Why can't we be friends?

Gee, I believe that we can and indeed should be friends. Maybe, to help the friendship, we should not be ridiculing each other over spirituality, but at the end of the day, in real life we are each other's neighbors and should conduct ourselves appropriately.

On the Internet, it's different because of the physical separation emboldening the rude, and also because forums like YA invite us to ask questions (and answer them), which can lead to vigorous debate. It would be boring and pointless if there was no vigorous debate.

Name calling, however, is always garbage.

If you think no believers and atheists are friends, you are a moron.

If you think no believers and atheists can ever be in room together, even IF the G-word is mentioned, you are a moron.

It's a lie that one NEVER sees a theist and athiest having a friendly convo about religion, even on the Internet.

It's a lie that ALL Christians try to convert everyone they speak to.

It's a LIE that all discussions go the way you have described.

No, it's not true that believers SHOULD try to convert everyone they encounter.

???? Uh, this is a public forum. Saying that ONLY Christians should be allowed to post questions is not for YOU to say. It's not YOUR site.

??? AND it's a lie that ALL athiests identify as such in our usernames.

It's a LIE that I'm looking for an argument, or taking anything "far" at all. All questions on YA appear on the Home page, which is where I found this. Also all R&S questions appear in Society & Culture.

Also, since we KNOW that theists lie about atheists, and some ask us questions in this section, some come to this section to answer those questions because most believers on this site LIE about us.

It's a LIE -- so far, not ONE claim you have made is true, btw -- that ALL atheists judge people's common sense on whether they're believers. That said, if YOU knew someone believed fairies were real, wouldn't you judge their rationality?

What do you mean "gets in the way of fellowship"? This is a Q&A site. People come here to ask questions, answer them, or both. This isn't a "let's hang out" site.

??? Why let WHAT become real? Reality IS real, whether someone wants it to be or not.

???? People have a right to choose their own usernames, within reason. Why do you think atheists should not have that right?

And why do you think there is something wrong with someone who chooses a username based on what they think? And why don't you object to believers choosing usernames that reflect their beliefs?

NOTHING you've said in that entire, LONG post is in any way reality-based, or rational, or true, or in any way worth saying.

Maybe you need mental health treatment.

As an atheist, I only have about 2 or 3 atheist friends, the rest are all theists. A couple of Christians, several Hindus, and a Buddhist. We know better than to talk about religion with one another.

Just as I have a friend who never went to college and thinks it is a waste of time and money, and I disagree with his assertions (and take it to the bank), so too do I have people with which I disagree about the existence of magical men in the sky. Fortunately, we do not base our relationships on these ultimately trivial things. As long as they don't advocate for faith-based policies, I am not going to stand in opposition to what they believe. And as long as my Hindu friends let me eat meat, I don't care.

Trolls are gonna be trolls, I wouldn't get too worked up about it. They do it to entertain themselves. Why they get an endorphin boost getting people riled up is probably a control thing. If they can manipulate people into displaying extreme emotion, when they themselves probably have no strong emotion about the subject puts them in a position of power in their mind. It then follows that these people probably feel a general lack of control in their daily lives to do this to experience the feeling of control by baiting others.

As for the rational debate and desire for shared understanding, I think the problem comes in that there isn't one space for us all to occupy at the same time. We think we can get the other person onto our page, but really we each have our own page, so the best we can do is get someone to be close to us, but not on the same page as us. Asking someone to experience this world with their faith, when they have none is like asking someone to paint a picture without paints. Asking someone to disregard their faith for rational analysis is equally impossible. To get someone on either side to change their mind, they would already have to have a changed mind, but be unaware of it; still clinging to their formerly held beliefs. These people are far fewer in number.

We can be friends.

You're funny btw you wrote all that and not a single person will read it all

Hmmm... let me think... perhaps people willing to blow themselves up, along with as many "infidels" as possible because their fictional religion tells them to. Just because I don't believe it doesn't make it any less dangerous. Religion is dangerous because it gives stupid, violent people justification for their insanity by calling it righteous if they do it for their god. The Sears Towers might still be standing if it weren't for a "harmless" fictional religion.

"...I understand that we as Christians want everyone to believe in the truth..."

You ruined that 'cool fair guy' effect in the 4th sentence.

And, ugh, how did you know?

S is short for Sand which is a reference to a beach on which I argued with theists for 24 hours as part of my Atheist Initiation.

On the Internet, we're all *******s. In real life we don't care that much.

I am friends with people who do not think the same as I do. I enjoy it and I frequently learn from them too.

I have many Christian friends and muslims and hindus and jews.....We live in London, UK and do not argue about religion. We all help in our community.. Mo Atheist