People who believe they are smarter then theist or atheist

[Painterly_Justice]

I often find when some "smart" people find that I am atheist. They imediately want to say that I'm stupid for being Atheist. That proclaiming absolute existance or non existance is stupid. Whats even funnier is that these people also wan't to say that by being Atheist and being against Theism, that I'm on some sort of high horse. I think thats a bit rediculous to imply that you are better then some one, then accuse them of being full of themselves.

I don't feel that disbelief in a supreme being means that I have a superiority complex.. Really I'd think at this point in human existance, we'd be passed the point where Something has to be supreme... Sadly it is not so. It seems that most people need to believe that there is a supreme entity. In some way shape or form, there is something superior to us.

Its early/late. I'm rambling. Hopefully some one gets what I mean.

 

[Möbiµs]

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that we shouldn't think that we're smarter than other people based on our beliefs, but I just can't help loosing respect for an individual that tells me (s)he believes in a god. It's very hard for me to look believers in the eye and have a rational conversation with them. How could you when everything they do or say can be justified with "God did it."

 

[DarwinsOtherTheory]

Yesterday in school I overheard a conversation about religion and this guy was saying he was an agnostic because atheists say there is no god and that it's arrogant etc. I corrected him and told him that atheism and agnosticism aren't mutually exclusive and that if he can't say that he believes in a god then he's an atheist.

According to him saying you believe it's saying you're certain, oh well, don't you just love self righteous agnostics?

 

[Ozymandyus]

I agree that someone who admits that there is a possibility of a God is more logical than someone who refuses to admit that. But also, that someone who thinks there is a >0.x% chance of the existence of one of the monotheistic Gods is less logical.

The problem with thinking that anyone is 'stupid' or 'smart' is that there are so many kinds of intelligence that those titles just cannot be thrown around loosely to apply to a whole person. I know a few guys who are damned near retarded in terms of their IQ that could rebuild a car engine and do all kinds of things that I cannot do - they could rightfully call me stupid in regard to my mechanical ability. Does it mean I am not as good as them? No.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

It has little to do with being smart. Theists just have a giant blind spot when it comes to their religion, that all of their intelligence, reasoning skills, and integrity fall into like a massive black hole in their brains. I've known people who can make incredibly logical arguments on any other subject, who hit religion and spew the most obviously illogical arguments.

Something I've noticed among the more evangelical/fundamentalist Christians I know is that they have apparently been subjected to a form of brainwashing. When they are talking, and something religious pops into their head, it doesn't come out of their mouths like a natural thought that they conceived of themselves. It comes out robotic and stiff and all in one go, like a preprogrammed message. Their faces go just a little slack, and their eyes seem just a bit empty and unfocused. Scary stuff.

 

[theatheistguy]

They imediately want to say that I'm stupid for being Atheist. That proclaiming absolute existance or non existance is stupid

These smart people apparently don't know what a dictionary is, otherwise they'd be able to look up 'atheist' and see that is has nothing to do with asserting knowledge (absolute or not), but instead is a non-belief in deities. Also, are all these people agnostic? Because if they're in any way religious then they're the ones who are claiming absolute knowledge.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

These smart people apparently don't know what a dictionary is, otherwise they'd be able to look up 'atheist' and see that is has nothing to do with asserting knowledge (absolute or not), but instead is a non-belief in deities. Also, are all these people agnostic? Because if they're in any way religious then they're the ones who are claiming absolute knowledge.

To be fair, they could be agnostic theists and believe without claiming absolute knowledge.

 

[IBSpify]

Reminds me of a party i was at a couple months ago, somehow the topic of religion came up (don't ask me, i was drinking too much to remember how it came up) and they asked me what my religion was, several of them were completely confused when i told them i was an agnostic atheist (i normally just say atheist as it's less confusing) well a couple of them asked how that was possible, and i pointed out the difference between the words, and how they are not mutually exclusive, and summed it up with "I don't know if there is a god or not, but I certainly don't believe in one."

At that point a couple of people understood what i was talking about and left it at that, while one person still attested that didn't make me an atheist it made me agnostic. But then my turn at darts came up and i just left it at that.

 

[theatheistguy]

To be fair, they could be agnostic theists and believe without claiming absolute knowledge.

True, my apologies.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

True, my apologies.

No need... something to remember is that if you peg someone as an agnostic theist, you should hold them to it. Don't let them turn around and spew some Kent Hovind or Ray Comfort garbage at you, since at that point they start to cross over and out of the agnostic category.