What has been the weirdest or worst response you have received from telling someone you are an atheist/nonbeliever/freethinker etc?
My Dad. "Well, you aren't getting any bloody Christmas presents then!" I was 16, it was one of many battles I had with my father, but that response just sent me into a fit of hysterical giggling. That didn't go down well.
I find it odd when they ask if I'm afraid of going to Hell. Then I have to explain that not believing in God includes not believing in hell. Then they insist there is a hell, and I'm going to it.
They really don't like it when i say "great, then I'll join my fellow sinners. I don't see the problem".
Getting told I couldn’t foster dogs anymore with the foster group I had been with for a year. They praised me up till then. But it turned out to be a good thing as I help out with a better foster program now, with nice people.
Because the dogs were all Christian and you would have been a bad influence on them? ? That’s nuts!
Humm... I don't tell people, I just be and they figure it out. Sooner or later they ask the question... "you don't believe in god, do you?". I do like they already know the answer.
I use the same approach. I've only had one person actually ask (thus the comment I posted above). Most people are satisfied thinking that I am 'one of them,' whatever that may be.
@Anne209 Yep, unfortunately because of the behavior of some atheists that go around spiting on the cross, afraid of passing by a church shadow and needing to argue the bible at any opportunity while foaming by the mouth. They think we are Easy to Spot because we tend to smell to sulphur.
Probably when this one lady insisted I read the bible. Even after I explained ot her that I had red teh bible from cover to cover and that is a good part of the reason why i became an atheist, she just kept insisting tht if I only red the bible I'd believe.
It ws then i started to believe that some religious people are just mentally ill. They re convinced that people can't truly be happy until they are sharing in the same delusions that they themselves suffer from. In that sense, religion is a disease tht can be contagrous.
I was working at Sears the time and a random redneck came in and began berating me for my nosering at first. It turned into a religiously based argument when he noticed I had tattoos and he brought up Leviticus. That's when I responded with, "Thank you for your judgement. I'm sure your god is proud of you for your hatred. Tell him I said 'hi' and 'I'm doing just fine without him'. Be sure to let me know what he says. You know where to find me. Buh-bye now." He didn't take the hint, so I ended up with him following me around and berating me as I did my job while ignoring him. Finally, he cornered me in the bathroom. With no witnesses, or cameras, I told him he was an idiot, a poor excuse for a human being, and a shameful example of his sincerely held beliefs. I also told him that if he followed me out of the bathroom, that I didn't care enough about my minimum wage part time-job to not make sure he left without a limp. Especially with a McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Walmart, and Lowe's right across the street. He didn't follow me out of the bathroom.
"Why do you worship satan?"
nope just no religion
I think that's hilarious.
Oh but you believe in Satan! From a childhood friend! Lol
I had a "boyfriend" (sorta, kinda...on/off again) buy me a 24 kt cross necklace -- the one with Jeebus on it writhing in pain and almost nude. LOL
I broke up with him and returned it to the jewelry store and traded it for some earrings.
A work-program counselor I was seeing kept inserting jesus, god, and prayer into our sessions. Despite this I grew to trust her enough to tell her that those things don't work for me because I'm an atheist. I was astonished to see her physically withdraw and cringe from our mutual space. The look of disbelief and disgust was not so hidden as she tried. And our session ended with a certain chill that had not happened before. I was afraid to report her fearing retaliation and not understanding my own rights. A year later I did report her in an email to her boss. He seemed apologetic and sympathetic writing that should have never happened. I don't know what the outcome was, but last I heard she'd retired not too long after.
I hate the, "How can you not believe in god?" one. I usually say, "I just dont." but I want to be rude and say something like, "Because when I was a kid I wasn't a moron and refused to believe in magic sky daddy stories."