reason for being an atheist

[Sikhism]

are you an atheist because science have found faults and contridictions in all major relgions? just interested to know your main reasons.
thank you.

 

[robtex]

Just real quick before I answer there are two types of atheists:

1) weak atheist
2) strong atheist

A weak atheist says there is a lack of evidence of god which precludes their non-belief and a strong atheist says "there is no God."

I typed my atheism out on here at, on this post called "my resignation"
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7440

Outside of that post Michael Shermer had a large influence on my atheism from the standpoint of him being very skilled at showing the nature of faith and how it applies to society.

Footnote on atheism
http://atheistempire.com/atheism/atheismtext.html

 

[mr.guy]

I can't say science has enticed me to shift from childhood agnostisism to atheism. I'm far too ignorant of science at large.

 

[robtex]

I'm far too ignorant of science at large.

Me too. But even while being science ignorant science isn't an instrument to debunk religion. If it happens to put stress on a particular religious theory it isn't really disproving God but a conception linked to a belief in a particular God.

Really for me it comes down to "Do I have a personal relationship with God and if so how do I define that relationship." For me the answer is I don't.

 

[Majikthise]

I don't feel the need to include following any type of religion in my life. It simply is of no use to me. That being said , I find life busy enough without complicating it with the unecessary worries of an afterlife.

 

[dissonance]

I am an atheist simply because I have found no good reason to believe in God. I was catholic until about the age of 15. My mom was a devout catholic who made me go to church, but my dad was a man who almost never talked about religion and belief wasn't "forced" on me. My disbelief didn't happen suddenly but rather it seems like one day I thought about all the religions in the world who claim to have found the key to life and I realized that fact that they could not all be right. It makes more sense that they are all wrong rather than a particular religion being right. If I had been born in India I probably would have been a Hindu and if I was born in Iran I would be a Muslim. It just so happens that I was born in the USA and that I was born into a Catholic family.
Many people wonder where atheists get their morals from. They say that atheists have no reason for not going on a killing spree or lying whenever they feel like. If that were the truth, most atheists would be in jail. We can clearly see that the fact that a person believes in God does not stop him from commiting murder so why would atheists be anymore inclined to do it?
Where do I get my morals from? The same place everyone else gets them. Their own brain. If you claim to get your morals from the 10 commandments, you are still interpreting them the way you want to. Most people that use the commandments as a guide for living would dismiss much of the other parts of the old testament.
I can see that a world where people do not obey laws or have sentient feelings for others would not work. My philsophy is that the quality of life should be maximized to promote happiness and the suffering should be minimized.

 

[godfree1]

are you an atheist because science have found faults and contridictions in all major relgions? just interested to know your main reasons.
thank you.

Faults and contradictions in all religion can be found without relying upon science to find them, and since all religion is riddled with faults and contradictions, what should possess us to believe in any religion? I know plenty of Christians who dine regularly upon shellfish and wear clothing of mixed fibre even though the Christian bible admonishes them against these things, for example. Admittedly, its non-heterosexual followers are perhaps Christianity's greatest oxymoron. Do the religious take what they wish from religion, leaving aside what makes them uncomfortable?

I am a strong atheist: "There is no god." Certainly, this stems at least partly from the complete acceptance and celebration of my homosexuality and the subsequent rejection of Christian belief belligerently mandated by my parents (let alone American society), and partly because any god worth its salt should be able to stop a raging tsunami or a never-ending oil-war dead in their tracks.

 

[Atheist_Dave]

I am an atheist simply because I have found no good reason to believe in God.

This sums up my feelings as well really. There is nothign at all to give reason to believe in god, only a few translated and re-translated scribbles are the foundation of religion. For me, I find it foolish to live your life in a certain way on the off chance that you will be rewarded when you die, its a terrible waste x

 

[Yerda]

are you an atheist because science have found faults and contridictions in all major relgions? just interested to know your main reasons.
thank you.

Remeber that many atheists are religious. Not all religions have deities spearheading them. Some religions don't appeal to the supernatural at all.

 

[linwood]

I am an atheist simply because I have found no good reason to believe in God.

Ditto.

 

[ladylazarus]

I don't have a reason for being atheist. I simply have no reason to be a theist.

 

[Smoke]

are you an atheist because science have found faults and contridictions in all major relgions? just interested to know your main reasons.
thank you.

I'm not an atheist, but I do think the divine light or the ultimate reality or whatever you want to call it can as easily be expressed in atheistic terms as theistic terms, and that atheism is often superior -- intellectually, morally, and ... um ... spiritually -- to theism. All else being equal, the atheist is less likely than the theist to imagine that the universe shares his passions and prejudices, less likely to imagine that his preferences are moral absolutes, and less likely to imagine that he "knows" something without the least shred of evidence.

 

[draqon_of_white_seas]

The original purpose of a religion was and is to guide the person thru life, it just happens, that people ask the questions relating to the purpose of life. Illusions help humans cope with the problems and religion creates these illusions. Blissful you are that you can leave so many questions, pertaining to your existence, blank. Those who cannot, turn to religion. . In the end, people have some sort of religion, simply saying that you are an atheist want do it. You may not recognize it, but you act accordingly, to something like the purpose of life. So say you tell me that you are an atheist and that you do not believe in any religion, you are basically telling me that you do not follow any set of rules. Say christianity, the followers of this religion, they believe in God who they claim has created the universe and all people. While atheists say that they do not believe in God and do not believe that it was God who has created universe and them. So what do atheists believe in when asked how they came to existence? Am I right that atheists claim that they simply do not know where they came from and therefore do not believe in anything. Am I right by saying that? If yes, then atheists do not understand that they are lying to themselves. The mind cannot leave a certain question unanswered, it will assume something, even if you do not recognize that you have assumed it. All I am saying here is that it is simply theoretically impossible to be a nonbeliever because you are not human if you do not believe in something. ( If I dont make sense to you, then :banghead3)

 

[mr.guy]

I think you've confused atheists with anarchists. Happens all the time.

 

[kal-el]

I don't have a reason for being atheist. I simply have no reason to be a theist.

Yep. I simply lack a belief in a god, that's all. Until there's actually a reason to be a theist (the sky gremlin is proven), I choose to side with logic and reason.

 

[linwood]

So what do atheists believe in when asked how they came to existence? Am I right that atheists claim that they simply do not know where they came from and therefore do not believe in anything. Am I right by saying that? If yes, then atheists do not understand that they are lying to themselves. The mind cannot leave a certain question unanswered, it will assume something, even if you do not recognize that you have assumed it. All I am saying here is that it is simply theoretically impossible to be a nonbeliever because you are not human if you do not believe in something. ( If I dont make sense to you, then :banghead3)

You make perfect sense you just called me inhuman.
Thank you for adding yet more justification of my anti-religious stance.

"I don`t know" is not "lying to yourself".
"I don`t know" is the only honest answer to any question you cannot know the answer to.

I have assumed nothing and I think I know my mind much better than you do.
It`s apparent in your ignorance.

 

[kal-el]

Atheism is the transperent and logical alternative to confusion, superstition, and fear that's on the plate of religion. Religion is just sanctioned brainwashing, it encourages unquestioning obedience, not to mention blind faith. Atheism encourages free thought and inquiry. Every single religion on earth claims it's the right one, that's good enough to me to prove that they're wrong. Why would a "loving" god place the truth in 1 demonination?

 

[Aletheia Athanatos]

are you an atheist because science have found faults and contridictions in all major relgions?

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

― Stephen F. Roberts