I was just thinking and, most atheist's point on religion is that they don't believe in something they can't see or feel.
That's a lie though (fallacy).
After all you do and experience things you can't see or can't feel everyday.
Can't see a thought, can't feel an emotion -yet those two happen constantly.
You know they exist because you experience them.
Atheist is just another word for someone who chooses to close their eyes in my opinion.
I feel most atheists are simply angry that bad things happen to them, angry that "God let this happen" so they lash out to "deny existence of such".
God didn't make anything "happen", 99.9% of the time it was probably another person-- but that blame doesn't go where it's supposed to.
And for those who are on the fence, neither or-- it's simple. If you want to know if God exists- all you have to do is ask.
(Just random thoughts.)
ID:1361453
 Aug 25 2013, 6:17 am
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You seem to be making a lot of assumptions, atheists don't believe in a god so they wouldn't feel like "god let this happen".
How would just asking prove there's a god? Personally I don't like organized religion, so I guess I'm potentially agnostic, maybe? | |
I'm agnostic. It's kind of loose, though, more towards the atheist side. I don't bother debating whether or not there is a supernatural being above us all, because frankly I don't care. Just like SSGX, I am not angry about my life. I don't blame "God" for anything. I go with the flow and live my life by my own morals and ethics and everything just falls into place. I didn't ask anyone to do anything for me or to help me accomplish my goals. I got out there and achieved them.
I am now in college with a full ride scholarship and participating in Air Force ROTC, and I will serve in the Air Force after my time in college and then go to the Art Institutes to get a degree in Web Design afterwards. I'm well on my way simply from my own drive to achieve. If I was sick, I took medicine and got the f*** over it, I didn't ask for omnipresent help to cure me. The thought of asking an omniscient being for help never crosses my mind. I guess that's just the way my drive works, though. So yeah, as I continue to ramble. I am fine with my life and understand there are bumps. If there is a being out there who created us, then so be it. I'll find out when I die, I suppose. Until then, I'm going to live my precious life the way I want to and be happy because of it. | |
Dariuc wrote:
I was just thinking and, most atheist's point on religion is that they don't believe in something they can't see or feel. I don't believe in things I can't /observe/. That's different to see or feel. I can observe the effects of my or someone else's emotional state, and via that develop conclusions about the existence and nature of emotions. The fact that I can guess at someone's emotional state based on what they're doing indicates I can observe emotions. Some versions of god are not observables. A deity that created the universe, set the laws of physics, and then left and never interacted with it again is not observable, for example. I don't believe in entities like that because being unobservable also means they have zero explanatory power. There's no reason to believe in them. I don't believe in such a deity for the same reason I don't believe in a teapot orbiting between mars and jupiter - I don't have any evidence for them, and couldn't get any evidence for them, because they don't affect anything. The Christian god, on the other hand, isn't an unobservable. It has several properties, and is supposed to have intervened and continue intervening in reality. For example, the Christian deity is an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent entity. If it existed, then the world would be in perfect conformance with its desires, by definition. Given that, for example, the Holocaust happened, we can conclude that either morality in this universe is totally screwed to the point that we can't possibly understand it (i.e., there's no point discussing ethics ever) or such an entity does not exist. Atheist is just another word for someone who chooses to close their eyes in my opinion. This is ad-hominem, and I doubt this is based on actual understanding of atheist argument. Have you ever actually met an atheist? Also, if god is omnipotent then it by definition either caused or allowed everything that happens. If a policeman stood by and watched a murder happening without intervening or even arresting the murderer afterwards, you would conclude that they had some blame in the murder. Similarly, if god stood by and watched a murder happen, you must conclude that god has some responsibility. And for those who are on the fence, neither or-- it's simple. If you want to know if God exists- all you have to do is ask. Just asked, he didn't get back to me. | |
I was born atheist, and I was also raised that way. To me, atheism can be summarized in one sentence: Nothing supernatural exists.
I am not agnostic. I don't look for adjectives to describe me. I don't have a system of belief. I have a system of evidence. I think evidence can be described as observable proof that something exists. Even if that thing is completely theoretical (black holes) or invisible (the wind), if it exists, it can be observed. Spirituality, "higher" levels of consciousness, ghosts, gods, and psychic powers are not observable. There is no evidence of these things. These things are supernatural, and therefore, they do not exist. God does not exist. Not only do gods not exist, they never existed. There is no evidence that any supernatural force ever existed in the history of the universe. I am not agnostic, because there simply isn't a shred of evidence to show that supernatural events have ever occurred. Therefore, I categorically reject the idea that they ever existed, and based on this, I reject the idea that they do exist or will exist. I think agnosticism is an insurance policy, or an adjective used to placate Christians and find common ground where there is none. This is why I don't engage in religious debates. I would not try to convince a Christian that god is not real any more than I would try to convince a schizophrenic that the voices aren't real. Religion, to me, is a form of mental illness brought upon by a lifetime of brainwashing, and no amount or talking will bring most people out of their delusion, at least, not from me. This is why I'm an atheist. | |
Falcon lazorz wrote:
also I didn't actually mean we're machines, I meant we work like them Speak for yourself. Beep boop. | |
There's always this lingering doubt, I think, when you get into judeo-christian religion. If someone does a good thing, did they do it for it's own sake, or to score points for their after-life?
I find that external aspect of judgement, in the moral system, to be a little discrediting of the good in human nature, in a way. If you remove the notion of a judgement based after-life from the equation, you have a situation where-by people do good, selfless things because they choose to more-so than anything else. Which I find a credit to humanity. That said, I totally get why you might want that external system imposed on you. It certainly adds a sense of direction and purpose to things without you having to particularly decide much about that. | |
TheDarkChakra wrote:
What about reincarnation? Atheism means one thing: not believing in deities. Everything else is pretty much up for grabs. Having said that, I think you'll find that many, many atheists came to that position through good critical thinking and an understanding of the importance of evidence. I'll leave it there as to what conclusion you may draw from that about the likelihood of many atheist's belief in reincarnation. | |
I'm an Apatheist. Nothing more, nothing less.
It freaks me out that religion is forced upon some people, though. There are self-proclaimed religious people, who are, sad to say, not really religious; it's just so embedded into their mind that they're forced to believe in it. | |
But in your previous post you defined your atheism as a disbelief of the supernatural or religious such as psychic powers, ghosts, gods, higher levels of consciousness etc... You can be an atheist and still believe in those spiritual things.
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Let's be clear about some definitions here:
Atheist: Someone who does not believe in a god or gods. This disbelief can be positive or negative. A positive atheist believes 'god does not exist'. A negative atheist believes 'I have no evidence god exists'. The terms 'strong atheist' and 'weak atheist' are often used as synonyms for 'positive atheist' and 'negative atheist'. Strictly speaking, atheism is only disbelief in a deity, but often atheists are materialists and do not believe in any kind of supernatural entity or interaction, reincarnation, psychics, etc. In practice, most atheists are defined relative to a particular deity - that is, someone can be a positive atheist with respect one particular deity, but a negative atheist (or even theist) with respect a different deity. Most Christians, for example, are positive atheists with respect the Hindu pantheon. Agnostic: Someone who does not know whether or not god exists. Strong agnostics believe that it is impossible to know whether or not god exists. Weak agnostics are not personally sure whether or not god exists, but don't hold that it is necessarily impossible to know. Agnosticism is not on a continuum with atheism and theism, and is a different thing altogether. You can hold that it is impossible to know whether or not god exists and still be a negative atheist, or a theist. Theist: Someone who believes in the existence of a deity. | |
Atheism has nothing to do with spiritual things. Atheism may be true but spiritual/religious/philosophical things may be true too such as reincarnation, the afterlife, soul, ghosts, psychic abilities etc...
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Yeah but to be fair, Ireland is cray cray with religion.
I got to listen to Terry Pratchett once, discussing a visit to Ireland. Someone asked him if he was a Protestant or a Catholic, and he said "Ah, I don't believe in God." and the reply came, "Yes, but is it the God of the Protestants or the Catholics that you don't believe in?" | |
What have I missed? I think I got it as I did read it.Roofie racoon defined his atheism as disbelief in the supernatural and not believing anything spiritual. Why not be a spiritual atheist?
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Atheist is just an adjective. It means "not believing in any gods". If you don't believe any gods exist, then you're an atheist. That's all there is to it.
Now, if what you want is to be rational, then that's a whole 'nother can of worms. Firstly, you're correct, your beliefs about the existence of deities are probably irrational. The problem is, believing in souls and reincarnation is, like you guessed, also quite irrational. By rational I mean consistent with logic, probability, and empiricism: a belief would then be irrational if it is logically incoherent (believing in an Omnipotent deity), if there's a logical proof against it (the Problem of Evil refutes any powerful, good deities), if it's extremely unlikely (there are a team of ninjas hiding in my closet), or if there's no evidence to support it (there's a teapot orbiting Mars). What do you mean when you say "reincarnation" and "souls?" I actually believe in something that I consider pretty close to reincarnation. Since we live in a naturalistic universe, everything that exists is made out of matter (so no souls, as I understand them). But matter cannot be created or destroyed. When you die, the particles that make you up don't just disappear. They keep existing, and will keep existing forever. If you get killed and eaten by a lion, then the proteins in your flesh will be made into new muscle in that lion, your nutrients will fuel it and keep it alive. You will be absorbed fully into that lion, it will literally be made out of pieces of you (you are what you eat). In a very real and literal sense, you become that lion. You just need to ask yourself why the unfounded, illogical idea of a deity doesn't sit well with you, but the unfounded, illogical idea that we have a soul and will be reincarnated is fine. | |
Just how is it irrational to believe in reincarnation? I mean human being born as another human.
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I can accept that things exist that can't be seen or felt (or at least, things that I haven't seen or felt)
And I'm certainly not angry about my life. In fact, if I believed in such things, I would consider myself to have been very blessed throughout my life.
So nope. Maybe "most" atheists feel one or both of those things, but not this one.
So, why don't I believe?
It's simple. My view of the universe, both inside and out of myself, does not require a god. There's no need for one, and no good reason to think that there is or should be one. Therefore, I believe that there is not one.