What do you do when people mock/criticize your religion?

[Rowan]

okay, ill get it going here. Im answering this topic under the assumption that an athiest can post when he thinks his beliefs are being mocked.


If I have (and i have had) mormans, christians or anyone of any faith come knocking on my door and try to convert me, I would tell them im not interested. If they continue to babble (which they tend to do, its their job to convert me) I will become highly offended because I assume they think im "uninformed" or "unintelligent" because I dont believe in god. Also I know for a fact they think im going to hell because the one unforgivable sin in christianity is not accepting jesus christ as your lord and savior. So that also pisses me off that they think im stupid and going to hell to suffer for all of eternity. I just hate the fact that its obvious they are using fear to control people. Whilst one is free to believe what they want, I dont believe its okay to FORCE it on your kids. Parents will push this on their kids from a young age (look above, its how she was brought up) and have no reason for believing what they do other than the family who didnt offer any other outlook on life. As an athiest myself, I dont need to preach athiesm, my kids will have the freedom of choice, as where a christian family (in most cases) would not. My evidence for this is that christian families more often than not, will go to church, attend mass, pray etc and athiests will not. Just because an athiest does nothing, it does mean they are preaching athiesm.

[Heartless Angel]

In a sense it kinda does. Whether we try to cram things down our kids throats or not, they will still learn from their parents. I actually was Christian as a kid, my main reasoning for this is that my parents were. And when I was a little kid, I like most kids, thought my parents knew everything. If my kids see me not going to church or praying before dinner, though I haven't told them anything, they will see that, and if they think I know everything, they'll draw the conclusion that these things aren't important, because the guy who knows everything doesn't care. Though not directly giving my beliefs to them, my beliefs will innevitably shape theirs. My parents are both Lutheran, as is most of my extended family, but they never really forced their beliefs on me. They took me to church as a kid and all, I'm sure they hoped I'd share their beliefs, as they saw it as their duty to raise me that way so I wouldn't burn in Hell for all eternity. Ultimately, it was left to me to make the choice. They shaped my beliefs, but my reason wouldn't let me accept them without question, and I kinda veered away from religion as I learned more things that made more sense to me. My parents were probably disappointed, and even saddened by my rejection of religion, but they accepted it.