The question was "Why are you an atheist?"
I see no reason to jump in to explain why you think others are.
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Why are you an atheist?
- Thread starter Reggie Miller
- Start date
The question was "Why are you an atheist?"
I see no reason to jump in to explain why you think others are.
And as you know, the general response to that sort of question (re Santa Claus or the Invisible Pink Unicorn or Quetzalcoatl) is "prove it doesn't exist." You can't. That is no more an argument for their existence than yours is for the existence of God.Because it's lazy thinking.
It takes a bit of work, curiosity, study, understanding things spiritual, to believe
in a Power great than mankind.
Anyone and say "poooie, ain't no such thing. Prove there is!"
To which I respond: Prove there isn't.
I find this really difficult to fathom. Before I was 7 years old, my step father abused me very, very badly -- and twice very nearly killed me. It is recorded in court records at the time that I asked if I could die so that I could "be in heaven with [my grandmother]...", who had died a couple of years before. That would have felt safer to me.
You see, what does God have to do with that kid being tortured, or the child dying while being held, or men in fox holes? The torture continues, the child still dies, the gas and mortars kill the men in fox holes, and God appears to be nothing but a passive observer -- a voyeur, if you will.
And that is the conclusion that you come to, if you are like many of us. You may say that God couldn't help me because that would leave my father without his free will -- but where was my free will? I was a helpless child. At the very least, he could have granted my free wish to be dead. You might argue that he felt bad, but couldn't do anything, to which I'd say, that, for a loving, omnipotent being, is simply inexcusable. You would have done something when you saw such suffering, even at cost to yourself. So would I -- so would most of us here, both atheists and deists/theists. And none of us is God.
So what it is, exactly, that you are claiming about this God watching the fox holes, the people being shot at or attacked with a knife, or children dying in suffering? Because we atheists don't see it.
I just don't. I live my life as if gods don't exist because I have no reason to believe they do. When some gods show up and start messing with my life I'll start believing in them.
Bob the Unbeliever
Well-Known Member
Why I do not believe in god(s)? (or Why I no longer Believe?) <-- same thing.
It boils down to a Leap Of Faith. And I cannot force myself to do that-- faith is belief in things for which there is no evidence.
I could no more force belief in god(s) than I could force myself to turn large and green when I'm angry.
In the final analysis, however, the word "god" has become a place-holder for "we do not know, therefore--god". Which is sad, because this particular place-holder seems to halt all further research into the question.
It boils down to a Leap Of Faith. And I cannot force myself to do that-- faith is belief in things for which there is no evidence.
I could no more force belief in god(s) than I could force myself to turn large and green when I'm angry.
In the final analysis, however, the word "god" has become a place-holder for "we do not know, therefore--god". Which is sad, because this particular place-holder seems to halt all further research into the question.
SabahTheLoner
Master of the Art of Couch Potato Cuddles
Most claims of a deity existing are either paradoxical or unprovable. Any belief of deity is purely individualistic. So is disbelief.
I don't believe in the Abrahamic God for the same reason I don't believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or Leprechauns. All of these provide nice little stories to get people (kids) to perform how others (parents) want them to. But NONE of them have any evidence in support of their existence. I see no difference between these different myths.
I also don't believe in Thor, Zeus, Jupiter, Marduk, or any number of deities people have invented over time.
I also don't believe in Thor, Zeus, Jupiter, Marduk, or any number of deities people have invented over time.
gnomon
Well-Known Member
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
There's nothing there to even start to think there is one in the first place.
Those who do think otherwise are horribly confused about their own dieity of choice among peers, even admist claims they are allegedly in contact and are intimate. Its telling that it's a product born of the mind. An ideology. In some cases, written down.
No consensus exists similar to consensus involving things associated with little or no dispute, like the wind or Sun is. If a dieity could be determined or established in the same manner, it would of course be a different story. I like to say that deities cannot live up to the truth that the wind and Sun brings.
There are no viable points of contact with matter biological or otherwise, where such a dieity would interact with organic and inorganic substances that can be identified. Its hopelessly absent.
The existance of apologetics.
EverChanging
Well-Known Member
I prefer "pantheist," but I am indeed an atheist in regard to the God-concept I think the original post is referring to.
I simply do not find theism compelling, nor have any usefulness for it. I do not need it to explain anything or find it useful when I lack an explanation for something.
I've also never heard any argument that convinced me of such a being's existence. As knowledge has progressed magical or miraculous explanations for phenomena have decreased. I expect that to keep happening. Consciousness is about the only thing left I can think of that is still regularly invoked as miraculous.
I simply do not find theism compelling, nor have any usefulness for it. I do not need it to explain anything or find it useful when I lack an explanation for something.
I've also never heard any argument that convinced me of such a being's existence. As knowledge has progressed magical or miraculous explanations for phenomena have decreased. I expect that to keep happening. Consciousness is about the only thing left I can think of that is still regularly invoked as miraculous.
I disbelieve in god because the image of god is not god. God has no image, no form. It is my belief that most people who believe in god believe in nothing more than the image of god, and the exceptions would have no objection to my calling myself atheist.
EverChanging
Well-Known Member
Yes, I think similarly of the Universe/Reality -- we never have a direct apprehension, only an image or a bad copy.
Or a fine copy. Yes.
Notanumber
A Free Man
Mild Methodism indoctrinated me in my youth but I managed to shake it off and no longer have the herd mentality.
BTW, the Methodists did not seem to mind and have not threatened me with any punishment for leaving.
However, I have no aspiration to convert others to Atheism.
BTW, the Methodists did not seem to mind and have not threatened me with any punishment for leaving.
However, I have no aspiration to convert others to Atheism.
I can only quote Clarence Darrow:
I don't believe in God, because I don't believe in Mother Goose.
Ciao
- viole
chickenranch
Member
The only thing that makes sense to me is that there are no deities.
When I was a kid, imaginary beings and magic explained things that I couldn't explain or that grownups didn't want to.
I have experienced things I can't explain, but I don't attribute them to a god, spirit, or magic - instead, I just assume I don't know how that works [yet]. So far the explainable things have been explained by math and science, or just weird coincidence. To change my mind and attribute things to a god would just be giving up.
When I was a kid, imaginary beings and magic explained things that I couldn't explain or that grownups didn't want to.
I have experienced things I can't explain, but I don't attribute them to a god, spirit, or magic - instead, I just assume I don't know how that works [yet]. So far the explainable things have been explained by math and science, or just weird coincidence. To change my mind and attribute things to a god would just be giving up.
FlyingTeaPot
Irrational Rationalist. Educated Fool.
I knew at 12 years old that my father was hiding something from me when I asked him 'Why do we trust God?'. His reply was 'because God is all knowing and benevolent'. I asked 'How do we know that?'. He said 'because God said so'. And I asked 'Then how do we know God is telling the truth?'. And my dad got angry at me. He said 'No more questions!'. If you don't know my dad, you might forgive him for getting angry at me and dismiss the argument as him getting exasperated at the silly questions of a 12 year old.
My dad is a scientist and a teacher. Usually, he would love to spend hours on end talking to me about physics and maths and encourage curiosity by telling me stories and anecdotes about famous scientists. It's not in his nature to make his student stop asking questions. As you might imagine, this was strange to me, and the more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. My dad had all the answers, right? After all, he's my dad. And dads are supposed to know everything.
It was such a simple question. Why couldn't he answer it? Unless! And I was an atheist within 20 minutes.
I did not spend too much time analyzing it because my family was not too religious back then, and we only celebrated religious festivals more for custom's sake than anything else. So it was kind of a non-issue for me for the most part. We all pretended to be religious once or twice a year and went about our merry way for the rest of the year. It was not until I went to college that I seriously thought about the existence of a deity. With the help of a few like-minded friends, I slowly evolved my views regarding the question of a creator.
Here are the reasons I don't believe in a deity:
1. There is no well defined deity.
2. There are many poorly defined deities.
3. Many deities claim to be the one true deity.
4. You don't have a choice in picking your deity when you are born or shortly thereafter.
5. Your deity happens to be the prevalent deity in the region/family you were born. Coincidence?
6. Deities don't seem to have any observable attributes or appearance or power.
7. A deity has never revealed themselves to me.
8. There is no repeatable way of observing a deity.
It's a long and boring story but the thing that pushed me over the edge from being a doubter to an Atheist was reading the bible. After only a few chapters in I realised that the Christian God did not exist and since then haven't found any evidence to confirm any other God.
ecco
Veteran Member
I became an atheist...
...because around age 10 I was sent to Sunday school to get some religion. After two or three Sundays I realized that the cute pictures of the ark with the giraffes heads sticking out were just as silly and non-believable as anything in my comic books.
I stayed an atheist...
...because there was never any reason to suddenly believe in gods.
I am an atheist...
...because I have come to understand that gods, indeed the very concept of gods, are the creations of man's imaginings.
...because around age 10 I was sent to Sunday school to get some religion. After two or three Sundays I realized that the cute pictures of the ark with the giraffes heads sticking out were just as silly and non-believable as anything in my comic books.
I stayed an atheist...
...because there was never any reason to suddenly believe in gods.
I am an atheist...
...because I have come to understand that gods, indeed the very concept of gods, are the creations of man's imaginings.
FooYang
Active Member
Because there's no magic dude in my room that I can kiss and copulate with who will grant me wishes. I can't see him or touch him, it's a load of crap.
If I could feel and touch him, maybe even have a child with him, then I'll believe he's real.