An honest question for atheists?

Question

If you claim no religion and no god, what do you expect to gain from the religion and spirituality forum? Are you here to convert?
Honest answers only please (spooky where are you when I need you)

Answer 1

I'm here, Mel. What I expect to gain from this forum is an insight into human nature.

Edit: I'm not here to convert to any religion, because I stand firm in my nonbelief. I'm also not here to convince anyone to stop believing, because everyone is entitled to their own opinions. It's called free will.

I would like to learn how to be a better person, and to help those who may have questions by offering my viewpoint. I would also like to gain an understanding into why people think in the ways that they do. This is proving to be the challenge, and I doubt I'll ever learn that point. However, the journey is half the fun, and I'm having a great time getting to know everyone.

Answer 2

I claim no religion and no God. I do not normally expect to gain anything from the religion and spirituality forum that is why I do not as rule deliberately enter this forum.

I have both asked and answered questions on this forum and people have said to me through this forum things like "If you don't believe why are you here" and "Are you here just to attack Christians?". The fact of the matter is I sometimes browse the all categories forum which means a question can arise from any category including the religious one.

Just because I am not a believer does not mean that I would automatically be totally dis-interested in religious matters.

Sometimes a question may provoke my interest and other times I might ask a question the nature of which would make it most at home within this category.

Answer 3

Gain? Convert? No. These are things religious people do. I personally just like getting a rise out of religious types so that they can spout off some scripture somebody told them about, rather than using that thing called a brain that's rattling around somewhere in their heads to craft a coherent, original opinion on life and the universe and whatnot. That's pretty much the draw of a forum like this. If religion gets someone through their day, wonderful.

Answer 4

I'm atheist but don't spend any time in the Religion forums. If I answer any Religious questions (like this one) it's because I picked it off of the Home Question page. And I try to stay out of the Religous stuff because I respect everyone's beleifs, just as I would expect the people who believe in a Religion to respect my choice.

Answer 5

I think that the goal is to see how the minds operate of different people so preparation can begin to deal with these faiths in everyday occurrences, Understanding the environment is a very noble and wise take on life.

One must need to know how to react to other's and this forum is acceptable for this concept.

Answer 6

Personally I'm catholic, but i find information from all different kinds of people useful and interesting. In a sense any way being an atheist has its own "religion" in its self becuase all atheists commonly believe there is no God

Answer 7

Spirituality is NOT confined to a belief in god. My atheistic friend is a devout zen buddhist who is VERY spiritual and doesn't see zen as mere philosophy but as religion. Others talk about how the foundation of spirituality is the reduction of the ego; when we bring god into it, we often make god into something that supports our ego instead of letting god be what god is. By this I mean we make a god that rewards us for a lifetime of striving to believe and be good and/or accepting Jesus, punishes those who don't, gives our individual consciousness eternal life, etc. This is not spirituality; it's ego worship. Real spirituality is about having a direct experience of god -- an experience that can only come about when the ego is reduced (the ego -- the self-centered thought system that sees each of us as separate from everything else -- is the root of all problems).

Answer 8

I'm here because I think the recent trend in the U.S. is a dangerous one that could turn this country into a de facto Christian theocracy. I want to counter the propaganda that causes decent Christians to become radical Christians. I don't honestly expect to convert anyone from Christianity to Atheism. But I do hope to influence some Christians into realizing that most atheists are ethical people who have a right to their beliefs.

Answer 9

Atheists and agnostics actually have a very healthy interest in religion - not just Christianity, but all religions and forms of spirituality (the two are NOT the same)




BTW - wouldn't this forum be very boring without them!

Answer 10

1.) I think it's interesting to hear other's opinions.
2.) No religion does not equal no spirituality.
3.) Sometimes the level of stupid on here makes my day better (you said you wanted honesty!)
4.) I think that people need to be exposed to those who disagree with them; that's the only way they can be firm in what they claim to believe.