Athiest

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Why are they so angry?

*grabs a bucket of popcorn and sits back*

This is gonna get good.

Coz we're angry people of course. Always in bad moods.

Oops, wrong face, this is better:

Nonesense, without sufficient evidence to back up your claim, your logic is flawed....

mabe because they have nobody to blame but them selves,ya see the aparent beauty of being of orthadox faith in this country, is, u get to worship the ultimate victum of all time,and most assuredly procure a victum conciousness for themselves in the process. mabe thats why we have a national entitlement attitude, and its easy to focus our anger on anyone and anything we want, blame the world rather than accept acountability for our lives

Here's what I would guess:

1) Atheists are a minority of the populace and through conversion rather than birth, which means that the people who become atheists will likely be less conforming than average, and this could easily include a willingness to stick out and disapprove of situations, making them seem angrier than the general population simply due to self-assortment. If atheism became a lot more popular, then this reason would likely be a bit less binding as there would be more casual atheists and agnostics.
2) Atheists are generally disliked by the populace, and they know it, and so by taking a offensive stance, they are hoping that they can win some respect for their intelligence and earnestness from those who are not completely opposed to them. This is also an in-group, out-group thing as well, as some of these individuals also are meant to stroke the egos of the in-group who can then feel inspired by the aggressive conviction of those standing over them.
3) Atheism is evangelical because they think they are right, as atheists do have to reject social norms to reach their position, and this rejection I think tends to correlate with IQ. Meaning that atheists think they are right, and want to proselyte to prove it, which can lead to a perception of anger, just as our perception of a bible thumping preacher could be similar.

Now, all 3 reasons can be right, some can overlap, etc.

They? Who are "they" ??

What's an Athiest? I've never heard of an athiest, I've heard of an atheist, but never heard of an athiest. What is an Athiest? Is it similar to an atheist in any shape or form?
Who have you been talking to? This would make me think you and atheists are different people...

Where's that popcorn ...?

Every Atheist I've ever met was way more nice than every devout religious person i've ever met. Maybe meet some more Atheists! And maybe i should meet more religious people!

I think they just don't like the idea that if some idiot bombed the right place in Mecca or Jerusalem that much of the world would click into end-times thinking; that part scares me a little bit too sometimes. I can see where the sensitivities probably have them thinking that any of us theists who claim to be moderate are really just sleepers waiting for the right event to turn wackaloon.

My own answer to that - you grew up without God and don't have the urge to do whatever you wane because you can get away with it, you can figure theists have had to survive and nuance reality a bit themselves. As scary as beliefs might look to an outsider, human development tends to stabilize the mess - thus atheists don't inherently want to do anything they can get away with behind their backs, like most theists don't secretly want to put any heathen on the rack and stretch them till they convert; reality tends to wrap itself around our core beliefs (atheist or theist) and forces us to plug the holes when it comes to personal instability. Some theists might flip out if the right thing happens like mentioned above, I think far more would be very hesitant (might need to draw a deep breath and collect their thoughts for a second) but would be *very* skeptical - likely even forcefully stop - anyone trying to round up American Christians for barged headed to Harmaghida. Since people really aren't rallying around Achmedinejad I'd like to think that most muslims have a similar skepticism on all of that.

From an essay I agreed with:


"Why are all atheists so angry?" I hear this question all the time. In fact, my Rambo-Kitty avatar is partially inspired by the question. Anyway, today I was reading an article about the debate between Sam Harris and Rick Warren, and was struck by Warren's statement, "I've never met an atheist who wasn't angry." My first reaction was denial. Many atheists, myself included, are happy most of the time. My atheist friends are great fun to hang out with. We laugh and joke and drink beer, and hardly ever mention religion. My second reaction, I confess, was anger. How dishonest of him to try to discount atheism by labeling us all as angry malcontents! This is exactly why people like him make me angry! That's when it hit me, square in the forehead. He's not being dishonest. I don't doubt that every atheist he's met has been angry. If I met him, he'd almost certainly make me angry, too. That's just it! HE makes atheists angry, so they're all angry around him. So, I forgive him for thinking that all atheists are angry. I understand how he made the mistake.

Anyway, I'd like to reflect on "Atheist Anger" for a few minutes, and ask a couple of questions. First, why is it a bad thing to be angry? The suffragists were quite angry, and for good reason. New Zealand had granted women equal voting rights in 1893, and America, supposedly the land of equality, was violently opposed to the idea twenty years later. There are still plenty of women who are angry because women make less money doing the same jobs as men in many industries, and women are often not even considered for promotions when they're equally (or better) qualified for the position. Are they wrong for being angry? Should they just sit quietly and wait for men to realize the error of their ways? Some people think so. I've noticed that the majority of them are men. Am I making a valid comparison? Is it reasonable to compare life as an atheist in America in 2007 to life as a woman in the early 20th century? Clearly there are significant differences. Atheists can vote. They can, in theory, hold public office. They can get married, sign contracts, work wherever they're qualified.

So, do we atheists have a right to be angry in the same way suffragists had? To answer that question, I'll recall some more history. In Mosaic law, as we all know, women were slightly better than slaves. They had no property rights. In Roman law, women were completely dependent on male relations for all legal matters, and when they were married, it was a matter of purchase between two families. Here, we can ask a pointed question. Do women have the right to be angry that they're not making as much as men in the workplace? After all, they can vote, own property, divorce their husband, sue him for child support and alimony, and live quite happily on their own. This country is one of the best places in the world to be a woman! What right do women have to be angry?

If your skin prickled a little bit when you read the previous paragraph, good for you. You're halfway to understanding why atheists have a right to be mad. The reason women still have a right to be mad is that things are still not equal. They have no obligation to remain silent simply because they have it better than someone who lived a hundred, or a thousand years ago. The reason women have it better now is that people were angry all through history, and made small gains here and there over many generations. Without the fuel of anger, women would still be property, and wouldn't even have the opportunity to be mad about making less money in the workplace.

So, what about us atheists? Do we have a right to be mad? Actually, yes. Did you know we've had atheist presidents? We have. I'll let you do your own homework on this, but it might surprise you to learn that many of the leaders of the U.S. throughout history have been openly atheist. Is this possible today? One congressman in California recently admitted to being atheist, and it caused a nationwide stir! It remains to be seen whether he'll be reelected. To be sure, he'll be attacked for being godless and amoral when election time comes around. Until the McCarthy Era, the pledge of allegiance didn't have the word "God." Paper money didn't have "In God We Trust." Until the 70s, Christians were not actively involved in politics for the purpose of legislating religious values. Clearly, America is more theist than it used to be, at least politically.

So, are things getting better for atheists? I dare say they're not. Unlike women, our situation is not improving. We are not being afforded more respect. Rather, we are being legislatively pushed farther into the margins where we have been quietly lurking for sixty years since the Red Scare. To bring things back around, recall my comment about my atheist friends and I sitting around having beers and laughs. This is a good picture for you to hold in your mind's eye when you think of me, or any other atheist. This is what we want. We don't like being angry any more than women who'd like to be paid more. I'm sure all the angry feminists would rather things were better for women so they wouldn't have to be angry anymore. It's the same with atheists. If we were a bit less hated, vilified, and marginalized, it would be a lot easier for us to be in the presence of theists and not get angry.

Why are atheists so angry? Because things could be better, and we don't like being marginalized.

That is just life without God.



Then I also wonder why they dislike Christians so much and want to discard everything that is and conform people to there own ways. I mean most of us are good people who do so much to help out in the world. How can you dislike that?

To the OP

To begin with, I haven't really noticed a persistent stereotype of atheists as "angry". Than again, I am somewhat detached from popular culture.

If I were strained to guess, I would probably say that most articulated atheists with much sway or prominence happened to be members of the well-educated professional class. In general, this socioeconomic class is stereotyped for its (self-lauded) nonconformist and self-confidence posture, perhaps tapering into a snide attitude. If we familiarized ourselves more with the working class atheists, we might have developed a different attitude towards them which would likely be more of a derivative of our stereotypes of the working class.

That is just life without God.



Then I also wonder why they dislike Christians so much and want to discard everything that is and conform people to there own ways. I mean most of us are good people who do so much to help out in the world. How can you dislike that?

Greta christine sums it up better than I can.. However if you do not push one of my Berserk Buttons, I am a nice person.

@Shadowgirl, I see the first image of life as superior. Are you SURE that it is not satire? I mean, it demands that I pretty much get rid of my self, which is the only thing which defines me and become remote-controlled by a questionable entity.

I do not hate christians (or believers) as you might assume, I just disagree with them. My parents are christians and I love them. I see myself as able todo long-term plans as the average Christian. For example: the worst level of debt I was in was 50 Eurocents, while a lot of Christians have run their lives into the ground and got into serious trouble in the credit crisis.