I couldn't say any better than what Steven Doolittle said. Of course not all of us hate religious people. I wouldn't be surprised if most of us didn't, but as a qualifier, I'll say many don't. As for myself, I'm dating a devout protestant, so I'm obviously not hateful of them. But it's important to realise that religious ideas are no more immune to criticism than any other philosophy. Sometimes, this criticism comes in the form of ridicule, though typically in the form of debate. I can say something about capitalism or the American Republican party and get relatively tame feedback, but the moment religion is brought up, the conversation takes a darker tone. So basically, ridicule of so-called "sacred" ideas should be normalised so we can have an actual conversation.

"And also, why some Atheists mock, make fun of, and ridicule my beliefs?"

First of all, I would explain that as with anything imaginary it gets a bit embarrassing the older you get. We all believe in santa and the tooth fairy when we are kids but as we grow up some of us go down the path of logic and reason and scientific fact. Others, like yourself, decide to keep believing in the impossible, improbable, and the, dare I say it, batshit crazy.

Had no one ever told you at an early age there was a god, and the first time you heard about it was as a 25 year old who had spent their life adhering to logic and reason, you would laugh at the possibility of an invisible man hiding in the sky and ridicule the person trying to make you believe it. It's all mental, the concept of it and the practice of it.

Religion is a money making, tax dodging machine which hinders progress and is responsible for more deaths than aids and anyone who believes in it should be kept away from the rest of us cos they are fucking mental.

This comment and the questions asked in it strike me as odd. If you are intellectually curious enough to wonder why some atheists mock or belittle your beliefs then you must also be intellectually curious enough to have noticed that believers of other faiths mock your beliefs and people of your faith mock the rest of us. The greater question would probably be why do people seek to put themselves and others into such distinguishable groups of in and out, same and other.

To be perfectly honest, I don't care at all that you believe in Jesus. If it makes you happy, good for you. I only begin to care when a belief in Jesus means denying science that keeps humans safe and when it means ostracizing and harming others, as is so often the case. When believing in Jesus means trying to actually follow the example of Christ (which I find to be the minority of people) then I'm all for it.

I respect those who have religious beliefs as I too used to be a firm believer in Christ. But I read the entire bible after a life threatening crash and divorce and I couldn't find enough love to fill up a thimble.

Now, you can have your beliefs as a Christian in any branch, and I won't care. Sure, I'll think you're a bit like a sheep for following the church, but it's your choice, not mine.

But it's when religious people start to try and force the religion on athiests, and curse us, that we get annoyed. We don't interfere with your beliefs, so why do you try to interfere with ours?

So, as a summary; you can be Christian and I don't mind. But if you force it on me, I will have a problem with you

Hi JJ, and welcome.

You ask "what you guys think about people like myself who believe in Jesus Christ. I would like to know why some Athiests seem to hate followers of Jesus. (Not saying everyone feels this way). And also, why some Atheists mock, make fun of, and ridicule my beliefs?"

That's a fairly complex question so I'll break it down a bit. First up I don't claim to answer for all atheists - we're not a club - just for myself.

So what do I think of you as a person? You seem like a nice enough person, at least you seem to have manners which is more than I can say for many of your fellow religious followers that come on here, so there's a plus for you.

Why do atheists hate followers of jesus? Short answer, we don't, hate the followers, we hate the religion. FYI as far as most of us are concened there's no difference between followers of jesus, allah, buddha, brahma, zues, or quetzalcoatl... all your imaginary friends are the same to us. Now, a great many of us DO hate the religions you people like to follow because of the hatred, persecution, wars, greed, and so on you do in the name of whichever imaginary friend you believe in while proclaiming to be better than everyone else. I'm sure you'll counter with "but my religion is good, it does these good, charitable acts". Perhaps so, but does it do them "for people it deems worthy"? Does it withhold it's charity from people whose religion, politics, or sexuality it disagrees with? Does it perform these acts with the expectation that the recipients will listen to their proselytizing? And in the long run, if it is actually interested in DOING GOOD why does it need to be doing that IN THE NAME OF A CHUCH? Isn't it enough to do good in the name of good itself? Doesn't your bible actually speak AGAINST doing good in return for recognition? (It does, research it.)

Why do you we mock your beliefs? Because your beliefs are unfounded, disproven, ridiculous superstitions, because people whg follow them tend to demand equal time for their superstitions along with science, and because their followers often do harm and evil in the names of their various imaginary friends.

In return I have questions for you. What did you come here seeking? Are you attempting to find truth, or to convert us? Did you find what you were looking for?

Have a great day.

QUOTE:
So, I would like to know what you guys think about people like myself who believe in Jesus Christ. I would like to know why some Athiests seem to hate followers of Jesus. (Not saying everyone feels this way). And also, why some Atheists mock, make fun of, and ridicule my *beliefs*?

I don't dislike the religious so much as I dislike the ideology. Teaching young children that if they fuck up they burn for eternity is tantamount to child abuse, and people have a tendency to hang onto things they learn early in life, so it's very difficult for most to develop new ideas about things like religion since it was ingrained at a young age.

As for the ridicule, well... that's not my thing, as I'm not looking to 'save' anyone or change any minds. Just imagine for a second that I wholeheartedly believed and was trying with all of my might to convince you that the Flying Spaghetti Monster was the one true god and that you needed to repent or burn.

To us, all of the existing 'gods' existence and power is just as ridiculous as the notion of the FSM.

As for respecting your views... well, I won't openly ridicule you, but I certainly don't respect your views, just like I don't respect the views of flat-earthers or Holocaust deniers.

Well Jj I hope this sheds some light without being hostile:

Firstly, ALL we Atheists want IS an intelligent discussion on the myriad of topics that are being studied by the most learned people on the planet. We desire answers to the great questions of our time through rigorous scientific analysis which shouldn't be hindered by the motivation of a decreased congregation. For centuries it was punishable by death to argue the egocentricism of europeans and the church in relation to the origin and position of the earth, the origin and evolution of our species, and the sociocultural standards of people based on race or gender of the time. (Imagine how much further advanced our civilization could be if science wasn't hindered by religion).

Secondly, hostility is met in kind and rarely is it found that a Christian has developed their relationship with "God" through love or peace. When I say this I do not mean that Christianity, true Christianity, is not founded in peace and love moreover that followers are gathered because of another motive: Fear. That fear that an eternity of suffering awaits or that you'll be ostracized by your family or community because you don't have some religious affiliation has reaped more followers than The Sermon on the Mount ever will. You can't successfully force peace and love with a gun to someone's head, that peace and love isn't on the terms of the person and is essentially a hostage situation; meaning a very large percentage of Christians have a grand scale type of Stockholm''s Syndrome. We try to question the "definitive" faith-based conclusions drawn by Christian "scholars" and we're met with cries of "Blasphemy!", "Devil Worshipper!", and "You're going to hell!" by one Christian group while another tries to explain you have to have faith and just accept a fable that can repeatedly be refuted by scientific research and experiments.

Thirdly, the text Christians hold so dear to themselves was a political ploy construed by Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea...300 years after the life and death of Jesus. The persecution of early christians had started to become less and less popular so in a long period of legal measures Constantine and the part of Rome that didn't collapse repealed the outlawing of Christianity in the early 300s before it was eventually made the official religion of Rome 70 years later. They picked and chose what to put in the bible to make the religion look "good" and combined "pagan" holidays with Christian ones to make a cultural merge easier. Now today their are how many different sects of Christians? Remember the story of the Tower of Babel: where those faithful to God tried to build a tower to Him...think of Religion as the Tower built to bring people closer to "God", seems to have played out just as told.

 We haven't really touched the atrocities  inspired by "modern" Christianity: US Manifest Destiny...The Crusades...The Holocaust...The Spanish Inquisition...The Salem Witch Trials...The French Revolution...Witholding basic Civil Rights from Women and Humans Rights from People of Color...Shootings in Churches and Schools...The trail of blood left in the wake of such a "peaceful" religion would be funny if it wasn't so utterly horrible. Millions have perished in the Christian's quest for vengeance for the death of their Lord and persecution of their early followers. I find that quite ironic for a religion taught to turn the other cheek.

I talked about the Sermon on the Mount earlier, the new directions of Christ to his eventual followers. Luke Chapter 6 outlines this so lets break it down into just  parts: Luke 6:20-23 inspires hope to those suffering. Luke 6:24-26 advises those in positions to provide help to the less fortunate to do so. Luke 6:27-36 talks loving and forgiving your enemies as much as you do your family and mentions the all important golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself." Luke 6:37-42 discusses not judging others or thinking yourself above anyone and, bearing in mind the previous passage, that includes our enemies. Luke 6:43-49 talks about the fruits born out of your labors and that if you don't have a solid foundation and put valuable effort into your endeavors you shouldn't expect much success. Many of these qualities I only see shown between believers and withheld from those who remain skeptical.

When looking at politicians that talk about shunning refugees, withholding civil rights from people due to their race/economic status/sexual orientation, taking money from the poor and giving more benefits to the rich, waging socialcultural and military warfare on groups with non-Judeo or non-Koran based religious beliefs, and the constant judgement of people exercising their right to choose what they think is best for themselves along with the constant threat of removing those rights to make those choices...who are they using as their platform to disenfranchise and divide?

We find that it's egotistical to believe that all of existence revolves around this one simple ball that is microscopic in the grand scheme of the universe and that we shouldn't take advantage of the abilities we have to keep this planet in as good a condition as possible. Life may be a gift but that doesn't mean it was necessarily given to us by any being, and that in no way diminishes the value of the gift. Each teaching from all of history's theologians, philosophers, and scientists  as well as debates which have resulted in modern laws and rights have put our species in a state of constant cultural evolution to which no single person or government can claim sole responsibility. To me the most important part of the process is that we all have to work together in order to find equilibrium or we will remain in an eternal state of conflict.

The current hostilities between people with conservative values and those more liberal minded are the byproduct of centuries worth of propaganda that related non-Christian with communists, "demons", witchcraft, and the responsibility of ruining each following generation. How do you expect atheists to coexist with a group that constantly compares them to the greatest evils in existence? All Atheists ask for is to continue to explore the greatest questions of our existence and stop placing a cap on our efforts or accusing us of being the bane of existence.

I want to close with this, you have posed this question to a group for Atheists made up of Atheists. Any hostility you may see from our group is just as common as you would see hostility from certain Christian sects, but not nearly as violent or divisive. Inside jokes meant for other Atheists by Atheists reflect our experience with religious followers. We never go into debates with Christians trying to be hostile but we know where it's going to end up, with us being told we're sinners and that we're steering the world to hell, a conversational direction that hardly could ever end peacefully. Why does finding actual truth versus assuming a story told by very uneducated people thousands of years ago is truth?

Hope this clears up some stuff,

Recovering Catholic

Hello,

I personally believe that your statement varies from case to case and atheist to atheist. I have no problem with religious people, until their beliefs start taking over their daily life’s. Me ex and her family were Christians, one summer they invite me to stay over with them under the condition that I go with them to church on Sundays. I agreed, but as an atheist I can’t always hide my dark sense of humor or unconscious mockery of religion. One night my ex comes into the guest bedroom crying, saying that her parents and her are worried about me and that I don’t believe in salvation. She insisted that I agree upon having sessions with her where she would show me how the love of Jesus could change my life, with only a week left of summer I agreed, and the moment I got home I called her to say that we were through.
I don’t need to believe in heaven or hell to be a good person, I don’t need to listen to Christian music to have a good time, I don’t need to follow a food schedule because of an interpretation of a book.
I don’t hate religious people like that. In fact, I pity them. If you really require to use an old book and interpretation of old stories as a moral and ethical compass, I really do feel pity for you.

I personally disagree with most religions since they are all based on loose ideologies as well as great claims with no evidences. Just like people would refuse to believe in Bigfoot or UFOs with lack of evidence so do people refuse to believe in the great claims of religion. What makes those ancient texts, made by people who had no idea what the world was like, so believable, or in fact more believable than other religious texts like those of Greek or Egyptian religions? Like Carl Sagan once said "Great claims demand great evidence." Skepticism is logical, it is natural and it shouldn't be taken for granted. But what I truly dislike more than religion is religious bigotry, either from from high ranking people in the religious business that desire only power (one example is the religious authority in my country erasing a well made abstract expressionist graffiti depicting a religious icon due to it being '"sacrilegious") or from people who are so narrow minded that they refuse to see the world in other ways. I myself am a nihilist and see religion also as a way to self-importance, the belief that we are special when in fact we aren't, the belief that something great protects us when in fact the world is proof of the opposite. Furthermore, religious morals are outdated and traditions are quite barbaric and offensive. I can go more into detail but I think I've said enough. No hard feelings though.

First and foremost what do you mean by saying follower of Jesus?
We have no reason to hate some one base on their creed however most of the people of faith have an idea of supremacy, religous supremacy in the interaction with other people with different faith manifests itself in two ways: first they look at other poeple with pitty and think they should do whatever they can to insert their faith.
Second Treat others as inferior.
Thats the core of any form religion: US versus THEM

By using the term of follower of Jesus i assume your an Evangelist because you want to distance yourself from Catholic church.

Vast majority of Evangelists are against science until they get sick,
Again vast majority of Evangelists deny Climate Change because they believe God promissed Noah after flood he wont punish humanity so Evangelists deny even the possibility of we are causing damage to our environment.
You are pro-life thats respectful, „Life“ such precious gift yes? You talk so much about abortion and unborn baby killing, have you ever talked about born children that has been murdered in wars. I have never heard any Evangelist Church talking against war.
There is lots of things i can tell you why people like me dislike your Idea of „follower of Christ“
This idea is not from a godless person like me is from a Christian called Chris Hedges he said - i am froofrasing- the Evangelist movement in USA has been turned to a Christian Fascism.
He said it before Donald Trump. Donald Trump prooved his point.

At the end i will not talk about legitimacy of your Holy book or any Holy book because evidence talks for itself.
If you read Bible to a toddler that hasnt been indoctorinated, he/she will have some quastions about the accuracy of your holy book.