what would you do?

My experience tells me that many people who share my faith say, "I'll pray for you" in order to make another person feel inferior. The OP is comfortable with who he/she is and doesn't go for that. I will never pray for anyone. It makes no sense to me.

I agree, it seems that those who don't believe in god or who believe in many gods are less quick to judge or ridicule others' beliefs than the "believers" are to judge them. That always bothered me somewhat.

i find that very true. i have no problem with anyone else's faith or religion, unless it affects me. but i never try to dissuade someone from going to church, why do they ask me to go to church? do they think that being an atheist was a snap decision and i haven't though it through? i dont attack religion and i try not to let religion attack me. there is a huge bias towards religion though, most multiple choice boxes complete leave off atheist as a religious choice, forcing you to choose "other" when in fact its 'nothing'

Oddly enough, your girlfriend's mother probably feels the same about you... she probably wishes you'd "get it"... that's human nature. We all have our own beliefs, and part of being a human being means that we have the right to our own beliefs and the right to "not believe" whatever we want. I realize your dilemma and imagine it can be hard at times, but life is never easy when it comes to differences in beliefs. I hope you can find the strength within yourself to be tolerant of your peers wanting to help you. Sometimes it is because they truly care about you, and that's a good thing. On the other hand, if it is that they are trying to force their beliefs on you, it's okay to step up and say what you feel. Sometimes that's what it takes to get people to stop something you dislike. Good luck to you! :D

thanks for your reply. the weirdest one to deal with is my girlfriends mother. she's very devout and always wants to pray with me. i have made it clear that i do not believe, and yet she still wants to pray with me. i dont take offense as much as i just wish she'd get it. thanks for your response and for not proselytizing to me

Good point!

man, i didn't know god was lost, i should start a search party.. i think people are funny and there is too much focus on religion, i just started this convo to see if i would get the people who didnt' read it and start preaching at me, and boom, i did! thanks for responding.

Well said. It always amazes me how much "believers" try to force others into prayer and belief and the so-called "non-believers" rarely, if ever, try to force others NOT to pray or believe. In my opinion, the judgment all comes from the side of the "believers" (who really aren't supposed to judge, right?) Interesting.

Yeah. Whenever someone does know that I am not a believer in god like you guys are, then I would rather prefer them to just leave me alone when it comes to anything that deals with god. We all have the right to choose what we wish to believe in. I'm used to hearing that god really exists, since I have been hearing the same kind of thing all my life, especially when I used to be a christian. Since I am not anymore, because I started to question the teachings of church, and that grew more intense. If they want to pray for me for whatever reason, then fine, they can do it as much as they want. But it really irritates me when the believers of god tries to get me wrong about me believing that god does not exist, you know?

i tend to say thank you, but when they want me to pray for them or pray with them, it gets a lil iffy,

and its not that i dont believe in prayers, i dont believe in a 'god' .. so u can pray but i dont believe anyone will answer

it depends on their intention during praying. as noted above, i'm in a lesbian relationship and people want to pray for me to find my man... UMMMMMMMMMMMMM no

i could not withhold my beliefs, if my family doesn't respect them, and some don't, then i dont see them, it is who i am. they can either accept me as me..its up to them

i hate when my girlfriend asks me to be believe in god, its not something i'm ever going to change so she really shouldn't hold out for that one! sometimes i wonder if that will be a long term problem..

you aren't proud to be an atheist? maybe you are agnostic, one who wonders and questions and has no firm belief? i always had a problem with organized religion and could never find that main characteristic that others have, faith, but that's just me. my girlfriend is a christian, i am an atheist and i make no apologies

when someone sneezes i say salud, which means health, its all pretty comical, if you look at the origin of why we say something when someone sneezes, http://health.howstuffworks.com/sneezing.htm Many people have become accustomed to saying "bless you" or "gesundheit" when someone sneezes. No one says anything when someone coughs, blows their nose or burps, so why do sneezes get special treatment? What do those phrases actually mean, anyway? Wishing someone well after they sneeze probably originated thousands of years ago. The Romans would say "Jupiter preserve you" or "Salve," which meant "good health to you," and the Greeks would wish each other "long life." The phrase "God bless you" is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great, who uttered it in the sixth century during a bubonic plague epidemic (sneezing is an obvious symptom of one form of the plague). The exchangeable term "gesundheit" comes from Germany, and it literally means "health." The idea is that a sneeze typically precedes illness. It entered the English language in the early part of the 20th century, brought to the United States by German-speaking immigrants. Virtually every country around the globe has its own way of wishing sneezers well. People in Arabic countries say, "Alhamdulillah," which means, "praise be to God." Hindus say, "Live!" or "Live well!" Some countries have special sneezing responses for children. In Russia, after children are given the traditional response, "bud zdorov" ("be healthy"), they are also told "rosti bolshoi" ("grow big"). When a child sneezes in China, he or she will hear "bai sui," which means, "may you live 100 years." For the most part, the various sneeze responses originated from ancient superstitions. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" would stop the devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person's body. There was also the misconception that the heart momentarily stops during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life. We now know that sneezing is a reflex action and is most often the sign of something relatively benign, such as a cold or allergy. A sneeze also can be provoked by being outside in the sunlight or from smelling a strong odor. Still, we persist in the custom of saying "bless you" or "gesundheit," mainly out of habit and common courtesy.

see , you didn't read my post. i am an athiest, i dont believe in your god and do not appreciate that you cannot respect my decision. i respect yours, i would never attempt to change your beliefs, i think that they are truly personal and between you and your god. you need to respect people's choices and just back off.

Right on, DV. Respect doesn't always project respect. You are doing right. Better than some who proclaim to be Christian. Christ spoke. When people didn't listen, he walked away. He didn't follow people in mylot world and tell them how bad they were for not following. Do what Jesus would do. I have found better minded people in the minds of athiests than in the minds of Christians. Condsider that. Counter if you can.

i think people are funny, i didn't ask god to believe in me. and i think a big problem i have with religion is the need to convert others. if you break down all major religions into their fundamentals, truly down to their bare bones, they are VERY similar, yet no one will come out and say so. by freeing myself from religion, i'm able to take each individual on its own basis and debate it without rhetoric..

How are they pushing religion on you? Just because someone says they are going to pray for you does not mean they are pushing their religion on you. There all kinds of religions out there and all kinds of prayers by these religions. If someone says they are going to pray fo ryou, it is showing they care for you. Otherwise they would not want to pray for you.

i say bless you, even though i dont believe that the soul leaves the body when you sneeze and thats the original reason people said bless you during a sneeze. i'm talking about people pushing their religion on you.. i dont go out of my way to push atheism on someone and i'd ask that some one not push their christianity on me.. a lil more respect for peoples beliefs

i think allowing someone to pray for you is annoying. why should i have someone pray for me? i dont believe. why should they be allowed to force their beliefs on me? i'm just wondering, not trying to start a religious riot

I believe other people forcing their beliefs on people is extremely annoying. But, on the other hand, if you do not believe in prayer how is them praying for you forcing their beliefs? They would be more alike to forcing an empty thought upon you. Do you get a boiling feeling on your skin when they pray? In that case it would definately be annoying.

see, this is exactly what i'm talking about. this is a discussion about how to respond to unsolcited advice regarding my lack of religious preference. this is not about your religion or what you think is right, its about no pushing your beliefs on someone else..

Not pushing anything on you at all. Just my opinion. Like I said, either of us could be wrong. And we all make our own choices.

it cant hurt anything for someone to pray for you even if you dont believe just say ok i appreciate what your doing and go on about your buisiness, or you can just have an open mind and think about what it will be like if you are wrong and people really do go to hell cuz that would suck so thats why i believe (id rather not take a chance)

As a follow up. No pun intended for those who are believers. I respect your beliefs no matter what they are. Whatever I said might have come from some deeper thing that I hold on to. I have had my share of conceptions and revelations in my own way. All that is my opinion and doesn't necessarily mean I am attempting to thwart anyone. I regularly stay out of these kinds of discussions because I might just say something to offend some people and I totally hate that. I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Lol. But all the same, Happy MyLotting!!! I still believe the world should be a happier place if we put down all our differences and have that positve energy inside. It's all cool bein' good to everyone.

no you haven't offended me, nor have you read the post to which you responded, it clearly stated that i wanted opinions on how you would react, not your personal opinion on god or me. how did i attempt to make god worshipers mad? i asked a question and left god out of it..

i did read it and whats the best way to get an opinion but to say that you did not want to hear what most of the people have to say about religion and not to flame you i agree on the not flameing you part but plz dont say i did not read it if i did not word my self properly sorry i just think you wanted a topic that would get a rise out of people and this one does.

how does my question cause issues? if people are secure in their beliefs then my questions should not affect them in any way. having true faith means that you can support your view without fear, because you know your faith is valid. asking how as an atheist i should respond does not challenge their beliefs in any way.

I LOVE IT! just start speaking in tongues whenever they get in your face or start to pray..

aye, brother! Tongues for the Win :D

shouldn't they take care not to offend my feelings too? or does my lack of faith put me beneath their needs? its just a question, playing devils advocate here..