Almost everyone on this forum is an Atheist/Agnostic/Freethinker/Skeptic/Non Theist, maybe a few Deists, or unclassifiable freaks. Whatever the label, we are basically not believers; I was curious though, does anybody here actually hate religious people and/or religion/spirituality? If yes or no , do you think there is a “place” for hatred of religious/spiritual concepts? What are your feelings?
[ Edited: 20 September 2011 02:31 AM by mid atlantic ]
I think hatred is irrational, no matter where it’s directed. While I dislike the missionary aspects of many religions and theistic beliefs, I almost never dislike the person. I can have a strong distaste for someone like Pat Robertson, but hatred—nah.
Well, I may take that back. As I drove home this afternoon, up a long hill on a divided road, two lanes in each direction, 45 mile speed limit, two imbeciles, one in each lane were going just under 30 miles per hour. If I had a means of teleporting a pint of Tabasco to their genitals, I would gladly have done so.
I could hate religion for what it has done to the world, but ultimately hatred is a personal thing and it comes from personal experiences.
I’m atheist, and I have been since as far back as I can remember. But I don’t really hate religion from an atheist perspective. From that perspective, it’s pity. But it’s my experience as a gay person that makes me hate religion. Religious people from a wide variety of groups have been shaming and trying to constrict and devalue my life since before I even knew I was gay. And one close religious family member actually left my family because of it. Some people may be more forgiving, but I cannot forgive what religion did to my youth, and there are certain religious figures that I do hate. But I also have a thinking brain, and morality, so I don’t act on that emotion.
My experience I think is pretty tame. I didn’t undergo an exorcism. I wasn’t raped by a priest. But when I take my experience, and I multiply it by all the millions upon millions of other people around the world screwed by religion in ways that are worse than mine, it’s very clear to me that religion’s dominant position worldwide needs a strong and swift challenge, and so I need to do my part to promote alternatives to religion, and ensure religion and irreligion are subject to the same rules.
Any issues one has with religion would not be unique to just religion…
I personally have politicians as the main group of people that if given a choice to be hateful towards they would be top of the list…every single time…
I agree with affluenza. My intense dislike (mild hatred) is directed to politicians and criminals. I’m surrounded by religious people who leave me alone. They know that I am an athiest and respect my views. Even my parents know how I feel about religion and although my Mother is firmly convinced that I’ll burn for my views (according to her floppy bible)but she still loves me! I don’t judge people by their beliefs but by how I am treated by them.
What good would hatred serve? Is there any value in hating our parents and grandparents who attempted to indoctrinate us? I don’t think there is, despite some forms of indoctrination being abusive.
What good would hatred serve? Is there any value in hating our parents and grandparents who attempted to indoctrinate us? I don’t think there is, despite some forms of indoctrination being abusive.
Depends on how you define hate. As I said, I would not kill a fundamentalist for her/his beliefs. But if I’m honest, I do have to admit that there is a part of me that wishes those people (for example) who carry signs at funerals saying “God Hates Fags” would die.
Hatred, along with its common side effect (murder) is generally not productive. Comes down to philosophy - is it wrong to kill a person who, if kept alive, will kill hundreds of thousands? There is no right or wrong answer but I know what I would do.
If a non-religious person wants to spend the rest of their life hating religion, then that’s their prerogative. Many have good reason to hate religion, whether it’s for political, philosophical, or personal reasons. I, on the other hand, don’t hate religion. It was created to meet a basic fundamental human need, and for many, if not most of humanity, it still does. Who am I to barge into someone else’s life and demand that they immediately give it all up? If that person wants to devote their life to a cherished mythology, then that is that person’s right as a human being. Heck, some people would be worse off if it wasn’t for their beliefs.
Of course I don’t mean to imply that religion hasn’t caused its own share of problems. But to tie these problems exclusively to religion is to ignore all of the sociological, psychological, political, and cultural factors that influence these issues. For example, ridding the world of religion will not rid the world of terrorism, despite what some naïve people like to assert. Sociopaths will always find another symbol to justify their actions. Every people group has its annoying people and its evil people, including skeptics. I’m not so arrogant to think that I’m automatically a better person because of my lack of religious association.
Its one’s actions that determine my assessment of their character. Nothing else.
What good would hatred serve? Is there any value in hating our parents and grandparents who attempted to indoctrinate us? I don’t think there is, despite some forms of indoctrination being abusive.
Depends on how you define hate. As I said, I would not kill a fundamentalist for her/his beliefs. But if I’m honest, I do have to admit that there is a part of me that wishes those people (for example) who carry signs at funerals saying “God Hates Fags” would die.
Hatred, along with its common side effect (murder) is generally not productive. Comes down to philosophy - is it wrong to kill a person who, if kept alive, will kill hundreds of thousands? There is no right or wrong answer but I know what I would do.
Well, as long as you are willing to separate these groups of people from one another without lumping them into one group, I’m with you.
And yes, I can say with the utmost sincerity that I wish that some rare and incommunicable disease would wipe out Fred Phelps and his entire family, including the children—-well, at least the ones that are beyond psychological help. Heck, I even wished this when I was a Christian! We’d be better off if people like this had shorter lives.
As a mildly amused agnostic I really HATE atheists who try to claim that agnostics are atheists.
I only hate the theists when they ring my doorbell and want to share the Bible with me. I already have 5. And on a number of occasions I have demonstrated that I know the Bible better than many of them do.
Now see you are getting me started on a rant. I really hate people who make me get my suppressed hatred out of control.
I have certainly hated in my life, but it never lasts more than a couple of minutes. As far as a certain category goes, I guess I am with Affluenza on this one: The politicians irritate me almost constantly. But I try not to think about it too much since except for not voting I am not sure what else I can do about it.
I have actually given this a lot of thought. Having just recently de-converted, there are many things about my former religion that I despise. I hate what it does to people. I hate how it has its tendrils embedded all over our public institutions, despite the constitution. I hate that many of its adherents look down upon non-believers with anger, fear, or—worst of all—condescending pity. I hate how impressionable young children are raised to accept that irrational beliefs are normal and rational, leaving them as adults in a pit of memes that require much inertial force to overcome. At its worst, it teaches people to hate, to fear, even to act in violence in defense of their god, as though a god would need it. Even at best, its acts of mercy and kindness are almost always conditional upon something in return: money or allegiance, for example.
But having said all that, I have a huge caveat. For while I do genuinely hate all those things, I can’t hate the FreeInKY of five years ago. And yet he was a part of that system I now despise. I have many good friends and a few family members who still are. Like I was, most of these people are not bad. They are not haters. They are delusional. They have been sucked into a system that is very good at doing exactly what it was devised to do.
FreeInKy, I think that’s the story for most of us - having been part of the religious culture. Rather than hate, I would prefer to help others turn on the lights.
What good would hatred serve? Is there any value in hating our parents and grandparents who attempted to indoctrinate us? I don’t think there is, despite some forms of indoctrination being abusive.
Depends on how you define hate. As I said, I would not kill a fundamentalist for her/his beliefs. But if I’m honest, I do have to admit that there is a part of me that wishes those people (for example) who carry signs at funerals saying “God Hates Fags” would die.
Hatred, along with its common side effect (murder) is generally not productive. Comes down to philosophy - is it wrong to kill a person who, if kept alive, will kill hundreds of thousands? There is no right or wrong answer but I know what I would do.
Well, as long as you are willing to separate these groups of people from one another without lumping them into one group, I’m with you.
And yes, I can say with the utmost sincerity that I wish that some rare and incommunicable disease would wipe out Fred Phelps and his entire family, including the children—-well, at least the ones that are beyond psychological help. Heck, I even wished this when I was a Christian! We’d be better off if people like this had shorter lives.
Fred Phelps, whats not to like about him?! Just kidding. Phelps’ death would be a good thing.
