Is this common place on Happy Atheist?

[Dretlin]

I have only been here for several days, and I am quick to notice this forum attracts many theists, seeking either open debate or to lambaste us.

I was wondering if this was a common occurrence? It's rather entertaining!

[McQ]

Good question. It seems to happen on and off. We normally have a fair amount of believers in the forum, which is really nice, actually. But we also seem to get our share of cranks, spammers, trolls, and troublemakers too. Most of the believers seem to be well-meaning and often are trying to educate us (or themselves).

What most don't realize is that many agnostics, atheists, and other non-believers here already have most of a lifetime of experience being believers. To me, that is the most common trait among all believers who show up here, and the most difficult to get them to understand.

Also, when certain terms aren't defined well up front (god, evolution, universe, etc.), we get some pretty sporty posts going needlessly. One of the things I'd like to see is less immediate attacking to initial posts. Lately, many of the members here have been kind of aggressive to new believers. I don't think it's a good way to start. This is, after all, the Happy Atheist Forum!

[Whitney]

I've noticed that religious holidays tend to coax them out of the woodwork...not sure why.

[kelltrill]

Maybe the get all fired up about their religion after spending half a day in church being told what to believe and how to think.

[mama_ape]

They want the brownie points of being able to bring us "back" to the other side I guess....saving our souls and all that...that gives believers a hard on quicker than porno I think

[Albino_Raptor]

It is why I came here.  

[skwurll]

What a lot of believers don't realize is that many of us (me, at least) are deconverts from religion, and have no interest in being preached to.

[pinkocommie]

What a lot of believers don't realize is that many of us (me, at least) are deconverts from religion, and have no interest in being preached to.

I was never religious, and I assure you I have absolutely no interest in being preached to either.  I can't even slightly see the truth that religious people seem to find in their religion and the preaching strikes me as equally as nonsensical as the explanations my 6 year old son comes up with for random occurrences, explanations which involve things like Megatron attacking the Earth with a portal gun or sunlight being generated by shine-robots who have a secret base in the sun.  Makes about as much sense as a guy who is his own dad dying and then coming back to life to me.

[Sophus]

I was never religious, and I assure you I have absolutely no interest in being preached to either.  I can't even slightly see the truth that religious people seem to find in their religion and the preaching strikes me as equally as nonsensical as the explanations my 6 year old son comes up with for random occurrences, explanations which involve things like Megatron attacking the Earth with a portal gun or sunlight being generated by shine-robots who have a secret base in the sun.  Makes about as much sense as a guy who is his own dad dying and then coming back to life to me.

  Ah yes! I couldn't agree more....

[elliebean]

The stories 6 year olds come up with are usually more plausible.

[Dretlin]

Good question. It seems to happen on and off. We normally have a fair amount of believers in the forum, which is really nice, actually. But we also seem to get our share of cranks, spammers, trolls, and troublemakers too. Most of the believers seem to be well-meaning and often are trying to educate us (or themselves).

What most don't realize is that many agnostics, atheists, and other non-believers here already have most of a lifetime of experience being believers. To me, that is the most common trait among all believers who show up here, and the most difficult to get them to understand.

Also, when certain terms aren't defined well up front (god, evolution, universe, etc.), we get some pretty sporty posts going needlessly. One of the things I'd like to see is less immediate attacking to initial posts. Lately, many of the members here have been kind of aggressive to new believers. I don't think it's a good way to start. This is, after all, the Happy Atheist Forum!

I am glad to see the variety. While I did notice some posts verging on trolling, most seem quite civilized. I am glad to see this, as other forums frankly lacked the foundation for discussion.

[pinkocommie]

Also, when certain terms aren't defined well up front (god, evolution, universe, etc.), we get some pretty sporty posts going needlessly. One of the things I'd like to see is less immediate attacking to initial posts. Lately, many of the members here have been kind of aggressive to new believers. I don't think it's a good way to start. This is, after all, the Happy Atheist Forum!

I've made a conscious effort to be better about that.

[McQ]

Also, when certain terms aren't defined well up front (god, evolution, universe, etc.), we get some pretty sporty posts going needlessly. One of the things I'd like to see is less immediate attacking to initial posts. Lately, many of the members here have been kind of aggressive to new believers. I don't think it's a good way to start. This is, after all, the Happy Atheist Forum!

I've made a conscious effort to be better about that.

Thank you. I think we all get our buttons pushed from time to time, and some posts just have it coming to them. I am trying to be more level as well. We're all people of good conscience here, I believe, and ultimately we have more in common that we have different. Thanks for your positive contributions here.  

[Whitney]

I think this may be the cause of our recent influx of Christians.....

http://howtoconvertatheists.info/happy- ... thing.html

It also might explain why some of them are failing at productive conversation.

 

Or perhaps it was from this retard who used HAF as a reference for that false april fools court case:  http://bromalachi.wordpress.com/2010/04 ... -holy-day/

both found searching ""happy atheist forum" christian"

[karadan]

Haha, nice find Whitney.

When trying to convert an Atheist, it’s best to ask him if he’s fully happy with his life. Do not relent until you’ve found a gap in his argument. Drill deeper and deeper into his past until you find irrefutable proof that he is secretly longing for a relationship with Jesus Christ.
As God fearing believers we cannot give up until we’ve won every last Atheist to our cause!

I was once sad because my cat died. I guess that means I need jesus in my life.

----------------------

I think many theists who come here genuinely feel bad for us and want to help because they think we will be burning for eternity after we die. The misplaced pity they show kind of makes me sad for them. They want to help us but are unable to get their heads around the fact that as atheists, we simply don't care about their religion. It must be quite a confusing subject to try to understand as a believer as they have no frame of reference. I think a few are genuinely interested in our stance on the god thing. These tend to be more liberal religious people though.

I don't have any time for the drive by spammers. I think they are just bitter and confused about their own beliefs and are acting out against their own oppression. Oppressed people have to release their pent-up anger somehow. I guess copy/paste provides this relief. Whitney usually takes care of them pretty quickly though