Why should the 'rising tide of atheism' be opposed?

[naomi24]

Another offering from the thought-provoking 4thought TV in which the speaker calls for Christians and Muslims living in Britain to unite to ‘fight the rising tide of atheism’. Any thoughts?

http://www.4thought.t...on/1170?autoplay=true

[rojash]

Religionists love a good fight: Catholics v Protestants, Christians v Moslems, Sunni v Shiites, believers v infidels. As long as there's lots of blood, they're happy little nutters.

[jomifl]

It looks like a 'last man standing' philosophy. I can't understand what they are worrying about, I can't see hordes of atheists hunting down believers and lynching them, the converse on the other hand has happened far too often.

[Duncer]

Good point, and the thought of an army of Muslims rising to fight anything concerns me greatly.

[WaldoMcFroog]

It must be fought. If we don't stop the rise of atheism, the next thing we know, we'll find that discussions about issues like abortion or assisted dying will be based on facts rather than our religious convictions.

We must halt the rise now.

[naomi24]

Waldo has raised some relevant issues, but is there more to it? Just what are they afraid of? Could it be that they're afraid of losing the power they wield?

[Duncer]

Isn't it that same fear that is behind the most Draconoian and backward of religions, despite their Gods supposedly being gods of love?

[jomifl]

I suspect that the main reason that believers have difficulty coping with atheists is that it undermines their belief that they are right to believe in a god. In their minds the more people that they can get to agree with them the more right they must be. This all stems from a subconcious understanding that god doesn't exist conflicting with their 'intellectual' belief.

[suspiw]

Waldo, I am an athiest, and many years ago I was very distressed to find my pregnant. Several people suggested I should have the baby aborted. I did not. Its called compassion. I'm so glad I didn't, I love my daughter to bits and couldn't live without her.

Please do not think that athiest's do not have morals or compassion. You clearly believe we have neither.
I'm sure this point has been made in many other reilgious threads .

Just for the record I know plenty of Christians who believe that assisted dying should be allowed , when it is requested by the suffering individual.

[douglas9401]

One God but many profits (not a typo).

[modeller]

There is a vast difference between religion as a concept and religion in practice.
The general CofE Synod claim when the general public are asked the question "Are you relgious ? " 77% said yes.
but in fact less than 10% of all faiths attend a place of worship and of them many attend because it is expected of them or out of fear.

In addition in the UK only 50% say they believe in God and when pushed to explain their answer half of those admitted they didn't like to say No.
I wonder if our MPs or the Royal Family would go to church if they didn't have to.

[argorstran]

Atheism isn't the problem . "...The rising tide of Atheism..." is the rhetorical phrase which the speaker used . I'm not convinced it's a rising tide , but even if it was , it's not a problem as such .
The problem is the people who are anti-religious or "anti-theist" to the point of attacking the religions or churches or mosques or whatever . We have a historical example - it has happened Jomifl.
In the first half of the 20th century two anti-Theist ideologies took power in Europe's two largest countries . The Bolsheviks took power in Russia . They started their attacks on religion , pulling down the national cathedral .
In the 1930' s Hitler won the election in Germany . He started his attacks on Judaism , smashing the synagogues and shops .
In both cases the attacks did not stop with the religions . The bolsheviks attacked every strata of society and Hitler attacked all his neighbours ,causing the biggest massacre in the history of humanity . 70 years on historians are still trying to calculate how many got killed in that little social experiment when two "anti-Theist" movements took power .
So if attacks on religions start , don't be certain that the attacks aren't going to spread .

[beso]

Hitler was not an atheist. He hated Jews.

Perhaps you would like to comment on why the Catholic church did not excommunicate him or any of his henchmen.

[emmie]

don't like the sound of that at all, it sounds more like a threat than a peaceful message.

[argorstran]

Hitler got into power having started his attack on Judaism . He started with an attack on one of the religions and thereafter never stopped attacking .You are absolutely right about the Catholic church not excommunicating him , but I doubt it would have stopped him .

[andy-hughes]

As an atheist, I have always thought my absence of faith was just that - a lack of belief, rather than an alternative belief.

I see nol 'riding tide' in the sense that atheists are desparate to convert others of faith to their view, certainly not in the way that most believers would love to convert any passing atheist who comes into their orbit.

To me, atheism is the absence of belief, and a contentment with that viewpoint - the urge to try and cause anyone to see the absnece of a God as i do has never even crossed my mind.

If the discussion ever arises, it is myself who is on the receiving end of the 'I've got something you need, so I am better off than you ...' rationale which believers love to extend - my reverse agument does not exist, i simply live and let live, and i have no interest or intention in trying to chnage another's viewpoint.

'Rising tide@? The use of that phrase is scaremongering, nothing more or less.

Certainly as far as the Christian church in the UK is concerned, they have no need to fear a 'rising tide' of anything - their backwards-looking ritualistic hypocracy is doing the job of killing belief without any help from anywhere else.

[naomi24]

suspiw, Waldo was being facetious. He's a fully paid up atheist.


argorstran, Beso is right. Hitler was a Christian.

"I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." (Adolph Hitler).

[Philoctetes]

There is a world of difference between an everyday religious person - as I count myself - and the sort of religious zealot that most critics of religion seem to imagine. The obscene acts of slaughter and destruction - Crusades, jihads, holocausts - are not caused by religion but by politicians using religious pretexts for their acts. The Pope is a supreme political post, which is why Hitler was not excommunicated; the Irani mullahs are politicians. What I do see growing is another group of strident politicians who blame the religions for the excesses to raise their own profile and further their own agendas. This intolerance, as well as the intolerance exploited within religions, is what we should all be fighting, whether we are atheists or not, members of a religion or not.

[naomi24]

argorstran, //So if attacks on religions start , don't be certain that the attacks aren't going to spread .//

This is someone of religion talking about attacking atheism – not the other way around.

[emmie]

surely they don't need to attack atheists, after all we are not interfering in their lives, religion, so why should they be fearful of us.

[naomi24]

Em, I think he's talking about atheism rather than atheists. Not sure how he means to go about it - but it would be interesting to find out.