Why does the world hate atheists?

Answer 1

Because people (mostly other religious people) think atheists worship Satan or they have no morals. Or that atheists hate god (how can you hate something you don’t believe in?) or religious people.

None of those things are true. Atheists do not worship Satan (we don’t believe in devils or demons); we don’t hate and we’re not mad at God; and we most certainly have a strong moral compass as we base our morals upon empathy and doing no harm. We don’t need fear of punishment to do good, we do good because it’s the right thing to do.

Answer 2

The majority of Americans are Christian, and, with typical American stubborness, they refuse to accept anything else.

Answer

Xenophobic generalisations aside ("American stubbornness"), Europe was in a very similar situation 500 years ago, and most Muslim societies are in the same position. For some reasonm the US appears to have moved forward less quickly in terms of education and tolerance. Their society is also obsessed by racial issues, which is quite puzzling to many people in other parts of the world.

One does wonder what the chances would be of a black, disabled, lesbian atheist running for President. She could be clearly the best candidate in all areas, but she wouldn't get the votes. Why? I wish I knew. The world would be a better place if we could answer and address these sorts of issues.

Answer

A lot of the fear of atheists actually stems from the Cold War since Russia was painted as atheist and evil and something to be feared. A lot of older people still feel this way, however, among the younger generations, around 35 years of age and younger, there is about a 30% rate of people who are atheist/agnostic or non-religious.

Answer 3

One reason theists generally dislike atheists is because they don't want their children to have a choice of becoming one.

Answer:

Atheists are not universally hated. Many are well respected members of the community and are loved by their fellow inhabitants. Not all theists hate atheists, some see that each individual has the right to make their on mind up on matters of personal importance. Some people may live in tight knit and limited societies that do hate atheists and assume that everyone in the world shares a like opinionon that topic - but this is mistaken.

Answer:

In some parts of the world, this is a real problem. In other parts of the world, it is not. For example, in Sweden, most people are not religious. There are high percentages of non-religious people in most of Western Europe. The USA is an anomaly in the West, in that so many people there are religious - and also in the intolerance shown to the non-religious in some (but by no means all) communities.

Why is the hatred or intolerance there? You'd probably have to ask a sociologist or a psychologist for a reliable answer, but I personally would say it is fear. It is human nature to fear and attack people who are different to the norm. Many people rise above this, but some do not. people who are classed as "outside the norm" are to be feared, hated, attacked, and blamed for all sorts of things.

Religion is just one of many things which some people consider to be "the norm". In the Middle Ages, many Christians attacked Jews. There were uncountable murders, pogroms, and other brutal acts - mostly sanctioned or at least tolerated by the governments of the time. Jews were "others", and were treated as such by intolerant people.

So you can easily change your question to "why are gays/muslims/immigrants/women/ginger-haired people hated" and get much the same answer. Intolerance of people who are different is a sad fact about human society.

If one actually goes to the effort of meeting and talking to the people that one classes as "other", one usually realises that they are.. well.. human. If you want to fight the hatred, then pick a group that is hated by the people arround you. Then seek them out and talk to them yourself and make up your own mind after a few encounters.

Don't pick "gang members" or the "Klu Klux Klan" as a group, though. Some groups are hated for good reason, and because of their actions, not because of how they were born or what their religious beliefs are. Pick a group who are hated for no good reason that you can see. If you're in the USA, I'd urge you to start with Muslims: atheists get a bad deal, but Muslims are getting a really bad time right now.

Answer 4

Opinion:

A lot of theists (the world majority) find Atheism threatening because atheists dare to question ideas mostly accepted on faith, without proof. This can be frightening to those whose perception of life hangs on these faith based propositions. Lashing out and back as well as silencing the questions is one tactic

Opinion:

There is no real proof that "the world" hates atheism. As a start most summaries of religious beliefs in the world indicate that about a quarter of the worlds population does not follow a religion is atheist or agnostic. Of the remainder of the world's population it is hard to have the position that they all have the same opinion on any topic. Even more so, hate being such a strong position, it is hard to believe that most people would "hate" anyone for an opinion of how they run their own lives.