Religious Criticism Of Atheists. They're Too Selfish.

[shunyadragon]

Considering the widespread hatred, venom, distrust, and acrid vile Christians show toward atheists. The message of supposed unselfish love and compassion on the part of Christians is severely problematic. I do not see this widespread hatred, venom, distrust, and acrid vile of atheists toward Christians. I see rather strong criticism and objects, but nothing on the scale as prevalent in the attitude of Christians toward atheists.

Guess what the evidence shows who is the most selfish?

 

[JustWondering]

Pew Research Center says,

"Last week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey concerning who Americans would want – or rather, wouldn’t want – for an in-law. While about 10 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married someone of a different political persuasion, and about 30 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married a gun owner, nearly 50 percent of Americans said that they’d be unhappy if a family member married an atheist."

Why Americans Hate Atheists

Heh. Hating is not good for the soul, so it's probably hate the sin and not the sinner.

But sometimes as in the case of marriage, one can't easily separate the two.

Anyway, it got me thinking what criticisms are valid of atheists (besides leading to being Communists). I didn't want to use the #1 popular answer, the i-word -- IMMORAL. I would say they are selfish. There's the immorality, but I think that's a bit harder to quantify.

For example, abortion. Those in favor are focusing on their own lives instead of the baby's life. Drugs. It's not to treat one's pain and suffering or a medical condition, but to get one to a pleasant, happy state or state of euphoria. Materialsim. People want to buy, buy, buy and the pleasure in buying is only temporary. And more.

So how can I quantify selfishness? How about selfies? I'm not saying it's just the atheists who take selfies, as we all do it to some degree. Are the atheists more self-absorbed and into taking more selfies?

What about those who want to take just the right selfie or take a lot of selfies so they can post on social media? I can only guess what possesses these people to take the "perfect" selfie and in the process get killed over it. Are these people atheist? Do atheists have more selfish traits than the religious?

Here's a recent one. Drunk, too. Probably not the last either.

Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car
Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car

So to sum up your argument, Christians are bigoted and nasty towards people who don't share their beliefs. Can't say you're wrong. I don't think anyone is going to argue against your argument, you make a compelling case.

 

[siti]

Why Americans Hate Atheists

Brilliant find Mr. Bond. Here are a few quotes (with my bold and my parenthetical comments) from the article your OP was based on...

"This finding comes as no surprise. Social science has long revealed high rates of secularphobia – the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people – within American society...What gives?...[i.e. what is the basis for this irrational fear?]

...we can account for the current level of secularphobia in the US by considering these four factors:

1. Americans [irrationally] equate a lack of religiosity in general – or atheism specifically – with immorality.

2. Americans [irrationally] equate a lack of religiosity in general – or atheism specifically – with being un-American and/or unpatriotic.

3. There is no stigma concerning the expressed dislike of the non-religious. While there is a stigma (to varying degrees, depending on one’s social milieu) attached to being racist, or anti-Semitic, or Islamophobic, or homophobic – there has never existed a social or cultural backlash against people who openly express disdain for secular folks. So people simply feel much more comfortable expressing their dislike for atheists than, say, Latinas/os or women.

4. Insecurity on the part of the religious. Faith – believing claims without sufficient evidence, or claiming to know things that you don’t or can’t know – is an increasingly shaky endeavor. And in order for religious faith to survive, it requires a lot of social support: the more people who share it, the easier it is to maintain and reproduce. Thus, anyone who rejects the tenets of your faith, or calls them in to question, is a threat. Atheists lack a faith in God, and thus theists are particularly threatened by the growing presence of such humans, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky to begin with: religious faith."​

To which I respond with a loud, heartfelt and profoundly secular: Amen!

 

[james bond]

It's Pew Reasearch Center and Psychology Today. Both are reputable groups. Even Richard Dawkins has a negative rating. He has no background in religious studies. I can't blame the atheists for wanting a better leader or spokesperson than him. The guy is too obsessed with that which he does not believe in and other things in which I file under bad philosophy.

People do see atheism as a weakening of our society's moral fabric and that which leads to chaos and has written as throughout history.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-criticisms-of-Richard-Dawkins

 

[Bob the Unbeliever]

Is shooting still an Olympic sport? He could replace the targets.

Certainly no worries about penetration: you cannot get a mere bullet through such thicknesses of concrete, that we have observed surrounding his head.

 

[siti]

It's Pew Reasearch Center and Psychology Today. Both are reputable groups.

So I take it you agree with PT's conclusion that one of the main reasons for the irrational fear of secularism is that...

"...theists are particularly threatened by the growing presence of such humans, as they call into question the very thing that is ever so shaky to begin with: religious faith."​

 

[Kemosloby]

Everybody seems to love the animals more than humans, and perhaps the Atheists are a little more human than most.

 

[Nietzsche]

People do see atheism as a weakening of our society's moral fabric and that which leads to chaos and has written as throughout history.

You are the person least qualified to talk about anything relating to history.
But go on.

Give me examples where the "weakening of moral fabric" lead to "chaos".

 

[Revoltingest]

There's something to be said for being selfish.....
I'm not compelled to mind other people's business.
And I've no strange beliefs from an ancient book to impose upon them.

 

[shunyadragon]

This. This right here is where I stopped reading.

And then sighed and read the rest of it anyway because it's part of my damned job around here.

Patience and perseverance are virtues without reward nor appreciation.

 

[Father Heathen]

It's Pew Reasearch Center and Psychology Today. Both are reputable groups. Even Richard Dawkins has a negative rating. He has no background in religious studies. I can't blame the atheists for wanting a better leader or spokesperson than him. The guy is too obsessed with that which he does not believe in and other things in which I file under bad philosophy.

People do see atheism as a weakening of our society's moral fabric and that which leads to chaos and has written as throughout history.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-criticisms-of-Richard-Dawkins

Why do European countries who have a higher number of atheists than the U.S. yet have less crime than the U.S.?

Also, why is it that atheists only represent 0.10 percent of inmates in U.S. prisons? Also, a lot of the biggest philanthropists are also atheists.

 

[shunyadragon]

Everybody seems to love the animals more than humans, and perhaps the Atheists are a little more human than most.

For some Christians, ie James Bond, they consider atheist more 'animal' than most.

 

[suncowiam]

Pew Research Center says,

"Last week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey concerning who Americans would want – or rather, wouldn’t want – for an in-law. While about 10 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married someone of a different political persuasion, and about 30 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married a gun owner, nearly 50 percent of Americans said that they’d be unhappy if a family member married an atheist."

Why Americans Hate Atheists

Heh. Hating is not good for the soul, so it's probably hate the sin and not the sinner.

But sometimes as in the case of marriage, one can't easily separate the two.

Anyway, it got me thinking what criticisms are valid of atheists (besides leading to being Communists). I didn't want to use the #1 popular answer, the i-word -- IMMORAL. I would say they are selfish. There's the immorality, but I think that's a bit harder to quantify.

For example, abortion. Those in favor are focusing on their own lives instead of the baby's life. Drugs. It's not to treat one's pain and suffering or a medical condition, but to get one to a pleasant, happy state or state of euphoria. Materialsim. People want to buy, buy, buy and the pleasure in buying is only temporary. And more.

So how can I quantify selfishness? How about selfies? I'm not saying it's just the atheists who take selfies, as we all do it to some degree. Are the atheists more self-absorbed and into taking more selfies?

What about those who want to take just the right selfie or take a lot of selfies so they can post on social media? I can only guess what possesses these people to take the "perfect" selfie and in the process get killed over it. Are these people atheist? Do atheists have more selfish traits than the religious?

Here's a recent one. Drunk, too. Probably not the last either.

Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car
Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car

Your research is very misleading.

Instead of noting only Americans, it should have went deeper and showed the demographics of these Americans. Obviously if most Americans were religious and being that atheism is a sin, OBVIOUSLY, it would been seen as bad.

Hmmm, how many Americans are religious? Your 50 percent might actually show more support of atheism if we normalized against the demographics.

So....

The jokes on you!

 

[leibowde84]

Pew Research Center says,

"Last week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey concerning who Americans would want – or rather, wouldn’t want – for an in-law. While about 10 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married someone of a different political persuasion, and about 30 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married a gun owner, nearly 50 percent of Americans said that they’d be unhappy if a family member married an atheist."

Why Americans Hate Atheists

Heh. Hating is not good for the soul, so it's probably hate the sin and not the sinner.

But sometimes as in the case of marriage, one can't easily separate the two.

Anyway, it got me thinking what criticisms are valid of atheists (besides leading to being Communists). I didn't want to use the #1 popular answer, the i-word -- IMMORAL. I would say they are selfish. There's the immorality, but I think that's a bit harder to quantify.

For example, abortion. Those in favor are focusing on their own lives instead of the baby's life. Drugs. It's not to treat one's pain and suffering or a medical condition, but to get one to a pleasant, happy state or state of euphoria. Materialsim. People want to buy, buy, buy and the pleasure in buying is only temporary. And more.

So how can I quantify selfishness? How about selfies? I'm not saying it's just the atheists who take selfies, as we all do it to some degree. Are the atheists more self-absorbed and into taking more selfies?

What about those who want to take just the right selfie or take a lot of selfies so they can post on social media? I can only guess what possesses these people to take the "perfect" selfie and in the process get killed over it. Are these people atheist? Do atheists have more selfish traits than the religious?

Here's a recent one. Drunk, too. Probably not the last either.

Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car
Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car

Here is the reason. Hatred of Atheism or atheists is yet another irrational bias/prejudice. There are many of them that afflict the US.

the irrational dislike, distrust, fear, or hatred of nonreligious people

Also, how can you logically argue that atheism is a sin? We can't force ourselves to believe in something we aren't convinced of. Or, at least I can't. So, how is it a sin to lack belief in anything?

 

[Jumi]

Allow me to define what selfishness is and what I am talking about. Maybe the concept of selfie is missing a key component.

Being "selfish" is used several ways but I am referring to someone who wrongfully holds onto or gains something at the expense of another.

This, like most moral qualities, doesn't seem to be something that atheists do more than others.

 

[leibowde84]

Anyway, it got me thinking what criticisms are valid of atheists (besides leading to being Communists). I didn't want to use the #1 popular answer, the i-word -- IMMORAL. I would say they are selfish. There's the immorality, but I think that's a bit harder to quantify.

This is stupid. There is nothing immoral about lacking a belief in God. And, atheism in no way leads to communism.

For example, abortion. Those in favor are focusing on their own lives instead of the baby's life. Drugs. It's not to treat one's pain and suffering or a medical condition, but to get one to a pleasant, happy state or state of euphoria. Materialsim. People want to buy, buy, buy and the pleasure in buying is only temporary. And more.

There are plenty of religious people that think Abortion should be legal. There are certainly many religious people who use drugs. It seems like all of your connections here are based on your own dishonesty (not very religious of you).

So how can I quantify selfishness? How about selfies? I'm not saying it's just the atheists who take selfies, as we all do it to some degree. Are the atheists more self-absorbed and into taking more selfies?

Nope, religious people are far more self absorbed than atheists. that is 100% obvious.

What about those who want to take just the right selfie or take a lot of selfies so they can post on social media? I can only guess what possesses these people to take the "perfect" selfie and in the process get killed over it. Are these people atheist? Do atheists have more selfish traits than the religious?

Religious people take way more selfies. That is 100% obvious.

 

[leibowde84]

Pew Research Center says,

"Last week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a new survey concerning who Americans would want – or rather, wouldn’t want – for an in-law. While about 10 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married someone of a different political persuasion, and about 30 percent of Americans said they’d be unhappy if a family member married a gun owner, nearly 50 percent of Americans said that they’d be unhappy if a family member married an atheist."

Why Americans Hate Atheists

Heh. Hating is not good for the soul, so it's probably hate the sin and not the sinner.

But sometimes as in the case of marriage, one can't easily separate the two.

Anyway, it got me thinking what criticisms are valid of atheists (besides leading to being Communists). I didn't want to use the #1 popular answer, the i-word -- IMMORAL. I would say they are selfish. There's the immorality, but I think that's a bit harder to quantify.

For example, abortion. Those in favor are focusing on their own lives instead of the baby's life. Drugs. It's not to treat one's pain and suffering or a medical condition, but to get one to a pleasant, happy state or state of euphoria. Materialsim. People want to buy, buy, buy and the pleasure in buying is only temporary. And more.

So how can I quantify selfishness? How about selfies? I'm not saying it's just the atheists who take selfies, as we all do it to some degree. Are the atheists more self-absorbed and into taking more selfies?

What about those who want to take just the right selfie or take a lot of selfies so they can post on social media? I can only guess what possesses these people to take the "perfect" selfie and in the process get killed over it. Are these people atheist? Do atheists have more selfish traits than the religious?

Here's a recent one. Drunk, too. Probably not the last either.

Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car
Man taking selfie on Germany autobahn killed after getting hit by car

Also, what does the German guy on the autobahn have to do with atheists? There is nothing in the article indicating he is an atheist. And, religious people take selfies way more than atheists. So, where are you getting the connection?

 

[Father Heathen]

btw @james bond, doesn't the bible forbid bearing false witness?

 

[leibowde84]

btw @james bond, doesn't the bible forbid bearing false witness?

Good point. The OP might be the most dishonest one I've seen on all of RF.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Allow me to define what selfishness is and what I am talking about. Maybe the concept of selfie is missing a key component.

Being "selfish" is used several ways but I am referring to someone who wrongfully holds onto or gains something at the expense of another. I think many would agree that it's "selfish" to take things that do not belong to them. That is, the person took that which they did not produce or receive voluntarily from another. The Communists think the life, labor, and property of any individual are the possession of "society" and should be run by the government.

OTOH selfies may not be as simple as I thought. It may not just be about narcissism and selfishness. It depends on the type of selfie.

"They also examined different facets of narcissism. Narcissism is not just a single trait, but a confluence of several related qualities:

1. Self-sufficiency—thinking you can do things on your own and don’t need other people;
2. Vanity—concern about appearance and a tendency to admire your own physical appearance;
3. Leadership—believing that you should have authority over other people, and being willing to exploit others if necessary; and
4. Admiration Demand—exhibitionism, feeling entitled to special status or privileges, and feeling superior to others.

Not everyone who scores highly on the overall measure of narcissism necessarily possesses all of these qualities. Thus, the researchers examined these different facets of narcissism to see which ones were most correlated with selfie-posting.

In both studies, participants' total narcissism scores, and measures of all of the narcissism subscales except for Self-Sufficiency, were positively correlated with selfie-posting for men; this was true for all three types of selfies examined. For women, a different picture emerged: Only the Admiration Demand subscale predicted selfie-posting (solo selfies in the first study and selfies with romantic partners in the second study)."

What is the Real Link between Selfies and Narcissism?

Just take a selfie of yourself and just get it over with. ;0)