# What’s wrong with atheists? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 26, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673 "2002-04-26T00:36:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/21 "2002-04-26T03:59:53Z")
When I was a teenager, I was an atheist (now I’m apathetic agnostic), and I waged a personal war against the Jesus Crispies who came downtown every weekend evening to yell at us young punks and goths about The Gospel. Some of my tricks weren’t terribly noble – I would walk counterclockwise around them reciting the Lord’s Prayer Backwards, or make up silly insulting verses to Kum Bah Yah and sing them with all my friends, or ritually dispel them from the area. However, I also studied up on some less-savory parts of the Bible, and sometimes I’d argue with them. Here’s my fave. Next time someone asks you why you’re not a Christian, answer, “Genesis 19:8.” Let them look it up (I’ll quote it and the preceding verses here for your entertainment): ``` 1: And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; ``` 2: And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 3: And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. 4: But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 6: And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7: And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8: Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. Yep, the reason why Lot is saved from Sodom is that he offers his daughters to a crowd to be gangraped, instead of inconveniencing his male guests (who were, it should be noted, angels perfectly capable of handling themselves). Icky icky icky. Learn some other passages like this, and take the offensive! Daniel DISCLAIMER: Don’t use these tricks against good decent Christians who aren’t being assholes to you. They’re not very nice, and you shouldn’t use them to start trouble. But once trouble’s started, they can be very satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/22 "2002-04-26T04:50:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \*\*When did homosexuality become a religion, or why is that part of your list? > > It just seems out of place, like you’re trying too hard or something. \*\* I’m just saying that some Bible believing Christians don’t want to have anything to do with gay people, and I’m not one of them. Pretty much what **Derleth** said. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/23 "2002-04-26T06:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JessEnigma \* > \*\*Believe…what you want? Not possible. At all. It’s merely a theoretical right to believe what you want. After all, everyone _should_ be Christian (Jewish is forgivable, as well, but Christian is ideal). God said so. > \*\* My mother (a fanatical born-again Christian) once told me “freedom _of_ religion does NOT mean freedom _from_ religion.” And like you said above, “Jewish is OK, but it’s better to be Christian.” She also thinks Wiccans are Satanists. She worries about my littlest going to hell because I refuse to have her baptized. I had my other two girls baptized because I felt like I was obligated, then I grew a spine and refused to go along with something that didn’t feel right to me. Once I got out from under the repression and guilt of the Catholic church and embraced my atheism, I became a different (and MUCH happier) person. Sheri ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/24 "2002-04-26T07:14:01Z")
I feel for you. If you want a lot of fun, try being an athiest who is also adamantly pro-Bill of Rights, almost always visibly armed, child-free, anarchist AND polite and articulate. You get more strange looks and slow backing away than a seizure victim in a mediation group. ---
**Author:** ![S.Mussberger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@S.Mussberger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/S.Mussberger)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/25 "2002-04-26T08:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\* > > Here’s my fave. Next time someone asks you why you’re not a Christian, answer, “Genesis 19:8.” Let them look it up (I’ll quote it and the preceding verses here for your entertainment): > Learn some other passages like this, and take the offensive! > > Daniel > > \*\* Man that some good ammo right there. I’ll unleash it next time a pestering Jehovas witness call on me. ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/26 "2002-04-26T09:43:14Z")
May you find peace amidst the tribulation in your life. Let your own high standards and self-esteem be a source of shame for those who persecute you. Remain steadfast always to what your heart tells you is true. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/27 "2002-04-26T09:44:55Z")
[…sigh…] Although I’m sure that my wife would wish the same for you, the wishes expressed above are mine. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/28 "2002-04-26T10:33:44Z")
I’m always gobsmacked when I read stuff like this. I knew one guy at my school who admitted to believing in any religion at all. Everyone viewed him with a kind of hushed caution, as you would use around mental patients. It wasn’t until I grew up that I realised that _yes_, you can be religious and rational - that religion as espoused by many has no contradiction with scientific observation. The idea of a whole _school_ of loud ‘n’ proud Christians I just cannot imagine. At all. I suggest you change countries at your earliest convenience :D. pan ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/29 "2002-04-26T10:37:13Z")
Incidentally, it is worth pointing out that despite the extreme atheist tendencies of the resident school population, we still had: - Religious education (read: mad preacher bloke who tried once a week to convert us whilst we mocked him - not my proudest moment but I was 14) - Prayers every day in assembly - Hymns three times a week - Christian readings at all prominent events. So in this extremely secular atmosphere we all went through the religious motions, like little rituals to be performed (by law) and immediately forgotten. Almost the exact opposite of your system, really. pabn ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/30 "2002-04-26T11:03:43Z")
Interesting, **kabbes**. As someone who was raised a Christian (later drifted away, then came back), I found that I regarded the rote obligations in school life (prayers at assembly and all that) as, well, just that - meaningless ritual observances totally unrelated to my real life as a Christian. If the intent of these things is to instill a sense of Christian values and Christian spirituality into schoolchildren… then all I can say is that they have been an abject and total failure. (And I suspect all my atheist friends at school would agree). Bearing this in mind… time to stop them, perhaps? Although my experience differs from yours in one respect; my R.E. teachers had religious _knowledge_ as well as religious _beliefs_, and in fact taught comparative religion with a fair degree of objectivity. Which is a _good_ thing, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/31 "2002-04-26T11:03:46Z")
What **kabbes** describes is very similar to the Irish situation as well. -When I was in school we had religion class twice a week. -Prayers at the beginning and end of every day. -A prayer room that we went to for 2 hours a week for enforced quality praying. -The school organized our holy communion and confirmation and ran classes on how to prepare. -10 commandments and crucifixes in every room -Confession regularly held in school and every now and then a priest would come in and have a “chat” with us about how we should all join the priesthood. All this in state schools BTW and the majority of people I know that went through it are now agnostic at least\* - I would assume Dublin has a higher level of agnosticism / atheism that rural areas. Sorry to hear of your hassles **Anubis**. Don’t let the bastards drag you down. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/32 "2002-04-26T11:11:57Z")
I went to a high-school full of the Southern Baptists preacher wannabes. Always carrying around bibles and thumping 'em every chance they got. When I was first asked if I had accepted Jesus as my lord and saviour, I said “No, I don’t believe in God”. Thus began four years of religious harassment. Eventually, I fought back. I bough a copy of Anton Laveys Satanic Bible, and carried that around. When they tried to convert me to Christianity, I would try to convert them to Satanism. Most of them left me alone after that. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/33 "2002-04-26T11:12:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \*\*When did homosexuality become a religion, or why is that part of your list? > > It just seems out of place, like you’re trying too hard or something. \*\* I was under the assumption that heterosexuals were more prone to go missionary… ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/34 "2002-04-26T11:36:36Z")
**Steve** , when I was 15 our religiously bonkers RE teacher left and instead we had an enlightened English teacher-turned-vicar, who would gently engage us in interesting debate. This was, as you can imagine, far more eye-opening than being told that we would all end up as wastrels and losers. At my sister’s school they had Religious _Studies_ rather than Religious _Education_, in which they learned about all world religions rather than the bible, chapter and verse. I rather envied her that. RE aside, I too think they should just drop the whole “little rituals” thing. It gives kids totally the wrong impression of religion anyway and just becomes an activity as meaningless as taking a morning dump. But **yojimbo** , sounds like when it comes to religious ritual the Irish schools make English schools look like US schools! Or something. pan ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/35 "2002-04-26T12:06:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > **All this in state schools BTW and the majority of people I know that went through it are now agnostic at least** I’m one of the unbelievers who went through this system. They are not really state schools though - most of the schools in Ireland are run by religious orders, even though their funding almost exclusively comes from the state. It leaves little choice for prospective parents such as myself, who would prefer their young 'uns not to be subjected to this. However, I’m 95% hypocrite as I got married in a Catholic church and will probably end up bowing to pressure to have my kid baptised. I couldn’t be arsed having the courage of my convictions any more - anything for a quiet life. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/36 "2002-04-26T12:10:19Z")
We had neither Religious Studies nor Religious Education… we studied _Scripture_. We even had to take a GCSE in it. Prayers and hymns every morning too. And yet I can think of only a couple of people in my year that professed any kind of sincere belief in a god. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/37 "2002-04-26T13:02:02Z")
Nothing’s wrong with atheists. I’m in the same camp they are, to a point. And this is not a slam against the OP, because I don’t know the OP, but it would be nice if we could all - atheists included - follow the rule where you don’t go on about your religion or lack thereof unless someone asks you about it and invites dicussion. I’m a geek, and have been around geeks much of my life. And let me tell you, I have encountered far more militant and proselytizing atheists than christians. People who, regardless of time or place or subject at hand, have GOT to go on and on about how much they don’t believe in god and how much better this makes them than everyone else. It’s funny because it’s nearly the exact same attitude they claim to be tired of: “My belief makes me special and superior, but you’re all being led falsely and I feel sorry for you.” It’s mighty annoying to be standing in a game store looking to buy something and having to listen to two idiots in trenchcoats praise each other for having an enlightened, atheistic philosophy. And no, I’m not annoyed because I’m christian - I’m not a christian. So there’s nothing wrong with atheists. Or christians. Or muslims, jews, buddhists, pagans, zoroastrians, scientologists, or people who worship sponges - as long as they leave other people alone. Unfortunately, there are some belief systems in which trying to obnoxiously convert others is part of the process. I would hate for atheism to become one of those. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/38 "2002-04-26T13:06:02Z")
I don’t know any atheists like that, but maybe that’s because atheism is so much in the majority amongst my peers that it renders such behaviour rather pointless. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/39 "2002-04-26T13:25:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*I don’t know any atheists like that, but maybe that’s because atheism is so much in the majority amongst my peers that it renders such behaviour rather pointless. \*\* I’m sorry, I clearly didn’t write that correctly if I implied that there was a POINT to it. There isn’t. The geeks I’ve encountered are completely talking to people who agree with them. Now, it’s WORSE when they actually have a christian audience to perform for, but the fact that everyone in the room feels the same way they do doesn’t stop them from still having to declare loud and proud how great they are for not believing in god. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673/40 "2002-04-26T13:29:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > **So there’s nothing wrong with atheists. Or christians. Or muslims, jews, buddhists, pagans, zoroastrians, scientologists, or people who worship sponges - as long as they leave other people alone.** I was with you all the way until you mentioned $cientologists.🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-wrong-with-atheists/105673.md?page=3)