everyone believes in something- be it God or eternal peace, or the banking system. i do not think that you can say "i just do not believe in anything". then how do you find sense in life, how do you keep your motivation? please, just tell me, do atheists just refuse to believe in God or do they just have no faith in anything?
2006-08-18 02:23:17 · 14 answers · asked by DeeDee 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Well, it is a fact: millions of people definitely don't trust any kind of religious & spiritual beliefs.
They don't label themselves, until they meet Believers who need to categorize them as "atheists".
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"It is not because millions of people are fond of chocolate that everyone should love chocolate. Millions of people wonder why they should like chocolate too, while they don't feel attracted to it."
2006-08-18 02:33:56 · answer #1 · answered by Axel ∇ 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are different kinds of atheists. There is the kind who says that since God does not exist all is permitted. And the kind who believes that even though there is no God, and therefore no Heaven and Hell, we still have an obligation to be moral: morality yes, religion no, these seem to say, since morality is about things we can see and feel, and religion about the unseen. These are concerned with what they call the Religion of Humanity: their faith is in the welfare and progress of the human race. I know atheists, more often agnostics (who think we cannot know if God exists or not) who are more moral than some(by no means all or even the majority of) religious folk, but at the same time I sense that some, short-sightedly, feel free to behave exactly as they wish, causing themselves and others a lot of misery, because they are convinced that there is no God and no after-life. There is something to be said for the view that a belief is as good as the results, the human consequences it leads to in individual lives.
2006-08-18 09:46:58 · answer #2 · answered by tirumalai 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. No, not everyone wants a sky pixie (to use a common terminology).
2. Atheists simply do not believe in God. They see no reason to have faith in it.
3. By saying "I don't believe in anything", I'm sure they are just talking about religious beliefs.
I completely understand that it is difficult to comprehend how something so comforting to you can be completely not to someone else, but it happens in life. It's not some fear or not wanting to "have to follow God's rules" or any of those stupid "reasons" other people give for atheists. It is quite simply that they do not believe in God because they see no compelling evidence to do so. On the contrary, most of the "evidence" given actually reinforces their disbelief.
2006-08-18 09:35:49 · answer #3 · answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not an atheist, but my friend who is has faith in a lot of things. She enjoys life. She loves her job. Those two things keep her motivated. She just doesn't believe in the existence of God. She never has. She doesn't believe what she cannot see.
2006-08-18 09:30:59 · answer #4 · answered by TJMiler 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is a non-issue.
You emphasize something that is of no concern to me.
My motivation is the same as all other animals, the will to survive. And, to control my immediate environment and future as much as possible.
There is no credible evidence to support God belief, so, why pretend to believe in something for which there is no evidence? Why don't you still believe in Santa Claus?
My primary goal is to leave the world a better place than how I found it, but that is subjective and cannot be explained. But, it does not heavily influence my day to day activities.
2006-08-18 09:32:33 · answer #5 · answered by Left the building 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Once in a television show the presenter asked the contestant: "Are you a catholic?" ; he answered "no, im not"; then she said "well, now you will be, because you got the right answer!"
tell me what's the sense of this.
what's the sense of believng in God, but being intolerant and hurting other people. The sense of going to church but gossipping and being evil to people in your family. The sense of reading the bible, and using it as a weapon to throw against others who do no harm to you.
If that's the sense you're talking about, i tell you, my life has much more sense.
I don't need to believe in my family, or my friends, or myself, or in the future. I simply know they won't fail me, and i won't fail them. That's my sense of life.
2006-08-18 09:32:36 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They "believe" in what they see. They believe in what they know. They put aside superstition and take things at face value. They have "faith" in themselves and their understanding that their actions are responsible for 99.99% of everything that happens to them. They don't seek to "blame" outside influences(IE Gods or Devils) for the events in their lives.
2006-08-18 09:35:45 · answer #7 · answered by IndyT- For Da Ben Dan 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I believe in God but my beliefs would be so removed from the consensis view that they would apear to be those of an athiest to most christians.
2006-08-18 09:30:47 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a Taoist. Look into that, if you want to understand an alternative to believing in an imaginary friend.
2006-08-18 09:30:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have the same freedom to choose as us Christians do. They are just making an eternal mistake.
2006-08-18 09:28:33 · answer #10 · answered by Carol M 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋