D-MITCH777
Member
To me there just isn't enough evidence for me. I used to believe but i as i researched more and thought a bout it i came to the conclusion that i was wrong.
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Why are you an atheist?
- Thread starter Nick Soapdish
- Start date
work in progress
Well-Known Member
I'm with the majority I guess. After leaving home to escape fundamentalism, I tried other religions that came my way, but always found flaws within their ideas and concepts. I ended up thinking that maybe it's better to stick with the things that can be proven to exist and working from there.
cablescavenger
Well-Known Member
The more difficult question to fathom is why so many people are not.
Perhaps we are at the forefront of freethinking and free speech. I would like to think there is some truth in that, and perhaps with a little luck, over time prejudices against atheist will be diminished, and it will catch on.
Our societal ethics and scientific understanding have encouraged and allowed for a more open dialogue around atheism, and there is less chance of us being killed for our non belief than at any time in history.
T-Dawg
Self-appointed Lunatic
I could have sworn I had responded to this thread a while back, but I can't find my post anywhere... I guess I'll just have to post my views again...
I do not worship God because I know God is evil. I know this because the word of his own followers says that he did evil deeds (ie, slaughtering Egyptians directly through plagues for the primary purpose of showing everyone how powerful he was). I do not wish to worship an evil god, so I do not.
For divinity in general, we turn to the real "god," Reality. Reality is holy and infallible, and gives us rules as matter, just as the State gives us rules as humans. However, followers of "gods" will try to usurp the authority of Reality by worshiping entities that they think can override Reality by causing "miracles." This is evil and creates a fundamental disconnect in humanity - it divides us into those who obey Reality, and those who hate Reality and want to create disorder in the universe. This disconnect is bad for all involved because just as Reality provides order to the universe through its Laws (of Physics), our unity as humans allows us to communicate and reason with each other on terms we can understand. When some people believe in magic and other people believe in reason, those two groups cannot have meaningful dialogue with each other, as the fundamental ways in which they view the universe around them are incompatible. Reason is superior to magic because whereas magic is disorganized, does not follow rules, and does not produce consistent results, reason has a system, follows rules by which we can predict it, and, provided that we understand the rules correctly, produces consistent results each and every time it is invoked - so even though we cannot disprove magic any more than magic can disprove reason, since they operate entirely independently of each other, reason is the superior way of thinking. Similarly, reason is superior to faith because faith explicitly attempts to produce results independently of Reality (as I've heard Christians themselves point out, if God provided evidence for his existence, we wouldn't be able to have faith in him, as faith requires a sufficient lack of evidence), and since Reality is infallible and faith often contradicts Reality, faith will often fail to give results. Conversely, reason will only fail to give results when it is misunderstood.
I do not worship God because I know God is evil. I know this because the word of his own followers says that he did evil deeds (ie, slaughtering Egyptians directly through plagues for the primary purpose of showing everyone how powerful he was). I do not wish to worship an evil god, so I do not.
For divinity in general, we turn to the real "god," Reality. Reality is holy and infallible, and gives us rules as matter, just as the State gives us rules as humans. However, followers of "gods" will try to usurp the authority of Reality by worshiping entities that they think can override Reality by causing "miracles." This is evil and creates a fundamental disconnect in humanity - it divides us into those who obey Reality, and those who hate Reality and want to create disorder in the universe. This disconnect is bad for all involved because just as Reality provides order to the universe through its Laws (of Physics), our unity as humans allows us to communicate and reason with each other on terms we can understand. When some people believe in magic and other people believe in reason, those two groups cannot have meaningful dialogue with each other, as the fundamental ways in which they view the universe around them are incompatible. Reason is superior to magic because whereas magic is disorganized, does not follow rules, and does not produce consistent results, reason has a system, follows rules by which we can predict it, and, provided that we understand the rules correctly, produces consistent results each and every time it is invoked - so even though we cannot disprove magic any more than magic can disprove reason, since they operate entirely independently of each other, reason is the superior way of thinking. Similarly, reason is superior to faith because faith explicitly attempts to produce results independently of Reality (as I've heard Christians themselves point out, if God provided evidence for his existence, we wouldn't be able to have faith in him, as faith requires a sufficient lack of evidence), and since Reality is infallible and faith often contradicts Reality, faith will often fail to give results. Conversely, reason will only fail to give results when it is misunderstood.
WanderLust
Inquisitive One
I don't see the point of religion. It detracts my focus from the here and now and that's where it needs to be. I feel the only reason peole cling to faith is because they're too afraid of reality.
Majikthise
nude
There are lots of reasons. The biggest (most compelling)?
I'ts a big Universe. I just find it incomprehensably unimaginative to think that a "god" that is all powerful and all knowing would pay any great attention to the piddling affairs of the inhabitants of this speck of sand on an infinite beach.
Nevermind that this world might be the epicenter of all this being is supposed to have created.
The only religions that have ever thought beyond this rock are crackpots like scientologists and heavens gate.
And nature is not a god. Nature is simply cause and effect, ordered and at the same time chaotic ,but only as we judge order and chaos from our own perspective.
The concept of god is nothing but a creation of confused human minds.
And that's how I spent my summer vacation....
I mean, that's why I'm an atheist.
Wait. So wouldn't this mean that you aren't an atheist, since you believe God exists?
theirreverentconcubine
Member
Other: Purity of identity. "I am an atheist" is a true statement; it may be the most truth a human can say about herself in this current age. I am Setian / Atheist for the simple fact that I am not an Agnostic / Atheism. Agnosticism as refers to god is unacceptable. God is a human concept in human minds; those humans can replace that term with Set or suffer the consequences.
I'm over here laughing. I don't consider Set to be a religion, nor the kind of thing that can be standardized. YHWH is an identifier associated with "I am," thus I feel that denying the existence of god is to be insane. When a Christian sees me as a target for evangelism, I don't say, I'm an atheist; I wait for the Christian to dig his own hole... and it does not take long for your average Christian to associate YHWH with hell. I am undefeated in the argument that follows from that particular sheep shearing methodology.
I'm over here laughing. I don't consider Set to be a religion, nor the kind of thing that can be standardized. YHWH is an identifier associated with "I am," thus I feel that denying the existence of god is to be insane. When a Christian sees me as a target for evangelism, I don't say, I'm an atheist; I wait for the Christian to dig his own hole... and it does not take long for your average Christian to associate YHWH with hell. I am undefeated in the argument that follows from that particular sheep shearing methodology.
theirreverentconcubine
Member
This is messing up, right here.
I'm not over here trying to convert you to Set, I'm telling you the truth as I understand it. Humans can be reduced to many dualities, but the one that applies in this situation is the one of pattern. We recognize pattern, we reinforce pattern. Truth has always been a matter of philosophy, but being a duality, how can I speak truth? The answer seems to be - only through dualities - therefore atheism is not enough. Reality merely the most reinforced pattern; real must be the philosopher.
Those who follow a god seem to like idols, so let's give Reality an Idol. How about the Standard Model Lagrangian? From what I know of QM (and listening to others who know QM), that Idol about covers it.
Except for the Higgs, which we take on faith.
Doesn't that answer presuppose the existence of the very thing for which atheists are saying there is no evidence? How can one claim to be superior to a non-existent thing?
T-Dawg
Self-appointed Lunatic
I don't believe God exists, but I generally live my life as if I was operating a one man rebellion against him.
It's really not particularly relevant if God exists, given that he is obviously not worthy of worship and if he does exist, almost always works through solely his followers.
I'm not exactly sure what you're arguing here, but I'm not sure where the duality thing is coming from. I always envisioned Reality as having the distinct trait one being single; there is only one reality for all people, and only one correct answer to most questions.
theirreverentconcubine
Member
When you stop believing in reality, reality starts to believe in you.
Duality comes from identity; the "I" now/the "I" eternal, eternal in the sense of core ideal. "One reality for all" is patently absurd and easily falsified (it is more diplomatic to say "one reality for all for all time" is patently absurd
); just being away from my people back east, I know my Phoenix reality is not theirs. Memory deceives, the mind has evolved to create simulation of every depth and flavor; science has got a way to go before eliminating these dualities.
Qymaen
Strange Paradox
I plain don't like religion. I study history. I've studied religious history fairly extensively and the intolerance that the religious have shown to their own people and others just disgusts me. The conflicts that arose out of the Reformation alone make me cringe. The Crusades, the French Religious Wars, the suppression of the Hussites, etc. All of it just feeds my disdain for religion.
Then there's the fact that the supposedly benevolent God that Christians believe in would allow such things as the Rape of Nanking, the Sack of Jerusalem, or the Holocaust to even occur. If there was a God, I'd imagine him as apathetic and uncaring, possibly even sadistic.
Then there's the fact that the supposedly benevolent God that Christians believe in would allow such things as the Rape of Nanking, the Sack of Jerusalem, or the Holocaust to even occur. If there was a God, I'd imagine him as apathetic and uncaring, possibly even sadistic.
For me the biggest reason, by far, is because religious explanations make no sense.
Every possible form of argument is employed to defend what the theists cannot even prove to themselves:
Contradictions are not contradictions and what is impossible can with a special plea become possible. And anything that is wrong only appears to be wrong because the unbeliever has misunderstood the symbolism, allegory, or the subtle theological nuances. The truths of some texts cannot be understood by ordinary folk but can only be interpreted by theologians and scholarly exegesis. And how, it is asked, can it be said of a thing that it doesn't exist when one is unable to prove that it doesn't exist? And yet we know religious texts are true because they are the word of God. Therefore God's existence is demonstrated by the truth of the religious texts. And where would we get our moral code if there were no moral arbiter? In answer to that, believers can't point to the evil and wretchedness that exists in the world and say that as God made evil possible he cannot be a morally good and perfect being because that is to presuppose knowledge of God's ultimate plan. And so on and so forth.
Fudge and yet more fudge. Theists aren't defending God by such apologetic offerings; they are defending what they would like to believe to be true, and they have to defend it because they've committed to it (a human defence mechanism we all share to some extent).
Some religionists attempt to put some credible meat on the bones of their belief-as-faith by appealing to a non-doctrinal, metaphysical hypothesis, such a the concept of an Uncaused Cause or a necessary being upon which contingent being exists. But that is fallacious and only serves to cast even more doubt upon the mystical beliefs because no religious doctrines are logically necessary to such a concept, and they cannot therefore be claimed to inhere within it.
I voted no credible evidence,for me it started at Sunday School when i was a Kid and the logistics of Noahs Ark,the biggest reason though watching all those devout religious people praying for deliverance from poverty,war,famine,persecution and decease and not getting any ,belief in a God/s doesn't appear to come with any benefit plus i'm not into slavery and torture.
Bob L
Member
I became an atheist after much soul-searching and examinations of the facts. I'm 58 years old, and I was brought up in a French-Canadian Catholic family, so the Catholic faith was drilled into me from the get-go. My brain was full of religious memes, or what Dr. Wayne Dyer so aptly calls "viruses". It took many years of work to remove those viruses from my brain, with the result that I am now more free and happier than I have ever been, simply because I am no longer a slave to a myth. My wife, who is heavily Roman Catholic (with a pinch of Evangelical Christianity thrown in for good measure), is convinced that I'm headed straight to hell, but I tell her not to worry, because there is no hell!
One thing that I'm convinced of is that organized religion, especially Christianity, is eventually destined to disappear from the face of the Earth. Information is religion's greatest enemy, and with the advent of the Internet information has never been easier to obtain. As more and more people educate themselves to the truth about gods and religion, more and more will see it for what it is - just a myth. It might take centuries, but in time religion will become irrelevant in this world, and eventually simply fade away.
One thing that I'm convinced of is that organized religion, especially Christianity, is eventually destined to disappear from the face of the Earth. Information is religion's greatest enemy, and with the advent of the Internet information has never been easier to obtain. As more and more people educate themselves to the truth about gods and religion, more and more will see it for what it is - just a myth. It might take centuries, but in time religion will become irrelevant in this world, and eventually simply fade away.