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| A Question For Atheists by theosci: 8:13am On Feb 24, 2012 |
I want to know from anyone who is an atheist why they believe the way they do. I'll admit that I am a christian, but my purpose in asking this question is not to judge or argue. Rather I just want to understand why it is you believe the way you do. If there is no god than what is the purpose of life? Is there any? Is there a point to being good or bad? Is it merely knowing the truth or something more? Do you believe that we simply live and die? If so, what is the purpose of success, advancement, gain, and discovery if we just simply die anyway? Our sun will not last forever and then it too will be gone. When that happens, what will it all have been for? What is the point of loving, giving, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness if we all die and are erased from existence forever and eventually forgotten? There must be something that makes you want to believe in this. There are some that would say that atheists only believe the way they do because they've given up on other religions and have nothing to believe in anymore. I've heard so many atheists be defensive about what they believe, but what I've never really heard is why. Maybe it's because people don't tend to ask. So I need to ask. Why? Like I said, I'm not here to judge. I'm just simply here to listen and to understand without judgement. For anyone who is religious, I truly respect you and your devotion to your faith. However, this is not a place to debate whether atheism is true or not. So I would greatly appreciate it if you kept those thoughts to yourself. This is a topic for understanding, not debate. So for now, I'm listening. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Lasinoh: 9:21am On Feb 24, 2012 |
You need to mind your own religion for a change. Atheists don't care aboutcha!  |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 9:59am On Feb 24, 2012 |
Just trying to be open minded and trying to understand. You don't need to be mean. <.< |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Lasinoh: 10:33am On Feb 24, 2012 |
Please, don't try to understand us! We don't want to understand you weirdos either. 1 Like |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Kay17: 10:38am On Feb 24, 2012 |
Good question OP Most atheists believe religions have an erroneous basis/foundation, so the remaining structure is bound to collapse at some point or be incompatible with reality. On the questions of existence, purpose, love, happiness and morality, atheists and agnostics do patronise a rich variety of philosophies, such as humanism, nihilism, stoicism, existentialism etc, Which make interesting use of common sense. One also exercises his mind in thought and try to find his own answers. Some take a blend of all and derive their meanings. Most atheists like me believe the power of the intellect and the best method in finding the truth and the truth is always self beneficial. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Yagba: 11:04am On Feb 24, 2012 |
I am a theist, a monotheist. I also believe in Jesus Christ as a true embodiment of God's sublime qualities. and His saving grace to humanity through His messages which he demonstrated fully. But, I would like to answer this question for atheists who have so far not responded adequately: Atheists have no evidence to prove that God does not exists, they are merely not satisfied with the way many defined God and His rules for humans. And since they declined the offer of subjective 'investigation' of God, which is needed for recognising the Godhead, the WHY would never matter to them. Their concerns remain within the 'seen' world and the physical laws pulsating through and influencing the physical universe. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by thekrafter(m): 11:39am On Feb 24, 2012 |
Yagba: DO you have proof that he DOES exist? |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Yagba: 12:07pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
@thekrafter, I have proof that God exists. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 12:56pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Yagba: Finally! Can we see the proof? |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by manmustwac(m): 3:40pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Yagba:So instead of just stating that you have proof. Why didn't you just gp ahead and provide us with the proof that god exists.  |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by crossman9(m): 4:57pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
i am proof that God is real he heal me |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by buzugee(m): 5:06pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
atheists are hedonistic and wallow in debauchery and will rather not be confined or encumbered by boundaries. that in a nutshell is the mind-frame of an atheist. they are lovers of self. egocentric, if you will. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 5:30pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
@ Kay 17 << Thank you for being willing to share and give your opinion on this. Though we may have different beliefs, I can see a bit more clearly why it is you believe the way you do. I knew that posing this question would open pandora's box of negative comments and debate, which of course I got both. I just wanted to see if I could get an genuine answer about this rather than personal attacks. What atheists believe have to be more than simply believing that the Bible is full of garbage. It's so pedestrian. I, myself don't entirely believe in the Koran, Dharma, or Tripitaka. However, I do have a great respect for those who wrote those text and those who now believe in them. They are trying to make sense of the world and have this desire to believe in a power greater than themselves. A quest for good and a purpose in their lives. I think Atheism gets a bad rap a lot of the time, not just by Christians or other religions, but other Atheists as well. Too much of what I see is that Atheists are cold, actively go about trying to convince people there is no God, like bashing the Bible, and mock other religions for their beliefs. This is what a people can think about Atheism, because it is all they see. Something tells me that there is more to it than meets the eye. I don't want to go off of stereotypes to learn what Atheism is about. I didn't do that when I was learning about other religions such as Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. Why would I do that for Atheism? Let's just say I like learning about other beliefs, not just my own. It gives a greater understanding of how people see the world. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by crossman9(m): 5:47pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
buzugee expossing_christ.embassy@hotmail.co.uk come on msn live messanger if not skype i will be there in one hour bless you |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by buzugee(m): 5:53pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
crossman9:did you see the link i posted to you yesterday ? msn slows down computers. it takes like forever to load. meet me at the link. its a quiet section of nairaland. i opened up a thread |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by buzugee(m): 6:17pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
crossman9:https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=877162.msg10249630#msg10249630 |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 7:34pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Another thing I'd like to add to this mix is if we are looking for scientific evidence, neither Atheism or Christianity can be proven. Lets go back to the scientific method and make a hypothesis for both. Atheism- God cannot exist. In order to prove this scientifically, we would have to go to be at every part of the universe at all time periods of its existence. So far we haven't found anything, but we also haven't been everywhere in the universe, so we can't rule out the possibility that this hypothesis could end up being false. Christianity- God exists. In order to prove this scientifically, we would need to find one shred of concrete evidence that God exists. So far we haven't, but since we haven't explored all of the universe, we can't prove or disprove his existence. In reality, both of these religions are built on faith since they can't be proven by scientific means. They deal with supernatural circumstances, while science is only capable of studying natural occurring things. The basis for both is not scientific evidence, rather faith. So from a scientific prospective, I cannot view as one being more valid than the other. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 7:41pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: Atheism is not a religion so stop comparing it to christanity. It's just a lack of belief in the existence of gods, yours included. No religion is special and all gods are man made. That's it! |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 7:44pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
And before you start asking a million questions about why the universe exists. No one knows. As for "whats the purpose of life is there is no god" question, the answer to that is we all give different meaning to "life's purpose" and there is no univrsally acceptable answer. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 7:59pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Atheism is not a religion so stop comparing it to christanity. It's just a lack of belief in the existence of gods, yours included. No religion is special and all gods are man made. That's it! Calm down, there is no need to get defensive. My statement was implying that it also takes faith to believe in the lack of a god since there is no absolute evidence that there isn't. And before you start asking a million questions about why the universe exists. No one knows. As for "whats the purpose of life is there is no god" question, the answer to that is we all give different meaning to that question and there is no univrsally acceptable answer. Exactly, so how can we say that one is better than the other. Doesn't it seem rather presumptuous to degrade what another person beliefs when we don't know so many of these questions? |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 8:18pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: It also takes faith to believe in the lack of leprechauns and two headed angels since we don't have absolute evidence that they don't exist. theosci: Theists (especially of the Abrahamic persuasion) are the ones that think thei particular myth is the best, so you should ask your brethren that question. I dont "respect" so called "spiritual" beliefs of any kind because it doesn't take rocket science to figure out that religious stories are nothing but mythology taken seriously by some people. If you believe, good for you, but kowtowing to it is out of the question. The difference between the Gilgamesh epic and the Pentateuch is that certain people have "faith" the latter is real. Religion can't provide answers to anything because they are all assumptions, speculations and superstition from different cultures. You think Jesus is lord, but if you grew up in Hollywood, you could possibly be a scientologist who believes in body thetans. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 8:33pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Theists (especially of the Abrahamic persuasion) are the ones that think thei particular myth is the best, so you should ask your brethren that question. Understand that it is their choice to believe in those religious things. Even though it doesn't make sense to you and you don't believe, doesn't make it stupid or irrational. Never once did I ever put down your beliefs intentionally. I would greatly appreciative if you would show me the same courtesy. I believe we all need something to believe in, whether it is God or not. But, please, don't say that anyone is less intelligent for believing a certain way. I think it takes a lot of guts to believe in something you can't see. You don't know that person or what drove them to believe what they do. I think it is wrong to belittle a person or say that their beliefs and experiences are foolish. I don't care who you are. It's disrespectful and greatly intolerant. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by mazaje(m): 9:02pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
@ OP. . .I will try my best to answer some of your queries. . . .I will pose some questions to you and will expect you to answer them as well. . .I have had this discussion with deepsight and will copy most of what I wrote to him here. . .You can follow the discussion here. . . .https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-441220.0.html theosci: OK. . . .I believe what I believe because after years of study, research with an OPEN mind, I realized that all religions and Gods were created by men. . .All religions are nothing but man made culture. . . . If there is no god than what is the purpose of life? Is there any? The purpose of life IMO is to strive to fill each of the days we have to spend here on earth (hours, and minutes) with meaning by meaning I mean a sense of purpose, belonging, happiness and direction. . We should strive to fill them with learning and gaining wisdom and trying to make our lives better with the knowledge and wisdom we have acquired, with compassion for the less fortunate, with love and tolerance for friends, strangers and family, with doing any job we want to do or are supposed to do very well, with fighting against evil and obscurantism, to protect our environment, planet and all the other animals that we share it together with and YES, with enjoying sexxxx, TV, good food, arts, sports, parties, cars, modest luxury, and other fascinating stuffs that life has to offer which make being alive worthwhile and pleasant. . . One thing that if find absurd with the theistic argument is that life has to be everlasting for it to be meaningful . . .Why should life have to be everlasting to be meaningful? It smacks of monumental egotism. Surely there is something monstrously egocentric in thinking that my life is of such transcendent significance that I should be an exception to cosmic laws, that my ego should survive when, animals, planets, stars, and even galaxies are no more. Now tell me what the purpose of life is with God?. . . . Is there a point to being good or bad? Is it merely knowing the truth or something more? It seems you have no concept of disinterested goodness, there is a point to being good. . .I know it might sound too optimistic to expect people to be good without a carrot and stick. I know the usual bribery that religions have to offer. What can atheists say to the religious people that have the "What's in it for me?" attitude when admonished to be good? What can atheists offer to compare with the bribery of heaven and the terrorism of hell?. . . .An atheist can not offer all these imaginary promises because they are NOT necessary for a person to be good, Goodness or evil has NOTHING to do with spirituality, religion or God. Why then should a person be good, because being good and living virtuously is the only way to a fulfilled and self actualized life. By living virtuously we sustain those vital social relations friendship, family, community without which life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, dangerous and short. Vice leads to misery. Man is a social and political animal who can sit back and self reflect on his action what ever it is, Its good to do good and avoid evil because goodness sustains us all, and evil destroys us all if left unchecked. . . .A society with love and good virtures, is better than a society of war and endless vices. . .I live in a completely atheist society and it is by FAR more moral than Nigeria which happens to be one of the most religious countries in the world. . . Do you believe that we simply live and die? If so, what is the purpose of success, advancement, gain, and discovery if we just simply die anyway? Our sun will not last forever and then it too will be gone. When that happens, what will it all have been for? What is the point of loving, giving, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness if we all die and are erased from existence forever and eventually forgotten? There must be something that makes you want to believe in this. YES, we live and simply die, there is ABSOLUTELY no evidence what so ever for an afterlife, nobody has ever provided any evidence to show that human consciousness survives bodily death. . .There are stories, mythologies and fantasies about life after death but non of them is based on reality, all are based on wishful thought. . .The specter of eternal reward or punishment is of no use to me since there is no evidence to show for any of the bogus hypothesis. . . .Besides, all the efforts of fire and brimstone preachers have not succeeded in making heaven or hell real for most people. The fear of a miserable life in the here and now seems a better motivator for doing good or bad. Why should we show love? Because generosity ultimately promotes happiness. If I display love and generosity towards you there is that tendency that you will reciprocate that gesture towards me, If I display evil to you, there is also that tendency that you will do the same to me, that is the basic human way of interaction, And that is how human beings function, Our ability to self reflect our actions towards others helps us to evolve or morals and way of life and makes us to be more accommodating and tolerant. A society with love and good virtures, is better than a society of war and endless vices. The purpose of doing what I stated above is that it provides life with meaning. . . .Do you love your family because some supernatural force told you to love them, or do you appreciate your environment because any God told you to do so?. . . .I just don't understand what you are trying to say. . .What has God got to do with loving your family, and others around you?. . . .I try to be good to people around me because doing good it self is good. . .People should try to do good because doing good is a good thing not because of some undefined spirituality or God that serves no purpose in reality for me. . . . What meaning does eternal life add to the life you are leaving now? Why should some one be good only because he is afraid of some eternal punishment?. . . .Who then is better off, a person that does good because good is good enough or a person that does good only because he is afraid?. . . . . |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by mazaje(m): 9:07pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: I have stated why, my reasons might be completely different from another atheist. . . . |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 9:22pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: A talking donkey is silly, original sin is silly, human/god blood sacrifice is silly, resurrection and rising up into space are silly, fiery chariots from heaven are silly, the book of revelations is ridiculously silly, tower of babel is irrational, the exodus is irrational, the jews who came up with all these were irrational. theosci: What beliefs of mine are you going to put down? Are you going to make fun of me because I don't subscribe to any type of holy superstition? Besides, I didn't put down your beliefs. theosci: Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone has one. theosci: I never said people who believe are less intelligent( although some obviously are, evidence of this is rife on nairaland ), but I do think spiritual beliefs are all silly. An easy example is Deepsight. He is allegedly a lawyer and I would listen to him in that capacity but when he starts the spiritual gymnastics, then I WILL Laugh. theosci: It doesn't take guts to believe in something that you think protects you!!! I think it's more cowardly to believe in something you can't see, feel or touch because you are scared it's going to send you to hell. Why do you think the "brave" christians are always scared to even entertain the thought that maybe they are wrong? Why do you "brave" people have the[b] "fear of god". [/b] Why is it "better to believe in god and be wrong than not to believe, die and find out he is real". Believing doesn't take guts, matter of fact, cowards are more liable to believe than people who "have guts". Religion is rooted in fear. Fear of dying, fear of not existing, fear of life itself!!!! theosci: Remember that next time you quote Psalm 14 verse 1 or when you hear you brethren quoting it. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by theosci: 9:55pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
I think it's more cowardly to believe in something you can't see, feel or touch because you are scared it's going to send you to hell No, I'm not scared of hell. Quite frankly my denomination doesn't believe in hell at all. What I am scared of is being separated from the one being that I love, God. I may look at other religions and ways of thinking, I may have my doubts about even my own faith in the Bible itself. But, there is one thing that I don't doubt, is that God is real. I can't give you evidence, I can't explain why, I can't even show him to you. Because it isn't something you can prove, it's something you experience. With God I don't fear poverty, sickness, being alone, or even death. Because I know God loves me. It may not mean much in your book. But it certainly means everything to me. So the final thing I ask is, what is the point to anything if you don't love other people? Or do Atheists even believe in love? @mazaje << Who then is better off, a person that does good because good is good enough or a person that does good only because he is afraid?. . . . .That is a bit of a misconception of Christianity, while some do believe in this, it is not what I believe or what my denomination believes. I believe that a person is good because they desire to be more like God. We believe that God has written the law of love on our hearts and that we do what it right, not out of fear, but because we actually want to. God does not operate out of fear and manipulation, that is Satan's domain. God operates out of love. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 10:12pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: I'm sure there are denominations in your cherished christianity that will call you a heretic because of what you just wrote. For me, picking and choosing what you believe out of the "cafeteria plan" of christianity further shows that it's man made. theosci: Scared. If you were born into LagosShia's household, you would be scared of being separated from the one being that you love, Allah. This is the fear of not existing that I was talking about earlier. theosci: I saw clips of Whitney Houston's "homegoing" and I found it a tad bit amusing that Tyler Perry and the rest of them kept saying, "Whitney loved the Lord". Maybe if she had loved whitney a little bit more instead of being dependent on invincible sky fairy , she would have taken care of her body better. Just a thought. But I'm sure he loves you, and he needs Money!!!! theosci: Sometimes, it's hard not to sound condesceding and sarcastic but seriously, why do you ask such questions?? I'm still human even though I don't believe in gods so yes, I feel love. You don't need to believe in gods to love. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by mazaje(m): 10:47pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
theosci: Religion is based entire on fear of the unknown. . .Believe in our version of god and its stories or end up in hell or be condemned. . . . .If the character you are referring to is the one written about in the bible then am sorry to say that you don't really know what you are talking about. . . . |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 10:57pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
mazaje: I was talking to a friend of mine who's a christian and she was going on about how "God is love" or whatever. Then, I brought up the absurdity of "god" by referring to the story of Jephthah and the look of horror that came on her face was priceless. I kind of felt bad lmao. Needless to say, she buried her head in the sand and piled more sand on it. |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by mazaje(m): 11:38pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
Martian: They claim god is love because of the claim that god sacrificed himself to himself to save humanity from his wrath. . .Even the Jews that came with the concept of Yahweh never claim that he is love. . . . |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by Nobody: 11:50pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
mazaje: Most of them really don't seem to know what's in the freaking book!!!! The ones who go to church are spoonfed, the ones who don't never read the book at all unless they have thoe little guidebooks written by some nincompoop MOG. They only know how to repeat mantras. It's pathetic. Tell a random christian that god said four angels are going to hold back the winds at the "four corners" of the earth and they'll probably say you are making fun of their beliefs. Tell them it's in the bible and they'll say, "God knows what he's doing", "it's symbolic", "it's a prophecy", "the last days", "you're taking it out of context", "you need to be open minded", "YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND THINGS OF THE SPIRIT". |
| Re: A Question For Atheists by mazaje(m): 11:55pm On Feb 24, 2012 |
^^ The best explanation by many is that IT'S A MYSTERY. . . .One minute they are telling you to come an UNDERSTAND their God, the next minute its a mystery. . . . |
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