Most of the religious people I know, of all persuasions (except perhaps pagans and witches), desperately want others to join their religion. They might not be as zealous as Mormons, but I'd say many of them hope, secretly or not, that others will adopt their beliefs and be saved or changed.

Why do you think this is?
And second, atheists, do you wish in some way that other people would also become atheists or not believe in God? Is this only because many religions harm people, or do you truly wish that they would change their personal views on the supernatural/the divine? (I am not comparing atheism to a religion here, just to be clear. I know they are not analogous.) If you're religious yourself--do you wish (like personally wish, not just preaching or actively seeking followers) that other people followed your religion too?

I am agnostic and pagan. For my part, I can safely say that I do not care in any way shape or form what anyone believes about God, Buddha, Confucius, Krishna, Jesus, Mary, Allah, the Goddess, Zeus, Thor, rune readings, tarot cards, or anybody or anything else. I don't care if anyone else becomes pagan and I don't understand why anybody cares if someone does or doesn't believe in a god or a divine force. Which is partly why I'm asking the question, because I'm very interested in other perspectives on it.

As long as it stays out of the legislative process, I could'nt care less. Within reason. I am open to differing views, I don't know everything, but I might argue, sometimes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2013 12:52AM by ladell.

What I wish for is a world without fundies. And the reason is not personal annoyance but their eagerness to drag the world into WW3 or implement sharia (wether christian or muslim) or murdering people opposed to their views. Other than that I don't really care.

Atheist here (only since May, though!!) -- yes, I want that quite a lot. I wish that people could see the world I do. Even with RfM, I feel alone and misunderstood. The forums just don't provide that essential face-to-face interaction, or physical interaction that comes with hugging. I want to feel accepted for who I am, and what I believe, instead of judged. I don't like this loneliness. I want to be able to spill my heart out with zero fear of being judged. I want others to ask me personal questions that make me feel wanted and respected.

I think I've evolved from the Anger stage straight to Depression. However, I don't think the stages of grief quite apply to leaving the church... I'm psyched for when I can finally reach acceptance. I think my current NEED to be accepted by others (and thus my "need to have everybody become atheist") will eventually pass.

[Also, I want an atheist politician so that my legal rights to be protected in a way that a radical religious person would not...]

As a TBM, I never had that much desire for people to have that same belief as me. I wanted people to understand my beliefs, and to respect them (just as I did to theirs), but I was in a tiny minority where I lived, and it didn't bother me much. I was happy when others joined the church, but I wasn't particularly desperate or anything.

As an ex-mormon, I'm pretty much the same. I want other people (especially TBMs) to understand my lack of belief and respect it, but I'm not that fussed if they stay TBM themselves.

But on both sides, I think there's also a lot of people that desperately want people to all share their views. We see it happen. People on here twist statistics to make the church seem much smaller than it really is, and on the other end TBMs twist statistics to make the church seen bigger than it really is.

I suppose it depends on your personality. But I would be fine being the only person in the world that had my beliefs, as long as other people wouldn't give me a hard time about it.

The fundie attitude about skipping this life and moving on to paradise as they see it scares me big time. These groups are many cards short of a full deck and I worry and don't trust them and also do not want to ever be subject to their view and control.

So yes, quite recently I have begun to feel more of the need to share my view of atheism resulting from this impending fear of what could happen and could I possibly make a difference.

Religion fills a need in many people and I'm fine with that. What bothers me is fanaticism and the harm controlling cults do to members and society.