What hate?

Archangelnamed
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What hate?

I have seen and heard many references from atheists on this website to hatred of atheism.  Excepting the zealot nut-jobs who write things like "BURN IN HELL, SINNER!Yell" or whatever, what kind of examples can you give me as I have never seen it?  Fell free to vent frustration here but spare me any legislative issues or the above-mentioned nut-jobs.  What I am curious about are personal experiences.  For example, maybe you were dating someone until their parents found out you were an atheist or something.  Something like that where you were slighted simply because you are an atheist.

-Michael

"We did not follow cleverly invented stories..."
2 Peter 1:16
"Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you..."
Luke 1:3


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Personal Story Atheist are

Personal Story

Atheist are Distrusted

Hate Site It has more then just atheists, but that is the atheist section.

Their Registry wrote:
In exposing the atheist,you say that we are not fit to live and should be dealt with accordingly. I hope you realize that this is asking for the GENOCIDE of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. This would constitute a killing thirty to fifty times as horrendous as the Holocaust. How can you, a Christian, member of what is supposedly the religion of love, condone such a horrible thought? Do you have some dark memory involving an atheist? Did an atheist doctor fail to save your mothers life? (as was the case with Hitler and a jewish doctor) How can you, a Christian have so much hate stored inside you?

***********************************

Answer: Read Deuteronomy 13:1-11. This is what the government should do. Atheist teach against the true God.

Also when I wrote him he told me I was messed up just for being atheist.


Yellow_Number_Five
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Fired once, lost two girls

Fired once, lost two girls I honestly cared about and my brother has never treated me the same since I told him what I believe. Him and mom and dad are the only ones that know.

There's nothing like being alienated from your own flesh and blood over such a silly thing, let me tell you.

Perhaps you understand why I refrain from telling the rest of my family? No you probably don't. How could you? Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if I were simply gay. My family could probably accept that. Atheism on the other hand.....

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins

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Here's a post I did awhile

Here's a post I did awhile back. Although it doesn't demonstrate all of the unsolicited hatred (although suggesting that I take a knife and run into it does!), it gives you an idea of messages from total strangers who contacted me out of the blue simply because they identified me as an Atheist.

Check it out here.

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I was never the victim of

I was never the victim of any sort of discrimination because of my lack of faith.

 

Oh wait...I live in China, where 93% of the country is atheist. The Chinese regard theism as the stupidest thing on the planet. I have been to Chinese churches. Nobody there actually believes in God, they just like to piss off the government by going to church.

 

I find it quite appalling that such discrimination goes on in the USA. 

"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.

-Me

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Archangelnamed, I grew up

Archangelnamed,

I grew up in California, so my own personal experience with theism is consistent with what you say.  Most theists I know are nice people.  Most of my friends are theists.  However, just because this is anecdotally true for me doesn't mean I ought to extrapolate and conclude rabid theism isn't a problem.  I know plenty of atheists who grew up in different parts of the world and faced ugly situations for their atheism.

My anecdotal experience would arguably have been very different had I grown up in the bible-belt, or in Taliban-occupied Afghanistan.

And of course, it goes without saying that just because some theists are nice doesn't mean their theism is tenable.  No offense, but bullshit is bullshit, regardless of how nice and friendly the bullshitter. 

If atheism is a religion, why am I paying taxes?


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I'm not going to speak for

I'm not going to speak for every atheist. For me and my opinions, the christians hold an entirely opposite viewpoint on the following issues:

Pro-choice/Anti-choice debate.

Stem cell research funding.

Same sex civil unions.

Same sex adoption.

Compulsory prayer in schools. Tell me I'm wrong. I live in the south.

Seven states explicitly prevent atheists from holding office by state constitutional law. 

AtheistinWonderland's show is spot on concerning the way atheists are treated in public.

 

This is just the hate part. The harm part is a whole other discussion. 

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Martyrs

The truth is that atheists' persecution is nothing compared to the martyrdom of Christians that is going on in our present day.  A lot of the martyrdom is caused by atheistic cultures, as well as Muslim cultures.  To have a "Christian" say some harsh words to you because you're an atheist is as much persecution as someone insulting you for rooting for a certain sports team.  As a matter of fact, their are probably more deaths over Soccer fan rivals in the world than there are over atheist persecution.  I don't even know of ANY atheists that are being persecuted to death in our day, and if their are any, for every one atheist killed I guarantee there are at least 100 if not 1000 Christians killed.  Atheist persecution is a farce.  Google: Voice of the Martyrs


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'Cuase you know death

'Cuase you know death threats.. no biggy.

You can walk off death threats. 


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Sorry, fourth. You're

Sorry, fourth. You're missing the point completely.

To be sure, there are quite a few places in the world where Christians are persecuted. The most notable are the Muslim nations. As "atheist cultures" go, you need to be certain that you understand the difference between a culture and a government.

Communist nations have been responsible for a good bit of persecution of theists (not just christians.) This was not because of the "Political Doctrine of Atheism." No such doctrine exists, or ever has, to my knowledge. These governments persecuted in the name of communism, which is a political ideology, and is not shared by many -- maybe most-- atheists. In fact, I don't know any atheist communists, and I know lots of atheists.

For an atheist culture, you could look at the Scandinavian countries... High education, low unemployment, low crime, low rates of divorce, relative equality for most citizens... they're pretty nice cultures. They're also not responsible for any deaths of Christians. It's the religious nut-jobs who are doing that these days.

Now, I said all of that to get to the point you're missing:

The poster did not say that Christians have not been persecuted in history. The poster did not say that the persecution of atheists is the same as the persecution of any other group. The poster asked for examples of persecution, and that is what everyone but you has been offering.

 

Now, to address the original question. For a long time, I tried to teach music in Alabama. I can count at least twenty students who were pulled from my classes when they or their parents learned that I was an atheist. They learned by snooping into my private affairs, by the way. I do not mix music and religion, and never have.

To have any chance of aquiring new students in the city I was in, you had to belong to the Music Teachers' Union. The union was made up almost entirely of church musicians. Once again, when someone ratted me as an atheist to the rest of the group, my referrals dropped to almost nothing. I eventually gave up trying to teach there.

I have been told by at least a half a dozen women that they could never date me because I'm an atheist, and they want to date someone with morals.

I was once asked to please NOT volunteer to help a political candidate in my district because she did not want to have a known atheist as a supporter. No shit. Again, I don't preach my atheism outside of the internet. My friends know I'm an atheist, but 90% of the people I meet in life never get to the point of discussing religion with me, and if they do, I just politely say I'm not religious, and try very hard not to get into the discussion.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Atheist persecution is a

Atheist persecution is a farce? You've got to be joking

Crimes punishable by death under the Shariah law in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and Afghanistan

-Atheism

-Apostasy

-Debating the Qur'an

-Blasphemy

- proselytizing

"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.

-Me

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Iruka Naminori
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As soon as my friends
  • As soon as my friends learned I was struggling they back-stabbed me.  These were friends I'd had my whole life and expected to have until I died.  I would have given my life for them.
    • They tried to cast a demon out of me.
    • When I told them of my struggles, they told me not to come back until I trusted Jesus to solve my problems.
  • Once my mother learned of my atheism, our relationship was never the same.
    • She called my counselor and tried to tell him I was demon-possessed.
    • She once tried to have me committed to a mental institution (which, by the way, is run by a fundamentalist Christian)
    • Once when I "took the Lord's name in vain" and was unlucky enough to be in the car with her, she drove all over the county, yelling at me.  She wouldn't let me out.  She wouldn't shut up.  She just drove and drove and yelled and yelled.
    • After I had eye surgery, there were complications.  All I could do was lay and listen to music.  I couldn't see.  I was afraid I would lose my eyesight.  My mother often barged into my room without knocking and heard me playing some atheistic music.  It comforted me. When I was at my lowest, she started yelling at me, claiming I was "shoving atheism down her throat."  She was the one who had violated my space.  She also yelled at me for using "dirty words."  I had no way to get away from her tirades.  Just like the incident when I was trapped in her car, I couldn't get away.  (BTW, during the car incident, I was actually going to leap from the car because I quite honestly couldn't take it anymore.  When she saw that I was at the end of my rope, she finally took me home.)
  • A fundy college professor who knew I was an atheist promised to never try to proselytize me.  I told him that religion had caused a lot of pain in my life (physical, sexual and emotional abuse) and he said, "I would be heartless to bring up religion with you."  Well, he was heartless.  Once when I was going through a rough time, he cornered me in his basement and started rapid-firing stupid fundy questions at me.  He told me I had "no hope" without Jesus.  He broke his promise and probably came close to violating the spirit of separation of church and state if not the actual law itself.  He not only didn't apologize, he said he might "do it again."  I can no longer trust the man.


This is painful.  There's a lot more, but I don't want to go into it.  Christianity has brought me so much pain.  Ditching it brought me even more pain because the people I trusted turned their backs on me.  If you want to feel raw pain, try having your own flesh and blood, your own MOTHER for Christ's sake, start treating you like some kind of diseased piece of rubbish just because you could no longer swallow the tall tales of the bible.

I also lost my friends.  Forever.  I've never been able to replace those friendships because most of the people in this town are fundies.  I am shunned. 

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BringOnYourChallenge
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Hey Naminori,   I havent

Hey Naminori,

  I havent read all the post on this thread...just the last one...That is really horrible everyone treated you that way. I dont understand it at all. I am a christian..not sure what u mean by "fundamental christians"...i dont get into all of that. I just know i am a believer of Jesus Christ and have a day to day relationship with Him. I know that if any of my friends told me they were struggling I wouldnt turn my back or backstab them...or even dare to think they r possessed. Just because someone struggles or choses not to believe in God or what not..doesnt make them possessed.  Christian who do the things you do...are Christians we like to say here at Liberty Uni. "sweep things under the rug".  If someone whose never been a christian is struggling with something they "welcome them w/open arms"..go out of their way to be there and direct them..where as if a "christian" backslides or struggles they push them away like they have a plague...or they act like they have done something so terrible...where as if anyone is a TRUE christian and believer of God's word then they would know that God says we are to lift each other up.  They would know we are not suppose to turn our backs or backstabb...doesnt mean that stops people i know it happens..ive seen christians do it b4..even to myself. For every so called Christian that has hurt you or treated you wrong i want to appologize for them. They are Christians who give us who are the opposite..who are open and caring to anyone and anything to look bad and look like hypocrites.

   Not really sure what im tryin to get to exactly..i just read it and had things on my heart i wanted to get out and say to you. Like i said i dont understand why some christians r like that.  The Bible says one sin is equal to any other sin in God's eyes...so ur so called "sin" that involves ur struggling is no different in God's eye as your mother's sin of "cursing you" which according to the Bible is puttin someone down..which is what she did to you...or her sin of not loving you like GOd commands her..not forgiving you...not accepting you for who you are...so on....no ones sin is bigger than another...thats why we cant just forgive the unsaved and push away the backslidden or the struggling...we have to treat them equal...welcome both with loving arms and so on....im gonna stop rambling now tho..sure your gettin tired of reading...but i hope what i said made some sense to you. Take Care! ~Brittany~

There is no such thing as blind faith. Blind faith is simply faith in faith. Faith itself is nothing, it lies in the OBJECT OF THE FAITH! IT IS IN GOD THAT MY FAITH LIES! I will not be a "cop out faith" Christian.


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It hasn't been much of a

It hasn't been much of a personal issue for me as witnessing others having to deal with it. I've had the odd one say something to me, but they always get it back in turn so it doesn't bother me so much. It's seeing things like the US president say that atheists have no right to be american that gets to me, and exposes the danger of the stupidity of theism.

Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.


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My first girlfriend was a

My first girlfriend was a beautiful Jewish girl from western Long Island.  Her parents found out I was an atheist, in passing from MY parents, and told her that she couldn't date me, as I was 'unworthy'.

When I ran for school committee up here in the backwaters of Massachusetts, it came up that I don't recite the Pledge of Allegiance and didn't plan on taking my oath, should I be elected, on a Bible.  The amusing thing is that it was assumed I was a Jehovah's Witness - and that was acceptable.  When someone asked me about it and I stated my atheism, they tried to have me taken off the ballot. (Massachusetts is one of those states with an archaic law on the book that an atheist can't hold office.  Thank you, Puritans.)

As three seats needed to be filled and only three people ran, I was elected.  The Christies were pissed.  I resigned a year later as no progress was ever made on the School Board due to Christies showing up at every meeting making sure I wasn't polluting their poor children with the "sin" of evolution and freethought.

Everyone seems to have an Alabama story - here's mine.  I lived in Phenix City for almost a year as my mother got a job with her company down South.  My neighbor, who literally had more children than teeth, told me that killing us 'pinko faggot liberal Godless assholes from Massachusetts' would make his God proud.  Needless to say, not very comfortable.

So, what was that about Christian persecution?  Oh, yeah - some people half a world away trying to impose their bullshit religion on people entrenched with another bullshit religion and some of them die.  I remember now.  Even if that's 'persecution', any Christian should be ecstatic to die a martyr.  It's like a first class ticket to "Heaven".

"Like Fingerpainting 101, gimme no credit for having class; one thumb on the pulse of the nation, one thumb in your girlfriend's ass; written on, written off, some calling me a joke, I don't think that I'm a sellout but I do enjoy Coke."

-BHG


BringOnYourChallenge
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Family_Guy wrote: So, what

Family_Guy wrote:

So, what was that about Christian persecution? Oh, yeah - some people half a world away trying to impose their bullshit religion on people entrenched with another bullshit religion and some of them die. I remember now. Even if that's 'persecution', any Christian should be ecstatic to die a martyr. It's like a first class ticket to "Heaven".

There is no first class ticket to Heaven, any Christian knows only one way. And yea, being a Martyr is a good thing, God says in His word that for all the persecution Christians face will be rewarded in Heaven...so dying a martyr might get you another crown, but besides that...who wants to die? I mean i have no fear of dying knowing that i will be in Heaven if i do die..but still i love my life that God has blessed me with, so regardless of if im dyin as a martyr i dont want to die..only 20 yrs old....so if Christians are being persecuted and dying martyrs that doesnt mean it justifies their deaths.

There is no such thing as blind faith. Blind faith is simply faith in faith. Faith itself is nothing, it lies in the OBJECT OF THE FAITH! IT IS IN GOD THAT MY FAITH LIES! I will not be a "cop out faith" Christian.