Do Atheists and Christians argue so much because...?

Question

...they are so similar in the aspect of their beliefs? Obviously they do not believe the same things, but they are both following a belief of absolutes. As any reasonable person can tell you, there is no absolute proof of God, or abscence there of. So, I find them to hold the same amount of arrogance in their beliefs being right (just opposite ends of the spectrum). It is just foolish to put your entire faith into something which has not and cannot be proven true. Shouldn't we all just accept that we do not know of God, and call ourselves Agnostic?

I love how some of the fundies get mad, and start spouting off 'just because you don't know'. That is the arrogance I speak of in my question. Here's the cold reality...you don't know either. And for Ty, the atoms and molecules in air can be quantified, so comparing air to some man-made deity is just asinine.

Answer 1

http://fragglerock.sycodesigns.com/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=33

There ya go.

Answer 2

First off I am a catholic, however my feeling to be completely honest.... it isn't so much about finding the "absolute proof" or who is right and who is wrong, it is more the comfort of having a "belief " no matter what it is that you believe, it seems to get you through the best and worst of times. For instance believe in life after death is only to comfort the living..... and people that have a "faith" seem to be more rounded individuals, not because of the "faith"itself... but because the family is practicing as a whole most likely and it is something to connect a them, and unite them, and going to a "service" once a week or more gives them something in common, instead of a family where mom and dad both work, teens are always out, little ones are at a sitters, then the weekend comes mom and dad are busy with things, teens have to watch little ones or are just "gone" friends etc. Also having a "faith" often unites you with others of the same beliefs and it often becomes a support group for the whole family and provides quite a networking tool to help in day to day life, As well as socially.

Answer 3

I agree that the reason some Atheist and Christians argue is because they are both arrogant in there beliefs. And you are right, there is no proof one way or the other. However, not all Atheist believe without a doubt they are right. I for one, believe there is no god, but I also know there is no absolute. I think if more people could except that there is no proof and are beliefs are nothing more than our opinions, there would be a lot less arguing.

Answer 4

You pose an interesting thought/question. Atheists believe firmly that there is not a god of any kind, while "Theists" or those who believe in "theism" believe that there is a god. Comparing Christians only to Atheists vastly narrows out a significant portion of society which does believe in a god, just not Christ via Christianity. It would be great if we could all call ourselves Agnostic, but there are people ignorant enough to simply believe that there is no possibility that there is a god at all. True athiests would never agree to call themselves agnostic, but anyone who believes in the possibility of any supernatural being, or god could be considered agnostic. You are correct in stating that there is no absolute proof either way. But is there absolute proof of anything? If one chooses to, they could pose questions to last a lifetime.
There are, however, people who do "know of God" and have experienced life changing events that root their belief - and who are we to say that they are wrong? The great thing about it - everyone is entitled to their own opinion! :)

Answer 5

Well, to call someone that believes in the Jewish God arrogant because of the absolutism of their faith is what the Nazi's did in the anti-Christian/Judaic propaganda. The trick here is to be tolerant of those with a different viewpoint than your own, such as those that believe in the God of the Jews. The New Agers of Nazi Germany used that exact same statements in their media to turn many against the Jews... So whom was intolerant, the new agers or Jews? The New Agers were the ones to kill over religion, not the Jews. With the Christians and Jews, we both believe, well we can agree to disagree when it comes to religion... without killing. Alice Ann Bailey, Lent and the New Order Of the Templars and the Thule Society, and other New Agers of Nazi Germany wanted to kill, be intolerant, and find any reason viable to propagandize everyone else to feel the same.

Answer 6

NO. Atheists and Christians argue because of FAITH or the lack thereof. It takes just as much faith to believe in :UFOs which are also not proven as it does to believe in God.
Reasonable people have faith in:
their cars starting when they turn the ignition switch
lights coming into their homes when they hit the off/on switch
the company paycheck they get won't bounce when they go to the bank!
and there's no proof that those things happen with consistency either!

Answer 7

The existence of God cannot be proven in a laboratory or through the complicated mechanisms of logic. Neither can love, nor beauty, nor happiness, but that does not mean they are not real. In the same way, just because you cannot "prove" that God exists as you can prove a chemical formula, it does not mean that He is not real. It only means you are using the wrong tools.

Faith is not anti-intellectual. Some of the finest scientists are men and women with a deep faith in God, because they realize that science alone cannot explain where we came from or why we are here. They are convinced that science itself points to an all-wise and all-powerful Creator. As the Bible says, 'The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands' (Psalm 19:1)."

Answer 8

You are right... good point... All beliefs require faith... It takes as much faith to beliefe that there isn't a god as it does to believe that there is a god...

But the same can be said of being agnostic... It takes a certain level of faith to believe that you can't know if there is a god or not.

Faith in your beliefs can't be escaped...

Answer 9

Until there's proof, I'd hope everyone would agree to be an agnostic and reduce religion to the level of importance of hair color or musical taste.

And if the fundies stop telling people science is evil, maybe everyone could get a decent education.

Answer 10

My goal is not my belief. I do my best to help others in their search for answers or entertainment.
As far as, are we all agnostic? Without knowledge? Not on the subject of Gods. I have plenty of information about the Gods that I lack a belief in.
One is either Agnostic Atheist or Agnostic Theist.

Answer 11

The problem is, athiest's beliefs are based on physical observations made in this world.

A Christian and an Athiest are walking down the road. A black dog walks past them on a sidewalk. "Look," says the Christian, "there's a black dog." The Athiest looks and says, "Yes, there is a black dog".

Now a Christian and Athiest are in church (don't ask how the Athiest got there). The Christian says, "God is in here right now." The Athiest says, "Where? I can't see him. Can he touch me?" The Christian says, "Yes, he can touch you in your heart." The Athiest says, "I want him to touch my arm. If God is here right now, he will touch my arm."

Nothing happens. Physical observations win again. We are all built the same, why should one person get to "feel" or "experience" God when others can't?