# How often do people try to convert you to their religion? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176 "2023-04-25T19:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/261 "2023-12-22T22:28:39Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You can tie yourself in knots, but you won’t convince me that Germany isn’t on a spiraling religious decline. Sure. But but a lot of people have no faith but arent atheists. They just dont care. > [@Voyager](#): > > Well, Buddhism makes statements about how the world works, so maybe more than just a philosophy. As pointed out, Buddhism runs a gamut from Philosophy to true religion. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/262 "2023-12-22T22:32:49Z")
You said it better than I could have, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/263 "2023-12-22T22:33:58Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Well, Buddhism makes statements about how the world works, so maybe more than just a philosophy. Buddhism is a religion. The content of that religion varies considerably, but is effectively based on a system of beliefs, namely (from the Wiki), - _[dukkha](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha)_ (‘not being at ease’, “suffering,”[[note 1]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-dukkha-4) from _dush-stha_, “standing unstable,”[[3]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMonier-Williams1899483,_entry_note:%C2%A0-5)[[4]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAnalayo2013b-6)[[5]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBeckwith201530-7)[[6]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAlexander201936-8)) is an innate characteristic of the perpetual cycle (_[samsara](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara)_, lit. ‘wandering’) of [grasping](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up%C4%81d%C4%81na) at things, ideas and habits;[[web 2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-EB-4NTa-9)[[7]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-10)[[8]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeown201350%E2%80%9352-11) - _samudaya_ (origin, arising, combination; “cause”): _dukkha_ (unease) arises simultaneously with _[taṇhā](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81)_ ("craving, desire or attachment, lit. ‘thirst’).[[web 3]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-EB-4NTb-12)[[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-13)[[10]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeown201353%E2%80%9355-14)[[note 2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-16)[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBatchelor201295%E2%80%9397-17) - _[nirodha](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirodha)_ (cessation, ending, confinement): _dukkha_ can be ended or contained by the confinement[[11]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBrazier2001-15)[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBatchelor201295%E2%80%9397-17) or letting go of this _taṇhā_;[[13]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBuswellLopez2014%22nirodha%22-18)[[14]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEAnderson200196-19)[[15]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-20)[[16]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeown201356%E2%80%9358-21) - _[marga](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_paths_to_liberation)_ (path, [Noble Eightfold Path](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path)) is the path leading to the confinement of _tanha_ and _dukkha_.[[17]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-22)[[18]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKeown201358%E2%80%9360-23)[[19]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman2003219,_222-24) Put into plain language, suffering is the universal experience of all beings, suffering exists because we can’t have the things we desire, there is a way to end suffering, and that is through the extinction of desire through the Eightfold Path. Those are not objective facts, they are articles of faith. I think people can have philosophical ideas derived from Buddhist ideas, indeed there are entire therapeutic modalities designed around Buddhist concepts, but Buddhism is a religion. As far as the Eightfold Path goes, it’s rarely the subject of Zen practice, Zen practice is almost entirely about meditation, which is why I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head what those eight things are. Also, I’m a shitty Buddhist. I think people have some fuzzy ideas about what Buddhism means and it’s considered a nice peaceful religion, which is okay, I guess. But it’s still a belief system based on articles of faith. And that belief system has harmed some people. Any religion in the wrong hands can be damaging. It’s cool that there is a lot of science now supporting a lot of Buddhist ideas (“Why Buddhism is True” is a neat evo-psych book about this), but it’s still a faith. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/264 "2023-12-22T22:43:40Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > And IIRC there are limitations on getting married outside of a church - you can do it, but it can’t be fancy. They got married in the US because they had more freedom. > Correct me if I’m wrong about that. I’m sorry, but you’re really wrong about that. Civil marriage is easy, be it man/woman, man/man or woman/woman. Just call your town hall, set a date, provide the obligatory documents (which can be the hardest part) and you’re good to go. Church marriages nowadays are mostly just an afterthought and done out of tradition. And you can’t get legally married in a church or any other temple, only civil marriage counts. I can easily imagine though that your daughter and her husband married in the USA because there was less bureaucracy than here, especially if the bride isn’t a German citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/265 "2023-12-22T22:57:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@scudsucker](#): > > > > Belief is the founding stone of religion. You need to believe to be religious. Atheists don’t know (because evidence is absent ) -and don’t care. > > Thats being agnostic. No, that’s not the same thing. Agnosticism is the idea that the existence of a god or gods is unknown or unknowable. (It’s in the name: " from Ancient Greek _ἀ- (a-)_ ‘without’, and _γνῶσις (gnōsis)_ ‘knowledge’ - quoted from Wikipedia). In popular usage, it has come to mean what is properly called “negative atheism” or “apatheism”, but as @Voyager points out in post #255, agnosticism and atheism are orthogonal. You can be an agnostic atheist, or even an agnostic theist - in fact, I’d argue that some devout Christian mystics like St. John of the Cross or St. Theresa of Avila were agnostic, in that their faith did not rest on any rational basis but purely a perceived experience of the divine. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Militant atheists do have a belief- that there can not be a god, and that antone with faith or a religion is a fool, and that all religions are cons. And thus they must convert those fools to atheism by attacking religion and showing them the error of their ways. In other words, they have turned a simple lack of belief into a belief system. And that is what is called “positive” or “strong” atheism, and, like @Voyager, I’ve never come across an atheist who actually believed it. Most of us are “weak” atheists - there’s simply not enough good evidence to support the hypothesis that a supernatural god exists. The difference between “I believe God doesn’t exist” and “I don’t believe God exists” is subtle but important; one is a belief system, and the other is not. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/266 "2023-12-22T22:58:33Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m sorry, but you’re really wrong about that. Civil marriage is easy, be it man/woman, man/man or woman/woman. Just call your town hall, set a date, provide the obligatory documents (which can be the hardest part) and you’re good to go. What do you mean by town hall? I was not implying that it was difficult to get married outside of a church, just that the venues were limited. When I was getting a copy of my daughter’s marriage license at the county office, two people got married two counters down the hall from me. They were just as married as if they had done it in a church, but it would be limiting if that’s the only place they could be married. My daughter got married in a city park, my other in the backyard of a B&B, and we got married in Pennsylvania where the couple needs just a witness and no officiant. (Old Quaker customs.) So I may have expressed myself poorly. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/267 "2023-12-22T23:02:41Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > And that is what is called “positive” or “strong” atheism, and, like @Voyager, I’ve never come across an atheist who actually believed it. Seriously? Spend two minutes in r/atheism. I couldn’t stand the place. I have met people like that everywhere on the Internet. Some of the most public figures associated with atheism are like that. There are so many of them that whenever the subject comes up in person, I always feel compelled to say, “I am atheist, _not_ anti-theist.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/268 "2023-12-22T23:12:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > What do you mean by town hall? I was not implying that it was difficult to get married outside of a church, just that the venues were limited. When I was getting a copy of my daughter’s marriage license at the county office, two people got married two counters down the hall from me. They were just as married as if they had done it in a church, but it would be limiting if that’s the only place they could be married. My daughter got married in a city park, my other in the backyard of a B&B, and we got married in Pennsylvania where the couple needs just a witness and no officiant. (Old Quaker customs.) > So I may have expressed myself poorly. Well sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you meant that getting a civil marriage is difficult. And yes, a civil marriage is usually done at the town hall, at the “Standesamt” (bureau of vital statistics. Don’t know if this is the correct term, but that’s all I got from [dict.leo.org](http://dict.leo.org)) to be precise, and that’s usually not a very romantic place and setting, I concur. Some municipalities offer civil weddings at special places and attractions like castles, but that is the exception. Most people make up for the sober wedding at the Standesamt with a big celebration at a more beautiful place. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/269 "2023-12-22T23:15:44Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > Belief is the founding stone of religion. You need to believe to be religious I don’t think this statement is accurate, either. There are plenty of Jewish Dopers who could tell you that you don’t have to believe in God to practice Judaism (Jewish Dopers, please correct me if I’m wrong, but this is my understanding from reading years of threads like this one; Judaism is orthopraxic, rather than orthodox.) For that matter, a good handful of Episcopalians I know, including a woman finishing up her last year in seminary, have told me the same. Religion is about ritual, community, social bonding. Belief is merely one strain of that. It’s probably a topic for a separate thread, but I suspect that a lot of my fellow atheists have an overly narrow definition of “faith”. Faith isn’t necessarily wholeheartedly _believing_ that a loving God exists; for the Episcopalians in my parents’ church, it’s about _acting_ as if he or she does. Their pastor, a very intelligent woman, talks about the distinction between _worshipping_ Jesus and _following_ him. I suspect this is also true for liberal Christians like @Ulfreida. Which would explain her frustration at online atheists who sneer at every and all expressions of faith. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/270 "2023-12-22T23:18:48Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Which would explain her frustration at online atheists who sneer at every and all expressions of faith. But we don’t sneer at faith (at least not in this thread), we just find it frustrating that us having no faith is disclaimed, against our own better knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/271 "2023-12-22T23:28:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > He was just stymied by the whole thing. “Well then how do you make moral decisions?” By whether I want to live in the world in which that’s the sort of decision people make. I am, of course, living in a world in which a lot of people make decisions I consider immoral. Therefore I have lots of examples of the results. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > And morals are largely a product of evolution, not a personal choice. I suspect this is also true. > [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@Ulfreida](#): > > > > It’s not a religion, but it’s a belief system. Desiring to impose your belief on others isn’t a religion but it’s still obnoxious. > > Right. Which kinda sorta makes it a religion. Of sorts. That’s the weirdest definition of religion I think I’ve ever heard. > [@DrDeth](#): > > But others KNOW (without evidence, in other words, they have a strong faith) that all faiths and religions are bogus, that there are no gods, and it is their duty is to ridicule and attack all faiths or anyone with faith. I think there’s plenty of evidence that there are no gods in the sense in which most people use the word “god”. I don’t think that that provides evidence that all people who believe in any religion are fools. There may well be good reasons why humans often believe things that aren’t true. I also think there’s plenty of evidence that ridiculing and attacking people because of their religious beliefs does no good and often does considerable harm. (Also, that it’s very often done by people who do have religious beliefs; just beliefs that are different – sometimes minutely – from the beliefs they’re ridiculing and attacking others for having.) > [@DrDeth](#): > > A serious atheist would be forced to admit that Jews, Muslims, Buddhists etc are just as foolish and deluded as Christians. They may be deluded but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re foolish. The delusion serves a purpose – most likely multiple purposes. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > There are a minority of vocal atheists who are jerks to everyone who does not so identify. This is unfortunately true. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > But we don’t sneer at faith (at least not in this thread), we just find it frustrating that us having no faith is disclaimed, against our own better knowledge. And so is this. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/272 "2023-12-22T23:56:43Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Seriously? Spend two minutes in r/atheism. Seriously? I don’t know of anyone that goes there-I certainly don’t. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/273 "2023-12-23T00:00:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That is not that same as being atheist. This is a “no true atheist” fallacy. The vast majority of atheists believe in no gods, and that’s it. They don’t try to "convert"others. They just don’t care. Most are also agnostic, and admit that it’s possible (although unlikely) that something exists that meets the common definition of “god”, they just don’t think it has any relevance to them or their lives, even if it does exist. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > > Seriously? Spend two minutes in r/atheism. > > Seriously? I don’t know of anyone that goes there-I certainly don’t. Me neither. Why the hell would i want to talk about the absence of gods in the world? Why would anyone? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/274 "2023-12-23T01:13:14Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I think there’s plenty of evidence that there are no gods in the sense in which most people use the word “god”. No, there is no solid evidence there is such a thing. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/275 "2023-12-23T01:21:51Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And yes, a civil marriage is usually done at the town hall, at the “Standesamt” (bureau of vital statistics. Don’t know if this is the correct term, but that’s all I got from [dict.leo.org](http://dict.leo.org)) to be precise, and that’s usually not a very romantic place and setting, I got town hall correctly from what you said. In San Francisco, by the way, getting married in City Hall (which is very nice) is the cool thing to do. A castle wouldn’t have worked for them, btw. After his parents got divorced, his father spent their weekends together going to every castle in southern Germany. He is sock of castles! Glad we’re in agreement again. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/276 "2023-12-23T01:23:05Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Which would explain her frustration at online atheists who sneer at every and all expressions of faith. > > But we don’t sneer at faith (at least not in this thread), we just find it frustrating that us having no faith is disclaimed, against our own better knowledge Not much on this board, no; but there are plenty of places on the interwebz - the comments section of Only Sky, for example - where all Christians are spoken of as deluded, weak-minded fools. That said, as **Czarcasm** and others have pointed out, angry atheists are usually pushing back against attempts to impose Christianity or Christian values in the public space. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/277 "2023-12-23T01:33:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > I think there’s plenty of evidence that there are no gods in the sense in which most people use the word “god”. > > No, there is no solid evidence there is such a thing. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence Except if you look for evidence enough, and can’t find any, it does become evidence of absence. The ivory billed woodpecker is considered to be “probably extinct”. The evidence that it’s probably extinct is that no one has seen one for a long time. > **[Ivory-billed woodpecker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory-billed_woodpecker)** > > Picus principalis Linnaeus, 1758 > The ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) is a possibly extinct woodpecker that is native to the bottomland hardwood forests and temperate coniferous forests of the Southern United States and Cuba.\[a\] Habitat destruction and hunting have reduced populations so thoroughly that the species is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on its Red List as critically endangered, and by the American Birding Association as "defini... The evidence of extinction isn’t yet conclusive, partly because people really want it to still exist, and partly because what’s left of it’s potential habitat isn’t terribly accessible. But if there evidence of extinction? Yes there is. And that evidence is the absence of evidence it exists. This is true in many other areas. It’s true that, for example, an essay that doesn’t provide evidence that something exists is generally not evidence that the thing doesn’t exist. But when evidence of existence is sought and not found, at some point it becomes evidence of non-existence. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/278 "2023-12-23T01:37:39Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Not much on this board, no; but there are plenty of places on the interwebz - the comments section of Only Sky, for example - where all Christians are spoken of as deluded, weak-minded fools. I’m sure you know that, but the internet and social media attracts and aggregates expressions of extremist views, sadly. I’ve never met such a person in real life. > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > That said, as **Czarcasm** and others have pointed out, angry atheists are usually pushing back against attempts to impose Christianity or Christian values in the public space. I think that’s a characteristic feature of many American atheists, who come from fundamental religious backgrounds and freed themselves from religion later in life, and now have the same fervorous attitude against Christianity (and especially Christianity) they learned to have for religion in their upbringing. Here, most atheists are just apathetic about religion, don’t think much about it and mind their own business, just like their religious fellow citizens. Religious/Anti-religious zealotry is very scarce here. Both German Protestantism and Catholicism are very vanilla and liberal, compared to the rest of the world. Evangelistic christians are a fringe group, and everybody else thinks they are weird or crazy. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/279 "2023-12-23T01:54:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No, there is no solid evidence there is such a thing. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. There are contradictions in what happens in actual practice to what would happen if the specific gods were constituted in the fashion their believers say they are. In addition, I’m quite confident that the absence of evidence of a living elephant in my house is evidence that there is no such elephant in my house. If there were one here, it would be pretty damn obvious. I think any more of this would be a hijack of this thread. I will grant that there’s no way to prove that this entire universe isn’t a bad dream in the mind of some intelligence. But I don’t think there are many atheists saying otherwise. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > That said, as **Czarcasm** and others have pointed out, angry atheists are usually pushing back against attempts to impose Christianity or Christian values in the public space. > > I think that’s a characteristic feature of many American atheists, who come from fundamental religious backgrounds and freed themselves from religion later in life, and now have the same fervorous attitude against Christianity (and especially Christianity) they learned to have for religion in their upbringing. I don’t think that’s the primary reason for many. Adherents of certain types of Christianity are currently, in the USA, trying to adjust the laws of the country to prohibit behavior based on the tenets of their specific sects of religion – and have been having some considerable success. This is for many people an active threat to themselves and/or members of their immediate circle; and is threatening behavior also to some to whom that doesn’t apply. Not all of those people are atheists, of course. Many people who are opposed to attempts to impose specific religious beliefs in the public space are theists, of various sorts, including Christians. But the attempts, in the current USA, are very real; and sometimes successful. If that’s not true in your area, of any religion – be thankful. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176/280 "2023-12-23T02:03:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > But the attempts, in the current USA, are very real; and sometimes successful. If that’s not true in your area, of any religion – be thankful. Yes, that’s not the case, and I’m very thankful for that. Given their ever dwindling importance and relevance in German society, the Churches still have too much political influence, but they are just another lobby group among bigger fishes like the industry and other actors, and they have lost a lot of influence in law-making during the last decades. For instance, the Catholic Church hardly made a beep when same-sex marriage was introduced in 2017, by an administration led by the CDU (Christian Democratic Union)! The Protestant Church welcomed the law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-people-try-to-convert-you-to-their-religion/983176.md?page=15)