Ask An Atheist Anything., Actually, don't. Keep it relevant. Aliteration is cool. Options

[NoSex]

Alright, this is sort of in response to Podo's (monster's) "feeble attempt" thread.
I'm an atheist. I don't believe in the existence of any god whatsoever. Any questions?

[NoSex]

How do you deal with the hatred for being a atheist?

do people really hate atheists though?

Oh, people f**king despise atheists. I've gotten a lot of guff in my life for all sorts of absurd things (being a rapist, a drug dealer, a devil worshiper, etc. etc.) but the one thing reality does not force itself against is my atheism. I am indeed an atheist - and, a lot of people have thought all sorts of unfavorable things of me for just that. Generally, this does not concern me. Atheism is more accepted and more popular than it has ever been - it's actually sort of nice. And, it has always been a blessing in disguise - people's hatred. When people react to my atheism in such a manner as to signify bigotry, ignorance, or just good ol' stupidity, it's really easy to file away faces in all the right places. Essentially, it becomes really easy to choose your "friends" and to choose your "enemies." I've had plenty of Christian friends, but for each I've probably had three irreligious friends. I'm not too much of a discriminating anus, but, in the same vain, I must admit I don't have much tolerance for spirituality (I pretty much hate it).

But, this disfavor on each case makes a lot of sense - both parties have very different, often very divergent, world views. Theists and atheists are people who see the world dramatically different from one another. This difference cause tension and conflict which often manifests itself in hateful behavior. Altogether though, and this is largely anecdotal, I have found theists to be far more hateful, unforgiving, and uncivil in comparison to atheists. This may have something to do with the fact that for a theist these questions are of utter importance. For an atheist, many of these questions are jokes - they could care less in many cases. A passionate hatred tends to be that much more passionate when hell fire is in question. If I were a Christian, for example, I would be more afraid allowing my children to play with an atheist than I would allowing them to play with child molesters and murders. Think about it - In one case you're risking their immortal and eternal soul, in the other case you're only risking their fleshy bodies. It's a no brainer!

In either case, atheists are definitely one of the most hated, if not the most hated minority in all of America. [1]

And you should hear what atheists say. It's a two way street pal.

A two-way street? Are you kidding me? It's more like a dirt path taken by horse and buggy against about fifty super-highways all headed in the opposite direction. The numbers are staggering. The many people who explicitly hate atheists against those who dislike Christians are stupendous. It's just unyieldingly obvious that is isn't so simple that both parties dislike each other. This is an army of spiritualists against a small band of rogues - it's like a f**king holocaust of hate.

Not that it isn't fun or anything.

As having experienced both worlds. It's really no difference. Atheists have a faith that there is no god. They'll say it's not faith. In fact, it is faith because they can't prove there isn't a god.

Same goes with Christians and those of all faiths. They have equal faith there is a god. And also have no evidence there is a god.

So, if we can't prove something absolutely we have "faith" in it? Alright, given that broad interpretation of "faith" then we all have faith in all things to a certain gradation. If you push it enough, there might be no distinction at all - might as well render "faith" as meaningless. Rather, I would like to explore another definition - something I think is more commonly accepted.

Hell, let's use the god damn Bible!

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Hmm. It's becoming a bit more clear. Simply, I would argue that faith is belief which is disproportional to reason and evidence. Faith is an emotional manifestation - an intricate and masked version of wishful-thinking.

Now, you seem to argue that atheists and theists both have this so-called "faith." Even further, you seem to posit that they have an equitable faith - that it is of similar quality. If this were true evidence and reason would have to be as disproportional in the case of an atheistic position as it would be for a theistic position - this is a proposition of which your initial premises denounce.

You argue that theists have no proof that there is a god, thus they have faith. So, in what case would they not have faith? If they didn't believe in god? Are you starting to see how silly your position is?

To demonstrate by way of analogy: Do I have faith that unicorns and Santa Clause does not exist? If I do, is this so-called "faith" proportional to the faith of believers in unicorns and Santa Clause despite the blatant lack of evidence?