Top 10 Things Atheists Need to Understand About Religious People

This is such a terrible misconception that desperately needs to be addressed! Some people think that because kids are raised to be religious, they are therefore brainwashed. I understand how atheists have come to that conclusion, but it's simply not true.

The definition of brainwashed is "to make (someone) adopt radically different beliefs by using systematic and often forcible pressure." From the outside, it may appear that this is what's happening within religious groups, but think about it. Are children raised by evolutionist atheists brainwashed because they share the same beliefs as their parents? Of course not! Why is it any different for religious people? If you think that all religious people are brainwashed, then according to your logic, everyone is brainwashed!

Now, don't get me wrong. There are many religious groups and cults that brainwash their followers. But it isn't fair to label all or even the majority of religious people as brainwashed unless you are willing to acknowledge that atheists would also have to be brainwashed for that idea to be true.

Religious people view atheists the same way they view other religions - just another worldview that differs from their own.

We're supposed to love everyone anyway.

There are so many different beliefs even in the same religions that I get tired of being grouped into the same category.

Everyone reaches their own conclusions about life.

It seems that because the majority of us rejected one scientific theory, people think we reject science as a whole, which isn't true. Science is the only way to explain the natural world, and very few people actually reject science.

We simply rely on it less than atheists because we also believe in supernatural things. Science can only explain the natural parts of the universe.

My science teacher in 5th grade is religious, so not all religious people hate science.

Now more than ever, religious people and atheists need to realize what they have in common and start working together instead of constantly fighting.

Religious people and atheists are compatible.

I am not against homosexual marriage being legalized, and I wouldn't describe Christians against it as being evil at all. In fact, I somewhat agree that homosexuality is in some ways immoral. However, I do not think that barring people from being married to those they love in a healthy relationship is loving or firmly based on biblical truth.

Christians today far too often make the mistake of believing that we must still follow the ancient ways of the Jews, but Christians are actually called to follow the ways of Jesus.

A lot of atheists think that they are smarter than religious people or that they are more scientific, and that is false. The vast majority of great scientists in history (Albert Einstein, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, etc.) were religious.

Simply because you deny God doesn't mean you are smart for arriving at that conclusion.

Many religious people are firm believers in evolution. I personally do not believe in it, but evolution is not simply an atheistic belief.

Atheists have this idea that religious people want everyone to share their beliefs and will stop at nothing to make that a reality. This isn't true.

The vast majority of us couldn't care less what you think.

I'm a Christian, yet I don't force my religion on other people. It's their beliefs, their freedom, and their choices.

I mean absolutely no disrespect to conservatives with this addition. It's just that most religious people in the public eye are either terrorists or conservatives.

You don't have to be conservative to be religious.

I'm a Christian, and believe me, I'm not a conservative, nor am I a liberal.

Wicca and Buddhism are popular. Scientology is also popular with some famous people.