Reader Stella shared some thoughts on the “Joining the Amish after 50” post:
Perhaps I’m an unusual atheist but I’ve always admired the Amish philosophy and lifestyle, despite lacking the necessary Faith Trigger to join them. However, I was brought up by atheist parents and taught to respect all genuine engagements with life’s questions, religious or not.
While I’m content with my atheism, as well as with my family and career, I thought I’d mention that you don’t have to be religious to lament today’s lack of ethics, close communities or awareness of life’s deeper significance, or to have serious reservations about the corruptive influence of technology.
Values based on compassion, humility and plain living are always admirable, not just for our individual psychological welfare but the health of societies and the planet. And, of course, whether there’s a God or not, it’s possible to live in a similarly plain life without joining the Amish.
I think Stella makes an interesting point. The values she mentions are pretty important to society functioning, whether a society of atheists or believers. This seems particularly poignant with London, and other UK cities, burning this week.
Amish and atheists
Stella’s thoughts on Amish and plain values made me think about something else. What do Amish think about atheists?
I guess that’s a question for the individual. I’ve written a bit on Amish thoughts on other religions. To generalize, Amish have a healthily humble view of other faiths. The simplified version: there are different ways of getting to Christ, and who are we to condemn yours.
As deep believers, I think Amish would hope that atheists would eventually find a way to God. Most wouldn’t try too hard to convince the atheist though. Amish don’t proselytize, for the most part. At least not in the way we tend to think of it.
I’ve known some atheists, and had a couple as friends. They aren’t too common. Less than 2% of the US population call themselves atheists (much higher in Europe, though).
Some come across as contemptuous of religion. Others, like Stella, are respectful of people of faith. For their part I’ve found atheists are turned off when religious people try to “change their minds”.
Atheists among us
Atheism has entered the public square in recent years, with prominent atheists publishing books and speaking out about their non-faith. It seems to be part of the greater discussion on religious tolerance which has emerged over the past decade.
I remember reading something on this during the last presidential elections. It was regarding candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon.
The thrust of the piece was: yes, as a culture we could probably accept a Mormon president (we once asked the same thing about Catholic presidents, then elected JFK)–but could Americans accept an atheist one?
It’s an interesting question. Whether we apply it to our presidents or our neighbors.
America is a Christian-majority nation. I think most Christians pretty readily tolerate different strains of Christianity, even if they don’t agree with them. We also accept most non-Christian faiths. But I’m not so sure about atheism.
Actually, I don’t think people think about it much. Since atheists are so uncommon, I think your average person finds them a bit “weird”, for lack of a better word. And when I say atheist, I don’t mean people who simply don’t attend a church. I mean those who hold the belief that there is no God.
I think people find something deeply unsettling about that. Even though they might be upstanding citizens, full of the values that Stella shares above.
What do you think?
Photo credit: Billy Frank Alexander
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59 responses to What do Amish think about atheists?
I would think the percentage of Americans who are atheist is most likely higher than 2% because most of them wont admit it. Richard from www.Amishstorys.com
I think it needs to be remembered that the Amish are people
of both individual and communal faith. I think one of the main
reasons that the Amish have been able for hundreds of years to continue to live their values in American society is because
they are part of a communal faith.
I agree, the Amish have mastered the art of communal/corporate worship, the encourage each other within their faith and that bond has kept their faith alive for a very long time.
Atheism
As a Christian I am deeply concerned for anyone who does not believe in God. We live in such a fallen world, a world where so many people are more concerned about the “things” they have, than the condition of their heart or destination of their soul.
With all that is happening around us (i.e. tsunami’s,earth quakes, random tornadoes) we should be asking ourselves what is going on in our world, not wondering how we can get more credit to buy more stuff we don’t really need!
Regarding the last comment about some Americans not admitting to being atheists. I am so grateful to have God in my life, and feel that is is a tremendous blessing to be a Christian, that I would gladly shout it from the roof tops. So…this begs the question: If people who are atheists are proud of it, why do they not admit to being it?? Make you think doesn’t it?
What do Amish think about atheists?
Atheist Soldier
Some are in positions where admitting it can lead to complications in jobs, families and friends.
I was brought up in an LDS family. I grew up with good morals, but that’s all it was to me. learning to be a good person. Whether I believe in a god or not.
Admitting I was atheist lost me my family and friends from church.
As a soldier- I do more staff duty/cq, I clean more, get harassed. I was arrested/punished. for declining sundays worship in basic training and AIT. Though it shouldnt happen, and was reported, many others get that same treatment. I’m underexagerating.
Makes you think why they don’t admit it huh?
What do Amish think about atheists?
Sorry
No, it doesn’t make me think when I see the fact atheists don’t admit it. We live in such a backwards world where unsubstantiated religious claims dictate our lives that to admit to being an atheist is akin to welcoming religious zealots to belittle your thoughts. Also, I am assuming most who are called ‘atheist’ are really agnostic. Furthermore, assuming that atheists are proud of a thought system they hold is relatively asinine, as you have no clue what these people think or feel. As an agnostic, I admire the Amish, yet despise other religions…
What do Amish think about atheists?
Atheists in the Family
I have several dear relatives who are avowed atheists/agnostics. Fortunately, they tolerate me.
As a former Evangelical and Plain Christian, and a present atheist, there are a number of reasons why we won’t admit it. It doesn’t take much actual thought either, just some basic understanding of the influence of religion in the US.
I, for one, don’t admit it to most people because I will certainly be excluded from my mostly Christian homeschooling community and my children will have no friends. They already get enough garbage for not being religious enough and for reading the wrong sorts of books–fantasy fiction. Even when my family was Christian, they were scorned for their reading habits.
Also, atheists are considered evil and untrustworthy to most Christians, if not Americans in general. It’s nearly impossible to be elected to US office if you don’t claim a believe in a god/God, and most Americans see atheists as the least trustworthy group and the group they’d least like to see their child marry
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=1786422&page=1
Lastly, I will likely lose my job if it’s known that I’m not a theist. (And my job doesn’t have any sort of faith requirement–but it’s a private school with a high Christian enrollment rate, and I bet the parents/administrators would throw me under the bus the first chance they got if they found I wasn’t a believer). I’d like to come out as an atheist in my larger life, as a writer, but if I do that it will certainly get back to my bosses.
The fact that Christians can be so bold and proclaim their joy in their god but that atheists must cringe and fear for the well-beings of their families, jobs, and children is an excellent example of the privileging of religion in this country.
(Think about it, wanna get out of jail, profess a sudden coming to a god! If you claimed that you had become an atheist in jail and that it had made you a better person, you’d be a laughing stock. And yet I know many atheists I’d rather trust over serious Christians.)
Not a knock on Christians in general, but hopefully this answers Shelley’s question.
What do Amish think about atheists?
I wonder if there really are different ways of getting to Christ. Do all roads lead to salvation? If Jesus is the only way, then what about those who do not believe on Him but have another gospel?
Craig, Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father by by me.
This leaves us with two options: True or false?
If it is true, Christianity is an “exclusive” religion-there are no other ways. If it is false, then either Jesus was a a false teacher or seriously mistaken in at least some of His teachings.
In other words, either Jesus was the Son of God, and we must swallow His teachings “hook, line, and sinker,” or He is not to be trusted and is to be rejected. After all, if He was wrong about Himself being the only way back to God, then you cant really trust anything else He said either.
So we are left with “take all or take none” option.
Sure, we can pick and choose out of His teachings what we like, and reject what we don’t like. But in that case we are not a disciple of Jesus, but rather a disciple of our own mind (or maybe someone else’s mind).
It is a decision we are all confronted with: to believe Jesus or not believe Him. Mike
What do Amish think about atheists?
Primitive Christianity: I completely agree, but there are some religious groups that believe its takes more than faith in Jesus. They also believe a lifetime of good works is necessary.
Or whatever fallible man recorded his words, or transcribed them in later years and often to other languages, misquoted Jesus.
primitive christianinty
Mike: Mithra was born of a virgin, said i am the way and the light, walked on water, was resurrected from the dead after 3 days, has a birthday of December 25, performed miracles, and preceded the Christ myth by 1200 years.
Look at Horus, a similar myth.
See also Dionysus, a similar myth.
See also Krishna, a simlar myth.
All three predate the Christ-myth by hundreds of years.
You will be held accountable for your children. Wouldn’t it be better to be a christian and be wrong than a non christian and be wrong? Only two ways! Heaven or hell. No in between. Lissa
Richard–please forgive my pedantry, but most atheists really don’t “hold a belief that there is no God”.
“Atheists don’t believe in a god,” is a better way to say it: Let me explain why.
If you use “hold a belief” for a non-belief, then almost all people would “hold” millions of beliefs. Now, I’m making assumptions here, but I think I could say, you don’t believe in leprechauns, pink attack-whales, or three-headed Elvis babies. However, we don’t say you “hold a belief that there are no: leprechauns, pink attack-whales, or three-headed Elvis babies” Then, everything you don’t believe in becomes a “belief you hold.”
To “hold a belief” would be true for those who _do_ believe in those things. For instance, “Mark holds a belief in the pink attack-whales.”
I don’t believe in gods is not the same thing as “I hold a belief that there is no gods.”
I’m not trying to come down on you, but this is an issue that makes it hard for atheists. People claim “atheists have a belief” in a god, when they really don’t. It’s only a “belief” in the same way not believing in leprechauns is a “belief”.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Athesis
Thanks for share the interesting topic i like to give the comment here. I think god is everywhere whether it is small stone or it is our heart.I hope everyone will like to give comment here.
Atheism and Ethics
This is no the forum to try to explain that there is a difference between Christian ethics and other ethical systems. I beleive this is the topic Stella was addressing, rather than belief. This question, of pure ethics outside a faith system, goes back to the time of Socrates and before. Can we be moral people if there is no absolute authority on morality? Do ethics operate independently of faith?
Yes, ethics can and do operate independently of faith; that is why I would have no issue with a national leader who was not of my faith or who held no tenets of theistic faith. (I refer you to the controversial philosopher Peter Singer.)
A faith-based ethics,though, has more foundation as a community ethic. If it is thoughtful, Godly and is centred on peace, as is the Amish way, it will sustain a community much longer than ethics divorced from faith, or privately held codes of ethics.
What do Amish think about atheists?
The reason the Amish don’t push their belief on others I think stems from their own personal experience as a group from having lived through over 500+ centuries of torture from other christians, including here in America…
lol…atheism is a belief system, whether the atheist thinks so or not!!!!
A lot of misunderstandings and assumptions
Wow, in reading these comments I have seen Pascal’s Gambit (wrong, wrong, wrong. If a person professes to believe in a god just to hedge his/her bets to get into heaven even if they’re wrong, wouldn’t an omniscient god know that they were doing that?), a post saying that atheism IS a belief system (Possibly, depending on how you look at the statement. I believe that there is no magic god entity so that’s my belief. If you mean that atheism is a faith, it’s faith like not collecting stamps is a hobby.) and one that said that atheists just don’t like authority. I suppose that’s true, but then, what person who enjoys thinking for themselves does like authority. It wasn’t a conscious choice, I didn’t decide one day to become an atheist. I just realized one day that I didn’t believe in magic. It’s not the job of a non-believer to offer proof as to why they don’t believe in an incredible claim, it’s the job of the person making the incredible claim to prove why someone should believe in it if they want to convince people. Death threats aren’t going to do it. I have a teenaged child, I don’t scare easily.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Atheism
I strongly hold a belief that there are no leprechauns, pink-attack whales, or three-headed Elvis babies. The statement “I don’t believe in gods is not the same thing as “I hold a belief that there is no gods”” is absolute, utter nonsense!!!
We may not be used to articulating it that way, but if I dont believe in pink attack-whales, then I hold a belief that there are no pink attack-whales. One either holds the belief that there are pink attack whales or he/she holds the belief that there are no pink attack whales. Or, they are agnostic in the matter and hold the belief that it cannot be known if pink attack-whales exist or not. In any case, we all fall into one of those three options, and we all hold one belief or another about pink attack-whales.
We all hold to one of three beliefs about God: He exists, He doesn’t exist, or it cannot be ascertained if He exists or not.
Ok, this site is not for drawn-out religious debates, so I will refrain.
The difference between atheists who admire community, simple living, honesty, and moral integrity, and Plain churches that hold to the same values is that history has no record of a group of atheists who have banded together in a voluntary society to purposely live out those values. Non-resistance, no suing at law, no divorce/remarriage, no sexual activity outside of monogamous, lifetime marriage, mutual sharing of material wealth …
Now I know that Plain churches are not the only churches that have lived out these things (and neither have they been perfect in doing so), but when the day comes that a group of atheists band together and live these things out for 500 years like the Anabaptists have …
Well, when I see that happening I will begin to hold to a belief that it can be done outside of Christ. Meanwhile, I hold to a belief that without Christ, it will not happen.
I am open to being proven wrong. In fact, I won’t even have to have 500 years of history to be proven wrong. Just let me see 10 years worth of a group of atheists living in a community with sexual purity, brotherhood, humility, and forgiveness to those who cruelly torture them, then I will be open to changing my belief system.
I hold a belief in non-atheism.
Peace, Mike
What do Amish think about atheists?
>We all hold to one of three beliefs about God:
>He exists, He doesn’t exist, or it cannot be
>ascertained if He exists or not.
Never read it put that way before, but I like it.
Cathy and Primative–
So belief and non-belief are both beliefs! Surely then, everything is a belief! This is good to know.
Unfortunately, what you’re saying is that there is no null-hypothesis.
This is impossible.
The null-hypothesis is non-belief. “I don’t believe in leprechauns”
To believe is to create a hypothesis. “I believe in leprechauns”
null-hypothesis is not the same as hypothesis.
The two are not the same.
Beliving in god is a religious belief. Not believing in god is a non-religious (not religious) belief.
If both are religious beliefs, then there is no way to have a non-religious thought or belief (since both believing and non-believing are religious).
Is this what you are claiming? Every thought, idea is religious? It must be, if you can’t distinguish between them.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Annette: “I don’t believe in leprechauns” is the same as saying “I hold to the belief that leprechauns do not really exist, but are fairy tales.”
Hypothesis vs null-hypothesis is a rabbit trail. It is a matter of believing one of three options:
1. Leprechauns exist.
2. Leprechauns are fairy tales.
3. It cannot or has not been determined if leprechauns exist or not.
Everyone one of us believes that one of the three statements above is the truth about leprechauns. We can rephrase the three options as follows, telling what each person believes about leprechauns.
1. I believe leprechauns exist.
2. I believe leprechauns do not exist.
3. I believe it is impossible to determine (or, it has not been proven)if leprechauns exist.
You (and I) believe one of the three above statements about leprechauns. You (and I) also hold a belief about God, with the same three options.
)
Amish hold to the belief that God exists.
Atheists hold to the belief that God does not exist.
Agnostics hold to the belief that it cannot or has not been determined if God exists.
It’s really that simple.
Mike
(Ok, Erik, I will hold my peace now! This post could very shortly win the record of the most comments, I am sure. I will unsubscribe to the comments so that I dont get tempted to comment again.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Hornets Nest
Erik- You have poked the hornets nest with this post. Remember the rule, Politics and Religion are bond to cause a stir. LOL
sorry i meant bound not bond
Comment on What do Amish think about atheists?
My Mother always taught us this saying and I still stand on it today. I would rather live my life as though there is a God and find out there isn’t, than to live my life as though there isn’t a God and find out there IS!!!!!! Can I get an AMEN!
Annette is correct. Non-believers make up 15-16% of the population. Very few are willing to call themselves atheists, as it’s a good way to cause a lot of trouble for yourself. But no religion is no religion. We are talking about a group three times the size of the largest single Christian denomination. (Southern Baptists.) We’re everywhere. And most Americans don’t even realize it.
>We are talking about a group three times the
>size of the largest single Christian denomination.
>(Southern Baptists.)
That would be the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., but it’s not the largest Christian denomination.
There’s 16 million Southern Baptists, about 5% of the U.S. population.
There’s 68 million Catholics, about 22% of the population.
Stirring things up
Yes, Mike, Tom, I may have to shut this one down
I guess I could say I didn’t mean to stir things up, but what was I thinking 
A number of things about Stella’s comment just piqued my interest so I thought it might be worth throwing out. I’ll just say that as a Christian I am going to try to love an atheist like I would any believing person. I have known people in that category and they are good people. As a citizen of the US I am going to accept that they have their own belief, or non-belief, even though we might not agree. I can hope that would change and can be a witness in different ways, but I find people who declare as atheists are usually pretty firm in it, hence the difficulty in “changing minds”–which probably isn’t so much the issue, hence the quotation marks.
Thanks Annette for sharing your perspective. Annette you hit on some things that I was wondering about, in terms of how atheists are accepted in society. I think you are right, that as a populace we have trouble with it. I might not agree with atheism, but I don’t think it’s right or wise to condemn someone for it.
And there are moral atheists and amoral Christians of course. On reading the original comment I wondered what a society of atheists alone would look like, which I think Magdalena touched on above. But I guess that’s a big nut to crack
What triggered this post and its tangents was that on reading what Stella wrote I caught myself wondering what an Amish person might say when meeting an atheist. Of course that could be complicated but I think my description above is more or less what it would look like.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Although I didn’t ask Erik to start this thread, I’m grateful to him for doing so and thank everyone for such interesting and heartfelt contributions. Aside from the debate about religion versus atheism (which, as a matter of individual conscience, is probably ever-unresolvable) the original questions that Magdalena summarised earlier were: Can we be moral people without an absolute (i.e. religious) authority on morality? Do ethics operate independently of faith? And is it necessarily so, as Magdalena suggests, that “a faith-based ethics has more foundation as a community ethic”?
What do Amish think about atheists?
If I Was Going to be religious I would pick Amish
I am an apathetic agnostic, which means I don’t know and I don’t care if there is a god or not. I find most religions full of hypocracy, hatred, judgementalism, intolerarance, the list goes on and on. The one religion that strikes me as free from most of these horrible traits is the Amish religion.
While I am not religious, or spiritual, I do strive to be a moral and ethical person. Often I find myself looking to the Amish for guidance on such things as forgiveness, love, mutual aid, humility, simplicity, etc…. Honestly, I don’t know of any other group that models these behaviors so consistently.
I think someone earlier did bring up a good point about how the Amish religion is a communal religion which is one of the things that seems to make it work so well. I don’t think it could be done so well outside the context of the Amish community.
I don’t mean to put the Amish on a pedestool – I know everyone has their faults and the grass always looks greener from the other side. But I do think the rest of the country has a lot to learn from the Amish —– about family, simplicity, not trying to improve on nature, relying on simple technologies, etc…… I think in the post oil age we will be crawling at the doorstep of our Amish neighbors to relearn some of the skills we’ve lost because of our excessive reliance on technology. So good thing the Amish have lots of babies! Keep that Amish population growing —- the rest of us may depend on you some day!!!!
(ok, so I’ve strayed from the atheist subject….. )
What do Amish think about atheists?
Ther HAVE been organized groups of atheists...
…under the Unitarian or Universalist (or as of 1961 when the two “affiliations” joined). Early Christianity allowed for differences in Christian beliefs. Then the Nicene Creed issued the dogma of the Trinity, which many could not find any biblical “proof” of—thus Unitarianism & Universalism arrived (independently)as a way to still follow Christian beliefs other than the “man-made” issue of the Trinity.
For a much better understanding of this all-inclusive “faith”, go to this website http://www.uua.org/publications/pamphlets/introductions/151249.shtml
This is certainly not to say all UU’s are atheists, but I know many who are atheists and are members of UU churches (there are many former Jews, Catholics, and those of other religious affiliations…even Wiccans… who are UU members.) UU’s were persecuted from the outset (approx. mid-16th century Europe) due to their radical non-trinitarian beliefs (which encompassed a belief in the humanity of Jesus, but not necessarily his deity). There were Unitarians in Poland, Transylvania, Romania, all of whom lived in fear of the other Christian groups (who burned them at the stake, among other things).
Is it any wonder that atheists, NO MATTER WHEN OR WHERE they live/lived aren’t willing to “come out”? Stella, you are brave for broaching this subject here, as religious/non-religious persecution obviously exists to this day.
And a reading suggestion for anyone with an open mind as it pertains to human influence on the “divinely-inspired” Bible: Misquoting Jesus, by Bart D. Ehrman. I found, as I read it, that that’s what I, too, “worried” about as a child in Catholic school/Catholic family. If human hands and minds have “interfered”, how can its’ divinity NOT be questioned?
I’m sure the Amish will pray for any and everyone, which to me as an individual is “positive thinking” and “good vibes”, which I am always open to!
Alice Mary
What do Amish think about atheists?
Amazes me that in the year 2011 of the 21st century humans are still arguing over what other humans should or should not believe. Just from the comments alone show me that humans are a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG ways away from living peacefully on this Earth and that is a shame…
We are all children of the same Universe and may the Universal Life Force be with you!
Hi Eric,
In reality Atheism is also a faith based “religion”. My reasoning is this:
Faith as defined by Merriman-Webster says: “belief that is not based on proof.”
Using their own argument against them, Atheists can’t prove without a doubt that God does NOT exist!
sorry about the double post…was having trouble with the internet staying up and I thought the first post didn’t go thru.
Hi Eric,
We tend to call Atheism a non-faith but that is actually erroneous.
In reality Atheism is also a faith based “religion”. My reasoning is this:
Faith as defined by Merriman-Webster says: “belief that is not based on proof.”
Using their own argument against them, Atheists can’t prove without a doubt that God does NOT exist!
The Leprchuans have asked me to write and ask you all to please use another example in your discussion. It’s really cheesing them off…
We are already there
In Australia we already have a few firsts when it comes to our new prime minister. 1. She is a woman
2. She lives in adultery with her partner in our prime ministers lodge.
3. She is an athiest and a former lesbian.
4. She was voted in by default and most Aussies do not like her at all.
So American people, be thankful you still have Christian leaders and it hasn’t come to this for you yet.
What do Amish think about atheists?
for Julie-OT
Julie,
Most Americans doubt that Obama is Christian. More and more are believing he is a muslim. No matter what he claims to be, he definitely doesn’t lead with any kind of moral or ethical boundaries. But this really is off topic!
Dena–
Very few atheists consider themselves “hard atheists”.
Most atheists don’t claim “God/gods absolutely do not exist.” This is called “hard atheism.” Most atheists claim they don’t see enough evidence to convince them of a god. These are different things.
Some call this soft atheism or weak atheism–or even agnostic atheism.
So, I’m one of the majority of atheists that thinks that there isn’t sufficient proof to believe in god/gods. I don’t claim that absolutely none exist, I claim that I don’t find adequate proof to believe in a god. In order for me to have a faith, I’d have to (by the definition you gave) believe in a god without proof. So, since I don’t believe since I don’t have proof, I must not have a religion
Atheism is not a religion. Do you see buildings where people gather to . . . not-worship a deity? What common beliefs, apart from not believing in a god, do atheists have? This is easy to identify among religious people, they have binding beliefs, ceremonies, codes of conduct, etc that are in-group requirements of their religion. Atheists are Not religious. The only thing they have in common is lack of religion. What sorts of binding rituals do atheists have? Again, none. Atheism fails the “religion” test.
Sorry, leprechaun man, but to use the leprechaun idea again
, if you say that a statement of non-belief is a religion then you believe that not believing in leprechauns is a religion.
According to your own post, Dena, any sort of belief or non-belief is a religion.
Ergo: everything is a religion.
I find this sort of thinking very frightening.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Actually I never said anything about a religion. You did. I referred to “faith” which is NOT religion. We have faith in many things – that our kids will remember what we’ve taught them, our spouses will be faithful (there’s that pesky word again) to us, whether you believe in creation or darwinism, you are taking that on faith as well. So, if religion frightens you, avoid it. I have faith in God, you have faith in nothingness.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Apologies Annette- I did use the word religion in the context it was being discussed as (religious vs. non-religious). Not in any abstract distortion of everything being religion but that we live much of our lives on FAITH.
I have a son-in-law who is an atheist. He is a very good person, liked by all, good to his wife and son, everything you would ever want in a human being.
So, perhaps it’s not so much what you believe, but how you behave. I think such a person can still end up in heaven.
Back to what the Amish would think. . . I was with some Amish friends of mine just last weekend. I didn’t tell them I was an atheist now because I was afraid of what they would say. I’m sure they would have been kind and loving as always, but it’s a very uncomfortable position to tell someone you don’t believe as you used to believe, especially when a non-believer is viewed so poorly in general. I know I should “come out” to show that non-believers can be good people, people you love and are friends with. It’s just not worth the risk to me right now.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Annette, I encourage you to be honest about your non – religious life. I finally started opening up about it a few years ago when I realized that some religious people feel completely free to go on and on and on about their beliefs. Often I think they just assume I think the same way. Even if I kept silent , I felt like a liar because the other person walked away thinking I agreed. So if nothing else, it’s very freeing not to feel like a liar, and it usually puts an end to religious discussions pretty fast which is also very freeing!
What do Amish think about atheists?
As Christians we know that life does not end with this one. We know where the hope we have comes from and the peace that passes all understanding. I believe that every single human being has an innate sense of awareness that there is something higher than ourselves. The bible tells us that God has made Himself known through his creation,thus we are without excuse. I don’t think the problem is that people don’t believe there is a God, but rather, their refusal to submit to higher authority. Man has always wanted to be in control of his own destiny. Relinquishing that is difficult for some.
What do Amish think about atheists?
I have been Christian, atheist and Christian again. I have seen both sides and I like to think that I have always been respectful of people’s faith regardless where I was on the scale. Religion isn’t the issue for me when it comes to if I like a person. I know what I believe and why so I have no problem with someone else thinking differently. I have great discussions with openminded Christians, Muslims and atheists and I have enjoyed them a lot but I have also met narrowminded people of said cathegories which have just been frustrating. Why? You can’t talk to a person who can’t see your perspective and only their own.
Openness, willingness to listen and an understanding of people having different views can be found in people regardless of faith as can narrowmindedness, judgement and even hate.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Amen Elin!
I have to agree that there are some of various faiths who are hard to stop when they get started but I’ve also been around a number of those who’s faith is in the belief of atheism who also are hard to stop. Most people are generally nice folks, try to be kind, loving, helpful, etc., however, personally I do not believe that you can get to heaven just by being nice. Until the end of time, we won’t know beyond a doubt either way, although I am confident in my own faith as most of the other posters are in theirs.
What do Amish think about atheists?
One of my favorite folks songs (lou peterman?) verse is “Others may be thankful that their beliefs are strong. But every night I’m praying that I’m wrong wrong wrong …”
Just to throw this out there… I just finished reading a book called “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idleman. In his book, he suggests that the number of true Christ followers is actually very small. This is something that God began showing me over the last few months. There are many who call themselves Christians, but how many people actually demonstrate it in their lives? The Bible says that even the demons know who Jesus is. It’s not belief alone that matters, but rather living out your faith every day and in every situation; “Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Me.”
What do Amish think about atheists?
We seem to be forgetting that this is about the Amish.
As for true Christian believers being small in number, I don’t believe that for a second! Yes, the word “christian” is a label used by some who are spirituality dead although they sit in the pews on Sundays.But there are many more who are born again bible believing followers of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was Jewish and taught Jewish law and lore that was easily recognized by all during his time… All he did was add his own twist to some of it as many, many other Rabbis did at the time also…
I don’t mean to hijack, but I wanted to share this because it came up today and it was related to this post.
A group of atheists oppose a cross going up at the 9/11 memorial (I have no beef with this, plenty of atheists don’t care, but some do). An atheist went on Fox news to say why some atheists oppose this.
Fox news’s facebook page then got over 8,000 death threats to atheists. Here are a few that were screen capped before Fox removed them.
Death threats to atheists. Yes. From good Christians and other deists.
http://www.stateofformation.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Cross-Controversy-Anti-Atheist-Death-Threats.jpg
Atheists are people, too. We’re good, decent people. We don’t deserve this.
What do Amish think about atheists?
You’re right Annette, and I can see why you want to keep quiet about it. I thought this was a free country and free from religous or non-religous persecution.
If you are Faith-free, here is a support site for non-religious people grieving the death of a loved one. – - http://www.facebook.com/faithfreegriefsupport#!/faithfreegriefsupport?sk=info
What Amish told me about atheists
While on my Midwestern Amish trip this summer, I asked Amish on at least three occasions this very question–what do you think about atheists, how would you respond to them, etc.
I got the impression that it was something they hadn’t dealt with a lot, or at least hadn’t thought about in concrete terms, which didn’t surprise me.
One message I heard was to approach the person with love and hope they would somehow find a way to Christ.
One or two respondees also expressed skepticism that atheists, deep down, really did not believe.
So that’s what I heard from Amish, for whatever it’s worth.
What do Amish think about atheists?
Hmmm…the few Amish I have met I never brought it up. Its true never discuss politics and religion! Usually we have enough common ground in other areas to have a conversation about.
As for being atheist (I prefer non-believer as I think atheist has negative connotations) I just really never believed. My family was nominally Catholic, but even from a young age I was skeptical of what I learned in catechism. Sister Mary Lou could never give me a straight answer on why we have fossils if the earth is only 6000 years old
Church was not high on my family’s priority list, though I made several stabs at trying to learn more and involve myself in reading the Bible. I finally admitted to myself that I just didn’t have it in me to believe when I ironically, took a religion course at my Jesuit university and was encouraged to examine our belief or lack thereof.
Coming out of the non believer closet has generally been positive for me. I’ve learned there are A LOT of people still in the closet, and are afraid to be open about it. I live in a place where people for the most part particlary religious. My family seems to be ok with it, and my husband and inlaws were already firm non-believers.
I don’t care what others believe as well, as long as they follow the golden rule. That is one rule I abide by in my life!
What do Amish think about atheists?
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