Atheist Point of View

[TrushBeTold]

I will start with a couple quote's

"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 Roberts

"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think." - Arthur Schopenhauer

"The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw

"An atheist doesn't have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can't be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question." - John McCarthy

"Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." - Isaac Asimov

Sorry if I got a little carried away with the quote's there, However I do believe they sum up my world view quite nicely.

The reason I signed up with this forum is not to call you all dumb for your belief in god(any god) like some Athiest's would do. I am not here to disrespect you in anyway, as your belief system is as valid as my own.

I am here to speak with faithful people and learn why you believe what you do, I cannot dispute religion without first understanding it. I am here to ansere any questions you may have about Atheism and hopefully disprove inacurate misconceptions and falsehoods I have heard from people about Atheism.

I suppose my first questions are as follows.

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

Thats it for now, I look forward to your reply's.

P.S. forgive any spelling errors

 

[The Penitent Man]

Nobody is born an atheist. For that to be possible, the newborn would have had to already understand the concept of God and then reject it.

 

[b&wpac4]

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

Personal experience and the survival of the Jewish people. I have no scientific evidence, nor would I ever claim to be able to produce such evidence.

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

I was raised Christian, then became agnostic/atheist, and then converted to Judaism. I like the Jewish view of things.

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

I think my morality comes from multiple sources. Culture and society plays a role, upbringing plays a role, and religious views play a role. I would never point to a single source and say "that's it!"

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

In many ways, atheism is a fine point of view. It usually comes from the idea that one will only believe what is testable and provable. I have nothing against that view, as it is logical and consistent.

That said, I am annoyed by atheists who believe any theists are stupid, backwards people. I see you said that you do not feel that way, so I am not targeting you directly.

 

[Gardenia]

"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 Roberts

So as someone who doesn't outright dismiss any Gods, does that mean I can never understand an atheist?


1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?
My personal experience has lead me to believe that Deity exists. (Although, I'm not sure about Deity necessarily being omni-anything.)

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?
No, I was not raised with any specific religion. I am where I am because of many years of spiritual searching.

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?
I must agree with b&wpac4 here, while I do feel Deity plays a part (and perhaps, a large part), there have been other sources as well.

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)
Nothing wrong with atheism. I don't think that it is a misguided, blind, immoral view, or that atheists are bound for some eternal punishment or anything like that. It is a fine world view. Not one I agree with, but (even as someone who doesn't do the whole 'dismiss all the other possible Gods thing) I can understand it.

 

[HasturX]

Nobody is born an atheist. For that to be possible, the newborn would have had to already understand the concept of God and then reject it.

If only being an atheist meant you had to reject the concept of god.

 

[The Penitent Man]

If only being an atheist meant you had to reject the concept of god.

Atheists reject the concept of God, do they not?

 

[Eudaimonist]

Atheists reject the concept of God, do they not?

They often do, but the usual understanding that atheists have is that atheists lack belief in God, not necessarily reject such belief.

Given that, a baby would be an atheist. All your babies are belong to us.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[JJWhite]

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

The awesomeness of the world and all the amazing intricacies of everything I've observed. It's hard for me to believe that it all came about without purpose. Belief in God also defines MY purpose for living.

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?

Yes

if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?

If I was exposed to it properly, yes.

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

Yes, but as b&wpac4 mentioned, culture plays a big part. Still, I would view conformity with many aspects of culture as still being part of religion, or what God wants of me. For example, God tells Muslims in the Qur'an that 'for women are rights similar to men according what is ma'roof' The word 'ma'roof' in Arabic means something good, but it's root is 'urf, and that means culture. There are a lot of other aspects of life in which God tells us to behave according to what is acceptable in our culture. So, whenever aspects of culture do not contradict direct teachings of my religion, I believe that (to that extent only) I should do what the Romans do whilst in Rome, and I feel that it is part of my faith in God that I would do so. I don't believe that religion came to destroy any particular culture, only to offer guidelines.

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

I can understand why someone would make that choice, but I do think it is wrong and further from the Truth than any other religion different than my own (in the area of believing in a deity vs not). However, I do respect atheists for using their minds instead of blindly following. Although I believe religion is originally from God, I also believe that people don't always interpret it correctly (all of us have a fair share of this). I am saddened when any people who belong to a particular religion just follow what they are taught blindly without thinking about it.

 

[Pure760]

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

Thats it for now, I look forward to your reply's.

P.S. forgive any spelling errors

Another one, welcome.

1. I dont believe because it is fact.

2. Almost raised catholic but no.. close one.

3. I get nothing from God but will hold godly morality in order to get closer to him and see his truth more clearly.

4. Simply belief in disbelief, still a false belief system just as any other.

 

[humblemuslim]

I will start with a couple quote's

"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 Roberts

/* This statement makes no sense. If someone believes in one deity, they are by the very definition of the term not an atheist. When someone understands why I believe in GOD, they will realize why I truly dismiss all others and not simply assume it as the person in this quotation has done so. */

"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think." - Arthur Schopenhauer

/* Arthur appears to not have been exposed to religion for very long (or gave no heed to a full understanding of it). Any student of religion will quickly find that religion is highly customizable and just as dynamic as any other form of thought and practice. Focusing on the people shouting "Heresy!" and the people who pretend to have absolute knowledge would lead someone to this misunderstanding. */

"The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw

/* Believers can be just as miserable or happy as a skeptic... Baseless hasty generalizations like these make me wonder where George drew this conclusion. */

"An atheist doesn't have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can't be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question." - John McCarthy

"Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." - Isaac Asimov

/* Not sure what the value of this quotation is. Fear of death can come to anyone, religious or nonreligious. To truly have no fear of death one would have to attain a state of selfishness I can hardly imagine. At the very least one should fear the status of their loved ones after their passing, which Isaac here seems unconcerned with and is rather at peace with the idea of leaving all responsibly in the dust. */

Sorry if I got a little carried away with the quote's there, However I do believe they sum up my world view quite nicely.

The reason I signed up with this forum is not to call you all dumb for your belief in god(any god) like some Athiest's would do. I am not here to disrespect you in anyway, as your belief system is as valid as my own.

I am here to speak with faithful people and learn why you believe what you do, I cannot dispute religion without first understanding it. I am here to ansere any questions you may have about Atheism and hopefully disprove inacurate misconceptions and falsehoods I have heard from people about Atheism.

I suppose my first questions are as follows.

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

/* Personal witness/experience */

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

/* Yes. If GOD willed it to be so. */

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

/* Yes. Everything comes from GOD. Morality is no exception. */

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

/* I leave GOD to judge them. I am not qualified to judge the hearts of others. I have seen good and bad from them, from my own perspective, much like I see from any other group of people. */

Thats it for now, I look forward to your reply's.

P.S. forgive any spelling errors

See comments in bolded blue.

 

[Nooj]

I will start with a couple quote's

"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 Roberts

Abrahamic monotheists dismiss all the other gods because they believe that only one exists and only one can exist. I don't think evidence really comes into it for most of them.

 

[HasturX]

Atheists reject the concept of God, do they not?

You don't not have to reject the concept to be an atheist.

I don't reject the concept. I just say that I've seen zero evidence of a god so there is no reason to believe in one.

 

[TrushBeTold]

I dont have much time atm and seeing as there have been more reply's then I thought there would be I will only reply to some of them for now.

1. Why do you believe in a god/diety/demi-god or any other omnipitent being?

"The awesomeness of the world and all the amazing intricacies of everything I've observed. It's hard for me to believe that it all came about without purpose. Belief in God also defines MY purpose for living."

I suppose I will start by saying I dont believe god must exist in order for life to have a purpose. With that said I also dont believe life has a purpose, when our planet no longer exist's(the sun wont be around forever, when it die's so will the earth its only a matter of time) what purpose would life have served? in the end would the fact that life was here have changed anything?(in the big picture of the universe)

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

What I was trying to get at with this question is the fact that most people believe what there parents tought them to believe. If your religious views are the truth it should not have to be tought to you in order for you to believe it. The truth cannot be changed no matter how much others try to tell you otherwise, for example(and it might be a bad one) if one were to take two new born baby's and raise them away from all possable outside influences, by adulthood they will both have come to the conclusion that "what goes up must come down"(or in other words gravity) because it is a universal truth that im sure we all agree on. Yet there views on god would be much different(for proof look at the many hundrend's of religions around the world). If the idea of god is a universal truth would we not all come to the same conclusion regardless of outside influences in the same manner that we all come to the conclusion that "what goes up must come down"?

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

Yes. Everything comes from GOD. Morality is no exception.

If everything comes from god, including our morality, does that mean you believe that without god humans and life in general are inheritly bad or evil? do you think that without god people would be needlessly killing eachother for the purpose of killing eachother?

Personally I believe our good nature comes from the evelutionary need to cooperate for survival, or in other words human nature.

4. What is your opinion of Atheism?(be honest)

"I can understand why someone would make that choice, but I do think it is wrong and further from the Truth than any other religion different than my own (in the area of believing in a deity vs not). However, I do respect atheists for using their minds instead of blindly following. Although I believe religion is originally from God, I also believe that people don't always interpret it correctly (all of us have a fair share of this). I am saddened when any people who belong to a particular religion just follow what they are taught blindly without thinking about it."

I will start with this "think it is wrong and further from the Truth than any other religion different than my own". What makes you think it is wrong and far from the truth? is it because you believe in god and therefor all other world views must be wrong?

Truth is a very strong word, it is not the truth simply because you believe it to be so. Truth is unquestionable, it is universal, it is beyond all doubt. You cannot say that your belief's are true, much the same way that I cannot say mine are true. However the simple fact that there is no proof that god exists leads me to believe he/she/it does not exist.

For example, there is no proof for or against an invisable fish-man on the earth, we will all agree that it does not exist because it cannot be prooven. I apply the same thought process to the existance of god.

"So as someone who doesn't outright dismiss any Gods, does that mean I can never understand an atheist?"

Do you believe in Thor, the god of thunder, or do you agree that he does not exist? if you are being truthful with yourself im sure you will agree that thunder does not come from Thor but from natural thermodynamic instances, and therefor there are some gods you do dismiss as impossable. However if you still claim you dont dismiss any god's existance then yes it will be dificult for you to understand us.

"Atheists reject the concept of God, do they not?"

We do not reject the concept of god. A god might well exist. Atheists for the most part believe what can be seen, what can be felt, what can be prooven. In most Atheists minds the concept of god cannot be prooven to exist nor can it be prooven not to exist, an Agnostic would leave it at that and simply say "I dont know either way"(as far as I know), on the other hand an Atheist would say the lack of evidence is in itself reason to not believe.

I hope theese replys are satisfactory and again ignore any spelling errors

Thanks

 

[humblemuslim]

**SNIP**

2. Were you raised with your current belief system?
if yes - Do you think you would still hold your current belief system if raised to believe another?
if no - What made you choose your current belief system?

What I was trying to get at with this question is the fact that most people believe what there parents tought them to believe. If your religious views are the truth it should not have to be tought to you in order for you to believe it. The truth cannot be changed no matter how much others try to tell you otherwise, for example(and it might be a bad one) if one were to take two new born baby's and raise them away from all possable outside influences, by adulthood they will both have come to the conclusion that "what goes up must come down"(or in other words gravity) because it is a universal truth that im sure we all agree on. Yet there views on god would be much different(for proof look at the many hundrend's of religions around the world). If the idea of god is a universal truth would we not all come to the same conclusion regardless of outside influences in the same manner that we all come to the conclusion that "what goes up must come down"?

/*I often hear that 'most people believe what their parents believe' but never see any citations to support that claim. Do you have any sources that support this claim? What is the sample size? What population is being sampled? Who conducted the survey? Etc.

There is a difference from strictly empirical endeavors and those requiring foresight. GOD will be apparent to everyone upon death on the Day of Judgment. It is just a matter of time for those who have doubts. Wait and it will be as obvious as 'what comes up must come down'. However, everyone will be questioned on that day as to what they did in this life. If you rejected GOD you better start coming up with an exceptional list of reasons why, because you'll have to answer to your creator.

You question why it needs to be taught to us. That is because we are not near to GOD (Heaven). The first humans (Adam and Eve) had a close relationship with GOD but since most humans have distanced themselves from GOD. Generation by generation, we find our children believe less in the truth and follow more of their own desires. People need to be reminded of the foresight they lack. The gift, guide, and mercy from GOD that some people cherish and others disregard as yesterday's trash. There is a lesson to be learned by the story of Iblis (Satan). Arrogance will ultimately lead to one's failure.*/

3. Do you think you get your morality from god? if so why?

Yes. Everything comes from GOD. Morality is no exception.

If everything comes from god, including our morality, does that mean you believe that without god humans and life in general are inheritly bad or evil? do you think that without god people would be needlessly killing eachother for the purpose of killing eachother?

Personally I believe our good nature comes from the evelutionary need to cooperate for survival, or in other words human nature.

/* I believe GOD created humans in the best of shapes/forms. We are pure from birth, not evil by nature. We as a people are constantly passing on the knowledge of good and evil to our offspring. They have been given the will power, as a test, to choose what path they wish to take. The evil we experience in this life is a test. A test is only as valuable as the difficulty it presents.*/

See blue comments.

 

[Skeptic90]

Nobody is born an atheist. For that to be possible, the newborn would have had to already understand the concept of God and then reject it.

Agreed. Agnostic is the correct word, strictly speaking, in the manner that we have no knowledge. Atheist, in the matter of 'without' a belief in god. So agnostic-atheist.