From: Steve.Hayes@f20.n7101.z5.fidonet.org (Steve Hayes)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: is it necessary to hate?
Date: 19 Dec 92 10:11:00 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 5:7101/20 - Unisa Editorial, Pretoria

During a discussion about is it necessary to hate? on 12-15-92  23:27 
 mccall3080@iscsvax.uni.edu said to All

 mc> but I will respect them. I somehow thought that the majority of
 mc> atheists would be the same way, but I see many people who find it
 mc> necessary to go out of their way to bash people with religions.  Why is
 mc> it necessary to do that?  I know that it gets annoying when people with
 mc> religions won't leave you alone and it is easy to retaliate, but it is
 mc> not doing you or other atheist any good.  You are just proving to
 mc> people with religion how irrational and full of anger you really are.
 mc> So this is my problem and the only think I ask of you, fellow
 mc> atheists, is that you think before you flame.  Since we are a minority,
 mc> everything you say and do will reflect upon all atheists.  Maybe this
 mc> isn't the way it should be, but it is the way it is.

Thank you for those comments, Melissa. 

I am a Christian, and moderator of a Christian conference on Fidonet, 
where a couple of atheists have been making propaganda for their cause.
Well, not really - only one of them is. The other is asking questions. 
But it's all fairly amicable, and when the propagandist one crossposts
too much stuff from here, I ask him to think what the response here would
be if I crossposted a lot of fundamentalist tracts.

I work in a department of 50 people, and some are Christians, some are
atheists, and some belong to religions I don't even know the names of.
The one I get on with best is actually the boss, who is an atheist. He
doesn't mind if I occasionally tell him the Christian viewpoint on things,
to explain why I think what I do. Is the exchange of ideas harmful?

I have come across tolerant and intolerant Christians, and tolerant and 
intolerant atheists. Not that I think tolerance arises from a wishy-washy 
"it doesn't matter what you believe" kind of thing. But as a Christian 
I believe that there is a difference between evangelism and proselytism.
Evangelism is telling someone good news. Proselytism is trying to recruit
someone to your movement by hook or by crook. You can't ram good news 
down someone's throat, because if you try, whatever else happens, the 
good news will be perceived as bad news, and thus will no longer be good.

I would expect Christians generally to be a bit more assertive about 
what they believe than atheists. Why? Because I think Christians have
something more in common. What atheists have in common is something they 
DON'T have, and therefore one could expect far more variety. But both
Christians and atheists are human beings, and some are authoritarian
and feel a need to impose their views on others, while others are more 
laid back. I don't judge all atheists by the ones who are irrational 
and full of anger - because I know plenty of Christians who are also 
irrational and full of anger. It just shows that you are human like
us. I don't think it reflects on all atheists, and people like you 
are around to demonstrate it, for which I thank God (oops!)

 
... Sudden prayers make God jump

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