Intolerant/angry non-believers? Is it that misery loves company?

You know, I agree with you 100%. While I have met a few atheists on here that seem pretty decent, the vast majority seem to be cold, rude, and heartless alot of times in dealing with us of the Christian belief. In every interaction it solidifies exactly what Christ said when He told us they would hate us because we followed Him. Its frustrating to say the least. I really am looking for some theological discussion and sharing of all religious faiths (I love to learn about everything religious!) However, those are few and far between. This is a bredding ground for hate and intolerance. With that said, there have been a few burnin hell Christians, but this is definitely not the norm and is infrequent. Most Christians, myself included make sure we are not insulting in our questions, including everyone to answer, etc. I suppose some cant look at it objectively, if they cant see. Pray pray pray, Gods peace to you :-)

with regard to your first point, about 'bible-bashers' i think there's a reason. i think that, however polite christians are, the beliefs that some hold are ridiculous. for instance, they are convinced that practising homosexuals are sinful and evil and will suffer for their sins. there is always a reason to be angry with someone, and mine is their many, unfounded predjudices, which contradict the impression that they like to give as a religion which accepts everyone, of any colour or creed. this, i find, is often quite simply false. as a teenager, i was thrown out of our school 'religious debating society' because i'm an atheist. the idea of the club was supposed to be the 'open discussion and questioning of religion'. i discussed, i questioned, i was thrown out.

your second point, about taking a chance with eternity, is basically Pascal's Wager. this was, that it is better to live your life as a christian, and so be sure of either a place in heaven or just death, than it is to live it as a non-beliver and so risk going to hell if it turns out there is no god. however, i think this is stupid. firstly, because God will supposedly know whether or not you believe in him (and will punish you if you don't ) so it won't be enough to simply practise christianity if in your heart of hearts you think it's all a load of rubbish.

secondly, being a christian is arduous and annoying. you have to spend your Sundays in church (at least for the morning) and you have to pray, be christened, confirmed and then spend the rest of your life desperately trying to obey every single moral or rule that the bible lays down. this would be tiring and ridiculous. i personally just can't be bothered.

What would make you think Atheists are miserable? I assure you, we are not. We lead happy fulfilling lives. We just do so without a belief in any god.

The reason that you see so few posts from Atheists about other faiths is that no other faith is attempting to instill itself as the law of the land. When you stop trying to force everyone to live by your god's rules, we will be most happy to leave you all alone.

By the way, the most extreme faith bashing I see on this forum is Muslim bashing done wholeheartedly by Christians. Did you somehow miss those posts ?

I'm not atheist but religion sure does confuse allot of people in not believing . For instance People say that Jesus is God . How is that possible when in the bible God states the Jesus is Gods only begotten son . The meaning of hell is a pit where they would burn the dead not a place you go to suffer what kind of God do you think we have . Is he a merciful God or one that loves to see people suffer ? Gods will to see a child die from cancer or from an auto accident again what kind of God do religions think we have .Church makes him sound like a monster .

Besides all that who are you to say that they will not make it into Gods new kingdom and you will . Isn't God all forgiving and isn't the one great sin that you can never be forgiven for is suicide . You know taking the " easy " way out . Isn't man judged by his heart ? I know atheist that feed his hungry children and believers walk past the hungry child without a second look . Don't you think God takes that into consideration .

I suspect if you kept an actual objective running total, you would find them about equal. But first, you need to look seriously at what you're considering "thoughtful, polite, and respectful". Do you consider a question that says, "Why don't atheists believe what I do when it's so obvious I'm right?" thoughtful and respectful? Do you consider a question from an atheist worded exactly the same way respectful or Bible bashing?

I am a non-believer and I agree that some of the non-believers on this forum are rude. However, the reason we go on arguing against Christianity is because this is the only place where we can express our opinions without being shunned by family, fired from our jobs, etc. Most of us are quite confident in our beliefs/non-beliefs. However, when almost everyone you have ever met tells you that you are going to hell if you do not believe as they do, it is hard to keep quiet; especially when you feel confident that they are wrong and you are right. You also have to remember that disagreement does not equal anger. Just because I tell you that you are wrong does not mean that I am angry.

Yes, but company hates misery. So cheer up.

Self delusion is not the cure for your own misery.

If you want to waste your life following someone else, its your business. This question amounts to your airing your own dirty laundry.

P.S. You do know that this question also invokes yet another tired permutation of Pascal's Wager, don't you? Why don't you just search the other thousands and thousands of such questions, and then have yourself a drink and chill out?

Yes, this section is brutal towards most theists, but you have to admit that after taking a look at some of the questions posted by theists (yours included) it is very obvious that they believe they are better than everyone else. Christians do not display much tolerance and it makes people angry.

I honestly feel that no matter why people are here we are all reading and watching how others respond and it may just open a door that otherwise would not be opened. Just keep on keeping on! God Bless!