You guys believe there is no God, but you can't prove that there isn't. So being an atheist obviously requires

Question

.....at least as much faith as being a Christian?

Answer 1

Actually, it's a matter of faith to believe that something fanciful actually exists. Not believing it isn't a matter of faith, it's a matter of fact.

I fail to understand, however, why You People keep trying to pick fights to make yourselves feel better about your silliness.

This question is pointless. It is just another agression on the part of You People, and will end up making you look sillier than you already did.

Have a nice day.

Answer 2

Let me try to explain how you can't prove a negative. Consider an empty box. If you put a statue in the box and close it up, there are several ways you can tell that the statue is in the box: you can weigh it; you can x-ray it; you can shake it. You can acquire evidence to indicate that there is a statue in the box. Now, remove the statue from the box and close it back up. Prove that there's nothing in the box. If you weight it, someone can say that it is something incredibly light; if you x-ray it, someone can say that it is invisible; if you shake it, someone can say it doesn't move. You know there's nothing in the box because you removed the statue, but you can also cross-reference all the tests to show that all the signs that the statue was there don't show that anything is in there now.

This is similar to humanity's experience with God. The more we come to understand about the universe the more tests we put on the box, and the more tests show us that there is nothing there. The history of science is the deconstruction of what we used to assume was God's role in the universe. Some of the basic scientific beliefs you probably hold today were considered heresy back only a few hundred years ago. Everything that people said were indications that God was in the box, the sun revolving around the earth, the earth as the center of the universe, divine right of kings, etc. have been proven to be false. All of our provable repeatable data points to nothing being in the box. That's your evidence. And like the box, someone keeps trying to come up with ways to say the tests don't tell us everything, but those critics don't come up with a way to show us with evidence that there is a the figure in the box. We've done our tests and shown our data, we're waiting for someone else to come up with the evidence that we're wrong. That's not faith.

Answer 3

Prove there is no Santa Claus. Prove that the Easter Bunny does not exist. I dare you to prove that there were never elves, or fairies. Try proving that there is no invisible flying pink mermaid ruling all of humankind.

Seriously, I dare you. I say they all exist. Prove they don't!

That's how rediculous your question is. It is impossible to prove the NON-existence of something that does not exist. That FACT alone is proof enough that your silly god does not exist.

The burden of proof lies with the person making the claim. Atheists are not making any claim at all. You are claiming that there is a god. Prove it.

And by the way, we do not "believe" there is no god. That is gramatically incorrect and quite foolish. Can you "believe" there is not a tree in the yard? No. Can you "believe" that there IS a tree in the yard? Yes. Can you be wrong? Yes. Can I prove it? YES.

And that is the difference between proving that something REAL is not there, and something that DOES NOT EXIST is not there.

Answer 4

Atheism is a state of being, it is lack of belief, it is the void of belief, there is no feeling of faith.

If you remove a dish from a table, is it not there anymore? Or do you have to believe and have faith that it isn't there anymore?

I have been one all my life, born and raise, and if you can't take what an atheist tells you in all honestly, then you may as well stop asking these questions, because if you're going to keep asking until you get what you WANT to hear, those answers will be wrong and from the wrong people.

Answer 5

Correct...but it also requires logic, intelligent reasoning, a willingness to accept scientific facts, and a desire to search for the truth even if the truth isnt what one would like it to be.
By the way, there is a thosand times more evidence supporting evolution than there is the account in Genesis, and an early Pope once declared that the universe and all the planets revolved around the Earth.
P.S. I DO believe in a spirtual realm and an afterlife. But I cant prove THAT either.

Answer 6

Yes being an Atheist requires faith there is no God. But being an Agnostic does not. An agnostic believes there might be but he knows that everything we think we all know from all the religions is probably totally wrong. He also knows that he does not have that answer so the question is irrelevant.

Answer 7

ok, theres 2 sides here that I think many (I used to myself) don't distinguish between that should be.

theres Not beliving in god. that is, not following in and/or beliving in the existance of God.

and then theres beliving that there is NO god. that is, beliving affirmatively that god does NOT exist.

to belive the latter.... indeed takes faith.

but I think that the people who believe as such, think the "default" state is the assumption that nothing of that sort exists.

as someone for whom much of the "metaphysical" world is as real and natural as the physical one, this is quite bizzare and absurd.

but for people with no senses beyond their organic ones, such a view point makes sense.

Answer 8

No, because there is plenty of proof that Christianity is false - the existence of God can't be proved.

Answer 9

You got that right. But, would you actually consider it faith for an atheist? Faith is what Christians live by.

Answer 10

I think that's absolutely true. That's why I'm not an atheist.

But I'm not a Christian or anything either. There *could* be some sort of supreme being beyond our senses, but if he/she/it/they is beyond our senses, then I can't really find out one way or another if he/she/it/they is up there, can I?

So I don't worry myself about it unless some good hard evidence comes along.