Atheists, do you disdain believers or do you pity them and if so, why?

Question

Atheists, do you disdain believers or do you pity them and if so, why?

Answer 1

Neither.  I just disagree with them.

Answer 2

I have a "hate the belief, love the believer" kind of attitude. I just don't like religions and I hate when people try to push it on me, or convert me, or tell me my life is meaningless and without any value because I don't value what they do. If God gives them meaning, they try to say my life is meaningless because I don't believe in God. I can get along okay, as long as they don't be confronting and try to pick fights.

I do feel bad for them too. They believe what lies religion tells them, and often have that dogma to deal with. I can be a free thinker, which I enjoy. However, they usually use their religion for answers, so they don't get to think for themselves about things. They may be close-minded which closes off certain possibilities and relationships for them. Plus, for the churchgoers: I can always sleep in on Sunday if I want to.

Answer 3

Neither.

Well, maybe I do pity those who believe their own religion is the only thing in the world and that all other religions are simply lies. Those I DO pity because they couldn't be more hopelessly wrong.

I like being an atheist. xD

Answer 4

i pity the ones who have to use treats to make people believe i respect those who love their religion and stick to it and don't over do the converting people to their religion. its ok to help people find god but don't scare them into it or force them in any way.

Answer 5

both and neither. they are being misled and that can lead them to annoying things like electing george bush and harming others. but this result is not necessary, though it is more common in the united states, with christianity. but the potential exists for any religion if someone else translates it for you. there is a difference between quoting the words of jesus and doing what somebody tells you jesus wants.  

Answer 6

Religion is rooted not so much in moral high ground, but in the bottom line.  They are businesses and the reason most organzed religions frown upon homosexuality, birth control or abortion, is that those practices result in fewer bodies to fill the pews and subsequently, the collection basket.  I am obviously not religious but do not disdain believers - I believe in a "live and let live" way of life.  It is my opinion that god did not create man - man created god.

Answer 7

A little of both.

A part of me wishes I could be so naive and trusting and the other part of me is disgusted.

Answer 8

Atheists generally fall into two camps.

1) Those who have been taught or just generally concluded that God does not exist.

2.) Liberal Marxists, who think Religion itself, as opposed to human nature, is the source great evil & suffering.

Type 1s are usually 'live & let live' and might even envy the solace your faith provides.  They might think your beliefs are a bit silly, but they don't generally 'distain'.

Type 2s tend to be nasty condescending control freaks who think believers are evil idiots in need of extermination.  They are pretty much defined by their distain. Their idea of pity is a re-education camp instead of a death camp.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

Depends on their situation, because if they are such strong beleivers because someon died or something I would pity them or if they create hatred because of their beleifs then I pity them but mostly unfortunatly I feel wronged when they try to force me to beleive in something.

Answer 10

athiesm means you dont believe in any religion

Answer 11

i understand believers, there's no disdain or pity.  There's a scientific reason why people believe in a higher being or afterlife.  It was a survival mechanism developed by our primitive barbaric ancestors some 60,000 years.  The discovery of ceremonial burials was our first clue to when this belief mechanism first came about.

In our ancestors' quest to find a purpose in life that might help him cope with the adversities of life, man has invented supernatural beings. Since he could not cope with the mysterious forces of his environment, he invented gods or other mystical forces that might enhance his survival and security by responding to prayer, sacrifices or similar devotions.

There is no objective evidence whatsoever that such omnipotent beings actually exist or, if they existed, that they have any effect on individual human lives, or that they can vest human lives with a preordained purpose. If someone claims that there is a preordained purpose to human life, such claim is merely a completely undocumented opinion, at best, or a hallucination, at worst. Not only is such extraordinary claim without any shred of evidence, but it also stands in contradiction to all factual evidence available to man. Rational human beings require extraordinary proof for extraordinary claims.

Neuroscientists have found that so-called 'god gene' in the limbic systems of human brains, the place where our deep emotions reside, including our irrational belief systems.  They can now artificially probe that area and stimulate a 'god presence' in their test subjects.... I could go on, but you get my drift.

Answer 12

neither

Answer 13

I'd say I'm pretty indifferent to whatever anyone believes.  I don't care if someone believes or not.  As long as they don't try to shove their beliefs down my throat.

Answer 14

Neither.

Answer 15

By the atheists rude discourse with the questioners, I don't understand why you would be asking if they have pity on those they offend. Of course they don't. They're just immature adolescents probably raised in a crass home who like to insult young people, young people who might be sensitive and doubtful about their religion.

Answer 16

Neither.  I just wish they did not think that their belief in an imaginary friend somehow makes their moral code the only one worth following.  They can believe what they want, as long as they let me live my life as I want.  Particularly, I do not want my children afflicted with an unscientific view of how life diversified based on the primitive superstitions of some early bronze age nomads.