Posted by Helen on: 06.22.2006 /
Thie following list was put together by atheists on a discussion board:
How to Irritate an Atheist
- Have you ever done any of these things?
- Have you ever had them done to you?
- Do you think Christians realize what irritates atheists?
Semi-Related Posts
28 Responses to "How to Irritate an Atheist"
Comment by: Julie Marie
1 06/22/06 6:27 AM | Comment Link |I’d never heard of Kent Hovind. So I googled him. Oh my. I see the problem.
Comment by: Keith
2 06/22/06 7:16 AM | Comment Link |Wow. Thanks for putting this list together. I am sorry that atheists have had to go through these experiences. It’s hard to have productive dialogue when you’re wading through BS, and I know As have been forced by Cs to wade through a lot of it. Thanks for posting it, Helen.
Comment by: cautious
3 06/22/06 10:04 AM | Comment Link |No, but then again I’ve never been asked what irritates me.
I mean its fairly easy to get a sense of what irritates Christians: turn the tv to TBN, change the radio to a Christian channel, walk or drive past a church sign…
Apparently one of the things irritating Christians recently was the release of a fictional movie (based on a fictional book) about Jesus having had human urges and having a kid and then the subsequent denial of this event by the Christian Church.
This happens two years after the release of The Passion of the Christ, which was largely based on the questionably-fictional Gospels and the impossible-to-verify Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet no comments on whether it was a work of fiction or not…
Comment by: Lisa W.
4 06/22/06 10:14 AM | Comment Link |I think #24 and #25 are unconscionable!
Frankly, this list kind of paralyzes me. It’s so huge I feel like conversation with an Atheist would be like entering a mine field with nearly 300 land mines ready to blow me up. Although, after conversing with many on the OTM Atheist/Christian blog I know better.
I would like to see a list of the 10 things Atheists LIKE hearing from Christians… sincerely.
Conversely, I would like to see a list of the 10 things Christians LIKE hearing from Atheists… sincerely.
Comment by: Helen M.
5 06/22/06 10:28 AM | Comment Link |Comment by: Helen M.
6 06/22/06 10:31 AM | Comment Link |It is rather long - I agree. I expect it was a originally a discussion thread that people kept adding to and adding to and that’s why.
That’s a great idea, Lisa!
Comment by: jim
7 06/22/06 10:32 AM | Comment Link |I would like to see a list of the 10 things Atheists LIKE hearing from Christians… sincerely
me too
Comment by: Mike C.
8 06/22/06 10:39 AM | Comment Link |ditto… how can you have a conversation with someone if they’ve already given you a list of 289 things you’re not allowed to say without pissing them off?
Comment by: Helen M.
9 06/22/06 10:45 AM | Comment Link |If you only had 289 things to say then you’re fresh out, I guess.
But I think most people can be more flexible than that if they put their mind to it.
Christians believe Jesus died for an unimaginable number of sins he never committed. If an atheist is angry at a Christian for things that particular Christian never did, then maybe the Christian can consider “this isn’t fair but - it’s less unfair than Jesus dying on the cross for me”.
Comment by: cautious
10 06/22/06 10:57 AM | Comment Link |not-too-serious list off the top of my head…
1) Yeah, that Left Behind book series is trash.
2) Well of course the Earth is billions of years old.
3) The church I’m in believes very strongly in improving the community and does so by supporting (lists off a string of humanitarian causes)
4) …and we do all this without trying to convert anybody.
5) It’s interesting that so many people believe in so many different things
6) …and I find it difficult to believe that my loving God is going to punish people forever for believing differently.
7) Abortion is wrong but it’s better to keep it legal.
8) Who cares if gay people get married?
9) No we shouldn’t be in Iraq.
10) I voted for Kerry.
I guess that sorta transformed into a political bit, but…as is being discussed here, I don’t really care what people think religiously as long as they have ethics or viewpoints (whichever they proclaim the loudest) that I can either agree with or at least see the validity to.
Comment by: Helen M.
11 06/22/06 11:03 AM | Comment Link |Thanks cautious. I copied your reply onto the new blog entry
How to Please an Atheist (or Christian)
Anyone else answering Lisa’s excellent questions: please do so on the new blog entry.
Comment by: cautious
12 06/22/06 11:16 AM | Comment Link |Well just ignore that list, its half-unserious anyway, eg, “24) Drink the last beer in the fridge.” That’s just plain common sense to anyone, be they religious or not. Particularly Muslims and Mormons: do not drink the last beer in their fridge, they will go nuts.
So, just step back and ask yourself: what is the point of a conversation with this person? What am I attempting to achieve: agreement and commonality, debate and disagreement, respect, lack thereof? Also, check to see if you have your blinders on: are you intending to say something to this person that they heard before? Unorginal statements like “Have you ever heard of Jesus Christ?” are going to lead to unoriginal responses like “Shag off”.
Oh, and also, some of us are mean and crotchety folks. Turning to atheism can be a really quick way of isolating yourself from society and sometimes people isolate themselves on purpose. Hermits usually have a large self-worth they give themselves so be wary of huge egos.
…but, really, don’t start off a conversation by asking if they know Jesus.
Comment by: cautious
13 06/22/06 11:40 AM | Comment Link |When my comments got hijacked onto other posts! :P But, seriously,
Ignorance being portrayed as knowledge, or, even more odiously, being thought to be preferable to knowledge.
People ignoring Uncle Ben’s/Stan Lee’s first commandment: With great power comes great responsibility.
People doing things for short-term fun (let’s buy a kitty!) without thinking about long-term consequences (hey has anyone fed the cat recently?)
Those are the big three and I think that most human issues and problems come up because one or a combination of those factors is at work.
Like, take human overpopulation, or if overpopulation is a word you dismiss, call it “exponential growth” instead. We have the power to save many more lives today than ever before, and so childhood and birth are not (generally) as risky as they used to be, and thus the logic behind having several children (in case a few die) no longer exists. Wise countries have noticed this and encourage birth control to be used by their populations. Other countries have ignored this and continue to encourage their citizens to be baby factories. Our country is a leader in the world whether we want to be or not, and in this case we are doing much more to ignore and teach ignorance of birth control than to promote it. It strikes me as a massively unwise thing to do and I sincerely hope that more people in the future does not also mean bigger deadlier plagues, less wildlife, and more garbage.
Comment by: Helen M.
14 06/22/06 12:18 PM | Comment Link |ooops ;)
Thanks for sharing your list of what irritates you. I’m impressed how it’s community-minded rather than self-focused.
Comment by: Siamang
15 06/22/06 3:25 PM | Comment Link |I think it’s a funny list. To atheists. I can see how christians might take it as a minefield.
It’s I think interesting perhaps to look on that list and see a list of clichés.
Here’s something I’ve noticed that wasn’t on that list. I actually don’t think I’ve seen it done on this forum, but I’ve seen it elsewhere.
That’s where a christian has started a discussion on an atheist board, looking for a challenge. And they ask a question about a logical or philosophical point. Usually some very core piece of epistemological discussion that they think they have a better solution to than an atheist.
Anyway, they go around for awhile, deeper and deeper into the question, very patiently saying that they’re just honestly trying to see how atheists get around what they see is a fundamental core problem in atheism.
And when your counter-questions lead them down that path of logic where you finally turn the key question back on them, and they find they’ve painted themselves into the same logical corner that they tried to paint you into…
Here’s the CLASSIC response:
One big long post, HUGE POST, in a very superior tone and FREQUENT CAPS USE. A big giant kitchen-sink rant with lots and lots and lots of bible verses (especially if there was no bible-discussion at all previously). The one big post where they get out every reason why atheism is wrong, and the bible is right, right, right. And your science is wrong, and your politics is wrong and you’re going to hell, but you have one chance, John 3:16, I’m praying for you, change before it’s too late!!!!!
And then they disappear, never to post again.
It’s the big post kiss-off.
Sometimes you just get people who drop away silently at a particular point in discussion. You can never tell what their deal is. Maybe they got bored. Maybe they had other responsibilities taking up their time.
But the big post kiss-off, you know it when you see it.
Comment by: Mike C.
16 06/22/06 3:35 PM | Comment Link |Interesting… I can truthfully and whole-heartedly say all of those except for #10. I voted for Nader. Kerry wasn’t liberal enough for me. :)
Comment by: Mike C.
17 06/22/06 3:38 PM | Comment Link |Oh, no doubt I can think of other things to say. I just doubt that I can remember all the things I’m not supposed to say without at least one or two of them slipping out by accident. ;)
Comment by: Helen M.
18 06/22/06 3:54 PM | Comment Link |The atheist would probably forgive you if he/she felt you were trying not to irritate them.
I think the problems are:
a) It doesn’t occur to some Christians how irritating atheists find some of what they say
b) It doesn’t occur to some Christians to make ‘not irritating atheists’ a goal
c) Some Christians assume that what they want to tell atheists will irritate/offend them and so there’s no point in trying not to be irritating/offensive - it’s impossible.
Comment by: cautious
19 06/22/06 6:06 PM | Comment Link |Well I could go on about little tiny things that irritate me but then I’d just be the (much) younger version of Andy Rooney.
Good for you. I didn’t want for Kerry (Dean in ‘04!) but I’m still unfortunately in a country that’s married to the two-party system. Despite the fact that the two-party system gets drunk every so often and beats up our country.
Comment by: Eliza
20 06/22/06 6:18 PM | Comment Link |Wooo, that is some list. I thought it was funny at first, and pretty accurate. Then it just got longer, and repetitive, and started being more mean-spirited. (See #127. That’s supposed to be funny but just awful.) This does look like something that atheists came up with on a discussion board & just got put together as one long list. I suppose it could be edited down to a few categories, 10 max, to offer some more helpful suggestions for anyone wondering what approaches might fall into Helen’s first item above ["a) It doesn't occur to some Christians how irritating atheists find some of what they say]. And then it would be fair game to turn it around & make a second list, by Cs for As.
Now, for something a little more positive, I’m going to go look at the “How to Please…” discussion & lists!
Comment by: Eliza
21 06/22/06 6:21 PM | Comment Link |Nor had I.
I hadn’t heard of Chick tracts so googled them (what a great verb, eh! “googled”…) and…oh my. They have a little something against Catholics, don’t they? (Which isn’t why they were on this list, but comes across loud and clear…)
Comment by: Helen M.
22 06/22/06 6:55 PM | Comment Link |Eliza, remember the “Kissing Hank’s Ass” video? Here’s a parody of a Jack Chick tract written by J Huber, the author of the dialog in that video:
This is your Death
Comment by: Mike C.
23 06/22/06 9:44 PM | Comment Link |Check out this Chick Tract parody based on classic fantasy/sci-fi/horror writer HP Lovecraft’s made up Cthulu religion. It’s hilarious!
Chick tracts themselves are like watching a train wreck. It’s so awful that you just can’t turn away. :)
Comment by: Mike C.
24 06/22/06 9:46 PM | Comment Link |a & b are why I’m thankful for the work of Off-the-Map to help some Christians not be so irritating all the time. But c, well that list almost seems to make their assumptions valid… almost. :)
Comment by: NCxian
25 06/23/06 7:41 AM | Comment Link |Cautious, about your:
You should feel pretty safe here! So far, you have pretty much unanimous agreement from the Christians here!
The only one I can’t truthfully say is #4, that my church does MTWABP without trying to convert anybody. My church has an improbably wide “Range of Acceptable Answers” (I realized, gratefully, after some conversations here), so there are a handful of folks who believe in “proclaiming” JC. Not as a prerequisite to receiving services though, just as a “bonus”. And not in an obnoxious way, as far as I know.
Also, when we are MTWABP, aren’t we all trying to, for example, convert pregnant teenagers to effective mothers, incarcerated men into more educated and capable men, tenants of slum lords into homeowners, listless children into scholars, thrown-away people into people who feel cared for, and so on? Especially when part of what needs to happen is for the person to change their “minds” about something? (Begin to feel valued, begin to be strong enough to say “no”, begin to have confidence in their ability to be productive?)
Comment by: cautious
26 06/23/06 10:28 AM | Comment Link |Well yes the attempt is made to change minds and change hearts in people, and sometimes that totally needs to be done in order to help somebody out.
But!
I am wary of religiously-based helpful organizations that think or act like the only successful way to change someone for the better is to get them into “the fold,” with the fold being that organization’s choice of religious beliefs.
Proselytizing while doing charitable works, bad, scary.
Proselytizing by doing charitable works, no complaints.
…bottom line is that people who accept (or reject!) religious beliefs because they choose to, without their world falling apart, are much stronger in their beliefs (or lack thereof).
Comment by: Julie Marie
27 06/23/06 11:03 AM | Comment Link |never heard that before, LOL. That’s like farting and leaving the room. My dog does it all the time, while her innocent humans begin to eye each other suspiciously a few minutes later.
Comment by: NCxian
28 06/23/06 12:12 PM | Comment Link |I could not agree more!