Aetheists, is it more like you don't TRUST God but you may still believe in Him?

Question

I mean if you think about it, I know aetheists that still celebrate Christmas & Easter. They still say "Oh my God this " and "Jesus that". He is there in the most surprising of moments, the most ecstatic of pleasures, the rawest of pains. Perhaps you just don't trust,but may still BELIEVE. If you don't believe, then what.....?

Just for the record I do accept anyone's beliefs, esp if they are good people. I was just wondering. No need to get grumpy. I can agree to disagree, I think that is what this world is all about.:o]

Answer 1

It's the knowledge that people invented gods for over a hundred thousand years. Non of which can be disproved.

Answer 2

I don't believe in god. Not only is it completely ridiculous to believe in something just because it was written down long ago in a book which seems filled with flowery stories and a god who changes character multiple times, it detracts you from what is really important the people and the world around you. The idea of god is a solace for people. Just as astrology, acupuncture, crystals, and many other mediums of pseudo-science provide, god is the same idea.

For the other argument: i also say "Jesus ******* Christ" now, does that mean that i believe Jesus had a middle name of "fuc.k.k.king" or that Jesus may have fuc.ked a man names Christ, no, it is an expression, one i am very fond of.

I would think that trust would be pretty important for a belief in god, so if you don't trust in him/it than it means you are already skeptical, well on your way to finding a true belief in science, which is much easier to trust, if you can understand it's language. What i find funny is that most people do not understand the context in which the bible is written, they also do not understand the language that it uses, or the fact that creation stories such as the flood can be seen in many cultures, mostly those north of the equator, because, at the time that the oral tradition was being passed down the ice caps were in recession from the last ice-age, what happens when ice melts? No only can they not understand the bible, but they don't have any scientific literacy either, so i suppose they tend to choose the flowery, anthropomorphic stories in the bible, rather than the beauty of scientific inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge.

I would recomend some Richard Dawkins

Answer 3

Atheists don't believe in God. If someone does believe in God or think it's possible that there is a God they are agnostic or theistic. "Oh my God" or "Jesus. . ." are common phrases one hears in a country that is primarily Christian, so it wouldn't be uncommon for an athiest to use terms of the pervasive culture. Why do some people say "Gesundheit" when others sneeze? The word is German, but not everyone who says it is German or even knows it's German. They say it because they were brought up in a culture that used that term.

Similarly, Athiests are a very small minority in an environment which has a pervasive common religious culture. Easter and Christmas are pagan holidays that the Christians picked up when Rome became Catholic after thousands of years of pagan worship. Essentially, those two holidays are the celebration of Winter and of Spring. (Ever wonder what the Christmas Tree or the Easter Bunny have to do with Jesus?) Christians basically did to to pagan holidays what Atheists are doing to Christian holidays.

Answer 4

Of course I still celebrate christmas and easter..... just in thier commercialized non-religious format...ha ha ha truth is I never knew those holidays had anything to do with religion until I was older, before that it was all about santa and the easter bunny still is today......Also saying Oh my god! does not necessarily refer to the same god as you.... its "my god" whatever that may be, or it is just an old cliche spoken without thought or meaning. I am not an athiest by the way, I can be described as.... Agnostic spiritualism—the view that there may or may not be a god (or gods), while maintaining a general personal belief in a spiritual aspect of reality, particularly without distinct religious basis, or adherence to any established doctrine or dogma.
To me trust is earned, not freely given... until I am provided with irrevocable proof of the existence of whatever god/s I refuse to have faith in something that has no proof. Until then I will however keep an open mind and continue to live as I wish...sans religious affiliation.

Answer 5

Not even close!
What the hell are you talking about? (there's another of those expressions, I don't believe in hell either)

Atheists often will celebrate the secular mandated holidays...hard not to when businesses are closed by law on those days...and I'm all for a day off work, I don't care which fictitious deity is responsible.

People using expressions like oh my god, or jesus are just that....expressions, habits,, or curses, it implies nothing about belief.

I have to believe something exists to make a decision about whether to trust it...

THELADYLOOKING
actually it DOES offend me, but it's not like there is a choice, is there? Would you stop using cash if it said "there is no god"? Actually I'm Canadian so it doesn't really affect me at all, as we don't put expressions of the states belief in a deity on our currency. What happened to separation of church and state?? That was only added to the currency in 1964(?) in the post -McCarthy hysteria....it is NOT constitutional, and not what your founding fathers intended.

Answer 6

I seriously DO NOT believe in any deity. Not god, or any goddess. Some still celebrate Christmas and Easter, it has become a tradition. Instead of celebrating Christmas as Christ's birth, it is celebrated with Santa and joy. Instead of Easter being celebrated as Christ's ascension, it is celebrated with bunnies. As for saying "oh my god", I say it all the time. But without meaning. These have just become "sayings" amongst many.

Why is it so hard for you to believe and accept that many just don't believe in what you believe?

Answer 7

I as an atheist do NOT believe in the exsistence of God. Other atheist you might know might percieve it differently but thats how i view it. As for the whole "oh my God" thing, i still say that once in a while because growing up it was a part of my vocabulary and it takes a while to get rid off. The people you know who claim to be atheists might not be completely committed. Personally i dont believe in God, i dont think he exists. Not just Christianity, but every religion, including my family's.

Answer 8

I don't believe in God...period. It's not for you to question, unless you want me to question your faith. I don't celebrate Christmas or Easter (both of which were originally Pagan mind you), but I do make an appearance at the request of my family that does. I don't say "Jesus" or "Oh my God." What makes you think that? Why don't you stop worrying about a group that you can't even spell the name of? If you complain about Atheists making fun of Christians, stop posing stupid assumptions and undermining the beliefs of Atheists.

Answer 9

A gay friend of mine used to insist Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose was gay because of all the butt slapping that goes on in baseball. Pete himself commented on rumors circulating that he was gay, saying, "It's just wishful thinking on the part of those people."

Now you want to think we really believe but don't trust God, and that's why we say "Jesus F****** Christ" and "God*****!" Do you think people who say "Holy Guacamole!" believe in avocados, but just don't trust them?

Why is it so hard for you Christians to accept that intelligent people, people who are moral, ethical, intellectually curious, and not carrying a grudge against the church or its mythical deities, don't believe your god is real based on an objective evaluation of the evidence?

I would think your own scripture provides a ready answer that should satisfy you.

Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—"

We have science and reason, and we reject "unmerited belief", the dictionary definition of "faith." I would think you would assume your god, for whatever purpose, has not given us that gift. Or you could use 2 Tim 2:20. Maybe we are vessels for dishonor. Didn't your god harden Pharaoh's heart to unbelief and then slaughter Egypt's first born over the hard heart he himself gave Pharaoh? Perhaps Romans 8:29,30 has your answer: your god did not predestine us for sanctification.

Actually scripture is full of rationalizations for why people don't buy your religion, though mostly, like Romans chapter 1, they accuse unbelievers of wickedness and evil and perversion and blame us for not having faith that only comes as a gift from god. But atheists are no more wicked than any other group of people. In fact we are far more moral than any Christian, for we do not believe in supernatural avenging god or hells or even karma. We fear neither your god nor his punishment, and yet we are not rapists, mass murderers, pedophiles, thieves, drug dealers, or at least not anymore than Christians, whose ranks include some pretty notable moral failures as you know.

And BTW, both Christmas and Easter are pagan festivals that Christians celebrate. That's one of the things we atheists really get bent over, is how ignorant theists are of their own beliefs.

Answer 10

"Oh my god" is a habitual expression, not an expression of belief. I got the habit from my parents, who got it from their parents.

Christmas was a pagan midwinter festival long before the founding of the Christian church, and Easter likewise had its roots in pagan spring celebrations.

And if I don't believe, then WHAT what?

I don't believe, that's all. I don't pray, I don't fear god (since there's nothing to be afraid of), I don't tithe, I don't force myself to behave as if some guy-in-the-sky was watching me all the time. I just don't.

I think. I plan. I budget. I hope. I encourage others. I succeed, I fail, I learn, I rejoice.

I live.

And I love it.

Answer 11

Do you believe in and not trust mermaids, unicorns, flying reindeer, dragons, and the gods of pagan mythology?

By the way, Christmas is merely a "Christianized" pagan holiday. The virgin birth of pagan gods was celebrated on December 25th before Christianity existed.