For Atheists or evolutionists......?

Question

I'm not telling you to "believe or burn" with this.
This is an honest on the level question, so don't get defensive.

If you yourselves do not believe in there is a God, then Why do you try to stretch it
so much. If I believe God is real then all am I doing but wasting My time? Would anything happen other than Me being wrong or dissapointed if I was wrong?

How urgent is it that I not believe God is real?
It would be My downfall.

PLEASE do not get Mad or deffencive. I honestly would like to know.

Christians/ people from other beliefs: please do not post. This is my question
Don't aggitate the situation.

Answer 1

First I appreciate your sincerity. Unfortuantely most people on this site give their side's bad names, with derogatory comments and poorly reasoned arguments or even questions, so I really do appreciate your approach and question.

I believe you are asking atheist (and agnostics) why it is important for you NOT to believe. Good question, because if there is no God/god then your belief would presumably be harmless. The problem is this, from an atheist's point of view it may not be harmless. I'll rephrase that, it may be relatively harmless in your particular case, but religion(s) as a whole create huge problems. How?

Religion is the one endeavor in which us-them thinking achieves a transcendent significance. If a person really believes that calling God by the right name can spell the difference between eternal happiness and eternal suffering, then it becomes quite reasonable to treat heretics and unbelievers rather badly. It may even be reasonable to kill them. If a person thinks there is something that another person can say to his children that could put their souls in jeopardy for all eternity, then the heretic next door is actually far more dangerous than the child molester. …

Religion is only area of our discourse in which people are systematically protected from the demand to give evidence in defense of their strongly held beliefs. And yet these beliefs often determine what they live for, what they will die for, and - all too often - what they will kill for. This is a problem, because when the stakes are high, human beings have a simple choice between conversation and violence. Only a fundamental willingness to be reasonable - to have our beliefs about the world revised by new evidence and new arguments - can guarantee that we will keep talking to one another. Certainty without evidence is necessarily divisive and dehumanizing. While there is no guarantee that rational people will always agree, the irrational are certain to be divided by their dogmas.

I hope that sheds some light on the atheist's concern about religion. Thanks again for the great question.

Answer 2

Hi, basically my immediate family (mom, dad and sister) are athiests although my parents both came from SOMEWHAT religious households. I think I am starting to become one or just borderline of whether or not I believe or not, or simply Agnostic.

I think that people should believe in whatever the hell they think about, and religion is possibly one of the most debateable and stupidest things to argue about, because you may never really know unless you die. I just feel that if there is no such thing as God, then you may be dissappointed for devoting so much of your life to nothing, but then again I will never know.

I just don't understand how people that don't believe in the Greek and Roman gods, that this God is all of a sudden so real. And then others believe in Allah (which is basically the same as God, but it's still based on a diff. believe system). It's not urgent at all that you don't believe in God, just a personal preference, I suppose. I am one to believe in evolution and the theory of The Big Bang.

Whatever your beliefs are, good luck! ^_^

Answer 3

I, as an atheist, wholey believe that religion is tolerable, if it is left to a personal level.

What I abhor most about religion, however, is that it is an institution. There are churches everywhere. They don't need to pay taxes. They put pressure on the entire world, because they think they're right, without having ever examined the whole spectrum of evidence.

Furthermore, in this day and age, are churches even useful anymore???

Do people REALLY need the assurance of an assisting hand in the, "heavens?"

I should hope that people are self-sufficient enough to be able to live their lives with confidence in THEMSELVES, rather than a dubious originator...

Answer 4

I am an atheist, and I couldn't care less what other people choose to believe, as long as it doesn't affect me.
In some ways I envy those who can look at the world and see the influence of a divine being who loves humanity. I bet I would sleep better at night if I knew everything would be OK as long as I believed in god.
What annoys me is when religious folks find out I don't agree with their opinions, then get preachy and try to get me to change my views. Not everyone does it, but it seems that for every believer who respects my opinion, there are five who feel it is their divine duty to spread the word of god, especially when I am not in the mood to listen.

Answer 5

Some take it too far I know. We just point out the flaws in that belief when we compare your logic to rational thought. It is really not an attempt by me to change your mind, only an attempt to show you why I believe what I believe. Some people need religion and some do not, that is just a fact of life. If your belief turns out to be true then you will go to heaven, if you are Judged to do so. I will simply cease to exist, I don't mind that because if I cease to exist I won't care because I don't exist too care at that point, not burn in hell for all eternity. Check it out, hell has been misinterpreted by today's Christians, the true meaning of hell is a place in the ground that people used to store food for the winter. Like a grave, returning to dust is what the true meaning of hell was supposed to be.

Answer 6

I don't believe in God, and I don't expect everyone not to. You should believe what you want to believe in. How many times have you seen at the end of an e-mail or an answer on Yahoo answers that say "Jesus loves you" or "God bless" on the other hand how many "god doesn't exist" or "Atheists rule". So who's stretching ... I don't go door to door trying to convert people and I don't think anyone should. Religion sucks

Answer 7

You can believe what you wish to believe... I don't care if you share my views or not. Each of us has freewill.

When I left christianity 22 years ago I was told I was going to burn, when I was a Solitary practitioner of wicca I was told I was going to burn, now that I am an atheist I am still told I am going to burn. Even though throughout the years I've done plenty of reading and talking to people about other theologies and deciding for myself on the evidence provided that deities do not exist the attitudes towards myself have not changed one iota.

My family is christian as is my husband. They respect my right to believe as I wish without trying to 'save' me. I respect their right to their beliefs and I do not try to interfere.

If asked by anyone in or out of my family I will say exactly what I don't believe in and don't like about a particular theology or practice but that is in no way a slam on an individual.

Answer 8

When i speak to someone about that, it is simply to showing that he is being reductionist about who he actually is. but that's a long story.
you have the strength, you have the courage, you have all. and others need your best as well.
believing is good, but use your energies for who needs them
If you consider God, then listen, he will be the last person to bother whether you believe in him or not, he would just want that you believe in yourself and the people u love.
Right?
And the reason i will always say this, is because people try to fill in their voids and gaps with absolute beliefs. They become stupid many times, arrogant, and even hate vehemently. So they got lost in their own belief.

Start showing faith in yourself, and you will never get lost. Everyone who loves you is counting on you.

Hope this shows u my perspective.

Answer 9

Kyndra, if that were all that Christians did, I don't think any would have a real problem with them.

But are you familiar with the intolerance of the Christian Right? The persecution of those who are not Christian by those who are Christian?

Do -you- believe it is right for Christians to use the power of government to persecute those who do not believe in Christianity? How do -you- suggest we elect people to office who will not pander to Christianity (a majority in most electoral districts) but rather will be fair to all, regardless of their beliefs?

Why can't gays marry in America, if not for Christianity? Hve you looked at who is backing the efforts to keep homosexuality a crime? Must all homosexuals be converted to Christianity against their will, through the use of laws and punishment passed by politicians trying to curry favour with their majority-Christian voters?

Wasn't this the same excuse used to keep blacks as slaves in the Southern United States? Wasn't the Southern Baptist Church a result of southern Baptists tired of hearing about the evils of slavery from their northern co-religionists?

Perhaps you need to read more about the Christian pogroms against Jews, most notable amongst them was the Holocaust of Nazi Germany, where the vast majority of those who accepted such things were Christians.

You see? It is not just about what you believe, it is about how Christians rule non-christians.

Answer 10

Well, I'm agnostic. So I don't worry one way or another.

As for evolution, what the heck does that have to do with anything? You can believe in god AND believe in evolution you know. Athiesm believes there is no god, and the reason Athiests are so adamant about that is that there's supposed to be some importance in truth, so even if there's no "purpose" for not believing in god, it may be better to not.