Posted by Hemant Mehta in As atheists, there are plenty of questions we’re used to hearing:
- Where do you get your morals from?
- What is the ultimate meaning of life?
- Why is there a baby’s arm in your mouth?
But what questions are you never asked?
Are there any questions you wish people would ask you about your atheism?
I never get asked “When” questions like “When did you start exploring your spirituality?” or “When did you begin to identify with the word ‘atheist’?”
I also never get asked about the spiritual searches I did in order to better understand myself, and I wish “they” would.
It seems like people just assume that I just decided to call myself an atheist without any kind of “soul-searching” whatsoever and that all atheists are inherently gloomy, hopeless, spiritually-dead beings who need to be cured.
I wish people would ask me why I volunteer when I’m not doing it to gain heavenly brownie points.
I wish people would ask me how many times I’ve been told I’m going to hell, that I have no morals, that I’m the lowest kind of human being since I don’t believe.
I wish people would ask me, “How can I become more of a freethinker, too?”
“Why do you reject every religion?”
Most questions I get asked are about rejecting a certain religion (why do you reject Christianity? why do you reject Islam?) etc. Hardly anyone ever asks why I reject them all, which is precisely what atheism does.
I don’t get asked much of anything. Most of my friends don’t seem to want to talk about it.
I never get asked what kind of believer I used to be because they always automatically assume that I must have been weak and lacking in faith. I guess it makes them feel better thinking that I came to this conclusion out of anger, confusion, or rebellion and not just by logic.
First time I shared my atheism, the question was “Aren’t you worried about going to Hell?”
The notion of Heaven and Hell goes away when God goes away too, and that’s something few Christians realize.
I wish people would ask me, “What sparked your atheism?” Then I could share with them all the flaws of the Bible and why I think the book is imperfect for the purpose of maintaining a religion. Then I can share with them the flaws found in other religions, and why they are imperfect for maintaining a religion. And when we’ve gone through the flaws of religion in general and all of the complications when we consider the existence of God, then we can arrive at atheism.
i would love this too
No-one has ever asked me for my great roast infant in coconut curry recipe … some things people just don’t want to know.
I was asked many questions about my atheism in high school and college, but I have gotten very few since leaving college. I’m not sure why this is.
[...] The Friendly Atheist got me thinking this morning about the questions I get from other addicts in recovery. People want to know if I’m really sober. (I am.) They want to know how I work the eleventh step. (I think.) Do I pray? (No.) What’s my Higher Power? (Reality.) [...]
“How did you break free”
is what I want to be asked.
I never get asked why. Why am I an atheist? I mean I’ve got lots of reasons. Lots and lots of reasons. Bucket loads of reasons. No-one ever asks though. They just want to tell me what they believe or why I’m wrong. OK, not everyone does that but a lot of people do. Some people just back away slowly with a look of terror on their faces.
“What, are you saying there’s something wrong with presenting Pascal’s Wager as an argument for the existence of the Christian God?”
I don’t get asked much because the only people I ever seem to talk to about atheism are other atheists.
But I would like to be asked “what do you mean by ‘atheist’” instead of what they usually ask “how do you know there is no God”.
Theists generally assume it means you have a faith-like belief that there is no god, rather than simply not believing there is a god.
I’d like to be asked “Why are you such a nice, loving, caring guy?” or “Why are you still the same nice guy you were before de-converting form Christianity?”. People have noticed that I am this way, but they have not asked those questions. I think they know the answer. If God exists, he is not necessary to make someone a decent person.
I would like to be asked why I am still moral when I don’t believe in God.
Since I am newly de-converted and haven’t shared with many people I haven’t been asked many questions at all.
That said, what I’d like them to ask is, “What sorts of things do you value in life?”.
I think that question would really start things off in a much more positive way than I tend to see them going on in the blogosphere.
I would also like to be asked how I keep my morality while not believing in gods.
Plus, “Why are all atheists so damned hot?” is another excellent but rarely touched upon subject.
Anyone who asks me where I get my morals from will have me stating I don’t eat flesh because I don’t consider myself a graveyard. That usually shuts them up, but if not I have a whole lot more where that came from.
@Justin: LOL. More people really should ask why we’re so damned hot!
“Want to go out and have a pint?”
I’m still waiting on that one.
Where do you get your suits, they look so nice on you. I wish they would ask me that.
Why is it easier to be gay than atheist in the black community? I’d love to explore that question with a lot of theistic black folks, but most just say they will pray for me. How annoying…
People seem much happier making pronouncements about what they assume about me than asking actual questions, and this includes the ones that seem to end in a question mark (like the standard “where do your morals come from?”).
Same thing goes with vegetarianism, though perhaps to a lesser extent – I get more comments/statements than questions, and even then, the questions are usually disguised statements.
Adrian, you know I really would be interested in hearing why you reject every religion. How many do you know about for instance? Is it the same reasons for each on, and if so what? I do actually like to hear people’s stories.
Not going to ask about you hotness or otherwise though Justin. Sorry, that’s just too homoerotic for comfort. You tempter you.
Matt