concequences will deny smaller concequences as well. regardless, this would make people literally insane if they KNEW they would be paying through eternal damnation, and yet, didn't let that stop them. that would mean god is sending millions of insane people to hell, at no fault of their own. which pretty much destroys the intelligent, snuggable god.

 

or you could just say, "i can't believe you have a fucking law degree." :HaHa:

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"No atheists" is just part of their indoctrination training. It's not hard to figure out where xians are getting their ideas. Since they have so few original thoughts, you can almost always trace their opinions back to one scripture or another. I think this mindset comes primarily from this passage from Romans 1:

 

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

 

So then, there are no atheists. Only those of us who believe in God, but refuse to follow him because we want to gratify the lusts of the flesh.

 

How utterly condescending. I wonder how a xian adopts this mindset and fosters humility at the same time.

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So then, there are no atheists. Only those of us who believe in God, but refuse to follow him because we want to gratify the lusts of the flesh.

 

Well JUST DAMN... so I stopped believing in god so that I could gratify my lusts of the flesh? I guess I've wasted that opportunity.... I really don't live that much differently than when I was a believer with the exception of enjoying a beer or three from time to time and saying 'damn' instead of 'darn'. :)

 

What a waste of good lust time! I'm such a loser at being a good atheist! :loser:

 

But here I sit; middle-aged, a few pounds overweight, grey hair and no desire to get out there and enjoy the lusts of the flesh. Oh well, at least I'm not wasting my morning at church and still have that 10% of my earnings from the previous week. I'll have to do something real LUSTFUL with it... like invest it so I won't have to sponge off other people in my old age.

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How about "Well, since I don't exist, you don't need to proselytize to me. Better go find someone who actually exists."

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Well JUST DAMN... so I stopped believing in god so that I could gratify my lusts of the flesh?

 

What a waste of good lust time! I'm such a loser at being a good atheist!

 

:lmao:

 

Ain't it the truth? I'm a complete failure as an atheist too. What a waste. We're gonna suffer eternal torment in hell without any decent debauchery to show for it.

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He probably thought he was being clever. A few days ago I heard Hawkeye from M*A*S*H* use a similar line. Although I think he said, "I don't believe in atheism" and he didn't walk away. Of course he wasn't facing an atheist at the time.

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In the eyes of many xtians, God must remain “fair, moral and just” when determining who will fry for eternity.

 

There is however one huge problem in trying to maintain that belief.

 

Many apparently good people believe in false gods

Many apparently good people are homosexual

Many apparently good people are atheists

Many apparently good people interpret the Bible differently

 

The only way to rectify this problem is to transfer any immorality or injustice onto the individual and away from God.

 

How often do we hear and wince at such comments as:

 

“They know in their hearts that the Christian God is the true God, but they willfully deny Him.”

 

“They know in their hearts that homosexual activity is a choice and wrong but they willfully follow their own lusts.”

 

“They deliberately interpret the Bible incorrectly to allow for their own sins.”

 

 

If I told a person with this kind of belief system that “I am an atheist;” then I am upsetting that whole belief system. From their perspective I am telling them that I honestly don’t recognize, feel, or believe in their God. A just and fair god could never send someone to hell that honestly does not believe in him, so the guilt must be transferred away from god for god to remain fair and just.

 

For an atheist, this kind of reaction may be something new, but as a gay man I have had to deal with this phenomenon much more often.

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Somehow in conversation, the topic of religion came up and I said that I am an atheist. He responded with, "I don't believe in atheists." and walked away.

 

Hmmm...that got me to thinking. Maybe I don't really exist. Maybe I'm just a figment of someone else's imagination. :scratch:

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A response like that is extremely rude and sends the clear message that the person in question doesn't consider you worth talking to, or considers their own position to be superior. (You're surprised to get that from an attorney?) It's probably also based in fear: atheists don't have a place in his world view; if they did, he might have to rethink his position.

 

So basically he was just cutting you off, rudely indicating, "Conversation over."

 

I'd probably make some snide comment about his manners too, if it were me.

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A response like that is extremely rude and sends the clear message that the person in question doesn't consider you worth talking to, or considers their own position to be superior. (You're surprised to get that from an attorney?) It's probably also based in fear: atheists don't have a place in his world view; if they did, he might have to rethink his position.

 

So basically he was just cutting you off, rudely indicating, "Conversation over."

 

I'd probably make some snide comment about his manners too, if it were me.

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Should this ever happen again, I would like to have a ready response. Any ideas?

 

I'm not sure that there is anything to say. It sounds as if this person has "opted out" of the conversation. He is violating one of two of "the maxims of conversation"*--viz. 1) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence, and 2) Make your contribution as informative as required.

 

Either he has adequate evidence for his statement and did not offer it (in which case he violates maxim (2)) or he did not have adequate evidence for his statement (in which case he violates maxim (1)).

 

*See H.P. Grice, "Logic and Conversation"

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Somehow in conversation, the topic of religion came up and I said that I am an atheist. He responded with, "I don't believe in atheists." and walked away.

 

Hmmm...that got me to thinking. Maybe I don't really exist. Maybe I'm just a figment of someone else's imagination. :scratch:

 

LOL!

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