1. Please stop hedging when you mention our lack of belief. Atheists are atheists.
We're not "self-described," nor do we
"claim" to be atheists. You don't want us to
start saying things like, "This is my friend,
Julie. She calls herself a Christian," do you?
Then man up, brace yourself, and use the a-
word all by itself. Practice in front of the
mirror if you need to. You'll know you have
the proper calm, factual tone when the glass
doesn't shatter.

2. Please stop capitalizing the word
"atheist." Unless it comes at the
beginning of the sentence, you're just
wasting ink. We know you're probably
trying to be polite, but it doesn't work that
way. There is no guy named Athe.


3. Some of you keep insisting that we're
angry at your god. And then you laugh at
us for being so silly – being angry at
someone we don't even believe in. Well,
you're right. That would be pretty darned
silly. That's why we don't do it. Are you
annoyed at Zeus? Do you have a grudge
against the faerie folk? Of course not. It's
the same for us – how could we feel anger
or hatred toward a non-existent being?
(Some of his followers cheese us off, but
that's another story.)

4. Stop saying that deep down inside, we
really do believe in your deity. Belief in
the kind of guy who can create an entire
universe with the force of a few well-turned
phrases is not the sort of secret that fits
neatly into a back pocket, as it were. If we
thought this fellow was real, we'd be the
first to know. And people don't tend to keep
that particular nugget of information to
themselves. Ever notice that?

5. Please understand that "You're such a
nice person! I can't believe you're an
atheist!" is not a compliment. More
importantly, please understand that we
understand that. Believe me, every single
one of us has considered replying, "And
you're so smart – I can't believe you're a
Christian!" How about we all agree to not go
there?
6. The only thing all occupants of foxholes
have in common is access to weapons
and a willingness to fight. It might be
the better part of wisdom not to provoke
them by insisting that you know more about
their beliefs or lack thereof than they do.
How can our lives have any purpose
without god? One word: chocolate.

7. It's sweet of you to worry about us,
really it is. But it's not terribly helpful to
tell us that we should go ahead and
believe in your particular faith "just in case."
Just in case what? In case a deity who can't
distinguish heartfelt faith from apple-
polishing affectation happens to be running
the show?

8. Let's make a deal: we promise to stop
asking that stupid question about
whether God can make a rock so big he
can't lift it. In exchange, please stop saying,
"Well, God doesn't believe in atheists!" and
then laughing like Shakespeare came back
to life just long enough to write one last comedy.

9. Please quit asking us how or why we
"turned our backs" on God. The whole
point of being an atheist is that we
don't see any reason to think we did any
such thing.

10. Anyone who was born in an English-
speaking country and is more than
two minutes old has heard about God
and Jesus. It's annoying when you assume
that atheists just haven't heard enough
about them, and that's why we're still
atheists. Many of us have done extensive
research on the subject of religion. Many of
us credit our atheism to exactly that.

11. Please stop telling your atheist
acquaintances that you'll miss us when
you get to heaven. No, you won't. If
you turn out to be right, you'll be in heaven
– the place where, by definition, people
don't feel sad. And if we're right – well,
guess who won't be feeling much of
anything?

12. If you've ever said, "You can't prove
there isn't a God" – first of all,
congratulations. You're officially four
years old. Second, we never said we could.
But until you can show some serious proof
that there is one, we see no reason to
believe. There's nothing wrong with taking
a leap of faith, provided you acknowledge
that's what you're doing. Atheists simply
prefer other forms of exercise.

13. So far as being a Christian is
concerned, you're either a member of
a persecuted minority, or part of a
solid majority. Figure out which one of
those is the case, and then live with it. You
don't get to switch back and forth
depending on whether you think you can
smother dissent better at any given moment
by either whining that everybody's always
being mean to you, or bellowing that this is
your house and you make the rules.

14. Speaking of persecuted minorities:
Christianity used to be one. Did you
fight your way to freedom of faith just
so you could treat nonbelievers the same
way they used to treat you?

Imagine

ichommy:
1. Please stop hedging when you mention our lack of belief. Atheists are atheists.
We're not "self-described," nor do we
"claim" to be atheists. You don't want us to
start saying things like, "This is my friend,
Julie. She calls herself a Christian," do you?
Then man up, brace yourself, and use the a-
word all by itself. Practice in front of the
mirror if you need to. You'll know you have
the proper calm, factual tone when the glass
doesn't shatter.

2. Please stop capitalizing the word
"atheist." Unless it comes at the
beginning of the sentence, you're just
wasting ink. We know you're probably
trying to be polite, but it doesn't work that
way. There is no guy named Athe.


3. Some of you keep insisting that we're
angry at your god. And then you laugh at
us for being so silly – being angry at
someone we don't even believe in. Well,
you're right. That would be pretty darned
silly. That's why we don't do it. Are you
annoyed at Zeus? Do you have a grudge
against the faerie folk? Of course not. It's
the same for us – how could we feel anger
or hatred toward a non-existent being?
(Some of his followers cheese us off, but
that's another story.)

4. Stop saying that deep down inside, we
really do believe in your deity. Belief in
the kind of guy who can create an entire
universe with the force of a few well-turned
phrases is not the sort of secret that fits
neatly into a back pocket, as it were. If we
thought this fellow was real, we'd be the
first to know. And people don't tend to keep
that particular nugget of information to
themselves. Ever notice that?

5. Please understand that "You're such a
nice person! I can't believe you're an
atheist!" is not a compliment. More
importantly, please understand that we
understand that. Believe me, every single
one of us has considered replying, "And
you're so smart – I can't believe you're a
Christian!" How about we all agree to not go
there?
6. The only thing all occupants of foxholes
have in common is access to weapons
and a willingness to fight. It might be
the better part of wisdom not to provoke
them by insisting that you know more about
their beliefs or lack thereof than they do.
How can our lives have any purpose
without god? One word: chocolate.

7. It's sweet of you to worry about us,
really it is. But it's not terribly helpful to
tell us that we should go ahead and
believe in your particular faith "just in case."
Just in case what? In case a deity who can't
distinguish heartfelt faith from apple-
polishing affectation happens to be running
the show?

8. Let's make a deal: we promise to stop
asking that stupid question about
whether God can make a rock so big he
can't lift it. In exchange, please stop saying,
"Well, God doesn't believe in atheists!" and
then laughing like Shakespeare came back
to life just long enough to write one last comedy.

9. Please quit asking us how or why we
"turned our backs" on God. The whole
point of being an atheist is that we
don't see any reason to think we did any
such thing.

10. Anyone who was born in an English-
speaking country and is more than
two minutes old has heard about God
and Jesus. It's annoying when you assume
that atheists just haven't heard enough
about them, and that's why we're still
atheists. Many of us have done extensive
research on the subject of religion. Many of
us credit our atheism to exactly that.

11. Please stop telling your atheist
acquaintances that you'll miss us when
you get to heaven. No, you won't. If
you turn out to be right, you'll be in heaven
– the place where, by definition, people
don't feel sad. And if we're right – well,
guess who won't be feeling much of
anything?

12. If you've ever said, "You can't prove
there isn't a God" – first of all,
congratulations. You're officially four
years old. Second, we never said we could.
But until you can show some serious proof
that there is one, we see no reason to
believe. There's nothing wrong with taking
a leap of faith, provided you acknowledge
that's what you're doing. Atheists simply
prefer other forms of exercise.

13. So far as being a Christian is
concerned, you're either a member of
a persecuted minority, or part of a
solid majority. Figure out which one of
those is the case, and then live with it. You
don't get to switch back and forth
depending on whether you think you can
smother dissent better at any given moment
by either whining that everybody's always
being mean to you, or bellowing that this is
your house and you make the rules.

14. Speaking of persecuted minorities:
Christianity used to be one. Did you
fight your way to freedom of faith just
so you could treat nonbelievers the same
way they used to treat you?

14) Its wrong to mistreat someone for being an atheist.

13) Okay.

12) Click on my profile and go to my thread "Three Arguments For God's Existence". You can attempt to rebut the points there.

11) Sadness exists in heaven. No one said heaven will wipe away ones memories so theyll know some folks didn't make it.

10) Extensive isn't necessarily accurate and accuracy of research is what matters.

9) If you believe there no God, u've turned your back on Him. It's a way of referring to your atheism. You don't have to like it.

God believes in atheists. Jesus still saves atheists, deists and pagans

7) Okay.

6) It is purposeless since in the atheist worldview there no chance for eternal life. Humanity can die never to exist again. Not so in Christianity.

5) Okay.

4) You're bring too proud.

3) Many atheists are angry at people who believe in God and the belief in God. They are also angry with the person of God described in te Bible especially.

2) I gladly follow this advice.