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I offended a friend who's an atheist?

Let's leave the Political references out.

OP was wondering if she had done anything wrong,
to offend him.

What if in fact it is the political contentiousness of the moment that offended the person the OP was discussing? No specific references, but only the contentiousness of the subject.

I think under the present circumstances it's quite a possibility. A lot of hair-triggers happening at all levels of society. Where what may seem to drive one subject is really about another.

Such possibilities seem to running white-hot at the moment for some. Pretty hard to dismiss.
 
I suppose the person who no longer wanted
to post could have been wearing tight itchy underwear, too,
and transferred his annoyance into other areas of his life.

But, that doesn't mean I'd need to bring in ideas about
conditions in textile factories to flesh out an explanation
of whether or not OP had done anything to offend him.
 
He does seem to be too sensitive and perhaps shouldn't have been there. I have to wonder if there isn't a bit more to this than you realize though.

One of my posts said God has no religion. So that's pretty inclusive...

I would normally just walk away from something like this while inwardly shaking my head. I only comment now because I think that you may genuinely want to understand how you might be turning atheists off, if not quite genuinely giving reason for offence.

Atheism is not another religion, and you cannot attempt to treat it as such without offending some atheists. Maybe you're watching the world cup, maybe you're not. If you're not interested and I wish to include you I might say that there are non-games scheduled, you could spend 90 minutes staring at a blank screen and still cheer for a non-team. Now I can ask about your non-watching of non-games. See how you're not included by this? It simply doesn't work. You cannot be nice to us by attempting to include atheism as another religion, and each attempt can easily be interpreted as offensive since each attempt shows that you've again missed the point. A bunch of apples cannot be nice to an orange by insisting that oranges and apples are equal, that's like comparing... darn it. I know there's a good analogy for this.
 
I suppose the person who no longer wanted
to post could have been wearing tight itchy underwear, too,
and transferred his annoyance into other areas of his life.

But, that doesn't mean I'd need to bring in ideas about
conditions in textile factories to flesh out an explanation
of whether or not OP had done anything to offend him.

I think that would depend on the possibility of how wearing tight underwear may annoy him. Of course we don't know what motivated his words and actions in the first place.

But then it might be sufficient just to mention tight underwear and leave textile factories out of it. Not so?

I think we were on the same page. :p

But you have to admit, things are quite heated right now going many directions. Whether they fit a single thread in a forum or not.
 
The guy is probably young.

Insecure,likely.
Lashing out because he was triggered.
His world view is still an early stage of being formed.

An interesting example of thinking about forgiveness.

Your feelings brought into play by his reaction represent the challenge of forgiveness that he has presented you with.

Perhaps that is your journey for this and many other things.

One way to look at it :)

Forgiveness is important internal forgiveness in the heart can happen, But external forgiveness How do you do that when the other party closed the door on communication?
 
I would question why he was there in the first place if he's so offended by religion...

Indeed. Good point. What motivated his response in the first place ?

It reminds me of a peculiar form of behavior. Those who despise something intensely, yet can't seem to separate themselves from it either. Which may say more about them personally than any potentially controversial subject.
 
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why would an atheist post in a religious forum,
i'm an atheist and i don't feel the need to justify it, explain it, argue it, or even worse - try to convert someone into atheism
i don't really see why there is so much aggravation about religion
its like to people saying they can't be friends because they interpret abstract art differently
 
Many atheists have a lot of anger and hate towards religions and people who follow them.

You weren't specifically trying to offend or insult them, just got on the recieving end of the hate. I wouldn't give it/them another thought, other then if they apologize on their own.
 
Don't worry about it, I'm not religious myself and can still offend some atheists with religion:).
 
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I do not believe that pink unicorns exist on this world, in this reality.
I can tolerate those that believe that pink unicorns do exist, even tiny ones that live in shoes.
What I do not tolerate is someone telling me how I must wear MY shoes, in order to respect and protect THEIR unicorns.
Oft times, an athiest is repremanded, or looked down on for stating that there is no evidence for, and a preponderance of evidence against, the existence of supernatural entities, at least along the lines of traditional beliefs.
This same action, by a "believer", i.e. making the statement "you just need to believe" is just as, or moreso offensive, as I am being asked to abandon my reasoning process and analytical abilities in favor of an "it just is, and there is no explanation for it, it's just what "he(she)" wants. Don't question, doubt, or disbelieve, but since you do, You will be punished for all of eternity for using the freewill and intellect that my "god" gave you.
And so, I now pronounce you NOT one of my peers, nor worthy of the title "reasonable" because you refuse to follow my model." argument.
This is a slap to the face of anyone with any sort of reliance on intellect, for any number of reasons.
In the words of John Oliver,
"You don't bring feelings to a facts fight."

While I cannot comment directly on why this person was so offended, there is a great deal of commentary on what an athiest shouldn't say to or about a theist, but the obverse does not hold true, and it's "no holds barred" when debating, or discussing with, an athiest.
I suppose the assumption is that an athiest does not believe in a "god", and so nothing can be said that would be offensive to him/her. This couldn't be further from the truth.
When debating, an athiest will attack a god, or a belief in such, but the reverse argument attacks the athiest's very person.
Hope this helps.
 
Sounds like he has the problem, not you. I am not religious, well I believe in spirits from personal experience, but not all of Spiritualism and since I've seen no evidence of one God, I think it's unlikely, everything we know in the universe is complex, so why would this be so simple? There's more likely to be lots of beings that are more "powerful" than us or beings we don't understand that some might call a God or gods, that's my personal opinion...

Anyway back to the point, even though I might not believe there is absolutely no way I would ever be offended by someone who does believe in one God even if they tried to read passages out of the Bible to me, if they persisted it could potentially become annoying, but I still wouldn't be offended and I wouldn't be offended by people who practice any other religion either, only a few days ago I was debating with a Muslim in a pleasant way and there was absolutely no offence taken either way, I found it very interesting in fact and even though I don't believe I have a lot of respect for his devotion. As long as they're not in any way harmful, then people should be tolerant and respectful of all other religions and beliefs, he is clearly not tolerant and in fact is even showing prejudice against people who believe in God, so as I said he has the problem, not you.

Edit:
Stating "God has no religion" shouldn't be in the slightest bit offensive to anyone.
 
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The harm tends to come from not the existence or nonexistence of god but rather the people who believe in his existence Wether it be theists who are willing to look down on people who aren't of the same faith as them, or theists willing to crash planes into buildings and kill thousands it really becomes an issue.

Now i don't believe in pink unicorns either, but for the most part people who do believe in pink unicorns don't have a role in making laws and at tge very least they usually don't base their decisions regarding said lawmaking on their belief in pink unicorns.

If someone choses to believe (though most don't have a choice, they're indoctrinated from childhood to resist any other option besides blind faith.) They can believe in whatever god they choose, but I have a problem when they use those beliefs to justify hatred, force their ideas on to others, and base their morality on vague ideas of what their imaginary friend desires.

Dont get me wrong I don't dislike theists, I'd have to dislike most of my friends and family, but I feel atheists have good reason not to keep their mouths shut. We aren't just flapping our lips, we actually find religion harmful not just to ourselves and minority groups, but to society as a whole and secular humanism seems a better system to deciding how to treat one another than ancient fairy tales
Religion is only usually harmful because of people's intolerance towards other religions apart from the small minority of extremists, sadly where there's very strong religious beliefs there is often hatred to some extent and at worst there's even war, but it's most definitely not everyone. The majority of people follow their religion peacefully and are tolerant of other religions, most religions preach peace and to love others. Even atheism is a type of religion because it's a still a belief that is shared by a group of people, in this case the belief is that a God or gods do not exist, but it's a shame when some atheists see all other religions that do believe in a God or gods as damaging when the majority of religious people are peaceful people that can be very pleasant, it's also extremely unfair to tar people with the same brush as an extremist when there's no evidence that they're one. If an atheist is against someone just for believing in God or in gods, then it's in my opinion prejudice and it's no better than other religious people from differing religions hating one another. I can understand atheists becoming annoyed if the person repeatedly kept trying to indoctrinate them against their will, but simply detailing their belief in the right place is not indoctrination, especially in a religious thread.

I believe hatred of other religions comes from our primitive human tribal instinct which is even observed with football hooligans who literally see opposing fans as enemies and are even willing to use force against them with genuine hatred. More people need to learn to become tolerant and respectful of other religions and tribes, there is no need for even the slightest bit of offence to be taken from listening to other people's beliefs and there definitely shouldn't be any hatred. Human beings also have the ability to understand our weaknesses and to override primitive instincts for the better.
 
Sounds like he has the problem, not you. I am not religious, well I believe in spirits from personal experience, but not all of Spiritualism and since I've seen no evidence of one God, I think it's unlikely, everything we know in the universe is complex, so why would this be so simple? There's more likely to be lots of beings that are more "powerful" than us or beings we don't understand that some might call a God or gods, that's my personal opinion...

Anyway back to the point, even though I might not believe there is absolutely no way I would ever be offended by someone who does believe in one God even if they tried to read passages out of the Bible to me, if they persisted it could potentially become annoying, but I still wouldn't be offended and I wouldn't be offended by people who practice any other religion either, only a few days ago I was debating with a Muslim in a pleasant way and there was absolutely no offence taken either way, I found it very interesting in fact and even though I don't believe I have a lot of respect for his devotion. As long as they're not in any way harmful, then people should be tolerant and respectful of all other religions and beliefs, he is clearly not tolerant and in fact is even showing prejudice against people who believe in God, so as I said he has the problem, not you.

Edit:
Stating "God has no religion" shouldn't be in the slightest bit offensive to anyone.
I must point out, however, that the quote "God has no religion" assumes that there is a "god", which may, to some, be offensive in it's own right.
If I were to state this in the obverse, "Religion(s) have no god(s)", I risk causing offense for the same type of assumption.
 
Wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the friends, family, and social skills forum but it's sort of religious in nature so I'm putting it here. Me and a group of people were posting spiritual and religious quotes online. It is open to all people of all faiths though many of the posts mentioned God. One person, who is an atheist I corresponded with regularly about various things seemed to hint we are offending atheists. He then said he will no longer post in a thread devoted to God. I responded:

Sorry if I scared you off, I have nothing against atheists. And I did like your Rumi quotes. I then gave him a link to a place to post general inspirational quotes saying I thought he might like that better.

He then private messages me this morning with the subject line "I am not SCARED of God" with a message saying

I am offended, and when I tried to tell you so, you rubbed it in. You are just empty air, and I have unfriended you and put you on IGNORE~!

Did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to suggest he should be afraid of God. But just because he doesn't believe in God doesn't mean I'm not allowed to. I seem to be losing friends left and right lately and I don't understand it.
I lost a little faith when no one liked the picture of my baby. You got a friend here!:)
 
I must point out, however, that the quote "God has no religion" assumes that there is a "god", which may, to some, be offensive in it's own right.
If I were to state this in the obverse, "Religion(s) have no god(s)", I risk causing offense for the same type of assumption.
I guess that could be argued, but me posting the quote is not pressuring him to believe in God. It's not saying you must believe in God or anything threatening.

I lost a little faith when no one liked the picture of my baby. You got a friend here!:)
:)
 
I guess that could be argued, but me posting the quote is not pressuring him to believe in God. It's not saying you must believe in God or anything threatening.


:)
You may be correct, and, please don't think me argumentative.
I find that it is more important to flesh out, and perfect the question, than to start hunting an answer prematurely, and possibly fruitlessly. Often, the real issue is obfuscated by the asking of an indeterminate question.
As for your particular difficulty:
For many who are professed athiests, their conviction stems from observation and analysis, and possibly rational discourse.
To have a conversation or debate with such a one, coming from the premise that there is a god, can be maddening to them.
I would liken this to the assertion that there is another letter in the english alphabet, between K and L, called "glutergork".
It is this letter that accounts for all that is done with language. Without it, language and alphabet could not exist. This letter "created" alphabet and language alike. It is present in every single word in the english language, and shapes every word's definition and pronunciation. "GLUTERGORK IS REAL! ACCEPT GLUTERGORK OR BE MUTE AND DEAF!"
Oh, and, glutergork is invisible and does not occupy space, and there is no sound, lack of sound, or change of sound associated with it's presence.
In the instance you have described, there are any number of explanations for his words and actions, some benign, and some not so. Perhaps he had a bad day, and was feeling pressures we cannot glimpse.
Time has a way of showing us the error and extremism of our ways. Let us hope that this person has just such an epiphany.
Either way...
May you be well.
 
I must point out, however, that the quote "God has no religion" assumes that there is a "god", which may, to some, be offensive in it's own right.
If I were to state this in the obverse, "Religion(s) have no god(s)", I risk causing offense for the same type of assumption.
Well even though I'm not technically an atheist because I'm open to the possibly of higher beings, I don't believe in one God as many religions preach and that statement most definitely doesn't offend me in the very slightest. It was also said in a religious thread and it's the ops opinion, an atheist didn't have to read it or contribute, if they didn't agree because it doesn't apply to atheists then it would have been perfectly fine to respond and state something like, "That statement doesn't apply to myself because I'm an atheist.", but being offended over it and acting like this is in my opinion ridiculous and is showing he is actually heavily against religions that believe in God and the people involved in them to the extent where he is prejudiced against anyone who says they believe in God with a degree of hatred, I honestly think he would have found any excuse to be offended once someone had stated they believed in God. He even refused to even accept a perfectly reasonable and polite attempt to resolve the issue which in my opinion wasn't even necessary and he was quite rude, it was absolutely obvious no malice or offence was ever meant by the op. People who believe in God should respect atheists and their opinion too as the op did, but it should work both ways and in this case the op wasn't the one with the issue.

Look at it another way, the person was perfectly friendly with the op, the only thing that changed was he discovered that the op believed in God and then he became unpleasant towards the op wanting to break all contact. It's likely he would try to refuse contact with anyone who he believed was religious no matter what qualities they have as a person and that is being prejudice.


It is horrible thing when we see human beings hate each-other because of their religious beliefs, I remember a good friend who was half Irish and used to live in Belfast in Northern Ireland during the troubles, some of his stories were fascinating and some were quite shocking. When I was drinking with him once in the UK when the troubles were still going on over there it was bought up in conversation that if we were seen as good friends in Ireland there would be major issues and we'd probably be threatened. Even though I'm not religious in the slightest I was born Protestant and he was born Catholic, even though both religions are somewhat similar in my opinion, both believing in one God, many in Northern Ireland were taught to hate each-other and stay segregated. Over there people were even murdered for trying to marry someone of the other faith.
 
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He does seem to be too sensitive and perhaps shouldn't have been there. I have to wonder if there isn't a bit more to this than you realize though.



I would normally just walk away from something like this while inwardly shaking my head. I only comment now because I think that you may genuinely want to understand how you might be turning atheists off, if not quite genuinely giving reason for offence.

Atheism is not another religion, and you cannot attempt to treat it as such without offending some atheists. Maybe you're watching the world cup, maybe you're not. If you're not interested and I wish to include you I might say that there are non-games scheduled, you could spend 90 minutes staring at a blank screen and still cheer for a non-team. Now I can ask about your non-watching of non-games. See how you're not included by this? It simply doesn't work. You cannot be nice to us by attempting to include atheism as another religion, and each attempt can easily be interpreted as offensive since each attempt shows that you've again missed the point. A bunch of apples cannot be nice to an orange by insisting that oranges and apples are equal, that's like comparing... darn it. I know there's a good analogy for this.
Atheism might be unique, but it's still classed as a religion because it's a belief that is shared by a group of people in order to qualify them to be an atheist. The only qualification to be an atheist however is not to believe in the existence of God or gods, they can however believe in anything else and still be an atheist. Atheism isn't the only religion that doesn't follow God or gods, although these religions simply don't mention God or gods in their teachings so you can choose to believe in God or gods or you can be an atheist and still be part of that religion, one example is Buddhism where believing in God or gods is not seen as necessary to obtain enlightenment, another is Scientology which is still a religion even though it's controversial. The only reason I can see some atheists becoming offended by it being called a religion is because they have a certain hatred towards religion which they associate with people who believe in God, again this is intolerance towards other people's beliefs. Both atheists and theists should respect each-other's beliefs and there definitely shouldn't be any hatred of each-other.

Atheism is also legally recognised as a religion in the USA:

https://www.quora.com/Has-the-U-S-Supreme-Court-recognized-atheism-as-equivalent-to-a-religion
 
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