by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007

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For the Atheists, do you or any other atheists you know fear Christianity, or even religion in general?

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Answers. 29 helpful answers below.

by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on January 23rd, 2007
Religion? No. Religious people? HELL YES!

Before I became the curmudgeon I am today,I used to wear a pin that said, "God, please protect me from your followers".
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- I saw a T-shirt that said "Lord, please protect me from those who believe in you".
  
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  by Stableboy on January 24th, 2007
- I want one that quotes Ghandi: I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
  
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  by lizvelrene on March 30th, 2007
- I bought that pin back in high school. I still wear it occasionally almost 20 years later.
  
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  by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on March 31st, 2007
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by Inspector Javert on May 2nd, 2007
I don't fear religion. I only fear it's zealots. Or extreimists. Or those damn TV Eveangelicsts... yeah, they scare me alot.

Basicaly, I don't fear the shepard. I only fear the angry mob of sheep.
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by debsmooth on January 23rd, 2007
I fear ignorance and conviction in large groups of people.
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- I'm going to need a more straight forward answer please
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven. ~Mark Twain
  
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  by debsmooth on January 23rd, 2007
- do you see religion as all bad?
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- BTW, I already rated up this answer, so I am leaving the other alone, ok?
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- Hi, Bob. I don't see faith as bad. I see large organized religions as frequent disseminators of intolerence. Faith, spirituality are natural components of human nature that are often exploited by these large organizations and used to terrible ends.
  
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  by debsmooth on January 24th, 2007
- I see, I like your answer
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 25th, 2007
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by Friartuck on May 2nd, 2007
Fear? No, I don't fear religion - although I'd fear being known as an atheist when amongst people sworn to kill all infidels...

Religion does bring out the best and the worst in people. To explain what I think religion is and has been would take ages (vitually book length I reckon!).

It has been a tool for instruction in how to be a human in a given society, a tool for inspiration, dreaming, hope, creating purpose where none existed and so on.

It's also been a tool for breeding and encouraging hatred, distrust, smug self-righteousness and extreme bloodshed!

But fear? As in "Oooh, what if the christians were right? Or the hindus, or jews, or muslims, or wiccans or druids or zoroastrians or animists or roman pagans or greek pagans or nordic pagans or the ancient egyptians or the taoists or buddhists or mithraists or mormons or.........."?

No, I don't fear that.
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by The_Professional on January 24th, 2007
I do.

I think it gets in the way of me benefiting the world by my works.

Faith gets in the way of good works all the time.

Hate of it is a better description then fear - because its not stopping me.
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- hate is a strong word
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- Hate applies to death and chaos - the things that chsristians support for others. It is a stron word.
  
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  by The_Professional on January 24th, 2007
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by godma on May 2nd, 2007
I don't fear the metaphysical claims of any particular religion, but I do fear the effects of people believing certain things on faith instead of on their normal standards of evidence and reason. I think faith is truly evil.
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by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
No; that's absurd.

I am afraid of people who are willing to hurt others for ANY reason, religious or otherwise - some of those people are christians, and some aren't. religion is definitely not the variable that determines whether or not I fear someone.
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- good answer!
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
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by Stableboy on January 24th, 2007
I think there are some non-religious people who fear religion, yes:

- Some have an uncertainty that they haven't really confronted: they believe that they MIGHT actually be destined for Hell, for example, but are in denial about their own concerns. This is particularly common among those who were raised in strict religious homes and then abandoned the faith.

- There's plenty to fear from religion in the sense that Em is talking about: fearing the oppression of organized self-righteousness and/or fundamentalist fury. That's actually a well-founded fear.

- There's some who fear the disruption of ego which typically accompanies religious practice: the ego wants to rule the roost, it is most definitely NOT interested in being redeemed. To the degree that a person has identified with ego, anything which threatens to reduce the power or significance of ego is something to be feared.

In my view, it's completely coherent to be both Atheist and spiritually well-rounded. The essence of spirituality is a healthy relationship between the individual and the whole of life, it has nothing to do with mythology or beliefs about metaphysics. So these mythologies are optional: a religion can be "helpful", even if it's encrusted with questionable ideas about metaphysics. It's also possible for an Atheist to resolve the basic "self-contraction" which underlies the need for religion in the first place.

So take your pick.
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- I think that even those fears that you correctly said are well-founded, are not fears of religion specifically - especially any particular religion. it's the mentality that is to fear... and that mentality isn't exclusive to one religion, nor is any religion entirely given to that mentality. there are non-christian crazies, and non-crazy christians. it's the 'crazy' that you need to fear. kwim?
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
- Well I listed 3 kinds of fears, it sounds like you're talking about #2: fear of the nut cases. I would agree it's not really a fear of religion per se but a fear of aggressively narrow views and self-righteousness, which is very divisive, and certainly not the exclusive property of religious zealots. You can have rabid atheists too, for example (and we have a few here on the 'bag who make me nervous).
  
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  by Stableboy on January 24th, 2007
- I think I always tend to feel most comfortable with the people in *either* camp who are going "listen, just let me do my thing, ok?!" and really fear the people who are saying "listen, just do my thing, ok?!" lol But I admit it can be nuanced, and it's easy to misinterpret someone's intentions... especially in a debate. I save the real fear for the unmistakable ones. ;-)
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
- There you go. I have at least 20 pages on that topic... so your version is MUCH more succinct!
  
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  by Stableboy on January 24th, 2007
- I don't believe I've ever been accused of that before. lol!! (words words words I won't be able to sleep if I haven't used enough words today....)
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
- I love your take on faith
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- that last paragraph is great, btw. I think what I like best about the idea of shedding the mythology and keeping only the spirituality, is that it leaves a lot more room for continual growth - and with it, deeper understanding. With the myth, it's a bit like trying to earn your doctorate when someone's already written your thesis for you. You think you've reached the goal by pointing to the document and saying "there's what I've learned!" because you want to see your name on that piece of paper (or in the 'book of life' or whatever your goal is), but it's a shallow sort of knowledge, a false sense of security that precludes that deeper understanding.
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
- I agree jbarbie, people spend sooo much time trying to understand the bible instead of trying to understand their own spirtuality...they just want a "manual" to tell them what to do
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- "earn your doctorate when someone's already written your thesis for you" deserves to be in some famous quote list!
  
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  by Stableboy on January 24th, 2007
- look for it in "The Quotable jbarbie23 - Pocket Edition." lol ;-)
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
- Thanks Bob (assume you were talking to me << quick look around for alternatives >> ) Jbarbie: I don't really want to strip the mythology from those religions. What I want is to have people who practice them to recognize the difference between having their practice be grounded in their own experience vs. taking the words of others (or books) and filling their heads, pockets, and backpacks with them. That kind of religious understanding is what turns into divisiveness and ego: "I don't really know this for myself, but I'm clinging to what my herd says. Now I'm going to beat you up with it unless you cling also." Ugh.
  
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  by Stableboy on January 25th, 2007
- Stableboy
  I'm sorry but, what a crock. Anyone who even secretly thinks he's going to hell isn't an atheist.
  And "..."self-contraction" which underlies the need for religion..."? There is none. Religion is a myth based system of answering questions that were unanswerable way back when and a way to create a community - often so it's easier to kill those who aren't part of it.
  
  The only parts that aren't new age psychobabble are the fear of fundie groups (if I got your meaning right) and the last paragraph.
  
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  by 23Skidoo on June 17th, 2008
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by Mushen on January 23rd, 2007
isn't that a bit like asking if anybody fears the fairies that live at the bottom of the garden?
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- I think an atheist is aware of the things a believer believes in, but fails to understand the concept of faith. Gifted scholars of the Bible can't even come to an agreement on it's interpretation. God intended for it to be this way. If one apply's it to your every day life, you will begin to see the answer's for yourself, it's that easy.
  
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  by RockAngel on January 24th, 2007
- oh, I see those answers already, and I do NOT want them!!
  
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  by Jessicax23 on January 24th, 2007
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by SomeSayMarryMoney on December 11th, 2008
I certainly do. Show me another club that can motivate people to kill, hate, or fight progress and I will fear that as well.

“With or without [religion] you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.”

-Steven Weinberg, Nobel prize-winning physicist
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- Praise thy answer +3
  
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  by Hypatia on December 11th, 2008
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by 68 Charger on June 16th, 2008
No, but I do fear religious extremism. Its not rational to me and I have no tolerance for it.
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by Scifisuz on May 3rd, 2007
Nope. Why? What's Christianity (or any other faith) gonna do to me?
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- Vote.
  
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  by branciforte3241 on December 10th, 2008
- @bran - I'll risk it, thx.
  
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  by Scifisuz on December 11th, 2008
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by debsmooth on January 23rd, 2007
Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven. ~Mark Twain
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- How does Mark Twain know that Man is the only religious animal?
  
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  by Scifisuz on May 3rd, 2007
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by LynfromNM on January 23rd, 2007
No I do not.
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- appreciate the answer
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
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by 23Skidoo on December 11th, 2008
Why would anyone be afraid of a bunch of dusty old fairy tales? So, no.
.
Do I sometimes fear adults who are deluded enough to actually believe those fairy tales? Sometimes.
+5
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by Jiggy Kaiser on July 30th, 2008
Not the raligion but its adherents sometimes make me nervous.

Granted, they make me laugh too so it's a gray area.
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by 23Skidoo on June 17th, 2008
Do you know of anyone who's afraid of their neighbor's imaginary friend? Probably not.

There's no more reason for anyone to be afraid religion. Make believe is make believe no matter how many people believe or how good its PR team is.

But, as other have already pointed out, fearing those self righteous a$$e$ who have a need to use violence to defend their faith or even just DR opinions they don't like may well be in order.
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by Anonymous on May 2nd, 2007
No, of course I don't fear Christianity. I don't believe in it. If I don't believe in it, it doesn't exist to me. However, I do fear the type of religious people that get a following behind them and could threaten my freedom. I might not believe in their religion, in fact I might think that it's a complete load of rubbish, but not believing in their religion, doesn't make them go away.
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by quack is whack on December 11th, 2008
By fear do you mean keeping a night light on to scare them away in the dark?

Or do you mean being excessively worried about them?

I'm a little worried about the people who use their religion as an excuse to harm others. For example, religious wars, religious killings, etc. When Good Christians use another's religion or sexual orientation to persecute them, maybe even kill them. Or like the girl a year ago in the Middle East (I can't remember her exact nationality) who went outside without an escort and was gang-raped because of it, and then sentenced to 100 lashes in court. Like fathers who slit their daughters' throats for being sexually assaulted. Or the Hindus who tried to exterminate the Buddhists in India.

All of these things are what I would consider evil deeds, done in the name of being good, pious, religious followers.

And that's what they are: followers. They do as they're told. And that is why ORGANIZED religions worry me - they use people's faith to manipulate large groups, politically and socially.
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by Penal Colony is wicked marrying Andy on December 11th, 2008
I don't fear Christianity or any religion. I fear its followers.
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by sharpjwe on December 10th, 2008
not fear god for there is no god
not fear the religions for they are lies
not fear hell devils ghost ect...
religious indoctrinated people are known to be lethal.
but i do not fear them for we are free
and fear is the weapon used by religions to control the masses .
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by artguy on July 30th, 2008
though i'm not an atheist, i'm not a theist either. i'm not sure what i believe at this point. i know i no longer believe in organized religion. but, to answer the question...
i don't fear religion, what i fear is the extreme dogmatists! and that gos not only for religious dogmatists, but political and philosophical dogmatists as well. i feel it is the blind following of dogma that is the cause of so many of our problems today, what say you?
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by Mandie on June 17th, 2008
No I'm not, but can you believe there is a name for one that fears god/religion? It is theophobia.
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by BAM@Cyberscrewed.tk on January 24th, 2007
a·the·ism [áythee ìzz?m]
n
unbelief in God or deities: disbelief in the existence of God or deities

a·the·ist [áythee ist]
(plural a·the·ists)
n
unbeliever in God or deities: somebody who does not believe in God or deities

Technically an Atheist can have religion if they deny the existance of a higher power.

But if we're atheists, we don't believe in religion so how can we fear it?
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- well I don't have a gun but I fear them, I was asking in response to a discussion with another
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
- You may not have a gun but you know there are some out there. A higher power is always debatable unlike material items.
  
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  by BAM@Cyberscrewed.tk on January 24th, 2007
- yes, but I don't know if I will ever get shot :)
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 25th, 2007
- Lol, twist it your way, life is a game of chance.
  
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  by BAM@Cyberscrewed.tk on January 25th, 2007
- well twisting it my way is what I do best :)
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 25th, 2007
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by Jenniferocious on January 23rd, 2007
Fear? No. Why would Athiests fear religion? I can't think of any reason to fear it.
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- I based the question on a discussion earlier, just trying to get a sample...thanks for the response
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- Its more or less the fear of the results. I'm not going to throw my answer up here but my argument is a lot of atheists are afraid of religion because they are afraid it only leads to war and judgement and persecution. Many of them seem to ignore the good that comes from it and play up the bad. I mean I can't count the atheists who immediatly bring up "Crusades" or "Inquizition" as if they happened just yesterday and as if my denomination was the ones who did them.
  
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  by Valparaiso on January 23rd, 2007
- wouldn't that be the fear of war, and not religion...they can blame religion for the war, but that isn't a fear of the religion, it is a fear of war
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- But they think that religion is what causes the war. I mean seriously I'll bet if you where to propose a law on the federal books that all religion be banned, all churches dissolved and demolished and all holy books be burned, a full 10% of AMERICANS would be in favor of it. Probably up to 30% of Europeans.
  
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  by Valparaiso on January 23rd, 2007
- well that would make for an interesting study, how do you feel about Bush making Iraq a "religious" war of sorts
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- if you watch south park you might get a kick out of one of the two parters, Cartman is transported into the future, an atheist future, and there is a huge world war going on between various factions, and they don't tell why the war is taking place until the end...it ends up being that these 3 different groups are fighting over what to call the atheist faction
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- I don't think the war in Iraq should be a religious war, but I dont' think thats what Bush is really trying to do. At least not conciously. I was opposed to the war in the first place but now I feel we have no choice but to finish what we started. I don't like the choice but I'm trying to think of viable alternatives that won't lead to an ethnic cleansing and I'm comming up blank. And no I don't watch south park.
  
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  by Valparaiso on January 23rd, 2007
- well you might have enjoyed that one, the point was there will always be different beliefs to fight over religion or not, I found it pretty amusing
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- I don't think atheists even recognize that they are afraid or would admit it so I don't think your going to get an accurate sample. Richard Dawkins is afraid of religion but he won't admit it. But the entire point of his existance is to crusade against religion and use double standards and half truths to boot to do so. If an atheist is a true atheist they arn't going to care about religion unless they are afraid of it. If they arn't afraid of it they will let things slide and belive in a live/let live policy. But anyone who activily crusades against religious teachings, churches, etc is secretly afraid of Christianity or religion in general and just doesn't admit to it.
  
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  by Valparaiso on January 23rd, 2007
- I saw that one. It was pretty amusing.
  
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  by Jenniferocious on January 23rd, 2007
- so by the same token, do those who crusade for Christianity fear atheism? and you can always chalk things up to "they won't admit it," but I truly feel they have no fear of religion and the only way I could know is to ask them...so this, like with most of our debates, will have to end with an agree to disagree
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 23rd, 2007
- No because here is the difference. Christians belive that in order to get into heaven you have to belive that Christ is your savior. Atheists belive that its not going to matter what you belive you just die and thats the end. So we have a motive to crusade for Christendom because we want to help people get to heaven and because the bible tells us to do so. Good Christians also don't do their "crusading" by attacking other religions. Atheists dont' have any incentive to crusade for their beliefs and usually do so by directly attacking Christianity.
  
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  by Valparaiso on January 23rd, 2007
- I can only speak for myself, I fear that punishment in hell is infinite. One cannot do as he pleases on earth and think there is no repercusion for his actions,other wise every person would do as they please.
  
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  by RockAngel on January 24th, 2007
- any comments you actually have are speculation, and it is over anyway, if you say that none of them will admit it, then it boils down to what you want to believe, that is it. It is VERY common for one human to sway other humans to their way of thinking, you call what Christians do "saving," and what Atheists do "attacking"
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on January 24th, 2007
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by Hypatia on December 11th, 2008
As a mother of two children, yes. Absolutely. The proximity of preachers, evangelizers, priests or any kind of religious sales people makes me as anxious as the vicinity of drug pushers. You know how it begins.... I am a person who has endured many devastating experiences with religious organizations, and of course will do my best to keep my children away from that poison. Not only me, my family has been shattered and robed by that people.
History and the present teach us thousands of examples of the "good deeds" of organized religion, and specially of the three "sister" monotheistic dogmas.
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by Anonymous on June 17th, 2008
Given Christianity's track record of genocide, I'd say there should be something to fear if you're a Muslim (the Crusades), an Indigenous Person (Colonization of the Americas), or simply disliked in your Religious Community (Inquisition, Witch Trials). Since I can be accepted as Christian by paying lip-service to its tenants (as demonstrated by many Christians who commit acts regarded as sins far more frequently and flippantly than do I) and am not any of the above, I don't feel I have much to fear. I could blend into an unruly mob fairly well and speaking in tongues is pretty easy if push comes to shove. But I don't really think that'll be an issue- all the Christians are going to disappear when the rapture comes so, problem solved.
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by TSCTH on September 11th, 2010
Christianity: No...

Organized religion, with a tendency to control and destroy: Yes...

Fanatic religious people: Yes...

There's no reason to fear an ideology, but there's plenty reason to fear the followers who take it too serious.
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by JakobA I^_^I the alooney on September 11th, 2010
Only insofar as religious extremists can do considerable damage. eg: flying airplanes into buildings, killing doctors they judge sinfull, etc.

Usually when such things happen the great majority of the faithful are as horrified as everyone else, still they are rarely very effective in bringing the extremists to justice.

regards JakobA
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For the Atheists, do you or any other atheists you know fear Christianity, or even religion in general?

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