As your stereotypical angry atheist, one thing I constantly fume about is the lack of apologies from Christians. Every time I see someone on the street with a cross necklace, I wonder why they aren’t apologizing profusely for their terrible lies about atheists and crude proselytizing efforts.
I recently received an email from a Christian reader who had stumbled upon my site (from a search engine, not StumbleUpon) and felt the need to apologize for the Christians that had tainted my view of his obviously superior belief system. Basically, he sounds like a pompous, arrogant asshat throughout.
Hi, my name is Marcus and I stumbled upon your site while looking for the names of God, of all things. I am a christian, but before you disregard this email and move on I wanted to tell you something. I am truly and deeply sorry. I in no way think that this email will turn you into a Christian… that would be ignorant and stupid. I just want to say sorry. I am sorry for all the Christians you have met that have looked down on you. The ones that have yelled at you for your beliefs or tried degrading or chastising you for them. I respect you, that’s not something you hear a lot from Christians I’m sure, but it is true. With all the hypocrites out there, the “God Warrior“, the church that claims “God Hates Fags”, as well as many, many others, I truly do understand why you don’t believe… truth is, Christians are supposed to not hate but I come very close to hating Christians a lot. So once again, I am sorry, for my own behavior and everyone elses. I will be praying for you, I know you won’t want me to, but I will anyway.
I added emphasis on the parts that I believe contradict each other. This guy knows that I don’t want to be prayed for, yet he’s gonna do it anyway. How is that not looking down on me? How is that NOT disrespecting me? He didn’t have to tell me he was going to pray for me, and I would have never known. Of course, neither would anyone else, since he’d be talking to himself.
I don’t personally care for his apology, but if you’d like to accept his apology and thank him for his sincerity, drop him a line at m.spartan001@gmail.com.
Your comment on “Letter From an Apologetic Christian.” You commented, “This guy knows that I don’t want to be prayed for, yet he’s gonna do it anyway.” Do you actually mean what you said, that you don’t want the guy praying for you, or you don’t want the guy telling you that he’s praying for you, as you seem to indicate in the sentences that followed? I guess if you don’t believe in God, there’s no harm in him praying, as long as he doesn’t tell you. However, the problem with asking Christians not to “witness,” or “preach” or tell you that they’re praying for you, is not that you’re asking them just to refrain from sharing their faith, but you’re asking them to refrain from being Christians – preaching, teaching etc are part of the whole deal. If I’ve offended you by asking these questions, and making these statements, I apologize. I guess if there’s no God what I’ve said to you won’t matter anyway, right? I’m just trying to understand…
Of course you have not offended me. My point with the above was that he was telling me that he was going to be praying for me. That was unnecessary. He knows that I do not share his beliefs, yet he’s basically rubbing that in, despite having previously decried those who have been condescending to me in the past.
If he wants to pray, that’s his deal, and like I said, it won’t matter, because he’d be talking to himself.
“Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer.” — Anonymous
You probably figured that I’m a Christian. Obviously we have two completely different “world views,” or “cosmologies.” I just wonder how we can get along when you’re asking me not to practice a really major part of my faith: witnessing. Of course I could rationalize that in your position, atheist blogger and what not, you’ve probably already had the pleasure (multiple times), which gets me off the hook, right? 🙂 So I can skip the part about shaking the dust off my feet (another meaningless gesture if you believe there is no supernatural), and just check in from time to time for the entertainment value. You seem sincere, and you’ve answered both of my comments amicably. So, there it is. Jesus works for me, and many many people I know – but you’ve heard that before. That is a freaky lookin’ Jesus on your main page, by the way. I can’t stop staring!
this article hit a chord with me.
i have been in situation like this time and again, where apologetic religious faddists would like to ”pray” for my soul. i am so sick and tired of that charity- if you can call it even that.
Praying for me is okay…but usually when they say they are going to pray for me it comes off as snide and disrespectful of my beliefs. It’s almost like they think I need help, when I am capable of thinking for myself. I am not an atheist, but I get the same thing because I don’t have the same beliefs as a “typical” Christian. So I guess if they are going to pray for me it would be better if they just keep it to themselves.
I wonder what a persons response would be had he/she never heard of the bible?
Christian’s are just parroting things they have heard other christians say and they think it makes them appear to be righteous and holy.
Little do they know, to an atheist, it sounds like 2000 year old ignorance, which is exactly what it is.