barrier breaker
The prevalence and accuracy of angry-atheist perceptions were examined in 7 studies with 1,677 participants from multiple institutions and locations in the United States. Studies 1–3 revealed that people believe atheists are angrier than believers, people in general, and other minority groups, both explicitly and implicitly. Studies 4–7 then examined the accuracy of these beliefs. Belief in God, state anger, and trait anger were assessed in multiple ways and contexts. None of these studies supported the idea that atheists are particularly angry individuals. Rather, these results support the idea that people believe atheists are angry individuals, but they do not appear to be angrier than other individuals in reality.
1. I am angry that little children are told that they will go to hell if they don’t believe in the Bible.
2. I am angry that, according to recent studies, Atheists are more distrusted in society than rapists.
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Study: Atheists distrusted as much as rapists – USATODAY.com
Psychologists say study shows anti-atheist prejudice stems from moral distrust, not dislike, of nonbelievers.
3. I am angry that churches say homosexuality is a sin, and then deny that the teaching does any damage in the face of many homosexuals who claim the opposite, through tears and suicide.
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Study: Tolerance Can Lower Gay Kids’ Suicide Risk
“LGBT Kids who experienced high levels of rejection were nearly 8.5 times more likely to have attempted suicide. They were nearly six times more likely to report high levels of depression and almost 3.5 times more likely to use illegal drugs.”
4. I am angry that people spend their lives trying to figure out “God’s will,” paralyzing their lives instead of striking out and embracing it.
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Confused About God’s Will/Where’s My Life Going? Frustration
“What do you do when you’re BEGGING for God to take control, but nothing happens? I have literally been crying over my Bible all week. This isn’t something new…I’ve been praying for guidance for so long.”
5. I am angry that people think individuals who I know don’t deserve it are going to spend eternity in hell.
6. I am angry parents teach their children that God once drowned almost everyone in the world because they thought like me.
7. I am angry that wives who are abused are told to submit to abusive husbands in church because that’s what the Bible says.
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Christian Domestic Discipline Promotes Spanking Wives To Maintain Biblical Marriage
When a follower of the Christian Domestic Discipline movement decides what to hit his God-fearing wife with, research is important. A hairbrush, for example, is “excellent for achieving the desired sting” but can break easily.
8. I am angry at places in the Bible that say that parents who spare the rod hate their children (Proverbs 13:24), that prescribe the rod to drive foolishness out of children (Proverbs 22:15), that tell parents to “not withhold” punishment with the rod, because that punishment saves children from hell (and the assurance no matter how hard you spank, it’s not as bad as hell) (Proverbs 23:13-14), that state that a rod of correction brings wisdom (Proverbs 29:15), and that prescribes death for disobedient children in the Old Testament — passages that have led to child abuse on a massive scale and have been proven in multiple studies to cause long term anger in the relationship between parents and children (when the parents thought that spanking was necessary for loving their children…it actually usually made the children resent their parents over the long term instead, according to almost every study that has been done on the issue).
9. I am angry that Christianity makes “faith” a virtue, opening the door for parents to trust in prayer as opposed to medicine because of scriptures like that at the end of I Corinthians 5 (“the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well”), and literally allowing children to die, become deeply ill, or experience severe pain. I’ve seen the stories and interviews, and they make me cry and makes my blood boil, and I think they should.
10. I am angry that Christianity encourages parents to make their children read about the genocides in the Old Testament, which are “OK” because God commanded them through a prophet who just happened to have God’s advice. For me, it’s like allowing children to read about the Nazis and teaching them that God spoke through Hitler, but worse.
