Are atheists really senseless?

Question

For some reason a bunch of comments I’ve read say they are.

I’m Pagan (& therefore not an atheist,) but they seem to make sence sometimes (to me, even if i don't agree with them) & most of them are more intelligent than some of the people that talk about things they don’t understand.

This is the definition
1. Lacking sense or meaning; meaningless.
2. Deficient in sense; foolish or stupid.
3. Insensate; unconscious.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/senseless

Answer 1

Actually it is sense and rationality that are the enemies of religion. Atheists have the misfortune of being sensible and rational... hence, that is why they are seen as 'the enemy' by the religiose. Here's what the father of Protestantism had to say about sense, reason and rational thought:

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther

"Reason is the Devil's greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil's appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom ... Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism... She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets." ~ Martin Luther

"Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but -- more frequently than not -- struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." ~ Martin Luther

"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason... Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed." ~ Martin Luther

"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." ~ Martin Luther

"To be a Christian, you must 'pluck out the eye of reason'." ~ Martin Luther

"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason, especially if she enters into spiritual matters which concern the soul and God. For it is more possible to teach an a$$ to read than to blind such a reason and lead it right; for reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed." ~ Martin Luther

Answer 2

If you find they make sense, and feel they're intelligent, then why do you think they're "senseless?"

Personally, I think atheism is an untenable position, just as much as christianity, islam, or any other religion. Atheism is a denial of god's existence -- and though there is no evidence whatsoever that there is a god, there is also no logical, repeatable, scientifically acceptable proof that there is no god -- making it an untenable position to deny god's existence. Logically only agnosticism is tenable (don't know if there is a god or not, and mostly don't care).
Paganism has some interesting and beautiful ideas, but there's also no proof of any kind of "spirit" or "guiding influence" in nature...but hey, at least the pagans aren't going around destroying the environment because they believe the world's going to end in a few years anyway, so why bother protecting the environment (like christians)? :)
Peace.

Answer 3

We have so little sense that we don't even have the intelligence to worship something no one has ever seen or heard of. We are so senseless we don't have the brains to follow irrational rules from books written thousands of years ago when people thought lightning and thunder was caused by God's anger.
We have so little sense we didn't go to other people's land and slaughter men, women and children because they didn't believe what we did.
We have so little sense we didn't come up with rules such as not eating a certain animal, or having intercourse without a ring on a finger. Oh, how could we be so stupid!?

Answer 4

To tell you the truth there are senseless people in every belief system. However I do notice that atheist do tend to be more informed and logical.

Atheist tend to have more freedom in thinking than their theist counterparts. People tend to lock themselves in a particular belief system that is hard to break. The more restrictions people place on them selves, the harder it is to grow. Many Baptist will tell you that their bible is the only correct one and will never even look at another religious text. Not even to get another view point! Try stepping outside your self for once!

So atheist can read any religious text they want. So they can learn a particular religion and see it for what it is: A illogical belief system followed by restrictive practices and paradise and hell for all who are ignorant enough to believe them.

But on the other hand some atheist do restrict them selves in that they do not even consider the possibility of something more. I would have to say again that the more restrictions you place on your self, less you can grow.

In the end the more restrictions you place on your self because of any belief system without a good logical reason with evidence to back up your claim, the less sense you have. So atheist do tend to have more sense.

Answer 5

I'm sure there are plenty of stupid atheists, who have never really examined the subject and have no interest in whether religious belief is justified or not - they simply lack belief blindly in the same way that most religious folks follow religion blindly.

However, there are many atheists who have considered the evidence and arguments and concluded that religious belief is an invention of mankind, not a reflection of any external reality. Those atheists are definitely not stupid or senseless - They have the thinking skills necessary to see religion for what it really is.

Answer 6

Nah. They are evil. Huge difference.

Pagans also are evil. Most never bother to research the satanic roots of many pagan traditions. Then they wake up one day and discover they have fallen into evil ways, by degrees.

Worst case was a friend of mine I had to cut off all contact with. She came up to me one day and mentioned that she had sex with a corpse as part of some ritual she did in New Orleans (she also, called herself a pagan). One of the last things she said to me was I was ignorant, as I told her she wasn't allowed to come around anymore.

You should reflect on stuff like that happening in your own social circle, before you no longer have the ability to tell right from wrong. The people involved in paganism are bad news. They just don't let you know that all at once. Just like most cults.

Answer 7

No, you've misread most of the comments.

What they are actually saying (or at least implying) is:

"I'd like to knock all atheists senseless".

Remember that their aggression results from poorly-formed morals. They do not refrain from beating the crap out of people different from them because that would be wrong; they refrain because their God told them not to, so they hold themselves back on the hope that they'll get to 'heaven'. If the Bible hadn't forbade them from it, they'd have drawn-and-quartered both you and me ages ago.

Remember that many, many Christians learn to do good in the world not because doing good is its own reward but in order to cover their own backsides... Good thing to think about when you read something here on Y!A about Christian piety and Christian compassion...

Answer 8

My boyfriend is atheist (I'm Pagan). He's a little annoying and maybe a bit foolish at times, but he's certainly not senseless.

Answer 9

Without the Spirit of God, they are incapable of discerning the truth described in the scriptures. So senseless in that capacity, yes.

Some that refer to themselves as Atheists are very capable on other capacities, but on the scriptures, a fatal lack of ability.

Answer 10

No atheists are logical and i have found most know more about religion than those preaching it.
By the way, why did you link to the definition of senseless?