Do atheists have any evidence to support their beliefs?

[Eudaimonist]

Because while not all Atheists declare to people that there is no God, is it not evident that they believe it in their hearts?

It is true that my worldview is godless (literally, without any gods), but that matches very well with lacking belief in divine beings.

"Lack of belief" is just a less hostile way of saying you think God doesn't exist. After all, you either believe in God, or you don't.

Yes, and that "you don't" is just another way of saying "lack of belief".

I don't believe in God. I lack belief in God. Same thing.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[hollyda]

In between would be Agnosticism, where you have some faith but it isn't enough for you to make a commitment.

No. Not even close.

Agnosticism means you don't think it can be determined whether or not God exists, not "I believe a little but not a lot."

ag·nos·tic   
[ag-nos-tik] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
2.
a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

If you need a source, here ye be.

Unless you're secretly an Agnostic, I know you believe there is no God.

Hopefully you can see why this is false.

Most everyone is an atheist about most gods. You don't believe in Zeus, do you?

 

[Eudaimonist]

atheisists are so milatant in there efforts to make people feel bad for believeing in christ ...the only beef i have . if i wanna believe a 600 year old alcoholic built a boat that had animals on it , then dam it , thats my right .

Yes, it is. Agreed. Believe whatever you like!


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[badtim]

atheisists are so milatant in there efforts to make people feel bad for believeing in christ ...the only beef i have . if i wanna believe a 600 year old alcoholic built a boat that had animals on it , then dam it , thats my right .

yep, no problem at all with that, just don't expect the rest of us to in any way base our lives on it.

 

[selfinflikted]

It may also help, OP, to think of atheism as the "default" position. When one is born, they are born an atheist. Therefore, no evidence of any type is required.

 

[selfinflikted]

What is an Athiest belief? I hear many definitions from many Athiests I've personally interacted with, and interacted with on the Internet as well.

I think their evidence is that they are not connected to the Whole, the One, the Beauty that is Christ. They turn a blind eye to the true glory that is being under His watchful eye. Maybe it was the way they were raised? Maybe it was various circumstances they went through that made them determined that we are not under the watchful eye of the Lord.

I think their "evidence" is their lack of ability to see the Truth, and since they don't know any better, that's what they argue for. "Well if I can't see it, why do you!?"

You haven't interacted with many atheists at all, have you? ... much less read our replies in this thread.

 

[selfinflikted]

Agreed 100%

Faith is my belief, & faith alone will set me free...

No need for evidence when we have 100s of thousands of copies of bibles heh

The evidence is right there, duhh..

heh Athiest crack me up

There are hundreds of thousands of copies of Little Red Riding Hood. Yea, who needs evidence?

 

[selfinflikted]

Nope I most certainly did not read the thread, and that I am guilty for.

I interact with Athiests often. There is one at the gas station down the road I often hound while I'm filling up my BMW with premium. He's a young lad probably about 20 or so. He's usually busy dealing with customers but once I asked him I said, "Boy, do you really want to ruin your eternal soul all because you just refuse to at the very least consider Christ into your heart?"

I even try the nudge the idea to him that it's open to interpretation. That just because you consider yourself Christian, you do not feed into stories such as Noahs Ark or the Virgin birth. It's about finding you're own relation to Christ and deciphering those stories to actually learn something and take something out of them. They're not told as truths, they are but stories, with metaphors and symbolism which can teach very positive lessons to anyone.

He always tells me "Dude I'm working leave me alone." but I know in his heart he wants to join me in my crusade.

No, he probably doesn't. And, speaking as someone who gets hammered with this kind of stuff often, I can tell you it's extremely annoying to be witnessed to repeatedly.

 

[Hakan101]

Nope. I meant to say exactly what I said, minus spelling errors.

It's like this: I don't believe in god - not that there can't be a god, I just haven't been offered any evidence to sway my position. Of course, if some evidence came along that was satisfactory to me, I would convert. This has yet to happen though. I'm open to the possibility of it, I just haven't been convinced, therefore, I do not believe in DEITIES. ( )

I see, but what is your point? Your own words confirm that you believe there is no God. What I'm saying is that by refraining from declaring "There is no God", and substituting it with "I lack belief in God," it suggests that you are not interested in proving your claim that God doesn't exist. The two statements are the same, except the former is in an argumentative form. After all, whether an Atheist makes a positive statement or not, it is evident that they believe there is no God, otherwise they wouldn't be Atheist. Doesn't mean they won't change their mind, but their disbelief is still there.

hollyda- Thanks for the definition, what I said was really a generalization. I treat Agnosticism as acknowledgement that God very well may exist, and therefore a hint of faith, albeit a molecular one. I tend to do this because an Agnostic I knew very well says she wants to believe in God, but she cannot convince herself to. Of course, it is nowhere close enough to actual faith in God.

 

[selfinflikted]

I see, but what is your point? Your own words confirm that you believe there is no God. What I'm saying is that by refraining from declaring "There is no God", and substituting it with "I lack belief in God," it suggests that you are not interested in proving your claim that God doesn't exist. The two statements are the same, except the former is in an argumentative form. After all, whether an Atheist makes a positive statement or not, it is evident that they believe there is no God, otherwise they wouldn't be Atheist. Doesn't mean they won't change their mind, but their disbelief is still there.

Yes. Disbelief is a fine way of putting it, I have no qualms with that. And you're right on another point - I am not interested in proving god doesn't exist. My position is the default one, but if you want to assert that god does exist, the burden of proof is on you.

 

[Icewater]

No, he probably doesn't. And, speaking as someone who gets hammered with this kind of stuff often, I can tell you it's extremely annoying to be witnessed to repeatedly.

He was joking.

Or at least I think he was. Poe's law, anybody?

 

[hollyda]

. I tend to do this because an Agnostic I knew very well says she wants to believe in God, but she cannot convince herself to. Of course, it is nowhere close enough to actual faith in God.

The idea of God is a nice one, and there were times I wish I could believe it, too. And trust me, it's not for lack of exposure. I was baptized when I was 10 (April 16, 1994, to be exact), I went to church every Wednesday and Sunday, but somewhere between believing God would send me to Hell because of my thoughts (I have OCD, which basically means I'll have a thought, fixate on it, and worry about it because it's not technically "mine") and witnessing the so-called Christians in church -- (the man who was tried for murdering his wife and two sons went to my church, one pastor was fired for seducing women in the congregation, and a "good Christian woman" stole over $100k from my mother's business) I stopped believing.

I didn't stop searching, though, and that's one of the reasons I'm here. I minored in religious studies (emphasis in Christianity) in college, became a Jesus freak (the man, not the Christ), joined a Unitarian church while I was still agnostic, and did as much reading as I could.

There are people who would like the comfort of belief. As I said, I'm one of them at times. The prospect of death is frightening, but it makes living this life all the more precious. I called myself agnostic long after I was truly an atheist. Whether or not there is a god, I don't know and can't know for certain. I just don't happen to think there is.

 

[Eudaimonist]

The end is near! 2012! Reptilians! Infowars.com!

I, for one, welcome my reptilian overlords.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Upisoft]

Theist beliefs:
God exists.

Hard atheist beliefs:
God doesn't exists.

Atheists beliefs:
(empty)


Can anyone visualize this, for education purposes?

 

[selfinflikted]

He was joking.

Or at least I think he was. Poe's law, anybody?

I couldn't tell. And I don't really know that poster, so... yea.

 

[Belk]

I see, but what is your point? Your own words confirm that you believe there is no God. What I'm saying is that by refraining from declaring "There is no God", and substituting it with "I lack belief in God," it suggests that you are not interested in proving your claim that God doesn't exist. The two statements are the same, except the former is in an argumentative form. After all, whether an Atheist makes a positive statement or not, it is evident that they believe there is no God, otherwise they wouldn't be Atheist. Doesn't mean they won't change their mind, but their disbelief is still there.

hollyda- Thanks for the definition, what I said was really a generalization. I treat Agnosticism as acknowledgement that God very well may exist, and therefore a hint of faith, albeit a molecular one. I tend to do this because an Agnostic I knew very well says she wants to believe in God, but she cannot convince herself to. Of course, it is nowhere close enough to actual faith in God.

And exactly what evidence do you propose I should supply to "prove" the non existence of God. Non existent entities do not leave evidence of their non existence.

You are the one making the claim that god exists. I simply do not believe your claim. There is no evidence I can offer for my lack of belief in your claim. Weather stating "I lack belief in gods" or "I do not believe gods exist" neither is a positive claim. Now if I stated "It is impossible for a god to exist" that would be a positive claim requiring evidence. Do you see the difference?

 

[CaliforniaSun]

Atheism seems to lack evidence more than Christianity does. Christians have the historical gospel to point towards their truths. What do atheists have other than a blind faith that they are right? Is such blind faith morally similar to Christianity but with less evidence in support of it?

You seem a little confused as to what atheism is. Atheism is a lack of belief in a god or gods because there is not sufficient evidence. That is to say, theists have not met their burden of proof. The onus is on you to reasonable support your claim.

 

[Jade Margery]

It is probably a constant pet peeve of most atheists that people are always demanding that we prove something doesn't exist.

Suppose a person came to you and said, "I believe in the Easter Bunny. Prove that the Easter Bunny doesn't exist--or admit that your belief that it doesn't takes just as much faith as my belief that it does!"

And no matter what kind of reasons you provide--historical and physical facts that contradict the accepted myths, cultural tracing of the Easter Bunny story from its invention to its present state as a consumer icon, explaining how plastic eggs are made and how real bunnies lack the intelligence and opposable digits necessary to carry a basket or hide objects, let alone the inclination to--the person stubbornly ignores you. "That's not hard proof that it DOESN'T exist. I want hard proof, or you're just as faith based as I am."

Now, a normal person would give this deluded weirdo a friendly handshake and go about their day, but in the atheist's world they cannot be escaped. Bunny-believers run the government and the military and the businesses. They knock on our doors at unbearable hours of the morning and send us cheerful letters about how the Easter Bunny loves us and if only we'll accept him, he will give us candies in eggs after we die. They craft laws and public policy based on what they think the Bunny wants them to do. They go to war for the Bunny. Some of them will even kill for the Bunny. And they try to make us live the way they think the Bunny wants everyone to live, and have no authority to insist on this except that the Bunny left a note a long time ago that says so. (A note written with a human hand and translated more times than an international pen-pal relationship).

And I don't care if you believe in an Easter Bunny or a Santa or a god. No atheist I've ever met felt like faith needed to be completely eradicated. It's part of freedom. But please, for the love of whatever fairytale you prefer, stop insisting that we are some kind of believers, that the burden of proof falls on the unassuming, that your rules need to be reinforced because they are the only right ones and they are only right because your specific interpretation of an old book says so. It's old news, it's boring, it's frustrating, and it's rude.

 

[jonsun80]

*sigh* yes unfortunately many of my fellow believers are not exactly skilled in the logic department at all. Please note not all of us are this foolish. most maybe, but not all. I find this unexamined theist extremism embarrassing to be honest.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Which beliefs? I have several, although none of them are related to atheism.