Why do some people think that anyone who doesn't believe what they believe is wrong?
549568
You know, I don't even really mind that some religions think others are wrong.  That's to be expected.  What bugs me is that most religions feel the need to convert people who don't wish to be converted.  By their very nature, a person's religious beliefs exclude all OTHER religious beliefs.\n\nThe REAL issue at stake, I think, is how we deal with that.  You and I don't have the same beliefs.  I think yours are wrong (not morally wrong, merely incorrect), and you think mine are wrong.\n\nSo what?  So we don't agree.  Big deal.  Doesn't bother me a bit.  I am perfectly okay knowing that there are other systems of belief out there that do not match my own.\n\nBut there are FAR TOO MANY people in the world that simply cannot abide that someone else out there would DARE believe something different.  And even more frightening is the number of people who would take some kind of action against "the faithless" or "the infidels" or "the unbelievers," or whatever they are calling us this week.
458565
It is because their beliefs don't seem to have a logical basis.  However, it is the task of evolved people such as yourself to respect other peoples beliefs even if they disagree with yours.
979566
Good first part of your question. If they don't believe then why judge or blame?  It seems they would be blaming and judging something they don't even believe and/ or think exists.  Simple example--If I don't believe the New York Mets exist how could I ridicule their poor play?Yo easily, people take credit for anything good that becomes them but blame God for the bad. Why is that?
688439
I understand what you mean- most people choose to believe only what agrees with them. If something written says what they are doing is wrong they then decide that specific passage is not correct. They want to be seen as perfect so they pick and choose what they want to benefit them. I believe the Bible in its entirety- If you do that then you can't go wrong!
605527
Admitting you are wrong takes BALLS. It openes you up to being vunerable. The natural human instinct is to protect, so admitting wrongness is hard. People who can admit wrongs are seldom. Jewles. Also, sometimes in anothers eyes they honestly do not believe they were wrong. So it all depends.
200707
It's funny how the way you see a situation depends on what side of it you are on. For example, many atheist believe that christians are insecure in their faith and as a result feel the need to get as many people in the world to also believe. Kind of a safety in numbers thing. It's interesting to see the same arguement being made from the other side.\n\nThat being said, I don't think it is accurate to claim that non-christians are critical of christians. It's more accurate to say that some non-christians are critical of christians, other aren't. Some Christians are critical of non-christians, other aren't.  It's just a fact of human nature. Some are more critical, others aren't. Unfortately, it's the ones who are critical that are heard most often.
1159015
Every atheist is different, but it probably stems from the fact that most people simply can't 'believe' that another person can't BELIEVE in something.  After all, they've been trained/ taught/ conditioned since childhood to believe in god or some kind of creator.  To not believe kind of boggles their mind.  So they pre-judge others on their on observations.
518933
Some people can't comprehend anything outside to boundaries of tradition.  They don't have facts... they have beliefs
1010880
Not all 'religious people' think that non-believer are wrong though, I admit, a great many do.  Like anything else, people are brought up with certain belief systems that are stronger than others.  Some, over time, adapt their beliefs through education while others entrench themselves further despite being exposed to new and edifying material.  One answer to your question might perhaps lie somewhere in the fact that, once again, over time some folks are more open-minded than others and, by being so, allow their critical thinking faculties to adapt their original beliefs through education.  Remember though that this is just one answer to a very complicated question.
906089
Some people belive in them, some don't.  Some people will tell you yes, some will tell you no.  You just have to choose what to believe.  I, personally, believe they are there.  But that's just me.  You have to make your own desicion.
985926
I think it does sharpen your beliefs when someone challenges them. Sometimes the anger that people show is insecurity in what they believe. They don't know how to answer a question someone asks them and so they lash out at the person for even asking.  When people ask what I believe it also helps me to examine what I believe and creates a dialog between the two of us.
787278
thats right,but people always find fault with what they dont believe
605610
It's because people think they are right and when someone questions their beliefs even a little it scares them.\n\nDiffering opinions should be seen as an opportunity.  They will either change you or support what you believe... they are not about anger and fear.
822432
Wow, that's a really deep question and a good one at that.  \nI think a lot of people really hit the mark on the nose, but I'm not surprised to see a lot of ignorant answers like that first one, Madelaine.  \n\nCompare it to a little kid who, when you try to tell him that he's doing something wrong, he puts his fingers in his ears and screams.  \n\nIt is scary that so many people blindly believe.  This is what happened with Hitler and the Houlocaust, and even more recently with Bush in Iraq.  I know I'm veering off subject here, but I'm just trying to point out that blindly believing without question is very dangerous. It's worse when people like Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker, and Pat Robertson are trusted with souls of the masses. \n\nGood for you for realizing it!  Hopefully you woke a few people up.
214274
Because they are 'right' and the rest of us are 'wrong'.  They can't accept that people think differently than them is all.  So they think they are the 'rightous ones' and it inflates thier vanity and ego.
759518
When it comes to religion, a lot of people are unable to accept anything aside from what they were raised to believe or have come to believe.  They believe that their way is the right way, and everything else is just bunk.
1110432
I think a lot of people believe what they say so strongly that they think they're saying what they believe, when really they're saying what others believe and what they in turn have internalized, for lack of a better word.  But I do agree with the answerer who said that all knowledge is based on authority; it's impossible to avoid that completely.  We are immensely affected by what we're born in to.  There's no getting around that.  I read a book last year (The Immoralist, by André Gide) that dealt with that concept a bit, and the author believed it necessary to completely kill oneself (not physically, of course) to find the blank parchment underneath; the original part of oneself that hadn't been tainted by society and family, and the one that could still be imprinted with truly personal and genuine beliefs.\n\nThat's a utopian ideal, at best.  To expect people to shed all that they know in the hopes of embracing something completely foreign, which may supposedly be more real and appropriate for them is really excessive.  Even if people wanted to do that, it's still an enormous task to undertake.  So to some extent, everybody repeats a lot of hearsay, if you will, in the guise of true, personal beliefs.  Some people are more "sheltered" than others and less aware of the extent to which their beliefs have been swayed and shaped by others, and some people have broken out of their molds in a manner that would have made Gide himself proud.\n\nPersonally, I think I say what I believe a good amount of the time.  I still struggle with a lot that I've learned growing up; things that I see still influencing my life even after I've chosen other paths.  An unavoidable fact of life, I suppose.  But I have learned to look outside of the box I was born in to, and also to step outside that box and look at it from a different perspective.  That helps a lot.