I don't believe in God

Degeneratefk

I get it, I live in the bible belt. But when people ask me about God or heaven and hell and I tell them, they look at me like I just murdered their hunting dog. 

People seem to have a more receptive reaction to people that come out as gay rather than say you don't believe in god. The most common question I get asked afterwards is "where do you think we come from then?" I kind of just shake my head and walk away at that point.  

Do some of you others get a similar reaction? Or is it because I live in the south? 

josevolution

Degeneratefk said:

I get it, I live in the bible belt. But when people ask me about God or heaven and hell and I tell them, they look at me like I just murdered their hunting dog. 

People seem to have a more receptive reaction to people that come out as gay rather than say you don't believe in god. The most common question I get asked afterwards is "where do you think we come from then?" I kind of just shake my head and walk away at that point.  

Do some of you others get a similar reaction? Or is it because I live in the south? 

Yep me too I get the same look or question , they all say I’m not making it into heaven and I say where is heaven they point up I laugh and ask so you believe that up in the clouds there’s this great man sitting on a golden throne waiting for you lol ..

Gern Blansten

I would say that most religious people think that if you don't believe in god you automatically worship satan.

I tend to keep my mouth shut for the most part.  

rgambs

Reminds me of what Ricky Gervais told Colbert,
"...there are about 3,000 to choose from… Basically, you deny one less God than I do. You don’t believe in 2,999 gods. And I don’t believe in just one more."

Degeneratefk

Gern Blansten said:

I would say that most religious people think that if you don't believe in god you automatically worship satan.

I tend to keep my mouth shut for the most part.  

I don't go advertising my beliefs. But if someone asks, I tell them. I usually preface my answer with "don't ask the question if you're afraid of the answer."

eddiec

Religious people often fail to realize that religion was created by man. Doesn't matter if God exists or not. Their religion was not made by God yet they can't separate the two, hence the astonishment in your disbelief.
I like to tell religious God lovers that I believe in the polytheism of the Greeks. That really baffles them.

Kev - Coat and Keys

Well with all humanity has been up to recently I am sure 'God' has stopped believing in us too!

Shyner

Mother nature is a god
God is a god
Pj is a god
You are a god

Not saying I'm right just stating my belief
I think we all get in

Degeneratefk

Kev - Coat and Keys said:

Well with all humanity has been up to recently I am sure 'God' has stopped believing in us too!

Shyner said:

Mother nature is a god
God is a god
Pj is a god
You are a god

Not saying I'm right just stating my belief
I think we all get in

I understand d what you guys are saying. And the premise of this wasn't to have a debate on whether or not God exists or in what form. 

I'm trying to gauge other peoples reactions to someone saying they don't believe. People literally look at me like I'm the devil himself. 

tbergs

I tend to follow Neil Gaiman's premise from American Gods. I don't think people like to admit that they worship physical objects and cultural trends more than any mythical holy being from thousands of years ago. We worship what we know in the present and tend to forget our past.

oftenreading

I can't remember a time in decades when anyone has asked me if I believe in god. Very occasionally people have asked if I attend church but that seemed to have been more of a social question, and there was never a negative reaction when I said no. In my experience, this just isn't something that people are concerned about in my neck of the woods. 

Smellyman

I don't get weird looks, but I don't live in the bible belt.   It's another reason the USA is so backwards (In many areas).


Another good Gervais.

… If you took every holy book, every holy book there’s ever been, every religious book, every bit of spirituality, and hid them or destroyed them… then you took every science book and destroyed that, in a thousand years’ time, those science books would be back exactly the same, because the tests would always turn out the same.

Those religious books would either never exist or they’d be totally different

Degeneratefk

oftenreading said:

I can't remember a time in decades when anyone has asked me if I believe in god. Very occasionally people have asked if I attend church but that seemed to have been more of a social question, and there was never a negative reaction when I said no. In my experience, this just isn't something that people are concerned about in my neck of the woods. 

I understand where you're coming from here. It's not something I'm asked on a weekly or even a monthly basis. But occasionally, whether it be at work, or at a social event, or a party, politics comes up and that inevitably leads to a religious discussion. 

tbergs

Smellyman said:

I don't get weird looks, but I don't live in the bible belt.   It's another reason the USA is so backwards (In many areas).


Another good Gervais.

… If you took every holy book, every holy book there’s ever been, every religious book, every bit of spirituality, and hid them or destroyed them… then you took every science book and destroyed that, in a thousand years’ time, those science books would be back exactly the same, because the tests would always turn out the same.

Those religious books would either never exist or they’d be totally different

To be fair, I don't think you can compare science and religion. What point does it prove that one isn't the other? From what I've heard, those that believe in a God or religion, do so based on faith, not on proven facts. Sure, there may be some who will argue the factual elements, but I find that to be the minority. 

Kev - Coat and Keys

Degeneratefk said:

I understand d what you guys are saying. And the premise of this wasn't to have a debate on whether or not God exists or in what form. 

I'm trying to gauge other peoples reactions to someone saying they don't believe. People literally look at me like I'm the devil himself. 

Well in that regards I only have an opposite experience with a research supervisor doing Evolutionary Algorithms whose religious beliefs meant he didn't think evolution was a real thing - and I thought that was crazy!

Degeneratefk

Kev - Coat and Keys said:

Degeneratefk said:

I understand d what you guys are saying. And the premise of this wasn't to have a debate on whether or not God exists or in what form. 

I'm trying to gauge other peoples reactions to someone saying they don't believe. People literally look at me like I'm the devil himself. 

Well in that regards I only have an opposite experience with a research supervisor doing Evolutionary Algorithms whose religious beliefs meant he didn't think evolution was a real thing - and I thought that was crazy!

Yea, it's difficult to debate evolution vs creationism with people of faith. They're completely blinded by faith. Most of them have zero regard for provable science.

Smellyman

tbergs said:

Smellyman said:

I don't get weird looks, but I don't live in the bible belt.   It's another reason the USA is so backwards (In many areas).


Another good Gervais.

… If you took every holy book, every holy book there’s ever been, every religious book, every bit of spirituality, and hid them or destroyed them… then you took every science book and destroyed that, in a thousand years’ time, those science books would be back exactly the same, because the tests would always turn out the same.

Those religious books would either never exist or they’d be totally different

To be fair, I don't think you can compare science and religion. What point does it prove that one isn't the other? From what I've heard, those that believe in a God or religion, do so based on faith, not on proven facts. Sure, there may be some who will argue the factual elements, but I find that to be the minority. 

So don't argue?

Thoughts_Arrive

I don't believe in God either. My religious parents don't get me.

oftenreading

Degeneratefk said:

oftenreading said:

I can't remember a time in decades when anyone has asked me if I believe in god. Very occasionally people have asked if I attend church but that seemed to have been more of a social question, and there was never a negative reaction when I said no. In my experience, this just isn't something that people are concerned about in my neck of the woods. 

I understand where you're coming from here. It's not something I'm asked on a weekly or even a monthly basis. But occasionally, whether it be at work, or at a social event, or a party, politics comes up and that inevitably leads to a religious discussion. 

Interesting. Politics almost never leads to a religious discussion here in BC, with the exception of taking about religious/cultural minorities.  Maybe it's different in other provinces, but we just aren't as rabidly Christian in Canada. 

oftenreading

This thread brought another incident to mind.

Early in 2017, I injured a tendon in my finger climbing. I was bummed about it because the injury took a while to heal and it was interfering with my climbing. One day, when I was at the gym and trying to work around it, one of the staff there gave me a cheery "how are you today?", and I showed her my swollen, black and blue finger. She said "can I pray for you?", which completely took me aback, because that's the only time someone has mentioned praying for me for as long as I can remember. From what I hear/read, that might be an every day occurrence in many places in the US. 

mickeyrat

oftenreading said:

This thread brought another incident to mind.

Early in 2017, I injured a tendon in my finger climbing. I was bummed about it because the injury took a while to heal and it was interfering with my climbing. One day, when I was at the gym and trying to work around it, one of the staff there gave me a cheery "how are you today?", and I showed her my swollen, black and blue finger. She said "can I pray for you?", which completely took me aback, because that's the only time someone has mentioned praying for me for as long as I can remember. From what I hear/read, that might be an every day occurrence in many places in the US. 

I find it interesting you were asked and she just didnt do it anyway without saying anything....