Current Events > Agnostics/Atheists do you secretly think less of people if they believe in God?

(+) Yeah! (+)

questions

I think less of everyone
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I do not.

At least, not unless they use the Bible to start justifying mistreatment of other people. That's when I begin to think less of them.
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Yes. I do think less of ignorant people.
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Zurkon posted...

Most atheists are pretty open about looking down on people who believe in God.

It depends on where you live

I try not to look down on someone purely for their beliefs, but more what they do with them. Keep it to themselves, I think higher of them. Try to force it on others, I typically despise them.
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Yes, but not secretly.
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The correct answer should honestly be the third one. If someone is atheist, and doesn't care about religion, why is it something that is on their mind so much? I have a lot of religious friends, but outside of them going to mass on Sundays, it absolutely has no bearing on my friendships with them.

I would never look down on somebody for their beliefs. Religion serves a purpose by providing people hope and relief. And maybe I don't agree/believe, but that shouldn't give me the right to put others down. People think and look at the world differently, so who am I to judge somebody for their view on the world?
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FireTemple posted...

I try not to look down on someone purely for their beliefs, but more what they do with them. Keep it to themselves, I think higher of them. Try to force it on others, I typically despise them.

This is obviously the most objective answer, but is devoid of any emotion. No one can be like this.

I only put the poll option there to see how many people are that full of themselves

KeyBlade999 posted...

I do not.

At least, not unless they use the Bible to start justifying mistreatment of other people. That's when I begin to think less of them.

Also, this. If their religious beliefs are innocent, why should I care? But if this is the primary argument to oppress women/gays/minorities, or if it's used to protest abortion, gay marriage, etc, than I have a problem with it.
I have no problem with people being for/against abortion, or for similar issues. But if their stance is "ITS BECAUSE GOD DOESNT LIKE IT", that's when religion starts to bug me.
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jenningsnash313 posted...

KeyBlade999 posted...

I do not.

At least, not unless they use the Bible to start justifying mistreatment of other people. That's when I begin to think less of them.

Also, this. If their religious beliefs are innocent, why should I care? But if this is the primary argument to oppress women/gays/minorities, or if it's used to protest abortion, gay marriage, etc, than I have a problem with it.
I have no problem with people being for/against abortion, or for similar issues. But if their stance is "ITS BECAUSE GOD DOESNT LIKE IT", that's when religion starts to bug me.

I was raised religious and even the most harmless Christian churches occasionally spread some form of bigotry. People who answer the way you did I would guess just have so little exposure to religion that they think there even is such thing as an 'innocent religion'

Btw calling others innocent implies you think they are stupid, just thought i'd let you know you are the same as everyone else who is atheist

Nope. Whatever a person takes comfort in and helps them through life is their business, I don't care. As long as they respect my indifference and don't try to force it on me we're cool.
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I mean, if the person is keeping it to themselves it won't be an issue. The only way they could be looked down on is of they're talking about it.
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The only ones I think lowly of are the ones who try to impose their religion on others or look down on others for not worshiping their god.

That includes, but not limited to:
Preaching to me
Imposing laws based off religion
Asking me do I go to church, I say no and looking down on me.
Terrorist who kill because their religion told them to do it. Despise these people the most.

Keep it to yourself, and I have complete respect for you. You can worship cowpie for all I care.

Darkninja42 posted...

Nope. Whatever a person takes comfort in and helps them through life is their business, I don't care. As long as they respect my indifference and don't try to force it on me we're cool.

The aloof thoughtlessness of this post bothers me

Only the ones who are arrogant and pushy about their beliefs.
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Some probably think less of religious people and some probably don't care.

jenningsnash313 posted...

The correct answer should honestly be the third one. If someone is atheist, and doesn't care about religion, why is it something that is on their mind so much?

I only care about religion because it has an impact on politics and therefor an impact on me. The real question that you should be asking is why do religious people like caring so much about other peoples beliefs?
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Shadow Don posted...

Some probably think less of religious people and some probably don't care.

jenningsnash313 posted...

The correct answer should honestly be the third one. If someone is atheist, and doesn't care about religion, why is it something that is on their mind so much?

I only care about religion because it has an impact on politics and therefor an impact on me. The real question that you should be asking is why do religious people like caring so much about other peoples beliefs?

Because it is human to care about others and what they believe.
People compare themselves to others all the time

FighterStreet posted...

Darkninja42 posted...

Nope. Whatever a person takes comfort in and helps them through life is their business, I don't care. As long as they respect my indifference and don't try to force it on me we're cool.

The aloof thoughtlessness of this post bothers me

Why?
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FighterStreet posted...

Darkninja42 posted...

Nope. Whatever a person takes comfort in and helps them through life is their business, I don't care. As long as they respect my indifference and don't try to force it on me we're cool.

The aloof thoughtlessness of this post bothers me

What was so thoughtless about his post?

FighterStreet posted...

jenningsnash313 posted...

KeyBlade999 posted...

I do not.

At least, not unless they use the Bible to start justifying mistreatment of other people. That's when I begin to think less of them.

Also, this. If their religious beliefs are innocent, why should I care? But if this is the primary argument to oppress women/gays/minorities, or if it's used to protest abortion, gay marriage, etc, than I have a problem with it.
I have no problem with people being for/against abortion, or for similar issues. But if their stance is "ITS BECAUSE GOD DOESNT LIKE IT", that's when religion starts to bug me.

I was raised religious and even the most harmless Christian churches occasionally spread some form of bigotry. People who answer the way you did I would guess just have so little exposure to religion that they think there even is such thing as an 'innocent religion'

Btw calling others innocent implies you think they are stupid, just thought i'd let you know you are the same as everyone else who is atheist

Ah, I see, this is a troll topic. For a second, I thought this was going to be a genuine topic for discussion. Are you a new troll, because I thought I was familiar with most of the ones on CE. But good to note another one! *tags TC*
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jenningsnash313 posted...

FighterStreet posted...

jenningsnash313 posted...

KeyBlade999 posted...

I do not.

At least, not unless they use the Bible to start justifying mistreatment of other people. That's when I begin to think less of them.

Also, this. If their religious beliefs are innocent, why should I care? But if this is the primary argument to oppress women/gays/minorities, or if it's used to protest abortion, gay marriage, etc, than I have a problem with it.
I have no problem with people being for/against abortion, or for similar issues. But if their stance is "ITS BECAUSE GOD DOESNT LIKE IT", that's when religion starts to bug me.

I was raised religious and even the most harmless Christian churches occasionally spread some form of bigotry. People who answer the way you did I would guess just have so little exposure to religion that they think there even is such thing as an 'innocent religion'

Btw calling others innocent implies you think they are stupid, just thought i'd let you know you are the same as everyone else who is atheist

What? No, when I use the word innocent, I'm not implying their stupid. If you want, I can buy you a dictionary, because innocent and stupid have VERY different definitions, and I imagine someone like you could at least try to figure out the different. I mean, come on man, if you wanna talk and have a discussion on this stuff, at least try to sound intelligent.

Because you're wrong. As I mentioned in my other post, I know a ton of religious people who NEVER discuss religion with me. If they have any sort of bigotry, it's completely internalized, since they respect my viewpoints. That's all I ask. They don't use their religion as a platform to further their arguments. I don't know their stance on topics like abortion, because we keep it to ourselves. It's not that I look down on religion or that I respect it, I just don't care.

Lol. Nice fiery defense. Dont worry, you still fit in with society. Calling anyone 'innocent' is offensive btw

No because some of the greatest minds in history were theists/deists. I have Christian friends who I know are smarter and better than I am as a person. With that said, do I look down upon their beliefs? Yeah, but I never do it openly like a douchebag.
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Yes and I don't really feel bad about it. The more religious they are, the more disappointed I am.

A little bit, but only when they dismiss scientific studies such as evolution, and blindly believe in the notion of a personal God and spirits. It's this kind of thinking that stunts the growth of human intelligence over the long term.

It doesn't really matter though, as others have mentioned, I know some great people that are theists. Beliefs are just that one way or the other, and don't make much difference.

Alright CE im disappointed

There are really three answers to this poll

#1 Yes, i secretly think less of people-

AKA jerks who have no qualms about judging others. But at least they are honest.

# 2 Yes, I secretly think less of them but feel guilty for doing so. I am just holding them to the standards i place on myself


People who recognize their own biases but feel bad about being a jerk. This is the most intelligent response and is the entire reason i made this topic.

Everyone is biased and everyone judges others. We are all human and compare and judge others/ourselves. The right thing to do is not act on our biases.

Anyone who denies this is just a happy, dumb fool. Or just dishonest. they answered with the poll question below. The pinnacle of conformative behavior


#3 No, I dont think less of them because I just dont think about this stuff very much

ITT: Everyone must fall into three lines of thought that TC determines arbitrarily to prove some random useless point
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No, that's dumb.

I do think less of them if they use religion as reasoning for a lot of things though. Or if they hold firm to religious beliefs that I find awful.

I also find atheist who spend all their time mocking religion or insulting religious people almost as off-putting and I'm pretty sure they only act that way because they're insecure about their (lack of) belief. Atheist I know who never really believed in religion or actually put in some thought before changing aren't that abrasive.
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This is priceless. A person(TC) judging others is shaming people for judging others.

KeyBlade999 posted...

ITT: Everyone must fall into three lines of thought that TC determines arbitrarily to prove some random useless point

There are more than 3 lines of thought, but there are only 3 answers you can choose for this poll.

Whether this is pointless is a meaningless argument. you are on CE, ffs

asdf8562 posted...

This is priceless. A person(TC) judging others is shaming people for judging others.

My argument is that we all judge others. It's people who act on that judgement who are bad.

It really depends on what they believe. Not everyone has the same idea of what god is.
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FighterStreet posted...

asdf8562 posted...

This is priceless. A person(TC) judging others is shaming people for judging others.

My argument is that we all judge others. It's people who act on that judgement who are bad.

Judging =/= Acting.

You can judge someone all you want, its not the same thing as actually acting upon that judgement.

asdf8562 posted...

FighterStreet posted...

asdf8562 posted...

This is priceless. A person(TC) judging others is shaming people for judging others.

My argument is that we all judge others. It's people who act on that judgement who are bad.

Judging =/= Acting.

You can judge someone all you want, its not the same thing as actually acting upon that judgement.

i....know? but the topic is about feeling guilt for having that judgement, not about the action

FighterStreet posted...

asdf8562 posted...

FighterStreet posted...

asdf8562 posted...

This is priceless. A person(TC) judging others is shaming people for judging others.

My argument is that we all judge others. It's people who act on that judgement who are bad.

Judging =/= Acting.

You can judge someone all you want, its not the same thing as actually acting upon that judgement.

i....know? but the topic is about feeling guilt for having that judgement, not about the action

1) Someone should not feel guilty for secretly thinking low of someone. What actually matters is how you treat that person on that particular topic.
2) You can judge someone all you want, its not the same thing as actually acting upon that judgement. Neither should someone feel guilty over secretly judging. Did you actually treat them differently? No. Then who cares if Suzy thinks less of her mom for worshiping God. As long as she respects her mother and doesnt throw it in her face that she doesnt think God is real, she is fine for secretly think less of her mom on religion.

Your exact quote was, ". It's people who act on that judgement who are bad." Those are your exact words, not mine. Someone secretly thinking negative about someone is NOT someone acting on that judgement. You are reaching.

Zurkon posted...

Most atheists are pretty open about looking down on people who believe in God.

That's not true at all. There's some selection bias there, most atheists won't even bring up the topic unless you ask, so the people you know are atheists are likely to be the more outspoken/douchey ones.
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Secretly? My circle of friends includes engineers, safety techs and other educated individuals. All of us openly mock that shit.
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I do not look down on people simply for believing in something.

I look down on people who try to assert that belief onto society without good reason.

EDIT: I will admit that I do think people should, in general, strive to reduce the number of unjustified beliefs they hold. But I'm not about to make the claim that every single thought I have about the world is well-reasoned. Which is why I don't look down on people simply for holding a belief.
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WaffIeElite posted...

Secretly? My circle of friends includes engineers, safety techs and other educated individuals. All of us openly mock that shit.

sounds like a group of people i'd have no desire to associate with (i say that as a doc)

I only think less of people when they say "I can't do _____ because of God."

I don't care otherwise. I have a Jewish friend who eats shrimp and pork. More people should be like him, imo.
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No. Reasons for belief vary a lot. Some people are born into it, or have some sort of familial or cultural tradition. Some just like the inspirational part of it. Some are from a different generation. There are tons of reasons someone might believe in something. I was born a Jehovah's Witness and didn't leave until I was 14. I had reasons then for believing, up until I didn't. I can't expect everyone in the world to think the way I do and be at the same point in their lives as me.

That being said, I greatly think less of evangelical types. I feel that the people who try to push their religion or attack others are generally incredibly insecure and tend to project their fears by bullying everyone who doesn't agree with them. I also think less of anyone that assumes that someone's atheism/agnosticism means that they hate God or some such nonsense.

I'm Agnostic and I don't have any problems with anyone who practices Religion,


If you're content with how life is going and Religion is helping you make the necessary steps you need...I have no qualms.
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I believe in God, as in I believe I was created by a force greater than I. But I don't buy the lore/mythology of religions.

I don't look down on people for being religious, but I look down on the hypocrites who cherry pick teachings and scriptures out of convenience.
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as an agnostic theist - nah.
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There was a time, in my late teens and early twenties, when I did, but I mellowed out about it in my mid to late twenties. Penn Jillette actually played a role in that when I heard him talk about how people who try to convert nonbelievers are, as tiresome as it can be, being totally good, moral people. Because people trying to convert you are, from their perspective, trying to save you in a literal sense.

I believe he compared it to pulling someone from the tracks when you think a train is coming. They're almost morally obligated to at least try. So, I went from scoffing at people who tried to convince me that there's a God to thanking them for their good intentions, even if I didn't agree with them.

Between my late teens and late twenties, I consumed a lot of Atheist media. Books, audiobooks, YouTube videos, podcasts, etc. The Atheist Experience, The Thinking Atheist, thunderf00t's Why People Laugh at Creationists, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Massimo Piggliuci, Penn Jillette, Aron Ra, and even a bit of PZ Meyers before the Atheism+ schism. And so on.

These days, I've cut back on a lot of that. I still watch some of that content, but lean more toward the science and general skepticism stuff instead if the explicitly Atheist stuff. For example, I don't listen to TTA or TAE anymore, but I do listen to Skeptoid and enjoy a bit of Michael Shermer, Penn Jillette, and James Randi. Now, if I listen to Dawkins it's mostly for his books about evolution, rather than atheism.
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I'm a materialist/naturalist for basically everything, not just gods. I don't believe in souls, or magic, or psychic powers, or basically anything that isn't natural

no I don't think less of people who believe in god or anything supernatural, because I'm aware the majority of people have some sort of belief in god or the supernatural in general and my ego isn't big enough to make me feel like I should look down on the majority of the planet

of course, that's if we're talking about beliefs as the question implies

if you're crusading to teach creationism, then yes I look down on you, and not secretly
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Esrac posted...

There was a time, in my late teens and early twenties, when I did, but I mellowed out about it in my mid to late twenties. Penn Jillette actually played a role in that when I heard him talk about how people who try to convert nonbelievers are, as tiresome as it can be, being totally good, moral people. Because people trying to convert you are, from their perspective, trying to save you in a literal sense.

I believe he compared it to pulling someone from the tracks when you think a train is coming. They're almost morally obligated to at least try. So, I went from scoffing at people who tried to convince me that there's a God to thanking them for their good intentions, even if I didn't agree with them.

Between my late teens and late twenties, I consumed a lot of Atheist media. Books, audiobooks, YouTube videos, podcasts, etc. The Atheist Experience, The Thinking Atheist, thunderf00t's Why People Laugh at Creationists, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Massimo Piggliuci, Penn Jillette, Aron Ra, and even a bit of PZ Meyers before the Atheism+ schism. And so on.

These days, I've cut back on a lot of that. I still watch some of that content, but lean more toward the science and general skepticism stuff instead if the explicitly Atheist stuff. For example, I don't listen to TTA or TAE anymore, but I do listen to Skeptoid and enjoy a bit of Michael Shermer, Penn Jillette, and James Randi. Now, if I listen to Dawkins it's mostly for his books about evolution, rather than atheism.

Dash_Harber posted...

No. Reasons for belief vary a lot. Some people are born into it, or have some sort of familial or cultural tradition. Some just like the inspirational part of it. Some are from a different generation. There are tons of reasons someone might believe in something. I was born a Jehovah's Witness and didn't leave until I was 14. I had reasons then for believing, up until I didn't. I can't expect everyone in the world to think the way I do and be at the same point in their lives as me.

That being said, I greatly think less of evangelical types. I feel that the people who try to push their religion or attack others are generally incredibly insecure and tend to project their fears by bullying everyone who doesn't agree with them. I also think less of anyone that assumes that someone's atheism/agnosticism means that they hate God or some such nonsense.

thank you both for high quality responses

FighterStreet posted...

WaffIeElite posted...

Secretly? My circle of friends includes engineers, safety techs and other educated individuals. All of us openly mock that shit.

sounds like a group of people i'd have no desire to associate with (i say that as a doc)

And we'd have no desire to associate with anyone who tolerates or encourages that anti-science, scamming bullshit.
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