How do you politely tell these Christans that you don't subscibe to their thinking ?
Offline , 
Today,as I was getting ready to eat breakfast,two bible thumpers came a knocking on my door,and as soon as I saw the bibles in their hands,I said "before you start to try to convert me,let me just say that I'm a devout Atheist,and I don't want to hear your message,you believe whatever you want to believe,and I'll believe what I want to believe or not believe,O.K. ". Well I guess that it was not OK with them,cause they were so persisting,it was like they didn't hear a word that I said and I felt like just closing my door,but I try to give a positive view about Atheism.So please tell me the best way to show them some kind of respect and at the same time,getting them to understand that a Atheist doesn't want to hear their "good news" 
Signature ? How ?
- Login to post comments
For some of them there just isn't any way to say it without causing offense. Tis part of what convinced me that religion needs to be fought. The very suggestion that there is even another point of view is literally offensive to some. That doesn't only apply to religion, but it is especially dangerous when it does connect with it. Star Wars freaks will debate hotly over the actual dimensions of the Imperial class Star Destroyer, but there's always the underlying acceptance that it isn't real.
With religion, there is no such acceptance. It is not only accepted to be real, but because it is accepted as real it is of paramount importance. It determins your infinite existence, not the 0-120 years you spend on Earth. With a monotheistic religion, the dichotomy is set up of two sides. For christians, it's satan or god. If not god, then satan. For scientologists, it's xenu or self godhood. By not being on their side, you must belong to the enemy; willingly or ignorantly. Some will take that way too far.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
The fact that most don't (anymore) is why there is hope for us to abandon such fealty to words on a cave wall, which is basically what holy books are.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I must say ,do you honestly think that there is hope ? I remember a Woody Allen quote " I felt better when I gave up on hope".
Signature ? How ?
Vastet hit on a really harsh but true point here. The majority of evangelicals will openly talk abut their "sword of truth" and "armor of salvation" to "go into battle for the lord"...which, basically means they won't accept no, and considers everyone not on their "side" an enemy.
After all, if their god protects them from their satan, and everyone else doesn't have their god...then that must mean they are tainted by their satan! Right?
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Yes, I think there is hope. Not for the end of spirituality altogether, but for the end of dogmatic religion. Spirituality has emotional and creative benefits that can't be ignored entirely. But organised religion is as anti-spiritual as it is anti-science. They are remarkably good at pretending that they are about science and spirituality, but they limit both with scripture. Science has advanced enough to prove itself as a superior way of looking at the world logically. Now we just need to cleanse the emotional outlook, and religion will collapse completely, being incapable of providing anything. Until someone figures out how to keep fiction fictional, we'll have to plug away with science and logic, which have won their half of the war.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Emotional outlook isn't bad. it isn't a problem. What is the problem is the abandoning of rational thought for decision making purposes.
A lot of the "mainline" religions are okay with this because they don't practice what they preach, but you get into the evangelicals that don't go to hospitals, don't take their kids for treatment, and completely ignore the real world on nearly every matter in favor of what their church tells them....
That doesn't help anyone.
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Okay, I'm going to give this a try again. There was another topic like this, where I suggested "suck my balls", but I think that was too harsh. Maybe if we toned down the language.
"Have you tried sucking my balls?"
"I would like to put the option of sucking my balls on the table."
"Be it resolved that you need to suck my balls."
"You must be tired from all that walking around, knocking on doors, and asking people strange questions. Maybe it's time to kick back, relax, and suck my balls."
etc.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
currently watching the imaginationland south park (kyle has to suck cartmen's balls). reading this post/the coincidence made me spit pesto all over my living room, thanks.
"Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, show me the steep and thorny way to heaven. Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. And recks not his own rede."
The more those idiots get in my face, the more I want to star handing out the flyers from normalbobsmith.com. Here is a video clip of one of the better ones:
=
There is about 38 000 Christian denominations, and according to some fundies, 37 999 of them belongs to Satan. All other religions belong to Satan too, apparently. And non-religions as well. Also, sex, spicy food, fun, television, internet, and most of foreigners. Is there anything today that is not taintned by Satan or sinful, according to them? It seems to me that they are more like satanists than evangelicals
We here have a little problem with biblet humpers too. We know a particular couple of evangelicals. The woman is a math teacher, and she currently saves my younger brother - from failing on a resit of maths.
I have seen that math - it's really harsh. It was in my math textbook on the faculty of informatics, and that textbook was called "The Harsh Mathemathics". I failed on it pretty badly, even though I tried really hard to learn it. And my younger brother now has to get through this on high school. It's a nurse and caretaker school, by the way, not a place where you would expect a college level maths.
So, this nice evangelical lady currently helps my brother, and we're trying to be as nice, generous and reticent as we can be. Why reticent? Because if she and her husband would know what we really are, they would instantly paint horns on our heads and they would cough by sulfur. But the questions can't be avoided. They drove my mom home from work and asked her questions in a friendly, informal...inquisition.
"We've never heard of you going anywhere. [a church, for example] How's that?"
"Well, people go to our place."
"And who are you, guys?"
"Well.... Unitarian Universalists." (we're all for unity and universality)
"Never heard of them. Do you pray? Is there a salvation through Jesus?"
"Well... we do, and we have the Christ..." ( if three hours of meditation can be called a prayer... )
We'd like to come out of the closet as esotericists (and watch their faces), but the time is not yet right. (maybe when the math exams will be over) A good way would be to allow them to come to our friday meditation session. I'm curious of consequences.
Beings who deserve worship don't demand it. Beings who demand worship don't deserve it.
You could enumerate the things you'd rather do than listen to them talk about jesus, like eating a bucket of manure or shoving the business end of a fusee into your rectum.
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
I would tell them that I don't need their unclean religion because I'm already a Branch Davidian then ( for dramatic effect ) I would chamber a round in my assault rifle and glare
at them suspiciously.
Why don't you just politely tell them that you wish them to leave?
If that only worked....
Usually you either have to try and make them extremely uncomfortable or threaten to call the cops. Last time, I told them I was going to call the cops (It says no soliciting no loitering right as they walk up) and then they tried to ARGUE WITH ME THAT HANDING OUT JESUS PAMPHLETS and convincing people to go to their church at 8 AM IN THE MORNING IS NOT SOLICITING, that it is "spreading god's word".
Yeah.
It's getting to the point where I am actually going to be calling the cops every time. They don't take "please leave" "go away" "CAN YOU NOT READ?" "I AM CALLING THE COPS" as signs they should stop talking to you about jesus or shoving pamphlets at you. In fact, for over half of them it seems to encourage them more.
I can't even EAT here outside without getting pamphlets. I went to dairy queen and 3 jesus freaks shoved pamphlets at me, over the course of 30 minutes I was trying to eat ice cream and enjoy the day.
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Signature ? How ?
Signature ? How ?
Exactly ! If that only worked.But unfortunately I think that they suffer from some kind of brain disease. They're full grown adults,but they act like a little kid ,they don't know what the word NO means.
Signature ? How ?
Answer the door with your pants around your ankles holding a jar of Vasceline...and yell into the next room, "I'll be right there, Billy!!!"
Then invite them in using a Peter Lory voice while staring at their yam bag.
www.RichWoodsBlog.com
You can just print out the pdf files right off of his site.
http://www.normalbobsmith.com/free/flyers/
=