ATTENTION THEISTS: Serious question, what is your perception of ATHEISTS??

Question

Anyone can answer but be sure to say whether you are an atheist or theist. This question is mainly for theists, what do you think of atheists besides the part about going to Hell. Be frank. Do you think we are all immoral, stupid, and pessimistic??

I am an atheist, but I am because I believe when human beings accomplish things through hard work, determination, effort, good will, enthusiasm, honesty etc, that it is OUR accomplishment and we should not thank God. I am not compelled to believe God exists due to lack of evidence. But the point is I am very moral and my morals are stronger than a lot of my Christian friends. Because I believe that the laws of nature and do unto others as you would have them do unto you and the American justice system are the ONLY deterrents and punishments that exist. There is no Hell to punish people. I believe in justice, but it is not God that enacts it, it is the collective will of the people, in our civil society.

I find that most religious people only do good so that they can avoid Hell and get to "paradise." I believe we should all be good because this is IT, this is the only life we have and we want it to be the best for everyone. It is our DUTY to be good to others because of our human nature.

Answer 1

You obviously have never seen how us humans really build things.
My point?
As an atheist, the best you have is that human the intellect is your god.
Stay with me, what you need to do is investigate all of the effort and planning that goes into a multistory highrise structure.
Aside from the engineering and architechtural gaffs and oversights, there are the workers who may or may not be able to do their installation correctly.
Then there are the safety hazards. Regardless of how many safety meetings and classes you send these people to, they still invariably ignore safe work practices.
Rather than to continue on and on, let me just say, how can a person, believe in evolution (which as an atheist you must by default), when one can see that the things designed and built by thinking humans do not procreate, self-repair and offer the variety and compexity of life on this earth?

Everytime I go to work as an electrician, I see the blatant proof that evolution is not even remotely feasible.

Answer 2

Athies=is from the greek A=no and thous God. No God. A believer in No God. perception. not based on your question, but based on this website, egotistical and pompous. Usually quite happy to call Christians closed minded (when a person says 2+2=4 I don't see closed minded), and basically something close to the followers of Hitler. Last I checked Detriech Bonhoeffer was involved in an anti Hitler plot and Corrier ten Booms Christian faith put her and her family next to the Jews in the camps. And yet with all the arrogance I see little evidence presented, poor reasoning and less proof. Has religion been used as an excuse by people to do evil. Well considering that religious types killed Jesus and many others I would have to say yes. Are Athiest therefore better? Well Stalin, Hitler and Mao Tse-tung were athiests and rules over mass murders. So I would say that we are all in the same crowd, liars, lusters, thieves, if you have hated God sees you as a murderer, pride, selfishness, disrespectful of God. all deserving punishment. Some of us have found forgiveness.
P.S. regarding morality. morality apart from Chirstianity has no authority. It is merely one opinion versus anothers, The person with no morals can always just say don't push your beliefs on me. They can also get the attitude that as long as no one catches me I can be immoral as I want. Hitler did not face a court and execution. When I quote morals my attitude is like when i quote the law of gravity. There are the rules God made and that is why neither my or your opinion are quite as important. I will tell my daughter that all of her actions will not escape God's attention. You get no free pass if your goal is to do wrong. I find much more justice in Hitler burning in Hell than in his existence ending peacefully in a Bunker.

regarding the approach of Kingdom child I don't question the honesty of your efforts but for all those considering His approach. I have three kids. I have never seriously considered not giving them food for thier bodies. Likewise I have taken them to church and we teach them about God and the Bible because their spiritual natures need nourishment as well. If I think that the Zoo is great then I take my kids to the Zoo. Also if I think God is Awesome then why would not not introduce them to all the goodness of what God is.

Answer 3

What a great and real and honest question! Thank you for asking. To your question, I would be a Theist.

Why are we all so confused? There tend to be categories within these categories. To me:

Theists - There are many people who seek and find a 'faith' based on many motivations, but often:
. "Fire Insurance" - They don't want to go to some bad place
. Halo Worship - They want to go to some "good" place
. Hero Worship - They wants something bigger than themselves to believe in because they are insecure about their life and ability to get through
. Logicial Path - They want meaning and understanding in their life but it has to make logical / fact based sense. So they find a pseudo-scientific approach (My opinon not intended to be a judgement by using pseudo).
. Life Path - They want to find a particular path in their life that makes sense. They are searching for something that makes sense in their life and has meaning. So they find it and it makes sense. To do so, they often have to take a "leap" of faith in something.

Obviously the above is my opinon.

As I think of non-theists, I, again, see different categories, if you will:

. The Last Angry person - These people are angry and bitter about something in life related to religion and therefore they decide that religion is a bad thing and choose a path they believe is "not bad", hence A-Theist. Again, the frustration I find is the anger and bitterness.

. The Thoughtful Person - These people have not found anything compelling to date that suggests there is any reason to believe in something higher. It could be, as you say, that they feel they are their own "masters", i.e. their accomplishments are their own. It could be lack of evidence as you also suggest.

The thing I see in common, all too often, is that both sides judge the others motives. I don't get that, personally. Wether I subscribe to a higher "power" and believe there is a consequence to the subscription is mine to believe. Same with someone who does not subscribe.

My greatest wish is that we would all continue to keep an open mind with each other. Wether there is absolute or relative truth, we'll all never find out if we close our eyes.

Cheers

Answer 4

What matters in life more than peace? I guess all of us agree it's not about being theists or atheists.

I believe you can accomplish many things in life smoothly, while others might not be able to do as good as you do, no matter how similar your traits with theirs.. There's always a difference, why's that?
You have the virtues (to support you in present life), and you have the wisdom to take appropriate actions at the right moment.
While others just might not have them. This is labeled as LUCK in worldly term, but spiritually it's more about a habit/mindset we've retained from the previous lifetimes until now.

God is only a label people give to the natural force (univeral principles) that exist. Finding your true self (enlightenment/Buddhahood) is the ultimate sense of accomplishment.
Afterall, in the continuum of our endless thoughts there exists the seed of Buddhahood... just sow it, and boundless merits can be dedicated (given impact) to all sentient beings...
Otherwise we get lost, we feel at sea most of the time, facing different situations, we become different persons.. We often question "WHO i am?"
It's normal... but it's misleading if not based on inner awareness.

If being atheists still bothers us, that means we still do not feel safe within, it's others' approval we're seeking.
Go for the answer within, it's our invaluable prize.

Answer 5

Do onto others as you will have them do onto you is a commandment by Jesus Christ. Our American Justice system, our American Government, and our American way of life are all based on Biblical priniciples.

It's true that we are saved by Grace, and not of works. Read the Book of James. James said that faith without works is dead. Not that we're not saved, but God can't work through us.

I would never say anyone is immoral, stupid or pessimistic. What I would say is that they're unlightened. Like all of us, until the Holy Spirit enters their hearts, they are blind to the truth.

As far as being pessimistic, let me ask the Atheist something: What do you have to be optomistic about? You're here for what the Bible calls a vapor. Puff, and it's over. Christians have the promise of living eternity with Christ.

You said what you accomplished you did through hard work, determination, effort, good will, enthusiasm, honesty, etc. But you can't do any of that unless God gives you your next breath.

A good Biblical Book to read is Eccesiastes in the Old Testament. It was written by an older Solomen, looking back over his life, and the vanity of trying to live without God's grace.

You aught to thank God that this country was based on the principles of Jesus Christ. Just look at some of the countries around the world which were established with Atheistic principles: The old Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba. Would you really perfer living in an Atheistic country?

I just want to say something to Dillinger. Theist is a word. It comes from the Greek Theos which means God. In Greek, when you put an A in front of a word, it give it the opposite meaning. Therefore, Atheos, which we translated as Atheist, means against God.

Answer 6

Im neither atheist or theist, we are not stupid, you are right we do accomplish a lot from our hard work and even says in the bible. God loves you no matter what you are going thru in life it's your heart that he searches. He blesses the humble hearts and will not walk with the prideful heart. God is in the spirit and if evidence is what you need then they are all in the Holy Bible. You are so right about do unto others as you would have them do unto you, if you would only spend few hours reading few scriptures in the bible you will see some differences in your life.

Answer 7

An Atheist, by most definitions.
I believe in a grand design that created the universe, similar to DNA charts , but on an imaginably grand scale. Science has proved this in many ways and still have much to learn. I don't think they are on the 'Yellow Brick Road' as many Christians are. I hope you find more at the end of the road than Dorothy did.

Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason:

When Moses told the children of Israel that he received the two tables of the commandments from the hands of God, they were not obliged to believe him, because they had no other authority for it than his telling them so; and I have no other authority for it than some historian telling me so. The commandments carry no internal evidence of divinity with them; they contain some good moral precepts, such as any man qualified to be a lawgiver, or a legislator, could produce himself, without having recourse to supernatural intervention

When I am told that the Koran was written in Heaven and brought to Mahomet by an angel, the account comes too near the same kind of hearsay evidence and second-hand authority as the former. I did not see the angel myself, and, therefore, I have a right not to believe it.
When also I am told that a woman called the Virgin Mary, said, or gave out, that she was with child without any cohabitation with a man, and that her betrothed husband, Joseph, said that an angel told him so, I have a right to believe them or not; such a circumstance required a much stronger evidence than their bare word for it; but we have not even this — for neither Joseph nor Mary wrote any such matter themselves; it is only reported by others that they said so — it is hearsay upon hearsay, and I do not choose to rest my belief upon such evidence'.
Wise man. Relevant today as it was then.

Answer 8

I believe in God. I know there is more to life than just this. My personal examples are too long to write about in this short space. But there is no doubt in my mind that he exists.
Consider the fact that no matter where in the world you go, and consider the fact that countries did not all communicate, nor have a clue that they each existed for centuries, they all have in their history a story about Noah and the great flood.
This is very hard to deny.

Answer 9

I am certain that there are those among your brethren who would call me a right wing 'fundie' Bible-thumping brain dead Jesus freak.

My perception of atheists is this - they are exactly the same as me. They have feelings and ideas and understandings which motivate them to believe what they believe. They are imperfect, just as I am imperfect. And all of us ultimately respond to a primal instinct of self-preservation, and everything that our experiences tell us go with it.

The limit of every creatures morality is it's definition of self preservation. Nothing alive and sentient will violate that boundary. This is where I part company with the atheist. God has taught me that what we do here is temporary, but we are designed for eternal life. My conceptual limit to morality is based from an eternal perspective, yours is not. I can lay down this life freely because it is not the one I seek to preserve. Ultimately, by denying even the possibility of eternal life, you have already laid it to rest, and have established a much smaller limit to the scope of your moral capability.

Where I interact with atheists, I only seek to expand their opportunities. Saving souls is God's job, I'm just a servant.



Oh, and by the way, I enjoy 'House' as well. Maybe there is yet hope?

Answer 10

You say there is not evidence for God, but creation (everything around us) screams of a creator. Everything has order, everything is unique, when you take away one thing such as bats, the mosquito population grows. Or bees, there is no pollination. Many parts of creation are dependent on something else.. How could you choose to believe evolution. . .nothing in all these years has evolved into something different. Things change to adapt to weather and such, but they don't change into something different. How was the universe created, there couldn't be a big bang with nothing there? God created the universe out of nothing because he always existed.

I believe there are people who adhere to laws and care about other people who are not saved, but we are born with a sin nature. People are not inherently good. We can see that in the world today. Even as an unsaved person I believed that I should do unto others as I would have them do unto me. But there were many things in my life that were not right. I couldn't change them on my own power. I tried many times. But with God's power in my life I have changed many things now. The thing is that Christians are not perfect people, but they should not just be giving in to sin, they should be dealing with it in their lives.

I don't think all atheists are stupid or pessimistic or totally immoral. My husband was an atheist at one time too. I think we as Christians need to pray for you to come to know the God of the Bible and for you to be saved through Jesus his son so that you will not go to hell. I am going to say a prayer for you when I finish this answer. You do sound like an intelligent person and I hope you will let Jesus in some day.