2006-06-22 05:13:38 · 37 answers · asked by amo 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think atheists are just as religious as fundamentalists, in a way. They both believe something whole-heartedly. They're just different extremes of the same issue. Fundamentalists believe with all their heart that there is a god. Atheists believe with all their heart that there is no god.
2006-06-22 05:17:12 · answer #1 · answered by Mama Pastafarian 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well, supposing spiritual experience is like trying a new kind of food. Maybe there is a new four-star restaurant over on the other side of town that sells this kind of food. People who have gone to the restaurant and eaten the food know exactly what it is, how good it is, and how it affects them. They might even send in reviews to the local newspaper and tell their friends about it. They might describe all the different flavors, the kindness of the waiter, the colors and atmosphere of the restaurant, and how it has changed their life in regards to their expectations of how eating should be. But let's say the other people on the side of the town who have never seen the restaurant are perfectly satisfied with their favorite restaurant on their side of town. They don't believe there could be another restaurant that could offer such a unique dining experience that it is worth it to make the sacrifice to travel over to the new place and see it for themselves. In fact, they think the people who have tried the new restaurant must be exaggerating or even lying. "Food is food, and that's all there is to it. You eat, you die. There isn't anything else to digest but what you choose." So until the people who have never tried the new restaurant decide it's worth it to go with an open mind (and a spiritually hungry stomach) and make the sacrifice to show up and learn what new spiritual eating experiences are about, they cannot understand the experience of the people who have already gone to the new 4-star restaurant. This is just a limited analogy, and I've heard another one similar to it where you can't describe the flavor of salt to someone who has never tried it. They can say, "There's no such thing as salt," when people who have tried it are mystified as to why the non-salt eaters would even say such a thing. Sometimes atheists will say, "I had to go to church when I was young, and I just don't believe in that." Usually it means they never had a strong experience with the Holy Ghost, they just went physically but not spiritually. Sometimes physical appetites and "I want to do this" attitudes take over, and it is impossible to be humble enough to say, "Maybe there really is something to all this religious stuff, if I were just to study and pray about it for a while." Hope this answer helps.
2006-06-22 05:49:28 · answer #2 · answered by Cookie777 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can disagree with the IDEA of God. Just because you think something exists doesn't mean it does. Think of some crazy monster thing, it doesn't really exist right? I don't believe it exists and it DOESN'T exist.
I'm not saying I don't personally not believe in a God, I just don't think you understand the concept of other people's beliefs.
2006-06-22 05:17:25 · answer #3 · answered by QuestionWyrm 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would just like to say that I have seen "Grazie" say that "if you believe in God, you must be gullible and probably American too"... I know so many non-Americans who believe in God. Someone (Grazie) is uncultured and unintelligent!!
In answer to your question, something does not have to exist for it to be or not to be believed in. We know that the Greek gods did not exist, yet the Greeks believed in them.
I know God exists because I am not gullible. I've studied science all of my life and I know the ins and outs of the Theory of Evolution. I know what is right with it and what is wrong with it, yet I still believe in God.
Keep on believing, and He will prove himself to you!
2006-06-22 05:24:10 · answer #4 · answered by chemical_kenny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That doesn't make sense, your assuming that they deny the existance of a god, when really they KNOW like you know that there is no god.
What your saying is like if I said "if religious people believe in a higher power that means that there isn't one because they "believe" there is."
2006-06-22 05:18:57 · answer #5 · answered by static_nerdling 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is the point...they don't believe God exist not that they believe that God exist but chooses not to believe in Him. Totally different.
2006-06-22 05:17:32 · answer #6 · answered by tankgirl97 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most atheists believe in evolution, which has at least some physical evidence to back the theory up. There is no physical evidence of Adam and Eve.
2006-06-22 05:21:55 · answer #7 · answered by coloradosnoflake2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They do not believe in the concept of god. Thus, they see it as just an imagining, the same as an imaginary friend. There doesn't HAVE to be any sort of Deity for them to not believe in it.
2006-06-22 05:46:15 · answer #8 · answered by Ally 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man created God. So unless that's your point. No, we don't need a God to believe in. You must be very insecure, gullible and probably American if you do.
2006-06-22 05:16:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let's see...God isn't proven to exist so...Since humanity needed something to answer questions previously unanswered by Science HUMANITYcreated God(s) to answer them. As science progressed methods for believeing in God have morphed into methods of Social Control...nothiing more or less.
2006-06-22 05:21:30 · answer #10 · answered by thebigm57 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋