Why do some atheists care that there are theists?

[bocablkr]

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ok this is my first ever real post here:
I go to a jesuit school and they pray every fcuking day..it makes me sick and unconfortable, specially when I see a teacher leading the prayer. I think that makes me kinda hate religion because they shove it on my face all the time.
That is probably the reason why I try to convince christians how wrong they are.

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Where were your other 1745 posts?

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ok this is my first ever real post here:
I go to a jesuit school and they pray every fcuking day..it makes me sick and unconfortable, specially when I see a teacher leading the prayer. I think that makes me kinda hate religion because they shove it on my face all the time.
That is probably the reason why I try to convince christians how wrong they are.

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That is the stupidest "fcuking" logic I've read -- and that says A LOT on this forum.

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ok this is my first ever real post here:
I go to a jesuit school and they pray every fcuking day..it makes me sick and unconfortable, specially when I see a teacher leading the prayer. I think that makes me kinda hate religion because they shove it on my face all the time.
That is probably the reason why I try to convince christians how wrong they are.

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Maybe it should also be your last.

[imported_luckyme]

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The error I think some make here is confusing some folk’s practice of their religion with the Religion itself.

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Actually that seems a reifictation error and I'll take a couple of runs at it in an attempt to stir up a deeper look at this aspect of the topic.
"Religion" doesn't exist on it's own, like a horse. Relgion only exists, like running, in the actions of those who are 'doing it'. If I watch the Marathon it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to say "that's not real marathon running" when the 2,000 people just passing me claim to be marathon runners and doing it at the time.

To study penquin mating I would be looking at what they do, not what some paper says they should be doing. It's the 'practice of religion' that is the interesting, useful and meaningful object of attention, not what some unfollowed text may say.

Muslim, christian or any other cult is usefully studied in this "what do Dulquists do? How do they practice their religion? etc". It'd be a real ivory tower waste of time to study something that isn't practiced. As some of the replies indicate, some atheists that buck religousity are doing it because of how it affects their lives and their views of whats good for humanity, etc. Sure, it can be a mindsport to debate the logical flaws that follow some certain belief systems in theory, but that's almost a given and motivates only a few.

luckme

[JackWhite]

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Religion gives some religious people the motivation to do things that are unacceptable, like what happened in Waco, TX, or in New York on Sept 11, 2001.

I think it's something that we would be better off without, so I argue against it.

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And atheists have never done anything bad, we all know that. No atheist has ever committed an inhumane act.

In all seriousness, if we were to get rid of religion entirely, would that include getting rid of all those Christian hospitals and Christians schools. Our former beloved President, William Jefferson Clinton was educated at Georgetown, a Catholic school. That school never should have been founded, since it was founded by religious people, who according to Skanskly, are stupid by definition.

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Religion gives some religious people the motivation to do things that are unacceptable, like what happened in Waco, TX, or in New York on Sept 11, 2001.

I think it's something that we would be better off without, so I argue against it.

[/ QUOTE ]

And atheists have never done anything bad, we all know that. No atheist has ever committed an inhumane act.

In all seriousness, if we were to get rid of religion entirely, would that include getting rid of all those Christian hospitals and Christians schools. Our former beloved President, William Jefferson Clinton was educated at Georgetown, a Catholic school. That school never should have been founded, since it was founded by religious people, who according to Skanskly, are stupid by definition.

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If it means that the schools where young boys were molested would also not have been founded, then I would have preferred that Georgetown was never founded.

[purnell]

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Religion gives some religious people the motivation to do things that are unacceptable, like what happened in Waco, TX, or in New York on Sept 11, 2001.

I think it's something that we would be better off without, so I argue against it.

[/ QUOTE ]

And atheists have never done anything bad, we all know that. No atheist has ever committed an inhumane act.

In all seriousness, if we were to get rid of religion entirely, would that include getting rid of all those Christian hospitals and Christians schools. Our former beloved President, William Jefferson Clinton was educated at Georgetown, a Catholic school. That school never should have been founded, since it was founded by religious people, who according to Skanskly, are stupid by definition.

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If it means that the schools where young boys were molested would also not have been founded, then I would have preferred that Georgetown was never founded.

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1)
Charity exists outside of religion. We would still have formed communities and charitable organizations would still exist.
2)
a: I went to a Catholic school and was never molested there or knew of any such thing going on.
b: I am fairly sure little boys have been molested in public schools.

[David Sklansky]

Hopefully most of you already know my answer. To repeat:

Because of the paradox captured best by the Prisoner's Dilemma, most people of the world are better off if they are religious in the style of Jews, Christians, Buddhists and most Muslims. The good religion does, usually outweighs the harm.

The only real problem with religion is that it is almost certainly incorrect. And, to most extremely smart people, obviously so.

Now suppose you are a ten year old child who was precocious enough to realize that the precepts of specific religions are clearly not something that make sense. If there was not a body of writng by world class minds that expressed the same opinion, the deleteriouis effect on that kid could be enough to reduce his chances that he will contribute something meaningful to society.

In other words while there is more good than harm in allowing the majority of the world to believe in these myths of religion, it is important for the five percent of the population that we count on to make progress, to be shown that their doubting thoughts are indeed scientifically, logically and statistically valid (given the knowledge of the last 50 years). Hopefully that includes a lot of two plus twoers.

[tylerdurden]

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Religion gives some religious people the motivation to do things that are unacceptable, like what happened in Waco, TX

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Janet Reno's religious beliefs caused her to kill a bunch of people who were minding their own business?

[tylerdurden]

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There are many reasons for me but probably the most important is that I find theists to often buy into irrational stories that serve as justification for them to do some of the most despicable acts the world has ever known.

Even when their beliefs don't lead them to actually kill others for no good reason, they can lead them to deny rights to gays, be indifferent to long term environmental planning because some are convinced that the world is ending soon anyway, block stem cell research which could otherwise extend my life and the lives of loved ones someday, deny or impede access to birth control which creates unwanted babies and spreads deadly diseases.

Do I need to go on? Because I probably would if I thought it might convince someone to reconsider their unfounded beliefs which lead to what I believe to be so many incredibly cruel actions.

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These are good, but of course, none of these situations are inherent to religious belief. Would you still feel compelled to pursue this action if the theist held that coercion of any other human, even an unbeliever, was unjustifiable?