(A)Theists?
I think there’s only one still living person I know in real life who knows I’m an atheist, and that’s my atheist brother. I’ve no interest in exposing myself to retaliation.
I am an atheist and don’t consider myself arrogant (John Mace got ahead of me on the joke). I don’t proselytize about my atheism (and I don’t think most should). At most, I quietly feel sorry for the people who can’t think for themselves (my atheism was self-derived).
Bob
I don’t think I have an arrogant bone in my body. I just don’t believe in some things that other people believe in like gods and aliens and Bigfoot. I’m not out to change anyone else’s mind. As a matter of fact when I was younger I think I may have hurt someone badly by tearing apart his faith and comfort. I didn’t do it on purpose, but he was so pushy I had to make him understand why I don’t believe. He asked though. But it’s haunted me thinking I should have just kept my mouth shut because it changed him. I never discuss my beliefs with anyone outside this box anymore.
Really? That just sounds jerkish. Especially when all they are saying is that they hope you have a nice time on December 25th. A person who was raised properly knows that you reply in kind. It isn’t even insincere; you probably hold some slight hope they also have a nice December 25th.
Today, as she always does on Easter, my sister-in-law greeted me with, “Christ is risen!” The correct reply is, “He is risen indeed. Alleluia,” and I gave it. It made her happy because I was polite, and it made me happy both because it made her happy and because it was the passcode to get into the house for Easter dinner, though since my MIL and SILs cannot cook to save their lives there was little payoff.
The SDMB rule, “Don’t be a jerk,” should be carried over to Real Life, even if the Others don’t always follow it. People usually wish you a merry Christmas because that’s what you that time of year. They don’t want to hear your scholarly discourse on the non-existence of God. They just want to get to a party where the ham has not been cooked to the consistency of shoe leather. I hope they find one and invite me next year.
Yeah, if they’re the kind of person that makes a big deal out of being an atheist when it isn’t called for, they’re probably arrogant in many aspects of their lives.
How have you managed to do away with all those witnesses without bringing suspicion on yourself? 
When I was younger, I was an arrogant, nasty, intolerant, hate-filled atheist. I climbed hills to cut down crosses. I hated churches. It was, in fact, the efforts of one very patient Christian who helped reel me back in, enabling me to take a much healthier, more moderate view of the matter.
Every human form of expression comes in a spectrum – many spectra, in fact. Emotional involvement, aggression, diplomacy (or its lack,) openness to compromise, and so on. And most people travel complicated trajectories through this n-dimensional space as they grow. (Or, in some cases, diminish.)
A great many atheists were, earlier in their lives, faithful believers. And no few have made the opposite transition. Most of us, here, are seeking knowledge. A few are seeking wisdom. “It’s taking more time than we thought.”
A family history of cancer, unfortunately. And an atheist aunt with a bad heart.
I would agree with this but generalize it more. It applies to every subject known to man.
I am often horrified at how much time I spend reading posts by people whose opinions I would ignore in real life. Frequently both sides are equally arrogant, convinced of the value of their opinion but inane. Hell, it’s not as though it’s climate scientists filling up all the threads about climate science for example.
I’m an atheist. I ask people not to bless me, but I don’t come out as arrogant if they insist on it. I don’t bow my head during prayers, but neither do some theists. I really respect most faiths so long as they don’t try to attack the lack of mine.
SFC Schwartz
A lot of us atheists don’t like the arrogant ones either.
I hate the fact that atheists think they’re too good for foxholes.
Sorry… That sorta takes the fun out of the quip… No offense intended, and sympathies.
(However, I’d rather be an atheist with a bad heart than a believer with a bad intellect…)
(Oops; that was arrogant, eh?)
Generally, atheists aren’t the ones who think that the universe was created for them, in the image of the maker, with whom they have a personal relationship.
(Not every theist believes those precise things, but many, many do.)
I do…if I know they’re coming. If I’ve been given fair warning. If I know that the family who is hosting dinner does the whole “grace” thing, then I’ll prefer not to attend at all. If I do attend, I figure I’ve gotta make at least that little effort to accomodate them. But the time a family snuck grace in on me without warning, well, nossir: I did not bow.
(Once, a guy said “The Bird is Cruel” to me, and I covered my face. He said, later, he was that close to kicking me in the nuts.)
(Relatively obscure sci-fi reference…)
Personally, if I were at someone’s house and they wanted to say grace and they bowed their heads, I’d feel pretty rude if I didn’t do it. So what, it’s not gonna kill you to put your head down for a few seconds. I don’t get why some people get so insulted by other people praying near them. It’s not like they’re asking you to convert or lead the prayer or witness.
I also can’t imagine declining an invitation to someone’s house for dinner because I didn’t want to sit through a 15 second “Dear lord, rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub” thing amongst a few hours of socializing with friends. I mean, if the whole evening were going to be religious, that’s different, but grace before dinner, I can deal.
I look at it this way, just pretend/play along when you’re at their house and when they come over to your house, I’ll bet they’ll be okay with not saying grace before dinner. But if you’re going to sit there with your head sticking up in the air then IMO, when they come to your house you’ve given them permission to say grace before they eat (with your head still not bowed), but you don’t get it both ways.
The way I see it, if you don’t believe, what difference does it make. It’s not like you’re one religion and they’re asking you to partake in prayers for a totally different one, that would make more sense.
No offense taken.
The nerve of some people.
I’ve been an arrogant atheist, and have some atheist friends who can also be arrogant atheists. It’s frustrating how many people believe in the major religions today and how much influence they have over most people I encounter.
I picture my average chistian friend and look at it like this: You are entitled to your belief, and I cannot disprove it, but at the same time I do not have to accept it. Personally, I think religion is fucking obviously stupid and pathetic bullshit. I temper this by admitting that there is a chance that they could be right and I could be wrong.
The asshole atheists are like the asshole christians, they just tend to stand out more.