Fear? No. Why would Athiests fear religion? I can't think of any reason to fear it.

I fear ignorance and conviction in large groups of people.

No I do not.

isn't that a bit like asking if anybody fears the fairies that live at the bottom of the garden?

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

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".

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.

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.

a·the·ism [áythee ìzzəm] 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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nope. Why? What's Christianity (or any other faith) gonna do to me?

No, but I do fear religious extremism. Its not rational to me and I have no tolerance for it.

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.

No I'm not, but can you believe there is a name for one that fears god/religion? It is theophobia.

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.

Not the raligion but its adherents sometimes make me nervous. Granted, they make me laugh too so it's a gray area.

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?

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 .

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

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

I don't fear Christianity or any religion. I fear its followers.

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.

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.