As best you can maybe stay away from these people?!? How about hanging out with folks like most of us on this site.

I recently had to cut ties with my brother, because he thinks just because I'm an atheist, I'm a devil worshipper.

I think you should not associate with those people...

Religion had a purpose and it had outgrown and outlived it. Time to end it.

I think that tells you a lot about them, lol. God is hardly a nice guy, anyway, "love me or I'll have you burn for all eternity"

Nice chap!

Walk away. No reason at all to stay and listen to the BS.

And yes - I do believe that for some, without religious guilt to keep them in check, they'd go haywire. Of course there's many that do regardless of the threat of "eternal hellfire !"

Stay away from those people. Find some freethinkers to talk to

Yes, it's scary how many people would murder their neighbor if they did not believe in god.

I'm willing to bet that all the people who said those horrible things to you call themselves "christians". Don't listen to their bullshit. You're fine. As is.

Morality is either A) absolute, or B) subjective. For the religious its absolute, for anyomne else its subjective. I like the idea that what we consider as moral should be subject to questioning, rational thinking and scrutiny. If things like Homosexuality being wrong, or that people should be stoned to death for cheating on their spouses are absolute moralities, then I do not want absolute morality. Answer= Non believers that care about morality are almost certainly more moral

Morality is either A) absolute, or B) subjective. For the religious its absolute, for anyomne else its subjective. I like the idea that what we consider as moral should be subject to questioning, rational thinking and scrutiny. If things like Homosexuality being wrong, or that people should be stoned to death for cheating on their spouses are absolute moralities, then I do not want absolute morality. Answer= Non believers that care about morality are almost certainly more moral

Human rights
Know them
Demand them
Defend them.

Hi SenderOpia,you do have morals in fact you have a 100%more morals than the christians who tell you that you are evil,they are only being good because of the fear that they will go to hell otherwise,which tells me they are gutless and immoral because fear is the only reason they are not doing bad things.Wheras you and fellow Agnostics and Athiests do good things because it is the right thing to do.so hold your head up high.

Penn Jillette had some great thoughts on this!

If belief in an imaginary sky friend is what keeps you from doing bad things, look out. I really don't like the forgiveness of sin by going to confession. In college, a couple of my religious room mates would rush down to the church to confess, and do some hail marys, and then go out and raise hell. But it was okay, because they would go to confession next week and all way well. Felt that as a non-believer, that I led a better life, and didn't feel guilty from my actions.

Religion was called the opiate of the masses for a reason...

Anyway, if people assume you're easy or evil because you're an atheist, then they are morons.

We all have a moral code (except for sociopaths). We don't need religion for that. Anyone who wants to rape or murder is is immoral. That they would do it but not for fear of a vengeful god is pathetic and kinda psychopathic.

You are normal. They sound like rump supporters.

it means there week and have no morals without a bible like a dog with a shock collar and you are real.

I don't know why that would be the case. A person with good morals doesn't need some book to tell them what to believe, how to behave and how to treat themselves or others. I'd think someone who needs some book to tell them would be the ones on shaky standing.

I also don't see what live in an entirely different era and region has to do with life and the needs of people today. To follow the 'moral codes' in some mainstream religions have pretty crappy treatment towards anyone not male, not adult, or not of the right skin color or income level. How is that moral? I think as long as you treat people fairly and justly and not be taking advantage of those less fortunate then you are pretty well in.

I do think religions pop up to help people who believe similarly to band together and figure out the why's of and how to deal with certain things. I just think it's also the nature of people in power to impress control over others just to feel they are keeping hold of that power. Gaining control of a religion to tell people how to behave seems to be a pretty common way to go about that.

"Then they proceeded to tell me all the evil things they would do, like rape everyone or cheat on their spouse or murder someone" Wow, I guess some people need religion just to keep their impulses in check. Hate to say that. As a species, we are still only on the cusp of intellectual awareness.

Its sad people say bad things to people. I'm an old fart, but you'll never here bad things from me. I respect untill theres a reason not to. Welcome to this forum.

I have actually met a couple of people that do good only for a reward in the afterlife.

When I was a Christian the worst I ever got from an atheist was some mockery. That is over the span of 25 years. As an atheist in the past six years I've gotten death threats from the very same type of people that tell me that I need to believe in God to be moral. I was moral before I was a Christian, I was moral when I was a Christian and I continue to be moral as an atheist. The only thing that has changed is that I believe in one less god than I did a few years ago.

Being good or moral is not measured by adherence to rules or holding "right" belief. Being moral or good is having a kind heart, caring about one's fellow human being, trying to help people -- for actually caring. And perhaps many religious people find it simply easier to just follow rules without having to take the trouble to think.

Yes, those people are scary! You might point out to someone who says they would do terrible things if they didn’t believe in god, that that reflects the kind of person that THEY are, not the kind of person YOU are.
And yes, I have recently been convinced that religion does serve a purpose in society, by giving people a connection to each other and an incentive to be good (because a lot of people DO need that).

If a person is moral out of fear of punishment or based on the promise of a reward in the afterlife, then they aren't being moral based on their own goodness. Following rules doesn't make a person moral. Personally, I think morality is trying to live your life without causing harm, pain, or suffering to others.