Christians, what do you think atheists get out of non-belief?

I think they get an ego-boost, a false belief that they're better/smarter than someone else on this planet.

I think they get off on the assumptions that *some* people *used to* make about atheists, like that atheists know anything about science, reason, logic, have high IQ's, have good personalities, are funny/clever, and have read the Bible 50 times.

In other words, I think atheists are as much, if not more, deluded than they think religious people are. But they're deluded about themselves, which, imo, is much worse than being deluded about religion.

i'm a Deist, so i wager i'm qualified. What irritates me the most are this stuff: a million- some human beings imagine that we are hypocrites/ undecided because we settle for the existence of a deity and accepting, interior of a similar time, evolution and the large bang. 2- that all and assorted Deists might want to change into Atheists ultimately. it is not actual, i like being one, yet interior of a similar time I, via NO sort, condemn Atheists. 3. That our Deism is an "old" idea that change into regularly occurring in 1700s and could not be anymore. edit: about the tolerance question: Atheists, fingers down.

I had to respond to some of the users responses.

I am an atheist and am VERY well educated in the Christian religion. I was Christian for 35 years and read the bible cover to cover many times. I studied it and found it fascinating. I also asked lots of questions in church with pastors and leaders in other religions.

I chose to be an atheist because I found the bible to be completely vile and contradictory.

The very concept of a magic man in the sky granting wishes is just as silly as Santa Claus.

As a devout follower, I prayed all the time for things that were very selfless... no prayers are ever answered. It's a waste of time. There is no god.

I feel that they've chosen not to invest belief in something for which they have no empirical evidence (in this case, deities). I can't say that I blame them for that. It's a natural decision. However, it's not *my* decision. I don't think that atheists are "mad at God" or something foolish like that, since being upset with a being you don't even believe in is absurd. Atheism is just one viewpoint among many. It's a way of looking at the world. My way is different, but that doesn't necessarily make it better or worse. I have plenty of atheist friends, and I get along well with them.

As a Christian my self my feelings are if atheists don't want to believe then that is up to them. We all have choices and mine is I believe in Jesus Christ and he is real.

Let's face it, the xian, and theist in general, absolutely believes there's an imaginary entity up in the sky that got this whole show on the road.

It cannot undersatand how anyone could not believe that.

They don't realise they've been programmed to believe this from childhood and they've never tested the information to see if it rings true.

In the Kalama Sutra, Buddha says.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it..

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

'Gods' are about the stupidest things primitive man ever came up with to explain anything.

We could just as well suggest a pair semi-clad, pink butted gnomes did it... dressed in tight black suits(tops only) on the way home from the ball… on mopeds.

~

You get freedom from the guilt associated with sin and you get out of all the effort it takes to be a believer. I don't think you choose to be an atheist. I think that is the default position. I think one must choose to be a believer. I don't think you are kidding yourself. You're just resisting to much. Somehow "believer" doesn't fit your self identity.

Ok, Im Catholic and believe in God with all my heart and soul. The answer is pure choice. Atheists choose what they want to believe just as theists choose what they want to believe. Its all about preference.

We aren't atheists by purposes, it's just natural

Why when I don't believe in their God I must have some dark aims?

When I became a Christian, it was because of the influence of my family.

When I became an Atheist, it was because of Martin Luther and his 95 thesis.

When I became to realize that there might be a God, it was because of lost hope.