I don’t want to start a debate, but if the mods feel GD is a better forum for this discussion, please feel free to move it.
Atheists/Non-Believers; What’s the most interesting, funny, or stupid reaction you’ve encountered after divulging to someone that you don’t believe in God? It doesn’t have to be a negative reaction.
A ) I’ve been asked if I worship the devil.
B ) I’ve been asked if I don’t believe in Hell, what stopping me from killing an raping.
C) One guy just smiled at me and said; “If there was a jesus, he had it easy.” (Not sure what was meant by that).
When asked my religion, I’ll often say “devoutly agnostic.” A lot of people aren’t sure what agnostic really means, so the devoutly part just adds to their confusion. It amuses me a bit. But I rarely talk about religion, so I don’t have any good reaction stories.
I was raise Jewish, and my partner was raised Muslim. We are both atheists, and lead totally secular lives. Our families accept the fact that we’re gay, but some of them still cannot accept the fact that we’re atheists. Or they think our atheism is a response to religious homophobia, which it most definitely is not.
Another example:
I once had a coworker who was a very traditional Roman Catholic. When she heard that I was an atheist, she said:
“Oh I can prove that you’re not an atheist.”
“Excuse me?”
“There are no atheists, and I can prove it.”
“Ok, go ahead and prove it.”:rolleyes:
“If you’re an atheist . . .”
“Go ahead.”
“If you’re an atheist, then who do you pray to?
“That’s it? That’s your proof?
“Yes. If you’re an atheist, then who do you pray to?”
I generally go with the phrase “I’m not really religious” rather than say atheist to avoid some discrimination and I don’t get a lot of negative reactions. As a child I would, but not as an adult. Worse I ever get is “you don’t believe in god, like, AT ALL?” One very unintelligent girl once asked me about the holidays and I was like “you’re Jewish and you still have a Christmas tree - try getting out of having to give Christmas presents by simply saying you don’t want to.” We’re not exactly some rare breed. Of course, now I live in a town in Missouri where the number of people who can fit in their churches exceeds the number of people who live in the town - so we’ll see what reactions come up if I’m ever cornered into disclosing my religious beliefs again.
Actually, now that I think about it, I have had some people tell me that they didn’t think I was really an atheist before. It’s a bit odd, but the reasoning seems to be “nah, he’s not really an atheist. He’s a pretty decent person.”
I have a coworker who didn’t know the word “atheist” and seemed to have never encountered the concept before. She just seemed to think it was weird, which makes sense if it really was a totally new idea to her.
Well, how do you think we got here?
I don’t know. And you don’t know either.
I know God put us here.
You believe God put us here. But you don’t know it.
Yes, I do.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I had this coversation. You can have your own beliefs, but not your own facts. And you cannot KNOW how we got here.
A few years ago my co-worker asked (IIRC I had made some comment that was ambiguous about something) if I was an atheist. I told her that I was. She said something to the effect of ‘why couldn’t you at least be agnostic?’. I responded to her that I was an agnostic - an agnostic atheist and that the terms weren’t mutually exclusive. She seemed puzzled, but ultimately fine with it because I wasn’t one of those ‘pushy atheists’…
One lady grabbed me and yelled" Oh, my God! What happened to you?!"
I said “Uh, nothing.”
I guess she thought one needed to suffer some kind of dramatic trauma to lose religion.
A very long time ago, a resident of the apartment complex where I worked confronted me several times about religion. One day, frustrated and annoyed, I said “Well, if there is a God, let him strike me dead right now.” That person scurried out of the office as quickly as possible and didn’t come back much after that.
