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Ask the Atheist

451ffan

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Hi Everyone,

Big fan of the forums...there is a lot of interesting stuff here. Anyways, I thought it would be interesting to throw this thread out there.

I know that some Christians have some strange conceptions of Atheists, so if you have any questions, throw them my way! I'd be glad to try to help out however I can with your elucidation about Atheism and/or Atheists.

Sincerely,
MSB
 

451ffan

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Hello Anatolian,

Good and bad? Sure...this one gets asked of atheists a lot. Atheism does not mean you forego any ethical system, only that ethics are not handed to one as a "gift from god."

For instance, I do not have any real obstacle holding me back from stealing from a store the next time I am out. Do I do it? Heck no! The simplistic reason is that I don't want to take the risk of getting caught...but the real reason is found in Kant's Categorical Imperative. I do not steal, because if everyone stole, there would be nothing in the stores for good people to buy!

If you want more information on the Categorical Imperative, check out Wikipedia...I would give you a link, but I'm too new to do so. I hope that helps.
 
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451ffan

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As for your second question, why don't I believe in god? Kudos for the super-broad questions, by the way! ;)

For one...I tried believing. I was born to a Catholic mother and a Protestant father...I almost became a priest. But questions as to the depth of my faith kept coming to the surface of my consciousness. Things such as "why is the world such a bad place if it was made by God?" and "why did God give me bipolar disorder?" and the big one: "why did God make my girlfriend leave me so suddenly?"

I'm a firm believer that the status of the present day world is proof positive that no God exists...with war, famine, global warming, suffering, depression, anxiety, where is God? I came to the conclusion that I hadn't done enough sin to account for the suffering I've already been paid, and so I said "adieu" to religion forever.

It really makes sense to me now. I was always inquisitive about the world, I loved science for the lack of supernatural explinations and its precision. All in all, this was a very short brief on what lead to my open declaration of atheism, but it's pretty good.

I hope this helps clarify some things Anatolian! Ask more questions if something else comes to mind! Good talking to you.

Sincerely,
MSB
 
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thatsmrjason2u

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Shalom and Welcome To The Board.

My Question to You Is How Can People Make up Religions And have So Many People Follow Them?

Also Have you Tried Looking into Other Religions? Christainity May not Be Right to You But others May Very Well Be.
 
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Opcode42

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These are always good threads for discussion.

I would like to interject one important point though.

Atheism is not an overarching belief system. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in deities. Thats it, nothing more. Now, of course being people just like everyone else, every atheist also has many other belief systems in place for all kinds of day to day issues, Secular Humanism being one such.

I find that this is often not as obvious a point to believers as it is to us non believers, as in a religion, all of it is tied into one package, instead of being separate. For example, I am an atheist, and though I share many similar views with the Secular Humanist viewpoint, I am not a Secular Humanist.


Basically, just keep in mind in such a thread, that unless you are asking directly quantifiable questions, the answers you get will vary, often times by quite a lot, from person to person. Another example, my answer to why I personally do not believe in god, is quite different from Matts, but thats something for another thread.

Carry on.

EOL
 
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anatolian

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thanks for the answers friend,,,You talk about the bad situation of today's world and etc as a reason for the non-existance of God but can we say that your answer for the first question "Categorical Imperative:I do not steal, because if everyone stole, there would be nothing in the stores for good people to buy!" contradicts with the second answer? I mean if people dont use their mind or conscience why does it require the non-existance of God?
 
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Snowbunny

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hola mattseanbachman,

welcome to the forum! i think from how you phrased your introduction you have been reading for a long time now? my name is annette, it is nice to meet you :wave:

i do have some questions if it is no too much trouble... so i guess i will just give you my first one and if you want you can answer it! why do you think religion transcends cultures and time periods?

gracias
 
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Beanieboy

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How do you base your ethics, belief system, and morality?

I once was talking to a Jewish friend, who said, "There has to be a God! Otherwise, we will all do whatever we wanted, and it would be anarchy! The world would be far more violent than it already is!"

I said, "Let's just say, somehow, say an accidental drug, allowed you to see things as they really were, and you learned there was no God. You are born, you live, you die, then end.

Knowing that, do you now go kill people for sport? Steal instead of buying? Start shooting heroin?"

She said, "Well, no."

The simple idea of "I don't because the bible says so" is far more frightening to me than "It doesn't make the world a better place."

What is your motivation?
 
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Ryal Kane

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Okay, so this isn't my thread but I'm an agnostic Atheist so I'm going to throw in my 2c and supply some answers.

DO I BELIEVE IN GOOD AND BAD?
Tough question. I don't believe Good and Evil exist as entities in their own right. They are labels we apply to things in the world, primarily the actions of people.
To some extent, these definitions are variable. A gay person who considers his relationship very good may be branded evil by someone else. A lot of things are very hard to ethically define, topics like the death penalty or euthinasia. There are no cut and dry, easy definitions for things like this. They require a lot of thought.
As a general rule, do unto others as you would have done unto yourself is a decent and fairly universal benchmark. Few people on earth would disagree that trying to kill a baby is bad and that trying to save one is good.

WHY DO'NT I BELIEVE IN GOD?
Primarily, lack of evidence. God may exist. I don't know. But I find it illogical to believe in something when I see no evidence of it's existance. The more specific the definition of God, the less credible I seem to find him. To me, religions simply take the ideas and prejudices of mankind and label them God.

HOW CAN SO MANY PEOPLE MAKE UP RELIGIONS AND HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE FOLLOW THEM?

I don't see why this question is targeted to an atheist specifically. After all, even theists tend to believe that every other religion but there's is wrong. People like to belong. They like to have answers, especially to questions with massive scope (where did we come from, what happens when we die). With a few exceptions (such as, in my opinion Mormonism and Scientology) religions don't start by someone just making something up and people believing it. Religions develop over a long time, entwining with a culture and the way it develops.

Personally, from a science angle, I believe that humans are predisposed to religious and supernatural believe due to a convergence of evolutionary adaptations: Pattern recognition, speculative thought and a desire for answers.

HAVE A TRIED LOOKING INTO OTHER RELIGIONS?
Not especially. I do try and find out what I can about different belief systems. I'm an infojunkie. But none of them seem any more credible than the other. While some contain tenants that make sense to me the justification for these tenants (a supernatural source) rings false to me. If anything the sheer number of religions in the world makes all of them less creidble. Humans seek answers and where they cannot find them, they will invent them.

ADDITION:
For the record, I have been an agnostic atheist as long as I remember. While I remmebr bible stories from my youth, I never considered them any more real than Norse or Greek myths, which I also liked.
 
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0rion

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Hi mattseanbachman,

I have a couple of questions for you:

1. If God doesn't exist, where did everything come from?

2. If science can explain everything, can they make a universe?

3. What is the meaning of life if there is no God?

4. What is the meaning of my fingers if I can't play the piano?

5. Can you prove God doesn't exist?

Thanks!
 
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moogoob

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Though I'm not currently an Atheist, I was in the past and am nonreligious and therefore think I can answer a few of them from an Atheist's point of view. If I'm totally off, Matt, please let me know. :)

2. If science can explain everything, can they make a universe?
Science cannot explain everything. Science tries to the best of human ability, until better science and methods come around.

And can who make a universe? Scientists? And what do you mean by universe? I've made universes. Not big ones, mind you, and they're self-contained in literature, but universes nonetheless.

3. What is the meaning of life if there is no God?
This isn't covered by Atheism. Try searching wikipedia for Secular Humanism if you'd like one atheist-compatible philosophy.

4. What is the meaning of my fingers if I can't play the piano?
Pardon? Fingers have a great many uses to our species.

5. Can you prove God doesn't exist?

Thanks!
Nope. Neither can anyone prove one does. This also comes down to definitions of "god" as well. For example, to the ancient Greeks, Athena was a popular and powerful god. Many parts of Athena's archetype was therefore present in her followers. In that case, (an information theory and memetics one) Athena was her followers, and therefore very much real.

Cheers. :)
 
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451ffan

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"
Shalom and Welcome To The Board.

My Question to You Is How Can People Make up Religions And have So Many People Follow Them?

Also Have you Tried Looking into Other Religions? Christainity May not Be Right to You But others May Very Well Be."

Indeed! Shabat shalom! I hope I got the spelling correct on the "shabat," correct me if I am incorrect.

Both of these questions are very good...as for the first, the radically different state of the world should be sufficient reason for why people follow all different kinds of religion. Superstition ruled the day, and noone was the wiser to the miracle of science that would bless the Earth thousands of years later.

As for the second question...why wouldn't I be a Jew if I was born in Israel? Islamic if I was born in Egypt? This amounts to one of the best reasons to become an athiest: the vast majority of the religious are simply so because of their parents! The corrolation is astounding...is this faith founded in reason? Heck no!

Ask if you want a better elucidation...I am short on time, and seeing Rocky Balboa made me behind on the responses!

-MSB

Thank you for your questions! Shabat shalom.
 
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451ffan

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"
thanks for the answers friend,,,You talk about the bad situation of today's world and etc as a reason for the non-existance of God but can we say that your answer for the first question "Categorical Imperative:I do not steal, because if everyone stole, there would be nothing in the stores for good people to buy!" contradicts with the second answer? I mean if people dont use their mind or conscience why does it require the non-existance of God?"

I believe my first answer to be specific, but if you would like, please clarify this in a personal message.

The maxim of the Categorical by Kant is surprisingly similar to the "Golden Rule" propagated by Jesus and Confucius, but it takes it a step further. If you would like further clarification, please follow up...I eagerly look forward to further conversation, Anatolian! :)
 
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451ffan

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Catholics are great people, Jayda06...I was born one!

"hola mattseanbachman,

welcome to the forum! i think from how you phrased your introduction you have been reading for a long time now? my name is annette, it is nice to meet you :wave:

i do have some questions if it is no too much trouble... so i guess i will just give you my first one and if you want you can answer it! why do you think religion transcends cultures and time periods?

gracias"


Religion is part and parcel of culture...the biggest predictor of religiousity is parental (maternal or paternal, or both, I should say). There is no distinction between religion and culture that needs edification, however I can be much more explicit if you should so require. Please send me a personal message, and I shall get to you very, very soon. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
MSB
 
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Dragons87

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As for the second question...why wouldn't I be a Jew if I was born in Israel? Islamic if I was born in Egypt? This amounts to one of the best reasons to become an athiest: the vast majority of the religious are simply so because of their parents! The corrolation is astounding...is this faith founded in reason? Heck no!

I'm going to have to dispute you on that, because I have seen all four combinations, and they are nearly equally strong:

Parents religious; offspring religious
Parents religious; offspring non-religious
Parents non-religious; offspring religious
Parents non-religious; offspring non-religious

Hence, while parental influence is important, I wouldn't say that's the determining factor of the offspring's faith/religion. For example, I am Category 1, but my parents are Category 3, while my housemate is Category 2 and many are Category 4.


Anyway, my question is: what are you doing in the Christian Forums?
 
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451ffan

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"How do you base your ethics, belief system, and morality?"

Great question! Unfortunately, my last post got disrupted, so I hope you do not mind an abridged version! Sorry, I dearly apologize...I tried to post an external link, an error message from the forum popped up.

I am repeating myself, but oh well: the Categorical Imperative! Kant said, to quote Wiki, is "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law."

Please message me for any further clarification...I want to get through all of these great questions before my early bedtime.

-MSB

PS If I discovered that drug, the Categorical Imperative would still hold true...and my faith in Atheism would increase! (It is nevertheless still very strong) Wait, that's news to me...non-religious people all are heroin addicts?? Haha, just joking! ;)

Have a good night, message me for clarification!
 
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