What are the good and bad aspects of:givei Athesim/Religion/Agnostisims/Thesim/Deism/?

Question

Cover each giving both what you perceive as good and bad aspects if you can. Be respectfull and accurate as you can please.

Answer 1

Atheism: Good- Logical thinkers with science to back it up.
Bad- Don't believe in afterlife. This is all there is!

Religion: Good- The communion of people with similar beliefs.
Bad - Having no desire to explore other beliefs because they think that their way is the only way.

Agnosticism: Good - Free to believe what feels right without the rules of religion.
Bad - Having many different beliefs and trying to incorporate them in my mind.

Answer 2

Atheism: Good aspects: A reasoned view of the universe. Everything we know fitting in without having to rely on invisible beings. Bad aspects: The truth is not always pleasant.

Religion: Good aspects: Some of what some religions teach are wise. Bad aspects: Religion tends to make people intolerant towards other beliefs. It teaches many things that are destructive or harmful. It is not reality. There are no gods.

Agnosticism: Good aspects: It gives people who are afraid to be called atheists something to call themselves. Bad Aspects: It really doesn't mean much. Nobody really thinks the existence of a god is 50/50. All lean towards believing there are gods or there aren't any gods. The popular definition of agnosticism isn't really what the original definition meant. It didn't mean that a person is a fence-sitter on the question of the existence of a god. It was originally a positive belief that the divine is not directly knowable. The question of whether there actually was a god is a seperate issue.

Answer 3

Atheism:
PRO: Atheism offers the freedom to live your life as you see fit. Atheism offers the freedom to make up your own mind. Atheism offers the freedom to tolerate others. Atheism saves time and money. Atheism is an education in critical thinking. Atheism relieves the need to defend the indefensible. Atheism offers respite from needless feelings of worthlessness. Atheism offers respite from irrational fear. Atheism offers dignity and humanity. Atheism offers the ability to view yourself and others as equals. Atheism offers happiness.

CON: Atheists are commonly looked upon unfairly as morally bankrupt and untrustworthy. Atheists are discriminated against in most walks of life. Atheists cannot hold public office in some states. Atheists are sometimes shunned outright before they are allowed to demonstrate what fine upstanding people they are.

Agnosticism: There's really no benefit or drawback from being undecided or of the belief that no one can ever truly know if God exists or not. Sometimes agnostics face the same discriminations as atheists, so there's a con.... Actually, I guess a "pro" is just that it's comfortable for some to say "I don't know" and for others to expand upon that by saying "and I'll never know because no one can really know". It's a comfort thing and that's a pro.

Religion:
PRO: A feeling of belonging and community. A feeling of purpose and direction. A sense of significance and being loved.

CON: Destructive self-deluding behavior. Hatred and intollerence justified by nothing but the word of a myth. Exclusionary mindset. Superiority complex. Inability to accept and assimilate information that is contradictory to long held beliefs. Stunted understanding of scientific fact and solid, substantiated evidence.

Answer 4

For the record, I am an ex-Christian and current agnostic.

Atheism - Positive aspects: Atheists have a set position about the existence of a deity - that is, that there isn't one. As such they have only themselves to be responsible to, and tend to examine themselves and their own morals with greater depth, as it is up to them to decide how to behave. They are less restricted by the morals of others and are more willing to examine viewpoints which might contradict their own morals.

Negative aspects: Atheists are generally discriminated against, since a majority of the world currently believes in a religion. They are often viewed as amoral, angry, depressed, or "lost", when in fact none of those things may be true. They experience frustration living in a religion-centered country when the laws go against their personal beliefs (such as the abortion debate). Many atheists become bitter over time due to this persecution and become just as bad about namecalling as the religious people who persecute them.

Religion - Positive aspects: Religion gives many people hope and meaning in an otherwise meaningless world. The fear of death is very great for some people and religion helps to alleviate that; also, religion is very comforting during times of grief, such as when a family member or close friend has died. Religions generally strive to teach people inner peace and understanding, which I believe are positive qualities.

Negative aspects: Religion has a tendency to cause great strife and discord between people, nations, and cultural groups (just watch the news). Since most major religions claim to be the only path to truth, a follower of such a religion believes himself to be knowledgeable of the truth, and everyone else to be morally deficient (and possibly in danger of judgment from his or her deity). Also, many people rely on their religious teachings to give them answers about the world rather than discover the facts for themselves, which can lead to close-mindedness and technological backwardness.

Agnosticism - Positive aspects: I believe agnosticism to be the most intellectually responsible of all the choices, given that no one can actually verify with any empirical certitude whether or not a deity exists. An agnostic is true to himself when he claims that a deity is unknowable and that he does not know the answers. Without such a bias he is more open-minded to both science and religion when they present him with evidence.

Negative aspects: Many people do not understand what it means to be an agnostic, nor do they understand the actual meaning of the word "agnosticism". This can be frustrating for an agnostic, because people tend to accuse them of fence-sitting or being weak, as if they didn't have the cojones to choose one answer or the other.

Answer 5

Meditate on this for a little while. Christians make up about 75% of the US population and 75% of the US prison population. No big surprise there.

Atheists, on the other hand, make up about 10% of the US population... but they make up only 0.2% of the US prison population. Now, isn't THAT a surprise? That means that atheists are FIFTY (50) times LESS LIKELY to be incarcerated than Christians. Pretty strange, huh, for a group that has no god-given guiding moral principals?

I can think of only two possibilities that might reasonably be said to account for this discrepancy:

1. Atheists are of a higher ethical and moral caliber than Christians, and thus are less prone to do the same kinds of nasty things that land so many Christians in the slammer;

OR,

2. Atheists are, overall, a lot smarter than Christians and thus, they are less likely to get caught in the course of their transgressions.

It's GOT to be one or the other... take your pick.

Answer 6

I have never been an Atheist or and Agnostic person, so I can't tell you anything about their qualities. I do know that God made us, and since they neither believe in God or satan, then I assume they just try to live a quiet peaceful life, I think that there are a lot of people that live a good life and try to be kind, generous to others even though they aren't Christians. Just like I think there are a lot of hypocritical Religious people. Basically we are all the same with one exception. We believe in God and they don't. We feel the calling of a Higher Power, and they just try to live a good peaceful life. So ALL religions have good and bad qualities.

Answer 7

atheism: bad because it's hard for most people to accept you for who you are and not what you belive. and good because, well, it doesn't feel like living a lie.

religion: bad because it's like a fairy tale story. good because it gives people hope, comfort, peace of mind and so much more. people always feel loved and accepted.

agnosticism: bad because it's an undecided and unsure stance on anything. there's only something good about it if the person is trying to figure out what he or she believes in, and not if that person is just indifferent to the whole thing.

this is coming from an atheist...i hope i didn't offend anyone. it was not my intention.

Answer 8

A positive in favor of atheism is that it is fully compatible with scientific method and critical thinking.

A second positive of atheism is that it requires no formal praxis, no meetings, no tithing and no ritual.

A negative of atheism is that it is insufficient by itself as a philosophy for living, although it combines well with humanism into what is now sometimes referred to as spiritual atheism in an attempt to remove the unbeliever stigma.

A second negative of atheism is that it is counter to the control method used by social elites and therefore seen as a threat to their control, so they stigmatize atheists heavily and attempt to prevent their full participation in the governance of the social order.

A positive of religion is that ritual and "revealed taboos" provide a social framework and glue that is more powerful than democratic decision making because with religion when one violates a social rule you are not simply a lawbreaker, you are spiritually evil and thus horrific sanctions can be justified making taboos more enforceable.

Another positive of religion is that joining in community rituals provides a social framework for interaction that can, though seldom does, cross economic and racial barriers.

A negative of religion is that more often than being a unifying factor it is an engine of xenophobia that drives members to shun, distrust and fear outsiders, all those who are not part of the ritual and revelation.

A second negative of religion is that it is not compatible with critical thinking and scientific method and therefor leads to actions, ethics and beliefs that have no basis, may in fact be very erroneous and are thus likely to lead to negative consequences for individuals and the society at large.

Agnosticism has most of the same positives as atheism with the added benefit of insulation from criticism and stigma for unbelief because the agnostic poses as merely unconvinced and amenable to convincing. They are thus tolerated though still disapproved.

The negative of agnosticism is it is often seen as unprincipled and cowardly, as though agnostics try to have it both ways, so tend to be seen as indifferent, indecisive or indolent in their thinking.

Answer 9

well Atheism = you dont have to follow any religious rules.. which means you gain freedom.. bad things are that most of the world believes in one religion or another , therefore theyre always trying to beat you senseless. ( exaggeration)

Religion..= power in numbers? idk? Bad things ... you have to spend alot of time devoted to your religion.

Agonstisim= you believe in a higher power.. so i guess you can go to a better place after you die..
but bad things are ... you could probably go to a worse place after you die?

Answer 10

yeah, let me bust out a pen and paper.. ill get back to you on the 1st..



of NEVER


ramen