List things you like about Atheists

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Maranatha

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I like atheists because they are dedicated to rationality. From their point of view, they are completely rational. I find it hard to discuss almost anything with people who decide rationality is an option.

I also like their willingness to stand for what they believe. It’s not easy when your thinking in in the minority. If they’ve honestly looked at the data and they have come to their own conclusion despite peer pressure from the majority, then I give them respect.
 
I would disagree with that in general. For specific cases where that’s true, well ok I can respect that. However, by far the vast majority of atheists I know tout rationality but ignore arguements for God that they themselves admit have no flaws. The vast majority also refuse to truly study the data to come to their own conclusions. They will study the atheistic works, but not those of people of faith.
 
There is a beautiful sound in the world–it’s the silence that follows when you’ve gotten an atheist thinking about his worldview…I’ve heard it before. Paschal’s Wager is actually good food for thought sometimes…😉

-ACEGC
 
Okay, I’ve thought and can’t come up with anything.
A closed mind is difficult to admire.
At least with agnostics, you can have a discussion.
 
Atheists live life for the moment and dont worry about the future. 🙂
 
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Maranatha:
I like atheists because they are dedicated to rationality. From their point of view, they are completely rational. I find it hard to discuss almost anything with people who decide rationality is an option.

I also like their willingness to stand for what they believe. It’s not easy when your thinking in in the minority. If they’ve honestly looked at the data and they have come to their own conclusion despite peer pressure from the majority, then I give them respect.
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They tend also to be more logical than Christians (for example), because Christians believe in something that is not purely rational, so they have a way of digging their heels when reason and logic look as though they might endanger what Christans believe. I think this helps atheists to be more honest than Christians - if only because they don’t regard Christian belief as inviolable.​

OTO, some atheists do write about the Bible as stupidly as any Fundamentalist - they sometimes throw out the baby and the bathwater together. Atheists can be as Fundamentalist (in their way) as any Christian. ##
 
OK… it wasn’t easy but I’ve come up with a few things I like about Atheists…
  1. Never had an atheist ask me if I were to die today, did I know for sure that I’d go straight to heaven?
  2. Never had an atheist tell me that praying to Mary is wrong and I should just pray to Jesus instead.
  3. Never had an atheist refuse to scoot down in the pew at church so my kids & I could sit.
  4. Never had an atheist knock on my door to ask me if I’d like to live forever on Paradise Earth?
  5. Haven’t heard an Atheist say that the Hurricane was God’s way of letting us know that Ellen DeGeneres should NOT be hosting the Emmy awards.
 
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Lazerlike42:
I would disagree with that in general. For specific cases where that’s true, well ok I can respect that. However, by far the vast majority of atheists I know tout rationality but ignore arguments for God that they themselves admit have no flaws. The vast majority also refuse to truly study the data to come to their own conclusions. They will study the atheistic works, but not those of people of faith.
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The vast majority of Catholics, also, just go through the motions and don’t fully explore their religion but this isn’t a list of this we don’t like about atheists.

Just because someone looks at the data, examines the arguments and comes to a different conclusion doesn’t mean they don’t truly study the data.
 
Gottle of Geer said:
## They tend also to be more logical than Christians (for example), because Christians believe in something that is not purely rational, so they have a way of digging their heels when reason and logic look as though they might endanger what Christians believe. I think this helps atheists to be more honest than Christians - if only because they don’t regard Christian belief as inviolable.

OTO, some atheists do write about the Bible as stupidly as any Fundamentalist - they sometimes throw out the baby and the bathwater together. Atheists can be as Fundamentalist (in their way) as any Christian. ##
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If by Christians you mean non-Catholic Christians then I agree. Some non-Catholic Christians dispense with reason when it comes to some interpretation of revelation. That’s one reason I’m a Catholic. For Catholics, there are no contradictions between faith and reason.
 
MARANATHA

*I like atheists because they are dedicated to rationality. From their point of view, they are completely rational. I find it hard to discuss almost anything with people who decide rationality is an option.
*
Would that it were true.

I like atheists because God likes atheists … ?
 
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Lazerlike42:
I would disagree with that in general. For specific cases where that’s true, well ok I can respect that. However, by far the vast majority of atheists I know tout rationality but ignore arguements for God that they themselves admit have no flaws. The vast majority also refuse to truly study the data to come to their own conclusions. They will study the atheistic works, but not those of people of faith.
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The vast majority of Catholics, also, just go through the motions and don’t fully explore their religion but this isn’t a list of this we don’t like about atheists.

Just because someone looks at the data, examines the arguments and comes to a different conclusion doesn’t mean they don’t truly study the data.
 
My list will have mostly sarcasm! (is that a sin???)
  • They are almost identified by name in 2 Peter 3, people who are willingly ignorant due to their lust rather than “knowledge”
  • I “envy” them that they have more faith than I do (“The universe really did come from a dot and the dot came from nothing! There is no GOD!”)
  • They recognize “secular” scientific laws, claim to be dedicated to “science”, yet believe things that violate those laws
  • Are 4% of the population, convinced of their own intellectual superiority, yet someone using the word “God” in the pledge of allegiance makes them feel like 2nd class citizens (I guess intellectual superiority doesn’t come with any self esteem. As a Catholic, I’m glad Muslims don’t think I’ll be getting 72 virgins, since I know then I’d get 72 mother-in-laws)
  • I guess that’s it for now
  • Oh yea, they believe human beings came from an amoeba, which spontaneously generated from a mythical goo on a rock. I’m glad they made me realize the stupidity of believing a cause to everything
 
Okay, got to say. I’m a little surprised that there are so many people that have to struggle so hard to come up with things they like about atheists. (Maranatha and Carol Marie came up with some great ones. I’ve got to give credit.) We’re not that bad.

In hopes of inspiring people to be more generous to us, I’m going to come up with 20! :bigyikes: things I like about Catholics. These are in no particular order.
  1. Catholics generally try harder to provide logical reasons for their beliefs than many other faiths. (If you are in another faith group, and you find this offensive, I apologize, I promise I didn’t mean **your **faith. Your faith rocks! 🙂 )
  2. Some of the very best literature and art ever done was by Catholics
  3. Confession (Best sacrament ever! A hundred years of psychotherapy and pharmacology and a good confessor can put it all to shame.)
  4. The rich tradition
  5. Catholics don’t try and condence or simplify religion to the point that it can be handed out on business cards
  6. My ex-girlfriend (Sigh. I was ***really ***dumb to mess that up)
  7. Keeping Latin alive. Gaudiamus Igitur! (Forgive me if I got that wrong. The seminary was a long time ago.)
  8. St. Franciscans. (Is there a cooler order of people than Franciscans? I don’t think so.)
    9.Catholics, generally speaking, don’t strap on bombs when trying to make a point
  9. Kneeling during prayer (I don’t know why, but this has always seemed the right way to go for me)
  10. Most Catholics don’t flame you when you disagree with them
Wow, this actually is kind of hard.
  1. Catholics will offer to help you in the middle of an argument
  2. Catholics are quieter than many other religions (This is hard to explain, I mean that it sort of… more reflective?)
  3. The liturgy of the hours (Back when I was Catholic I used to adore Vespers)
  4. Allowing for the possiblility of evolution (Albeit in a slightly modified form. I mean I really can’t expect the church to be okay with completely random evolution, but the fact that they will consider evolution at all makes them kind of cool.)
Why did I pick 20?!? I can’t think of 20 things I like about my own mother.
  1. My mother. (That’s right, my mother is Catholic, and I like her.)
Whew, 4 more!
  1. Some of the people on this message board are really great.
  2. Liturgical vestments are among the least hokey. (I know I’m really stretching, but it’s late, I’ve had a long day, I’ve still got a cold, and I’m going to miss the begining of the Apprentice if I don’t hurry.)
  3. Ooh, I know this one is good! The fact that some religions will say it is not okay to kill some people, and it is okay to kill others really irks me. The fact that the Catholic church is consistent is a real selling point.
  4. They never go on T.V. asking for money.
There that wasn’t… okay, that was hard. But come on, coming up with one or two things you like about atheist should be easy.
 
Hmm… don’t know that I really know any true atheists personally. The ones that have come to the forum (and ones I have met on other forums online) have been extremely obnoxious and condescending. It’s hard to think of nice things about someone that denies the existance of God completely. At least agnostics are open to the possibility there may be a God. (And I’m a little partial since my hubby used to be an agnostic before he converted.)

Let’s see
  1. They don’t worship satan
    2.They don’t practice witch craft
  2. They don’t call the pope the antichrist
    4.They don’t call the catholic church the whore of babylon
  3. They generally don’t become suicide bombers
I’m sure there are nice atheists out there but I don’t the reason they are nice is because they are atheists.
 
They help solidify my belief in God and strengthen my skills at reasoning by countering their arguments.

Their arguments help me to see the problems many people have in accepting what I think is pretty obvious.

They make a stupid guy like me feel smart.
 
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Maranatha:
The vast majority of Catholics, also, just go through the motions and don’t fully explore their religion but this isn’t a list of this we don’t like about atheists.

Just because someone looks at the data, examines the arguments and comes to a different conclusion doesn’t mean they don’t truly study the data.
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I might not have worded what I was saying correctly. I was basically getting at the fact that they so often don’t study the data but say they do. Protestants study the Bible but somehow come to a different conclusion than me, but I admit they study it. But most of the atheists I’ve seen refuse to study the data because they “aren’t going to waste” their lives on “studying something that doesn’t exist.” The ones that I have seen who do actually study the data usually study the data written by other atheists but won’t touch a C.S. Lewis book.

Now there are exceptions, but this is what I have seen to be true in general.
 
On discussion forums, atheists respond to what I post, not what they think I secretly meant by my post after they looked in my profile and found out what faith I was.LOL.

They don’t get personally offended when I disagree with their ideas.

None of them has ever tried to convert me.

They support education which is rigorous and teaches thinking skills, not rote memorization.

They are practical.
 
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Everstruggling:
Catholics generally try harder to provide logical reasons for their beliefs than many other faiths.
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Orthodox Christianity (Orthodox, Catholics and perhaps Anglicans) and orthodox Jews assert faith and reason don’t conflict. Perhaps that’s why Catholics seems to fall away to (and sometimes revert from) atheism more then other Christian faiths.
 
Everstruggling,

LOVED your list! Especially #16… how sweet that you refrenced the Blessed Virgin Mother! 😉 (she loves you too by the way!)

CM
 
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